When Our Acting Fails, There is One Who Can Change the Heart (Luke 3:1-20)

By looking at John the Baptist’s ministry, we can learn a lot about Jesus and what it means to seek Him. John’s mission is outlined in Luke 3:4-6:

“Prepare the way for the Lord;
make His paths straight!
Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be made low;
the crooked will become straight
the rough ways smooth,
and everyone will see the salvation of God.”

This imagery comes from the custom of kings planning to visit a town. The king would send couriers ahead who would call the people to clear the roadway – filling in potholes, removing large obstacles. Their job was to make the king’s journey to them as quick and easy as possible.

My friend, Matthew Lucio, recently pointed out to me that our mission as Christians is the same as John’s. More or less, our job in bringing people to Jesus is to get out of the way. By that I don’t mean that we are uninvolved, but rather that we do not become a pitfall or obstacle in the way of Jesus entering the lives of those around us. That is also part of our job in our own lives – to clear away anything that would hinder Jesus from having full access to our lives, to remove anything that fuels our resistance to His voice in our heart.

We tend to emphasize and fill our lives (and those we’re trying to influence) with things that, honestly, not only don’t matter, but are obstructing our view of Jesus.

I think that is what John is getting at when he talks about repentance. He warns the Jews that the things which they are depending on for salvation aren’t going to cut it (v. 7-8).

• ·         They can’t escape the consequences of their sinful lives without actually turning away from that lifestyle (“fruit consistent with repentance”).

• ·         They can’t rely on their Jewish heritage (in other words, their church membership), without actually having a change in their hearts.

John is emphasizing the fact that what really matters is the condition of the heart, not merely the external life. Yet when various groups approach him and ask what they should do, he gives very practical, “external” advice. My theory is that, in addition to encouraging them to make positive changes in their lives, John is also laying the groundwork for Jesus’ ministry of transforming the heart.

As each of these people – as each of us – hear what is required, the realization must ultimately hit us that we can’t consistently and continually follow through with these requirements. We may be able to keep up the act for a while, but since our external actions flow out of the heart, unless our heart becomes good, our actions will eventually conform in quality with our heart. We must have purified hearts. And there is only One who can change our hearts.

John points to this when he tells the people, “I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (v. 16). The water of baptism and repentance can do good work to remove the obstacles between us and Jesus, as well as awaken our desire for true life. However, we need that spark, that fire kindled in our hearts in order to actually live such a life. Through Jesus, the Holy Spirit purifies and transforms our heart and empowers us to live a holy and abundant life.

This is the promise of John’s ministry: that as we turn towards Jesus, clearing away anything that hinders our view of Him, and as we fix our eyes on Him, He changes us from within, enabling us to live lives which flow out of our renewed hearts.