Good morning, and a blessed Thursday to you. Please open your Bibles to Luke, chapter 3 for our time in God’s Word today.

When I was on my internship, my supervising pastor, Pastor Gravrock, and I went out to lunch one day at a local pizza place. It was a good lunch, and as we were leaving, Pastor Gravrock went through the doors first. I was just a few steps behind him. The doors were clear glass, and as he stepped outside, we suddenly heard a shrill cry of joy from a child in the parking lot.

The child and his mother were members of the congregation, and when the little boy saw Pastor Gravrock, he pointed at him and shouted at the top of his voice, “There’s God!”

And then, as I walked through the door a moment later, he exclaimed, “And there’s Jesus!”

He was absolutely thrilled at this “sighting.” His mother, of course, gently and quickly corrected him. No one else in the parking lot reacted; no crowd gathered. The little one was simply the only person confused about identity that day.

When it comes to John the Baptist, he also faced questions about his identity. In Luke 3, beginning in verse 15, we read:

“As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’”

John was quick to point away from himself. He addressed the identity issue immediately. All John did was apply the water; but the One coming after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit. And when John spoke of the Messiah baptizing with fire, he pointed ahead to judgment. We see this clearly in verse 17:

“His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled at Pentecost in Acts 2. But here in Luke 3, the emphasis is also on the separation of believer from unbeliever — a judgment only the Messiah can bring. John knew exactly who he was, and who he was not. He was not the Messiah.

On the drive back to the church, Pastor Gravrock and I laughed over the parking-lot moment. He mused that if a third staff member had walked out with us, we might have had a full Trinitarian proclamation! Everyone knew — and the little boy soon learned — that we were not God and not Jesus.

And John, too, pointed away from himself to the Messiah — to God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, who went to the cross to bear our sin, pay the debt we could never pay, redeem us, reconcile us, forgive us, and open heaven to us. John pointed to Jesus.

That is our call as well: to point away from ourselves and toward Jesus with joy.

Let us pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we give You thanks for this time in Your Word. Your Word is truth. We thank You for the witness of John, who corrected the misunderstanding about his identity and pointed to the Messiah. May we also be a people who point to You. We praise You for Your goodness and Your grace.

In the strong and holy name of Jesus the Christ we pray, Amen.

May the Lord bless you. Encourage Someone. 

Pastor Eibel