Read Today's Passage
Early on in this chapter we have John preaching a baptism of repentance. He accuses some of the crowd of being a brood of vipers who are seeking to escape the coming wrath. It kind of reminds me of people who respond to an invitation to accept Christ as their savior and Lord solely for the purpose of escaping hell. Their lifestyle does not change, and they do not allow Christ to truly dwell in them and to change them to become more like Him. (Click on the hyperlink above and change the translation to The Message. The language used there is pretty revealing and ma even be easier to catch the thrust with). John is not out to make any friends, and brings up the tree that does not bear fruit analogy. (One that we saw Jesus bring up in Mark). It is pretty impressive that as bold and... harsh as his words are, people from all walks of life are drawn to him and his message. Almost like an ancient street preacher (though different from today's variety). And even though Herod (according to Mark) was intrigued by what John had to say, he still bristled at being called out in his sin and locked John up.
Pay special attention to the genealogy. If you are familiar with the Old Testament narratives at all, there should be a few familiar names in there... and some that would shock you if you knew who they were...
What were your thoughts?
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3 comments:
why do you suppose the geneology of Joseph was recorded in such detail when he wasn't Jesus genetic father?
Do you supose it could have anything to do with giving validity to step fathers now-a-days? That is what jumps to my mind anyway
well, not being an expert genealogist (is that even a word? i guess so since there are no red lines under it), i think that we have to start out first with the prophecies that the Messiah would descend from the lineage of David.
after that, i think it all kind of falls into place that even though he was not Joseph's son biologically, (He was his son by adoption into the family in essence) He was "born" into the lineage of David.
interesting, eh?
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