Twelfth Day of ChristMass
Posted on January 5, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 3:1-9 (NKJV)
3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.
5 ‘Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth;
6 ‘And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Devotion
Today we see St. Luke’s account of John the Baptizer. Not only does this show us the witness of the individual Gospel writers as they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, but it also shows us the consistency of the message of John.
As noted yesterday, John was steadfast in his proclamation of God’s Word, calling sinners to repent and to prepare for the Son of God. This consistent, steadfast preaching was such an important part of our Lord’s work that all of the Gospel writers included John the Baptizer and his ministry as the last Old Testament prophet in the story of the Messiah.
The Holy Spirit made the message clear and consistent when John was preaching, and also in the account of the Holy Scriptures. The fact that we have many accounts of who John was and what he preached highlights the inspiration of Scripture by the Holy Spirit as it is breathed out by God.
And so, just as it was in the Gospel of Matthew, the message of today’s reading in Luke is consistent in the testimony of John the Baptizer. All of this leads us evermore back to Christ and His Word.
Prayer: Almighty and Everlasting God, direct our actions according to Thy good pleasure, that in the name of Thy beloved Son we may be made to abound in good works; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
