Matthew 3:1-17
I think that whoever decided that preachers needed to wear uncomfortable clothes like ties, must have thought that if John the Baptist wore itchy camel hair in the desert than we must find some instrument of torture to inflict upon our preachers. I am just glad that they didn't decide to impose his diet on us. I like honey just fine but the locust ... not so much. What I do wish is that my preaching were as courageous and effective as his.
There are three people or groups of people who come to John in this passage. Each one comes with a different motive. Each one is received with a different message. I think that there are lessons for to learn from each.
Un-Righteous Repenters were being Baptized: John's message was not an easy one to hear. John's "church" was not an attractive or comfortable place to attend. John's image was not exactly what we would call "marketable". Yet people from all over traveled by foot to sit on rocks and sand in the hot sun in order to hear him. Why? It seems that the truth of his message resonated in their hearts as being the answer to their greatest problem. Man, because of the conscience God has graciously placed in our hearts, is acutely aware of his sin. Sin is man's greatest problem therefore forgiveness is man's greatest need. John's message, while not easy, was a message of truth and hope. Sinners flocked to hear it and responded to it by repenting and being identified with John's "revival" as he prepared the way for Christ. May we never be duped into sugar coating the truth of God's Word in hopes of making it more palatable or popular for those who hear. For in so doing, we risk being irrelevant because we do not address their true problem which is sin. And we become ineffective at pointing them to the only solution which is Christ.
Self-Righteous Rulers were being Chastised: The religious leaders also made their way to the wilderness and desired to be baptised. However, they came without the repentance and confession of sin that was described in the first group. John's message was brutal and a true "foretaste" of the messages that Christ would preach to these same people. The message was simple: God's work in the hearts of man through His Spirit will produce fruit or form kernels of wheat. The absence of which is indicative of a counterfeit, man made religion stuffed into the skin of godliness. The former will result in eternal reward the latter is dead wood and chaff destined for fire. May God give us true discernment to recognize the difference in our own hearts and the hearts of our hearers.
The Truly-Righteous Redeemer was being Recognized: Exactly why Jesus came to be baptised is not clear to me. It certainly was not because he needed to repent or confess sin. He simply tells John that it is "fitting". John receives Christ in humility and obediently baptizes Him. Then God, very publicly and supernaturally, declares that Jesus is His Son. We have to assume that the public in general as well as the Pharisees and Sadducees heard the voice and saw the dove. Ironically, these same people crucified Christ a few years later because he claimed to be exactly whom God proclaimed Him to be. Christ is the hope in whom repentant sinners trust. Christ is the stone over which unrepentant sinners stumble. Praise be to God for solving our greatest problem: sin; and for meeting our greatest need: forgiveness in the person and work of Christ. May we boldly proclaim this message of hope to the nations of the world.
There are three people or groups of people who come to John in this passage. Each one comes with a different motive. Each one is received with a different message. I think that there are lessons for to learn from each.
Un-Righteous Repenters were being Baptized: John's message was not an easy one to hear. John's "church" was not an attractive or comfortable place to attend. John's image was not exactly what we would call "marketable". Yet people from all over traveled by foot to sit on rocks and sand in the hot sun in order to hear him. Why? It seems that the truth of his message resonated in their hearts as being the answer to their greatest problem. Man, because of the conscience God has graciously placed in our hearts, is acutely aware of his sin. Sin is man's greatest problem therefore forgiveness is man's greatest need. John's message, while not easy, was a message of truth and hope. Sinners flocked to hear it and responded to it by repenting and being identified with John's "revival" as he prepared the way for Christ. May we never be duped into sugar coating the truth of God's Word in hopes of making it more palatable or popular for those who hear. For in so doing, we risk being irrelevant because we do not address their true problem which is sin. And we become ineffective at pointing them to the only solution which is Christ.
Self-Righteous Rulers were being Chastised: The religious leaders also made their way to the wilderness and desired to be baptised. However, they came without the repentance and confession of sin that was described in the first group. John's message was brutal and a true "foretaste" of the messages that Christ would preach to these same people. The message was simple: God's work in the hearts of man through His Spirit will produce fruit or form kernels of wheat. The absence of which is indicative of a counterfeit, man made religion stuffed into the skin of godliness. The former will result in eternal reward the latter is dead wood and chaff destined for fire. May God give us true discernment to recognize the difference in our own hearts and the hearts of our hearers.
The Truly-Righteous Redeemer was being Recognized: Exactly why Jesus came to be baptised is not clear to me. It certainly was not because he needed to repent or confess sin. He simply tells John that it is "fitting". John receives Christ in humility and obediently baptizes Him. Then God, very publicly and supernaturally, declares that Jesus is His Son. We have to assume that the public in general as well as the Pharisees and Sadducees heard the voice and saw the dove. Ironically, these same people crucified Christ a few years later because he claimed to be exactly whom God proclaimed Him to be. Christ is the hope in whom repentant sinners trust. Christ is the stone over which unrepentant sinners stumble. Praise be to God for solving our greatest problem: sin; and for meeting our greatest need: forgiveness in the person and work of Christ. May we boldly proclaim this message of hope to the nations of the world.
Gary, wonderful kernels! Regarding Jesus' baptism: (v 13-15) I read "John was reluctant to baptize Jesus because he recognized that Jesus was the one person who had no need for repentance. But in order for "all righteousness" to be fulfilled, Jesus had to be identified with His people as the bearer of their sins (2 Cor. 5:21). Ultimately John's baptism pointed to Jesus, for only Jesus' death on a cross, which He called a "baptism" (Luke 12:50), could take away sins. Jesus' identification with His people included His baptism and death, His anointment with the Spirit, and His victory over temptation." Also, "In His role as Messiah, 'born under the law' (Gal. 4:4), Jesus had to submit to all God's requirements for Israel, and to identify with those whose sins He had come to bear. His baptism proclaimed that He had come to take the sinner's place under God's judgment. It is in this sense that He was baptized to 'fulfill all righteousness' (Matt. 3:15; cf. Is. 53:11)."
ReplyDeleteAnd I learned, at Christ's baptism there was a manifestation of the Trinity: the Father spoke from heaven, a dove descended, as a sign of the Spirit's anointing. (cf. John 1:32,33) Jesus is marked as bearer of the Spirit. (cf. Luke 4:1, 14, 18-21).
Tony and Jan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good comments of Christ's baptism. In the next chapter Christ will be identified with temptation in a greater way than any of us have ever faced. I am so glad that He identified with my sin on the cross so that I might be identified with His holiness.