Do You See Jesus?

I. Hear the Testimony of the People (vv. 15-20)

II. Hear the Testimony of the Trinity (vv. 21-22)

A. The Prayer of Jesus (v. 21)

B. The Coming of the Holy Spirit (v. 22a)

C. Words of God the Father (v. 22b)

Do You See Jesus? (Luke 3:15-22)

        There is a story of one king who liked to dress up as a beggar and go where ordinary people lived and beg for alms from door to door… Once on such a trip, only one person opened his house to welcome the poor beggar. After a while, a royal carriage drove up to the poor house of this man, and this man was invited to live in the royal palace. This king’s name was Peter the Great, but no one knows the name of that poor fella…

        When you hear such a story, you probably imagine yourself welcoming unknowing president or celebrity, and he in response invites you to the castle… But we have an even more serious matter at hand – do we recognize Jesus Christ as He is presented in the Scripture? How to recognize that the Jesus of the Bible is truly the Son of God, the Savior of the World, and the One who deserves our worship?

        Two clear testimonies that prove to us that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God, the promised Messiah!

        Read (Luke 3:15-22)

I. Hear the Testimony of the People (vv. 15-20)

        My very limited fishing experience has taught me something. When you desire something too much, you begin to see the desired thing everywhere. You desperately want to catch a fish, and you begin to see that the fish is on the hook when there is no fish around…

        A better illustration is with the young man who wants to get married, and if it is so serious… he will begin to interpret any act of kindness from a girl as a sign… no, the fish is not even interested J

        The people were already waiting for the Messiah. John’s ministry was to prepare the way for the Messiah; and he did it very well. So well, that the people began to suspect John to be the Messiah. This is why they asked John: “Are you the promised Messiah?” John could have said a simple answer – No, I am not… goodbye!

        But he adds a very interesting explanation of the ministry of the promised Messiah (vv. 16-17), which we need to consider and understand why he mentioned it. This will help us see the Son of God in Jesus! John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance with water! The baptism of Jesus will be the baptism of the Holy Spirit! Water and the Holy Spirit are parallel!

(vv. 17-18) – interesting preaching of the good news… sorting of the wheat on the threshing floor when the wheat is gathered and the chaff burned with the fire – and this is the Gospel?

(v. 18) Good news will be good news only when evil is defeated and punished!

        Let’s look at the baptism? What kind of baptism are we talking about? What the baptism with fire?

        In Greek – there is one preposition (in, by) which points toward interpreting both baptisms to one group of people.

        If so, then this text is talking about the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire (Mal. 3:1-3; Acts 2:3-4) – the Holy Spirit and fire for the purification and sanctification of God’s people. But, the context (v. 17) speaks of the two separate groups of people, and sinners are placed in the unquenchable fire of God’s judgment and punishment!

        Which one is right?

        What helped me is to look at (vv. 15-16) – the people… “them all, you…” these are the same people, whom John called “brood of vipers” – this group included both true believers and the false!

        In other words – this entire group of listeners will be baptized by Christ – for all this is the future event – either by the Holy Spirit at the time of repentance, or by fire at the time of eternal condemnation!

        But we never answered why John decided to share that with people.

        Answer: the first part of baptism guarantees the fulfillment of the second part of baptism! So, listen to this testimony very carefully! Pay close attention!

        (vv. 19-20) Why did John break chronological order? He did it to show that John’s ministry is coming to an end. But even more so, he emphasized at this point that John preached not only to the crowds of people, but also to specific people. It’s harder to do to individuals.

        It is easier to speak to a crowd, and much harder to a specific person. One-on-one is harder! Because you address specific sins!

        John was ready to pay with his life for what he preached!

        So, we see in John’s ministry humility (does not receive glory), it is saturated with the message about Christ, and for all this, he was ready to pay with his own life!

        He is worthy of our attention, and his testimony of Christ is powerful!

II. Hear the Testimony of the Trinity (vv. 21-22)

        The baptism of people was the pinnacle of John’s ministry! At that time, Jesus comes to be baptized!

        The baptism of Jesus requires an explanation – He did not need to do this, since he did not sin (2 Cor. 5:21). He did this to fulfill all righteousness (Matt. 3:15)!

        As strange as it may seem, but this is not the main point of (vv. 21-22! Luke just casually mentioned it in passing. The main emphasis is on the Trinity and how the three persons of the Trinity interact.

        Whenever the Bible invites us to look into the relationship within the Trinity, is a very unique opportunity to learn about God.

A. The Prayer of Jesus (v. 21) This is a conversation with the Father.

        Luke is the only one that mentions prayer and does not give details on the baptism. Why? Every serious step of the ministry was accompanied by prayer: preaching and healing (5:15-16), the choosing of disciples (6:12-13), the teaching on who Jesus is (9:18-21), transfiguration (9:28-29), lessons on prayer (11:1-2), the Last Supper (22:17-19), safety of the disciples (22:31-32), struggle in Gethsemane (22:40-43), death on the cross (23:33-34, 46). The last mentioning of Jesus’ prayer??? (24:30-31) – their eyes were opened!!!! Looking at Jesus praying should help people make a certain discovery about Jesus!

        See the direct connection between prayer and absolutely everything!

B. The Coming of the Holy Spirit (v. 22a). The Father sends the Holy Spirit on Christ in the form of a dove (the dove is the image of simplicity – (Matt. 10:16)), innocence, and purity…

        So, the descending of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove indicates that Jesus will be led and act in the power and the spirit of a dove – gently!

        (Matt. 11:28-29) – “For I am gentle and lowly in heart”

        How was this manifested in the ministry of Christ?

(4:1) – temptation and overcoming it, not by the will power or armies, but by the power of the humble trust in God!

(4:18-22) – a sermon on grace and God’s acceptance of sinners!

        Now, we should understand (v. 16) – Jesus will baptize believers with the Holy Spirit – this is a special act of God making believers like doves – gentle, simple, innocent and trusting God.

(Acts 1:4-5) – the theme of baptism returns…

(1:8) – power – but what kind of power? The power of gentleness, simplicity and purity!

Let’s see that dove like attitude in the early church:

(2:4, 7) preaching of the simple

(4:5-14) – filled with the Holy Spirit and simple (common)

(6:3-5, 8-10, 15) – Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit – like an angel

        How, then, is this to be connected with (v. 17)? Will the unquenchable fire?

        Can such tenderness and, on the other hand, righteous punishment be combined in Christ? The answer is YES, it can! How? The answer is in the word of God the Father!

C. Words of God the Father (v. 22b)

        Grammatically, this is the main sentence in the original, and all other subordinate clauses!

        As in the case of John the Baptist, the calling and beginning of the ministry is linked to the clear Word of God (3:2)!

        This phrase is a combination of two OT texts!

        (Ps. 2) – wrath, righteous judgment (v. 7)

        (Is. 42:1-7) – humility, meekness, tenderness of a dove!

Friends, do you see Jesus? The testimony of people, like John the Baptist, and the testimony of Trinity should take away any doubt!

Gospel

        Many do not see Jesus as the Savior of the world because they have their own idea of what He should be, and if what they hear does not match their idea, they refuse to worship Him.

        Today, you have the testimony of the Bible, in it the testimony of John the Baptist, and the testimony of the Trinity. Either this evidence is true or false! There is no other option! If this is true, then make sure that you serve the God of the Bible! Recognize Christ as Savior and Lord!