Passage Read: Luke 7-8
Meditation Verses: 7:29-30
Thought
John came to prepare a people for the Lord. He did so by preaching and warning the people to repent; he even gave specific examples of how their repentance should look. Tax collectors, soldiers and many other sinners came to him to be baptized in repentance. That's why there were so many tax collectors and sinners ready to believe in Jesus, to spend time with Him and learn from Him. They had already come to repentance under John's preaching! But the Pharisees and experts in the Law rejected God's purpose for them by refusing to believe and repent under John's preaching and under Jesus'.
Application
Repentance is a theme of Luke's gospel, of John's preaching and of Jesus' ministry. We are not saved by some simple prayer of faith, but by a faith in Christ and God that leads to a change of life that accords with God's teaching and instruction. Those tax collectors and sinners that Jesus ate with had already repented and were eager to learn who the Messiah was and what He expected of them. These are the kind of people God is seeking! And John's kind of preaching brings them to light, showing who is ready to follow Jesus. So it's John's kind of preaching that we need, not afraid to make people face their sin and calling them to leave it. Preaching love and acceptance without a need for change doesn't prepare people for God's kingdom, but emboldens them to remain in Satan's kingdom without fear. I need to preach repentance and forgiveness through Christ, and live it myself.