Study inLuke’s Gospel

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A SecondAdam

Chap 3v21-38Presentation 12

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IntroductionThose of you who have returned from a holiday overseas will know that at the airport you are immediately faced with two corridors and over one is written the words ‘nothing to declare’. The other lane is for those whose baggage contains items purchased overseas which require to have tax paid on them.

It is important for incoming travellers to stand in the right queue making an honest declaration of their position. It would be both strange and foolish for a traveller with nothing to declare to stand in the wrong queue, wallet in hand, ready to make a quite unnecessary payment.

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IntroductionThat picture is one that comes to mind when we see Jesus standing in queue waiting to be baptised. However, the issue is not one of tax due to be paid on goods purchased overseas. The issue is one of law-breaking.

These people were lining up to say we have broken God’s laws and deserve to pay a penalty for our sin. We are coming to God to tell him that we are sorry and that we intend to forsake that which is wrong in our lives. Surprisingly to any who knew him, Jesus has joined himself to that queue!

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Jesus In The Wrong Place?Matthew’s account of this incident tells us that John initially refused to baptise Jesus. He could not square such an action with his conscience for he knew of no sin that Jesus needed to repent of. Indeed, he told Jesus that it would be more appropriate if the tables were turned and Jesus was to baptise John.

Was Jesus therefore in the wrong queue? Jesus silenced John’s objection by telling him it was necessary for him to be baptised in order to ‘fulfil all righteousness’.

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Jesus In The Wrong Place?Luke does not record that particular objection but sets about answering the objection in a quite interesting manner. And he does so by slipping in Jesus’ family tree. You will know that this tree is different from the one in Matthew’s account. Matthew’s genealogy traces Mary’s lineage back to Abraham and is located in the birth narrative where we might expect to find it.

Luke’s genealogy traces Joseph’s line back to Adam and he ties the list into Jesus’ baptism narrative where we would not expect to find it. Why?

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Jesus In The Wrong Place?Luke is saying, ‘If you want to understand the meaning of Jesus’ baptism then you have to understand that Jesus does not join this queue as a private individual but as a representative for his people. Jesus is a part of the human race whose lineage can be traced back to the very first rebel man, Adam. But he is also a second Adam. He is the representative head of a new humanity’.

In his baptism Jesus was pledging two things, perfect obedience to God’s law on his people’s behalf and the assumption of the responsibility of his people’s disobedience to God’s law.

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Jesus In The Wrong Place?Later in the gospel in 12v50 we will read of Jesus saying, ‘I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is completed’. He was of course anticipating the agony of the cross while at the same time pointing back to his baptism in the Jordan. It is as though Jesus were saying, ‘I go forward to the cross in order to fulfil that public promise’ made at my baptism’.

And so at the Jordan the shadow of the cross fell over the live of Jesus and for the next three years he would never step out from under that shadow.

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The Prominence Of Prayer If you are familiar with Botticelli's famous painting of Jesus’ baptism then you will know that it depicts Jesus at prayer. The painting is based on Luke’s account for only he of all the evangelists records this.

In the gospels we are confronted again and again by Jesus at prayer and especially at important junctures of his ministry; as he ministered to great crowds in their need, before choosing his disciples, on the Mt. of Transfiguration, after some of the Jews had sought to seize him by force and make him king, on the evening he instituted the Lord’s Supper, in Gethsemane, on the cross, and after the ascension.

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The Prominence Of Prayer Jesus’ baptism does teaches an important lesson on the subject of prayer. If we are infant Christians or mature saints the lesson still applies. Jesus reveals that prayer is the key to his service. He dare not proceed without engaging the help of the Father. Jesus the man was aware of his need of divine enabling. Any attempt at Christian service without prayer, or seeking to live the Christian life without prayer is like trying to launch a space probe with a pea-shooter. Hudson Taylor’s advice to zealous young missionaries coming out to serve God in China was, ‘Do not be so busy with the work of Christ that you have no strength left for prayer.’

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The Prominence Of Prayer Do we give prayer the same importance as Jesus? We can become so self confident that our prayers are mere token duties and are not borne out of the conviction that without his help we are utterly helpless and impotent.

To give prayer a secondary place is to make God secondary in our lives. It is a sad day for the church when we reduce prayer to the church’s ambulance that is called out only on emergencies when the damage has already been done.

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The Prominence Of Prayer C. H. Spurgeon one of the greatest 19th Century London preachers said,

‘We shall never see much change for the better in our churches in general till the prayer meeting occupies a higher place in the esteem of Christians’.

What place do we give to prayer as individuals and corporately as we reflect upon the development of our own Christian lives and the advance of God’s work in the Christian fellowship of which we may be a part?

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The Holy Spirit - Equips For MinistryIt does not take much investigation to recognise the relationship between the prayer of Jesus and the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was prayer that opened heaven’s for Jesus to receive the promised anointing of the Holy Spirit for service.

The Holy Spirit in all his enabling and qualifying power came down upon Jesus. John tells us in 3v24 that God gave to him his Spirit without limit or measure. Over and over again in the gospels we read of Jesus accomplishing his work in the power of the Spirit. Well that enduement with power came in response to prayer.

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The Holy Spirit - Equips For MinistryNow if Jesus recognised the importance of the Holy Spirit in the performance of his ministry it should come as no surprise to us to discover that he that he impressed the importance of the Spirit’s empowering upon his disciples.

In John’s account of this incident John the Baptist says, ‘he who sent me to baptise with water said to me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptise with the Spirit’’. Indeed you will remember that after his resurrection Jesus expressly forbade his disciples to engage in mission until after they had been endued with the Spirit’s power.

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The Holy Spirit - Equips For MinistryThe Holy Spirit was Christ’s coronation gift to his frightened followers to embolden them for service, equip them for the work to which they had been called and to make them a holy people.

We need to be quite clear here about what scripture teaches. Every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and possess a new dynamic enabling him to live out the Christian life. The Spirit’s gifts provide the resources required for both life and service. With good reason the hymn writer encourages us to,“Think what Spirit dwells within you,What a Father’s love is thine.”

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The Holy Spirit- Equips For MinistryThe Christian does not have to wait for some second Pentecost experience of the Holy Spirit as some teach, before he can be fruitful in his Christian service. But if the Holy Spirit indwells the Spirit’s resources are already his.

But even then the Christian may say, ‘I am sure that my life is still not as fruitful as it ought to be’. The first question to ask is, ‘Am I truly a Christian, someone in whose heart Christ has been invited to rule?’ The second is, ‘Do I live my life dependant upon the Spirit’s help or am I the kind of person who has been happy to muddle along in my own strength?’

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The Holy Spirit- Equips For MinistryJesus taught his disciples the importance of calling on the Spirit’s help. Is this how we are meant to understand Lk 11v13 ‘If you then though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him’? Do we fail to cry out, ‘You know I am frightened and weak, I cannot possibly respond to this opportunity without the aid of your Holy Spirit’?

But there may be a third reason for our ineffectiveness cf. Eph. 4.30. We can, by our disobedience and wilful rejection of the Spirit’s instruction, grieve away the Holy Spirit. We can cause him to withdraw his influence from our lives until we recognise our error and repent.

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Encouragement Of The FatherAt his baptism Jesus knew what his mission was. He recognised his need of the Holy Spirit and prayed to that end. And he experienced the Holy Spirit’s fullness without measure. But we must also comment on the involvement of the Father.

The Father’s response to the Son’s costly act of obedience was to rend the heavens and speak words of encouragement; ‘You are my Son whom I love, with you I am well pleased’. Clearly, Jesus’ rescue mission was not a solo mission. Nor was it something done from his own initiative.

How important these words of encouragement proved to be to Jesus not least in the trial of temptation that waited just around the corner.

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Encouragement Of The FatherWe all need encouragement in Christian service. It can be a costly business. Whenever we take a decisive new step forward in consecration and obedience God will surely find a way to encourage us and ensure us of his approval. I am not suggesting that we hear audible voices or see neon signs light up in the sky. God uses a variety of means to encourage:1. His Word 2 Chron 31.42. Other Believers Deut 1.38 Eph 6.223. Our own knowledge of God’s character 1 Sam. 30v6

We can be sure of this, God will find a way to encourage us in our obedience!

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ConclusionOf course we need constantly to remind ourselves that Jesus’ service was quite unique. Nevertheless it does provide us with a pattern. He resolved to be obedient to the Father no matter the cost. If he demonstrated a sense of dependence and human helplessness how much more ought we? His obedience drew out the approval and encouragement of heaven so too will ours.

Are we following in his steps?