Second Presbyterian Church

"Jesus is Baptized &
the Geneological Gospel:
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
February 8, 2004

Upcoming Events

Worship Schedule

Sermons

About the Church

• Accessibility to the Church

• Directions to the Church

• History of the Church

Church Staff

Groups & Organizations

• Boy Scouts of America - Troop 175

• Choirs

• Presbyterian Women

• SPY (Second Presbyterian Youth)

Committees

• Building & Grounds

• Church Growth

• Congregational Care & Fellowship

• Education & Nurture

• Finance

• Office & Personnel

• Stewardship

• Witness & Service

• Worship & Celebration

Ad Hoc Committees

• Architectural - Engineering

• Building Fund

Presbyterian Internet Sites of Interest

Virginia Links

• Virginia Cities

Web Site Statistics

Site Map

Second Presbyterian Church Homepage

Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for February 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#9 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Isaiah
• Luke 3: 1-22

I
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS

Luke ends his narrative about John the Baptist with the Baptism of Jesus. This is a tremendously important group of verses. The baptism of Jesus marked the culmination of the preparation by John for Jesus and his ministry. After the baptism of Jesus, John faded into the background. It was clear from this point on that Jesus was to be the one at the center of the Gospel; John has completed his work of preparation. Later we encounter a couple more references to John. But with his baptism of Jesus, his work at the office was finished.

Why was Jesus baptized? He who had no sin, why was he baptized with the baptism for the forgiveness of sin? One reason was that Jesus identified with humanity's need for redemption. He was (and remains) the people's Messiah. He was not a redeemer for just some highly religious folk. He is redeemer for all, BEGINNING WITH THE LEAST.

Luke has made it clear, thus far, that Jesus is the Son of God. Luke has demonstrated to us that Jesus had an ever-increasing awareness of his special ministry, even before his baptism. He knew he must be about his Father's business.

When Jesus finally came out to the Jordan Wilderness to see John, it became so clear to him that it was beyond a shadow of a doubt. Within the Synoptic Gospels; Matthew, Mark, and Luke; the baptism and the voice from heaven are pivotal points. Although each of these three Gospels recorded significant variations and made different points, they all agree that when the "Voice from heaven" spoke, it was important.

Let me explain. In Luke, after Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended from heaven - in the bodily form of a dove - and rested upon Jesus. We can assume from this that Jesus had now been endowed with the power of God to complete his task as Messiah. It was a task that called for Jesus to be faithful to his calling even when this calling led to his death by crucifixion. It is pivotal in the Gospels in that Jesus' Galilean Ministry was getting ready to really crank up. He had yet to call his disciples. He had yet to experience the temptations in the wilderness. But he was now commencing his ministry of proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

The next time we encounter a voice from heaven that says, "This is my beloved Son…," will be when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain top. After that pivotal point Jesus set his sights upon Jerusalem. It meant two things. One, he focused more upon teaching his disciples about being Christian and trying to explain how he is Messiah (re. He must be arrested, crucified, raised from the dead). Two, Jesus was heading to Jerusalem knowing that it meant his arrest and execution.

II
THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS

Then we have the genealogy of Jesus. We, today, don't know what to do about the genealogies in the bible. They are usually the examples used to demonstrate how boring the Bible can be. But in Jesus' day genealogies were very important for some matters: priesthood and royalty. You see, for one to be a priest in the temple, he had to demonstrate an unbroken lineage from Aaron, the first Priest. If he could not demonstrate that he was directly descended from Aaron, then he could not be a priest.

The other usage for genealogies was to demonstrate relationship to royalty, such as to King David. Jesus' genealogies were royal genealogies. There are two genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels. Matthew has one; Luke has the other. Their differences and similarities are fascinating and somewhat puzzling. Why? Because they used genealogies to show two different relationships.

Matthew began the genealogy from Abraham and ended it with Jesus. His intent seemed to be to show that Jesus was the Hebrew Messiah. Luke began his genealogy with Jesus and took it backwards, all the way through Adam. His intent seemed to be to show that Jesus was Messiah for ALL humankind and that he was the Son of God.

There are other differences in the two genealogies. In several places they don't agree. Both Matthew and Luke used "editorial freedom" in order to make their points. Neither Matthew nor Luke was overly concerned about absolute, accurate genealogical detail.

But that was the point of Luke's genealogy. Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was the Messiah, not only for the Jews, but also for all humanity. And that includes YOU and me.

Let me recap. At the beginning of the gospel, Luke had an angel predict that Jesus was the Son of God. A virgin became pregnant. When she gave birth, angels announced to the shepherds that the Son of God was born. When the prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna met Jesus as a baby they recognized that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus, when at the Temple, demonstrated his burgeoning awareness that he was the Son of God. John baptized Jesus and Jesus heard the voice from heaven state, "You are my beloved Son with you I am well pleased." And now we have a genealogy that gives 77 generations of Jesus' ancestry - all the way back to "the son of Seth, the son of Adam, THE SON OF GOD."

If one is not careful, one would get the feeling that Luke was trying to tell us that this Jesus of Nazareth was THE SON OF GOD!

And that is exactly what we are supposed to conclude. At this point, three chapters into the Gospel of Luke, we are to get the point that Jesus is the Son of God. Beginning with chapter 4 Luke shall teach us what exactly this entailed for Jesus. We are to come to an understanding about what it really means for Jesus to be the Son of God.

And we are to come to the point where we are asked to accept and to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God.

This is still a burning issue for today, that is whether or not Jesus is THE Messiah or a wonderful prophet to be placed along side of Buddha, Mohammed, and Confucius. There are many who state that believing in Jesus as THE Messiah seems arrogant on our part. I strongly disagree. It is not a matter of arrogance to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is THE Messiah. It is simply a matter of faith and believing the Bible, such as in Luke, that Jesus IS THE Son of God.

There can be arrogance in that we can misappropriate our faith and treat those who do not share our faith as if they are inferior people. They are not. Nor should we treat anybody that way!

I just want you to be prepared for the fact that our society is increasingly pluralistic. Our neighbors are going to be people with different faiths than the Christian faith. We don't necessarily have to get into their face and try to force them to change their faith. We are commanded to love them, treat them like God's children too, and to pray that the Lord gives us the opportunity to share our faith in Jesus Christ with them.

And what will make them curious about our belief? How we love one another and how we treat people justly and fairly. It just might make them curious and the Holy Spirit may open a door for you to share your belief in Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.