13. Don’t Miss It

Luke 3:23-4:3

Tempting to leave it out, isn’t it? All those names. Even to someone quite familiar with the Old Testament, there are only a few recognisable characters here.

But if you leave this passage out you’ll miss something that Luke really wants you to see.

So look again.

Find the keyword.

A word that appears 76 times in Luke 3:23-38.

And it’s not ‘the’ or ‘of’.

Go on, look.

SON. 76 times.

And what was it that the very rare audible voice of God said in the previous passage we looked at?

“You are my SON.” (Luke 3:22)

And what is it that the devil is going to say in the next passage?

“If you are the SON…” (Luke 4:3)

What’s the big deal about being a son? In what sense could Adam be called the son of God? How can God refer to Israel (a nation) as his son? (Ex 4:22-23)

A son was supposed to show forth the character of the father.

Adam was made in God’s image and was meant to express the character of God in this world. A snake came into the garden and Adam failed to be a faithful son.

Israel was a nation with a peculiar calling to live in a way that demonstrated the character of God. They were in the wilderness for 40 years and they failed over and over again to act like a son.

Enter Jesus. He’s going to go into the wilderness for 40 days to face that same snake. What sort of son would he be?

Will He succeed where Adam failed?

Will He succeed where Israel failed?

Jesus is the perfect son. He is the perfect representation of what the character of God is like.

He did succeed where Adam failed.

He did stay faithful in the wilderness and he did deal with that wretched snake.

But we get in on the act as well. There are many wonderful things to be seen in the fact that we are also referred to as sons and daughters of God. Our place as God’s children is relentlessly spoken of in the New Testament. The image evokes love, safety, provision and a host of other things, one of which is the responsibility to allow the character of God to be expressed to the world through us.

We’re the sons and the daughters of God. It’s a heavy responsibility but we have the best possible help. Paul writes that God has adopted us and sent ‘the Spirit of his Son’ into our hearts, which causes us to instinctively act like sons, for example by crying out ‘Abba! Father!’ (Galatians 4:4-6).

Ponder

How did Jesus show God’s character to this world?

How can we show God’s character to this world?

Ask the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God’s Son) to fill you and empower you afresh so that it becomes instinctive to act and react like a son/daughter of God.