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第2天

约翰接受神的呼召

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路加福音3章1至6节

1该撒提庇留在位第十五年，本丢彼拉多作犹太巡抚，希律作加利利分封的王，他兄弟腓力作以土利亚和特拉可尼地方分封的王，吕撒聂作亚比利尼分封的王，

2亚那和该亚法作大祭司。那时，撒迦利亚的儿子约翰在旷野里，神的话临到他。

3他就来到约但河一带地方，宣讲悔改的洗礼，使罪得赦。

4正如先知以赛亚书上所记的话，说:『在旷野有人声喊着说: '预备主的道，修直他的路。

5一切山洼都要填满，大小山冈都要削平。弯弯曲曲的地方要改为正直，高高低低的道路要改为平坦。

6凡有血气的，都要见神的救恩。'』

信息分享

在第一章的最后一节，我们看到约翰「住在旷野，直到他显明在以色列人面前的日子」。到底他是在多大的时候离开家，去死海附近的旷野独居呢？二十岁？按照规定，二十岁就是他可以担任祭司职务的年龄。是否他父母经常反复向他讲述他出生的经过，和天使如何预言他一生的工作？神如何呼召他到旷野居住，以及如何装备他承担日后的重任？圣经并没有向我们详述这一切。

不过，圣经却清楚记载，约翰一直等到神的话临到他，他才开始公开事奉（三2）。旧约也经常出现「耶和华的话临到……」这句话。对神的仆人来说，听见神的呼召乃是非常重要的。当神的话临到约翰，就意味着约翰在旷野的准备期已经完结，他要离开旷野，公开露面，面对他的以色列同胞。他们会接受他吗？

约翰怎样开始他的公开布道工作呢？他先来到约旦河的下流，在耶利哥附近的一个村落开始布道呢？还是他邀请百姓来到河边，接受他的施洗，借此表明他们悔改归正？

显然神借着他向百姓说话，以至国中会产生某种期待。部分百姓可能读过但以理书；另一些也许听闻约翰出生的传奇，或是知悉旧约记载基督会在伯利恒降生。当神开始行动的时候，祂就会将千头万绪的事物聚拢一起，带来意想不到的结果。

当神的旨意与神的时间相合，神便会成就祂在我们身上的计划。我们在事后回顾，便会清楚看见神的作为。感谢神祂今天依然不变。

Day 2

JOHN RECEIVES HIS CALL

Luke 3: 1-6

1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests,[a] the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,

4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.

5 Every valley shall be filled. And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight, And the rough ways smooth;

6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”[b]

Message

In the last verse of chapter 1, we read that John “lived in the desert until he publicly appeared to Israel”. How old was he when he left home to live in the deserts around the Dead Sea? Twenty? That is when he would have normally taken up his priestly duties. Had his parents told him again and again the story of his birth and the angel's prophecy about his life's work? How did God speak to him out under the stars and train him for the mighty work ahead? We are not told.

But it must have been quite a moment when God said to him “John, it is time for you to begin your ministry” (v.2). The same phrase is used in the Old Testament, “'The word of the Lord came...” The time of the call of God to His service has meant much to God's servants through the years since then. For John it meant his days of preparation were over. He must then leave the familiar desert and started out on his own to face the people. Would they receive him or not?

How did John commence his open-air evangelism? Did he start in one of the many villages not far from Jericho in the lower Jordan valley? Did he invite the people to meet him at the river to be baptized, showing their repentance for their sins?

There was no doubt that God was speaking through him. There might have been some sense of expectancy in the whole country. Perhaps some had been reading the book of Daniel. Others might have heard the story of John's birth, or the account of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. When God begins to move, He can bring together all the threads and the results are always remarkable.

When God's will and His time coincide, He brings about His plans for us. We look back later and see it all so clearly. Thank God He is still the same today