“Christ In the Wilderness”
Ivan Kramskoy 

 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Holy Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. Luke 4:1-2

[Yes, we re returning to the temptation story again this week. There are a couple more points that I wanted to draw out before moving on.]

INTRO: These first two verses set the stage for the episode that follows 

The camera zooms in on Jesus first – his name appears as the story begins
– he is a long way from home, from family, and from the old neighborhood
He is being guided through a transition
– he’s not in charge of this moment in his life, but he’s ready
– he braves the desert alone, subjecting himself to two opposing forces Continue reading →

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. Luke 4:1-2 (1-13) 

INTRO: We return to where we left our bookmark 

Jesus is on the move and he goes from his baptism directly into the wilderness 

Even if we had never heard this story before, there is something about it that sounds familiar
– we can detect a series of events in Jesus’ movements that are typical of folk tales from ancient times to today
Continue reading →

Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Luke 3:21-11 

INTRO: This last week I read the story of the flood and realized we had to return to Luke 3 

Jesus’ baptism deserves a closer look
– Peter saw a correspondence between the Genesis flood and baptism (1 Pe. 3:20-21)
– the flood gave the earth a good bathing – it washed away human corruption 

Think of the Earth after the flood as a “sterile field”
– it could have remained disinfected if God had not spared Noah and his family, because they carried in their hearts the germ of human corruption Continue reading →

Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also bapized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Luke 3:21-22 (read entire chapter)

INTRO: From the end of chapter 2, the story jumps ahead, skipping eighteen years of Jesus’ early life

Verses 1-3 give us the geopolitical setting for John’s story

These names of people and places are like vectors that help us locate the story in its historical and cultural context
– a hierarchical and oppressive system and at all levels in the service of Rome

Luke isn’t writing a history as we think of it–that is to say, he isn’t marking a point on a “time line”
– he’s telling a story, so his concern is not a date, but what this situation means to the characters
– in verses 19-20 we will see how politics affect John the Baptist

Continue reading →