Born to Baptize; Luke 3:1-6

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 7/4/2021. As Luke turns the page from the early life of Christ to the beginning of His ministry, he focuses first on the herald sent to announce His coming-- John the Baptist. We will study his twofold function: to introduce Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, and to prepare people's hearts for the coming of their Redeemer. Luke the historian will first ground us in the history of the times, and then anchor us in Old Testament prophecy concerning both John and Jesus. After establishing the importance of Luke's historical approach, we will analyze John's baptism and what makes it distinct from Christian baptism. But ultimately we will find how crucial the imagery of John's message of repentance is to the redemption process, and thereby understand the vital importance to us today of the fact that John was born to baptize.