Luke 3:2 (ESV) during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
John was the miracle baby born to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age. John’s purpose in life was the prepare the way for Jesus. John was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth and God spoke to Him in the wilderness. God showed Him that the time for Jesus’ ministry to begin was near.
Luke 3:3 (ESV) And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
In this key verse, we see John’s purpose and mission summarized. He called on everyone to repent of their sins and undergo a baptism of repentance, so that their sins could be forgiven. As we continue with the passage today, John is going to teach us what repentance is all about. Let’s begin by looking at the Greek word that we translate as repent. The Greek word for repent means to change one’s mind about something. In this case, John’s listeners were to change their minds or to turn around concerning their sin. To turn from loving sin to hating sin. To turn from hating God to loving God. This message of repentance was how John prepared the way for Jesus.
Luke 3:4 (ESV) As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Luke shows us that the prophet Isiah prophesied about John the Baptist hundreds of years before. John came out of the wilderness with a singular purpose to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. To prepare the way for Jesus was to prepare the hearts of people to receive Jesus’ message and believe in Him. How did John prepare the way for Jesus? By calling on everyone to repent.
We’re going to learn today that repentance is the key to beginning a relationship with Jesus and to growing closer to God in that relationship. Repentance is not a one-time event, but a way of life. Why? Because we are all prone to sin and need to practice repentance on a daily basis. So the first way that we can apply these truths is to our own lives. If you’ve never repented before to God, repentance is the first step to becoming a follower of Jesus.
If you are already a follower of Jesus, daily repentance is the way you grow closer in that relationship. Not only are we to practice repentance in our own lives, we are to follow Jesus by calling on others to repent. Jesus’ message began with a call to repent. On the day of Pentecost, Peter’s call to action for the crowd began with a call to repent.
Repentance is a firm decision to change one’s life with God’s help. To change one’s life from following after sin to following after God. We also must teach the people in our lives of the necessity of repentance to get close to God. Let’s learn some more about repentance from John the Baptist. We need to better …