Luke 3:1-2 Mark 1:1

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Time_of_the_Beginning_of_Johns_Preaching.htm

Today’s passage is almost a second introduction to the Gospels.  We have seen the accounts of the birth and childhood of Jesus but now we are shifting gears to see how the ministry of Jesus began.  We are fast forwarding through over a decade of the life of Jesus where we have no biblical accounts as to what transpired during these years.  Clearly this information is not important or it would have been included.  Many have speculated as to what the childhood, adolescence and teen years might have been like.  In reality, these thoughts may be interesting or even entertaining but they are most likely inaccurate and most certainly not necessary.  We are now given the information that it necessary for us to have about the setting in which John the Baptist begins his ministry of preparing the way for Jesus.

WHEN JOHN’S MINISTRY BEGAN: God has a purpose behind all that He does.  The times of our lives and the timings of the events of our lives are in His hands.  God had determined just the right time for bringing Messiah into the world and the right time for Messiah’s ministry to begin.  In light of that timing God has also brought John the Baptist into the world in order to prepare the way for Jesus and fulfill prophecy.  All of these events happened in accordance to the will of God.  He still has a mission that He is fulfilling on the earth.  The advancement of the Gospel involves timing and we must recognize God’s control over the timing of these things.  We must be humble as we look at timing and remember that time is in God’s hands and not ours.  It is not our job to figure out when events will take place or manipulate events that occur in our lives.  We are called to recognize God’s control over the timing in our lives and trust Him in every circumstance in which we might find ourselves.

WHO WAS IN POWER AT THE TIME: God not only controls the times but also controls the people that are surrounding those times.  God determined that the best time for John and Jesus to start their ministries was when each of the men mentioned in this passage was in power.  Each man named would play a key role in determining the context in which John and Jesus would minister.  Scripture is abundantly clear that God is the one who sets up and takes down leaders.  Every leader that is in power at this moment has been placed there by God.  This has been true of very moment throughout history without exception.  Pilate, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas would all play a role in bringing about God’s plan to offer His Son Jesus as a sacrifice for our sin.  These men had glaring flaws and those under their leadership suffered because of those flaws but God was orchestrating His plan for the history of the world through the lives of these men.  We must understand that God’s mission is far more important than our circumstances. 

WHAT & WHERE THIS HAPPENED: At this moment in time with these men in power: “the Word of the Lord came to John.”  John was God’s man in God’s place and when the world scene was what God wanted it to be; John got word from God.  God called John into action in order to fulfill His mission.  At the time of his calling John was in the wilderness.  We don’t know what John had gone to the wilderness to do but we often see God working in the lives of men while they are in the wilderness.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David and many prophets all spent significant portions of their lives in the wilderness.  It seems that the wilderness is not so much a place that you go in order to have communion with God; but more of a place that God takes men in order to prepare them to be able to accomplish His mission.  I am not saying that we should not seek out places of solitude in order to pray and meditate on God’s Word.  This is a wise practice and a discipline we should all seek to develop in our walk with God.  My point is that when we find ourselves in the wilderness we can be certain that God has us there for a purpose.  We may not understand what that purpose is this side of heaven but we should be attentive to what God wants to teach us in the wilderness.


APPLICATION: Trust God with the timings of the events and circumstances of our lives.  Rest in the fact that those who are in leadership over us and the world at this very moment have been strategically placed there by God to accomplish His mission on earth.  Face times that we find ourselves in the wilderness with an expectation to see God at work in our lives.  The wilderness is often a place of tears but God uses these times to equip us to be able to rejoice in participating in His mission.

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