John preaches about the Messiah, repentance

Fifteen years had passed since the beginning of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. And the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, while he was in the desert.

John traveled across all of the Jordan calling for everyone to repent and to be baptized. By so doing John was fulfilling the words of Isaiah that had been foretold many years before, when he wrote, “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”

John was not always polite when he proclaimed his message. “You brood of vipers!” he said. “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance . … Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

When the people heard John’s words, they were afraid, so they asked him, “What then should we do?”

John answered, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” When some tax collectors came to be baptized by John, they also asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”

And John said to them, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed. To the soldiers, John said, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”

Because of the things John said and did, rumors started to spread that he was the Messiah. When John learned of this he said, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.” After this, John did not always preach a message of repentance. He also preached about the good news that the Messiah was coming soon. And one day, when John was baptizing people Jesus came to be baptized as well. When this happened heaven opened up, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended on Jesus and a voice from the sky proclaimed, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

READ MORE ABOUT IT:
Luke 3

Q&A
1. What prophet foretold the ministry of John the Baptist?
2. What did the voice from heaven say to Jesus?

Bible Accent: Who was Luke?

Luke, who wrote one of the four Gospels, was a traveling companion of Paul’s, even when Paul was left alone by some of his other fellow missionaries. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul refers to Luke as the “beloved physician.” Because of the similarity of writing style, most scholars believe that Luke also was the author of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, especially because of the knowledge of the ministry of Paul that is evident in that book. Luke opens his Gospel with an introduction where he says he wrote his narrative based on reports of eyewitnesses and by consulting many historical records. Where the Gospel recounts the life of Jesus, the Book of Acts records important events of the beginning of the church.

Saint for Today: St. Judoc

Judoc, sometimes called Josse, (d. 668) was the son of the king of Brittany. Instead of living as a prince, he decided to become a religious and was ordained a priest around the year 636. After he made a pilgrimage to Rome, he made the decision to live as a hermit near the mouth of the Canche River. Later the name of the river was changed to the Saint-Josse. After his death, his body remained incorrupt. According to tradition, Charlemagne allowed the hermitage of Josse to be used as a shelter and stopping place for travelers. We honor him on Dec. 13.