Luke the physician wrote, “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”, and in chapter three and verse eight of his book Luke shared how John told the multitude who came to be baptized, “bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance” where we read:
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father:
for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
The verse reads, “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father:” Luke began with the words, “bring forth therefore” or “make ready and prepare then, wherefore, accordingly, consequently and these things being so” “fruits worthy of repentance” which means “acts, deeds, advantages and utilities having weight, befitting, congruous and deserving pertaining to a change of mind, of a purpose he has formed, compunction, reversal and repentance”, “and begin not to say within yourselves” or “and do not be the first, chief, leader or ruler that utters, declares and proclaims inside their own selves”, “we have Abraham” which means “we hold, possess and own Abraham which means father of a multitude” “to our father” or “as our progenitor and ancestor”. Luke shared how John desired for the “crowd of people” to demonstrate their true “repentance” by their “works” and not to declare their relationship to “Abraham” who was the founder of the Jewish nation.
The verse goes on to say, “... for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Luke continued with the words, “for I say unto you” which means “because, since and on account that John uttered, declared and proclaimed to the multitude”, “that God” or “that the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “is able of these stones” which means “is capable, strong and powerful enough with the rocks surrounding John” “to raise up children” or “to arouse, awake and cause to rise offspring and progeny” “unto Abraham” which means “to Abraham whose name means father of a multitude”. Luke shared how John said God was capable of making “children of Abraham” from the “rocks” which surrounded him.
When think through Luke's words in this verse, we understand how people tend to think their alignment or affiliation with ancestry will save them. John said God was able to “make” “children of Abraham” from the “rocks” surrounding him, and because they were so abundant, this would have been more people than the crowd who gathered. The idea was for people not to depend upon their “relatives” to “save” them. Each person is responsible for their own “repentance” of sins before God, and when they come to Jesus in “faith and trust” in Him, they shall receive forgiveness for their sins and everlasting life with God. No other affiliation is able to “save” from the judgment of God, and those who are wise will yield their lives to Him.
Next time Luke shares how John told the multitude who came to be baptized, “every tree therefore which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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