December 9, 2007
First Church of the Brethren
H. Kevin Derr
Matthew 3:1-12
“The Baptist”
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ ”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Before Jesus began his preaching, teaching and healing ministry, there was one who came before him, one who prepared the people for what was to come. He was a rough and powerful man, one who lived not in the confines of the city or village, but he lived in the wild. He was one who would have had the right to serve in the Temple, his Father was a priest, a descendant of Aaron, this was his birth right. Yet, we find him in the desert, preaching to whoever will come out to listen to him, he challenges the powerful, the governmental leaders, the religious leaders, and calls them to repent, to prepare, because one greater than him is coming!
Prayer
I. John the Baptist, is an important figure in the time of Jesus, but we have little of his preaching recorded for us. Matthew understood John this way,
a. 1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3
b. Matthew tells us about John the baptizer, he of course baptized, but he also spoke a powerful message, not one of comfort and peace, but one violent change, unprecedented change, he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
i. His primary message, the core of his teaching and preaching was this “Repent.”
1. Whenever someone brings this message, it suggest that there is a need for such behavior, because we have been doing things that require repentance.
a. This may be true of individuals, it may also be true of people groups. It is difficult to separate out these two factors.
b. Here is the most difficult point, is John calling the people of Judea to Repentance, as a whole, or is he calling individuals.
i. We tend to think in the terms of individuals, but they thought in terms of groups.
ii. This is why you see families being baptized in the New Testament, because the father converted, then the family followed.
iii. It was the assumption.
2. As we hear John’s call to repentance this advent season, as we prepare for the celebration of Jesus birth, and as we prepare for the eventual coming of the kingdom, we are to repent as a people, and as individuals.
ii. John is not an aberration, but one who was expected to come and herald the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew explains it this way, This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ “
1. John’s purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus to come, to remove the obstacles, to tear down the points where people would be hindered in coming to him.
2. We know that John did his work, he prepared the people, but there were many who would not receive Jesus, but many did.
3. What about today though, as we prepare for Christmas, what will hinder us from experience Christ this season? What entanglements will grab hold of us and keep us from worshiping the Christ, and living out the kingdom in our daily walk?
c. Matthew gives us a snapshot of John, a quick sketch to put some texture to his prophet.
i. He says, 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
1. John did not dress and live like most of his contemporaries:
a. Clothes of camel hair, a belt of leather, a person who is living outside of the conventional community, to make a point
b. Prophets were often asked to live their lives as a statement, a warning, a symbol of what was going to happen.
2. People came to hear John preach and teach, they confessed sin, they were baptized by him in the Jordan.
a. I sometimes think of this as a ancient Billy Graham, a charismatic figure of integrity and purpose.
b. Someone no one disavowed, but yet not necessarily did more than listen to, even if they confessed their sins and were baptized.
c. John clearly had an impact, but he was not the one to transform the culture, the people and bring in the kingdom, that role belonged to another.
II. John most likely drew strongly from the poor and the disenfranchised who lived on the margins of his culture.
a. Matthew tells us about his confrontation of the religious leaders of the day:
i. This is what Matthew records for us: 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
1. At some point John became so well know, so well respected that the religious and civic leaders of his day could no longer ignore him, so they too came out to see what he was doing.
2. he does not give them the benefit of the doubt, he immediately calls them to account, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee to the coming wrath?”
a. He does not allow for their family heritage, as part of the tribe of Levi, for the Seduces, to give them God’s favor. Nor does he allow the learning and knowledge of the Pharisees to give them favor in the sight of God.
b. Those points of prestige and honor in their culture, give then no standing in the sight of God.
c. What will give them standing with God?
i. Producing fruit in keeping with repentance.
ii. It is not what you know, or who your father is that makes the difference, it is how you live out of your relationship with the father that makes the difference.
d. John tells them very plainly, your genealogy will not save you from living apart from the father, God can raise up children for Abraham from the stones, your assumption that being descended from Abraham will not make any difference.
3. He tells them, “The ax is already at the root of the tree, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
a. You hear echoes here of Jesus saying, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and bad tree cannot bear good fruit.”
b. We cannot assume that our parents connection or lack there of with God will determine our future.
c. We cannot assume that as long as we do more good than bad, we will be fine.
i. The root, the tree, the core of who we are must be good, in order for their to be good fruit.
ii. We need be in right relationship with the Father, as individuals and as a people.
1. This means that we pray and confess our own sin, but we also confess the sin of our church, be that local or denominationally, but we also confess the sin of the church universal.
2. We should also consider the sin of our nation and the sin of humanity as a whole.
3. We must consider the groups that we belong to that define who we are and what we are about.
III. John spoke of a day, the Day of the Lord, a great and terrible day, a day we yet wait to see. Matthew records it this way, 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
a. John baptized with water for repentance, a statement about confession of sin and forgiveness, about turning away from sin and evil.
i. But that is only the first step, the second is much more profound.
ii. John says another is coming
b. The one who is coming is much more powerful, much more threatening
i. Where John preached a warning, the one who is coming is going to separate the wheat from the chaff, the righteous from the unrighteous.
1. He says be warned his winnowing fork is in his hand
2. He is prepared to remove one from the other
a. The chaff goes to unquenchable fire and is burned up
b. The Wheat is gathered into the barn
c. He will clear the thrashing floor, the earth
ii. He will come and first baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, which began on Pentecost, but now we are moving toward the separation of the wheat and the chaff, toward Judgment.
1. As we move through this Advent season, we should do some looking and see where we stand, and what we are trusting in for life and for the future.
a. Have we placed our trust in who are parents are, in what groups we belong to, or have we placed our lives in Christ Jesus.
b. If we have questions about this, the place we look is the fruit of our lives, is it good or bad, that will tell us about the tree that is our lives.
Amen.
