Jesus and John the Baptist
Matthew 3:1-17
This week we look to Jesus and John the Baptist. We know from scripture that John was a relative of Jesus through Jesus mother Mary. Luke 1:36
We know that John the Baptist parents Zechariah and Elizabeth were both well along in years and that Elizabeth had been barren until God gave her John by a miracle. Luke 1:11-17
We learn that this special baby John will have a divine mission. To make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17
We also learn that John the Baptist will go on in the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. Luke 1:17
The bible gives us a panoramic view of the life and times of Jesus in great detail all we have to do is look for the details.
We know that John the Baptist was born about 6 months before Jesus was born to Mary. Luke tells us that Mary went to visit Elizabeth when Elizabeth was in her sixth month. Luke 1:39
So the story of Jesus involves not just one couple but two and in fact it involves a family line that can trace their ancestry back to King David and even back to Abraham who was the father of the Jewish faith. Matthew 1:2-16
Both Mary and Elizabeth were to be main characters in bringing the good news to the people of Israel. Their sons were to be special messengers of God who would both give their lives to fulfill Gods will.
Have you ever experienced the awe of going to a really big city for the first time? In a way it is like entering a wilderness where nothing seems familiar. I can remember going to Toronto in 1989 to take a two week course for my police career.
All around me were mountains of buildings whose shadows engulfed me as I walked between them. I saw many strange people of every tribe and nation. It was as if people from all over the world were there and in fact they were. I also saw people begging for the first time in my life. Some begged for food others for money.
I also saw a few people who were proclaiming religious messages. Some were dressed like businessmen and women and then others were in filthy clothes and had unkempt beards and wild eyes. These wild eyed people held placards that read a simple message that they proclaimed with shrill voices Repent for the End is Near.
This experience rattled me from my calm, cool collected demeanor and made me feel uneasy and unsettled. I quickly composed myself and realized that this is just a normal day on Yonge Street in Toronto and that I should just keep walking. Have you walked on past a similar warning at some time in your life?
Maybe like me you too have run into a wild prophet or two proclaiming that the End is Near. How did you respond?
Such was the job description of John the Baptist. His parents had him when they were both well along in years so it stands to reason that he was fairly young when they died.
Did John end up with relatives as a result or head straight into the desert as a teenager we do not know? But John did find within himself a powerful, pulsating message that drove him into the desert region of Judea.
The bible tells us that John will go on in the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. Luke 1:17
Elijah was an Old Testament prophet of God who lived nine centuries before John. Elijah had the same message as John. Repent and turn to God. God used Elijah to raise the dead separate the waters of the Jordan River and take on pagan priests in a contest of fire on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18-19
In the same way that Elijah had a fiery message so too did John. Matt. 3:11 I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John found his way to the desert as a spiritual nomad. God seems to like to use the fire of the desert to refine the hearts of men and their faith. God would confront these men with their sin so that they would be fit messengers able to confront us about our sins.
Moses, Abraham and Joshua and the twelve tribes of Israel also marched through the desert sands in preparation to serve the Living God and John the Baptist was no exception.
John the Baptist looked like a wild man dressed in a camel hair robe that was tied with a leather belt. Surely his hair was long and tangled and his beard matted from eating wild honey and locusts. What kind of breath did that leave him with I wonder? His voice truly fulfilled the words of prophecy a voice that called and echoed from the waters of the Jordan to the sands of the desert.
He had only one sermon to preach and he knew it from heart. Turn away from sin and repent and turn to the Living God. John was preparing the people for the coming Messiah. John was effective he had found a following and hundreds thronged to the waters edge to hear his message and to ponder their spiritual condition.
The chosen people the nation of Israel needed to be reminded that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 111:10. More than the scorching heat of the desert was the scorching breath of Gods wrath upon their hearts as John the Baptists fiery message filled their ears.
Standing waste deep in the Jordan River John the Baptist beckoned that sinners come and confess their sins and wash themselves and be made clean inside and out in order to be ready for the Messiah who was soon to come. The Pharisees and Sadducees were present taking in the message of the Baptizer.
Not everyone in the crowd that day felt they needed the Baptism of John. They held on to three things. Dr. Rev. Victor Shepherd says…there are three things that cozy, comfortable people think they can take refuge in when there is no refuge; namely, parentage, piety and prestige.
The Pharisees and Sadducees trusted in their parentage. There response was that they had Abraham as their father. Rev. Shepherd put it this way…In light of the crisis that God’s judgment brings on everyone, we’re silly for putting stock in the fact that our grandmother was once a missionary in China and our father once shook hands with Billy Graham.
Piety: We are Israelites. Only last week we had our son circumcised. We’ve been members of St.Matthew’s-by-the-Gas Station for forty years. We had all our children done there; we also contributed to the repairs to the steeple. Piety, said John, is a religious inoculation. Like any inoculation it keeps people from getting the real thing. For this reason piety is worse than useless: it guarantees that what can save us we shall never want.
Prestige: We are the Jerusalem aristocrats. In 18th Century England an aristocrat was asked what she thought of John Wesley’s movement. - A perfectly horrid thing, the Duchess of Buckingham had replied, turning up her nose as if someone had just taken the lid off an 18th Century chamber pot; - Imagine being told you are as vile as the wretches that crawl about on the earth.
It was little wonder that those who found John too much to take eased their discomfort by ridiculing him. So ends Dr. Rev. Shepherd's thoughts on parentage, piety and prestige.
What defense do you employ regarding baptism? One day while John was going about his heaven sent work Jesus appeared in the crowd. They shared much in common but John knew the difference between himself and his cousin. John was just the messenger of God and Jesus was the message.
John said that he was not fit to remove Jesus sandals. Matthew 3:11
A winnowing fork was to be applied to the lives of those in Israel. It would separate the wheat from the chaff and the chaff would be burned up with unquenchable fire. Matt. 3:12. Have you yet to be caught up in this fork?
Looking at Jesus standing at the waters edge John felt anew his own unworthiness. Here was the promised one seeking the baptism of a sinner who seeks to repent.
John tried to deter Jesus but Jesus insisted in order that all righteousness be fulfilled. Matt. 3:15
When was the last time you stood at the waters edge with John the Baptist? Did his message resonate with you? Is your life right with God? Are you ready to meet the Messiah?
You can be. All you need do is step in the water with Jesus. Prepare your hearts and lives for the Day of the Lords coming is very near. Your next breath is held in the hand of an all powerful God. Weigh your life before God today.
Is your candle burning brightly or has it gone out over time? God is near enough to light your candle with the holy fire of His Spirit. Do not trust the waters of Baptism for your salvation. John said it best.
Matt. 3:11 I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Step into the flames of Gods Holy Spirit baptism today and let your faith become a burning light for all to see.
John 1:7-13
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
Let the fire of Gods Holy Spirit light your soul in Holy Baptism rather than burn you in this fiery desert we call our world.
