Sunday 9 Jan 2022

January 9: Luke 3:15-22

Key Verse: Luke 3:16
John answered them all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Devotion:
I don’t know about you, but I do get excited when I hear someone preaching who knows their stuff and almost knows what you need to hear from God. John must have been good at recounting the scriptures and explaining them too – something I like doing is trying to make the scriptures available to everyone by talking in plain English and not as if I have been to a university learning how to confuse people!

I know there are some great church leaders out there who have made it their life to study the scriptures, but when they come to tell others about what they have learned, it comes out like a lawyer recounting past cases. Jesus talked to the people using parables – some people could understand things easily, whilst others were confused. But He was trying to get people to think about what they heard.

John was very effective at teaching others and this is seen because some people were beginning to think he was the Messiah. His first reaction to this was to say their Messiah would come later commanding the scriptures better than him and baptising with the Holy Spirit and fire instead of water. As mentioned previously, our baptism is a reminder or reflection of our faith in Christ and of our new birth in Him as a Christian.

Jesus was obedient to this baptism as well. He came along to visit John and to be baptised by John; marking the beginning of His real ministry. Beforehand He would have shared the Word with others and talked about it, but we have no record of Him openly preaching to everyone. Jesus wanted to show us His faith was in God His Father and He was going to obey God in everything He did and said.

Points to Ponder:
How do you show others you are a Christian?

If you are baptised, what did your baptism mean to you?