Here are my sermon notes from Palm Sunday (yeah, I’m about a week late..) – the day we celebrate Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem on a donkey with the crowd waving palm leaves. It was a day foreshadowing what would happen – i.e. the coming of the Kingdom of God through the dead, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

In a similar manner, we talked about John the Baptist and his ministry in Luke 3 as he was a forebear of Jesus, proclaiming to the people that the Kingdom of Heaven was near (Matthew 3:2).

Public Reading: Luke 3:1-14

The Story

•    Imagine being a common farmer or tradesman in 1st century Israel
•    Under Roman rule with high taxes and the constant threat of pain at the hands of the armed forces
•    Jewish religious leaders constantly talked about purity and the Mosaic Law

o    You had to do this and that…
o    Each Saturday you had to remove all the yeast from your house…couldn’t work…no overtime…
o    Different rabbis had different rules and methods…

•    John shows up on the edge of the desert

o    Dressed in camel skins and eating locusts and honey
o    Preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was near
o    Perhaps justice was coming…perhaps this was the one…

•    You and your family decide to walk out to the desert to see this crazy guy…
•    When you get there you see John baptizing folks…

o    This is odd as baptism was reserved for Gentiles coming into the Jewish faith – and these were Jews getting baptized.
o    Yes, the Essenes, you had heard, washed multiple times a day for cleanliness…but John wasn’t telling folks to keep on washing…
o    It was a once time baptism…what was going on here?

•    Then John calls the religious leaders a “brood of vipers”
•    While that is good, you also see tax collectors and soldiers in the crowd..

o    You think that John is going to tear into them…
o    Only instead of judgment, John offers mercy
o    Don’t stop being a solider or a tax collector…just do what is right

•    The radical message of John

Digging In

Five main takeaways:

1.    Faith is an action

•    You have to walk out your repentance.

“You’d better prove your repentance by bearing proper fruit.” –Luke 3:8a TKNT

•    What is “proper fruit”?
•    John tells us in verse 10-11

10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

•    We are to stop being greedy
•    We are to love others as ourselves and share with them.

2.    Mercy, not rules

•    This goes right along with the number one.
•    John could have given the people a list of rules to do better…the people were asking him what to do…
•    Yet instead of listing off more and more things, John gave them mercy.
•    He pointed back to the Mosaic Law and that “All mankind will see God’s salvation”  – just walk out your repentance from sin and follow God.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. -Deut 6:5

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. –Lev 19:18

3.    Your past isn’t going to do it

•    There are times when we think we can drift…when we think that we are ok because of our past or our family
•    Being born in the USA isn’t going to save you…

And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” –Luke 3:8b-9

•    Tree – Israel, the Jewish people who were supposed to be God’s people

o    Hos 10:1-2

1 Israel was a spreading vine;
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
he adorned his sacred stones.
2 Their heart is deceitful,
and now they must bear their guilt.
The LORD will demolish their altars
and destroy their sacred stones.

o    Jer 2:21-22

21 I had planted you like a choice vine
of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
into a corrupt, wild vine?
22 Although you wash yourself with soap
and use an abundance of cleansing powder,
the stain of your guilt is still before me,”
declares the Sovereign LORD.

•    Axe – God’s judgment
•    Covenant – people thought that since they were children of Abraham they had it made. They were not like the Gentiles..

o    God would never judge them as it might inadvertently place the fulfillment of His promises in jeopardy.
o    John said that this thinking was false

•    We must daily walk after God…
•    We cannot go with God and remain the same!

4.    Outsiders welcomed

•    God’s mercy lets in those who we may not like
•    Tax collectors

12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”  13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

•    Roman Soldiers – most likely Gentiles from around the Roman Empire

14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

5.    Serve God within your profession

•    Be the best farmer, business man, construction worker, etc…
•    You don’t have to be a preacher or a missionary to serve God
•    John didn’t tell the soldier not to be a soldier anymore