OPEN: How many of you have started decorating your house for Christmas? As you drive thru Logansport you’ll see a lot of homes have put up Christmas trees and all kinds of Lights and Nativity scenes, and various other decorations. Out in my front yard, I’ve put up my own decorations: there’s not much there, just a lighted angel, lighted reindeer, and centered between them – a nativity scene. (we showed a picture)
ILLUS: Now, by contrast, there’s a family in Connecticut that - for the past 20 years – has set up a display of over 350,000 lights that illuminate their house and yard and 1000s of visitors drive by their home during December just to enjoy the sight (we showed a couple of pics of the Halliwell home in Fairfield, CT). That’s how that family prepares for the season celebrating Christ’s birth.
But what’s intriguing about our passage this morning is how God prepared for Christ’s birth over 2000 years ago. In the book of Luke, it starts out telling us about the birth of a child. But the child Luke starts with isn’t Jesus! What child is this? (It’s John the Baptist)
Now, why would God start this Gospel out with John’s birth… not Jesus’? Well, Luke tells us that the reason that was done was “it seemed good to me … to write an orderly account for you.” Luke 1:3.
Luke was NOT an eye witness of the life of Jesus (Luke was a Gentile who was converter after resurrection). So, what Luke seems to have done was collected stories. He interviewed folks - folks like Matthew, Peter, John, Mary and some of other individuals you read about in his Gospel. And then – guided by the Holy Spirit – he put all those stories together. And he determined to put them together in an ORDERLY MANNER.
And the VERY FIRST story of Luke’s Gospel had to do with the birth of John the Baptist. He put John first… not Jesus. WHY? Well, because John had to come BEFORE Jesus.
In the book of Malachi God declared “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will PREPARE THE WAY before me.” Malachi 3:1
Isaiah prophesied about John’ ministry this way: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘PREPARE THE WAY of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’” Isaiah 40:3-5
The point was, John had to come first because he was the one who prepared the way for Jesus. John had a mission that needed to be accomplished BEFORE Jesus could accomplish what He’d come to do.
So what was John’s MISSION? Luke 1:17 says his mission was “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” And John’s father Zechariah prophesied that his son “(would) be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to GIVE KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION to his people in the FORGIVENESS OF THEIR SINS, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1:76-79
John’s objective was to tell people that the Messiah was coming (Jesus), and to let everyone know that when this Messiah arrived He’d bring knowledge of salvation and of the forgiveness of sins. And that’s just what John did in John 1:29 where we read: “…John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
That was part of John’s message.
John’s job was to PREPARE people to see Jesus for what He was. Ralph Waldo Emerson once noted that “People only see what they are prepared to see.” People only see what they’re looking for.
ILLUS: A father and son were at a tree farm looking for a tree to cut for their home. But every time the father saw a tree he thought would work the boy would shake his head - he didn’t want THAT tree. After an hour of searching, the father finally said “Look son, I’m tired. I’m sorry but I’m going to cut down the next tree I think will work.” The boy looked up in shock “You mean, even if it doesn’t have any lights on it either?”
The boy was prepared ONLY to see a tree as a Christmas tree… if it had lights. Otherwise, it wasn’t what he was looking for. “People only see what they are prepared to see.” And John’s job was to prepare people to SEE Jesus.
Until people SEE Jesus as He really is, their lives don’t change that much.
ILLUS: I mentioned last week about a FB post I’d made, and it seemed that about 40 or 50 pagans came out of the woodwork and began attacking the post. In the process, they said all kinds of vile and evil things about Jesus, the Bible and Christians in general. And many of their comments were just obvious lies… but they didn’t care because THAT was what they were PREPARED to see. They weren’t PREPARED to see Jesus. And the reason they weren’t prepared was because their hearts were blinded by their sin and hatred.
That’s why “John the Baptist (preached) ‘REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” (Matthew 3:1-2) In order for people to be prepared for Jesus their hearts have to change. And so John demanded that people NEEDED to repent. And John was pretty hard on this.
Matthew 3:1-3 & 5-8 tells us “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’"… Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, CONFESSING THEIR SINS. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "YOU BROOD OF VIPERS! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”
WHOA! That’s pretty harsh. Brood of VIPERS? John was calling them … snakes! And the people who were being baptized had to confess their sins. That doesn’t sound very nice! And calling out sin? Sounds kind of judgmental.
And yet, THAT’S exactly the Jesus John had come to introduce to the world. Jesus called the Pharisees white-washed tombs (they were all pretty on outside, but had dead bones inside). And Jesus’ message to the crowds who followed Him was this: “UNLESS YOU REPENT, you will all likewise PERISH.” Luke 13:3
REPENT … or you’ll perish? I thought Jesus was all sweetness and love. Well, He is. He cares for you, He loves you and all that… but in order for Him to save you, you’ve gotta change. If a person doesn’t repent of their sins, they will perish. THAT’S THE TRUTH.
When Peter preached the first sermon at Pentecost, that’s what he told those folks there: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom YOU crucified.” Acts 2:36
A few days later Peter is preaching to another crowd and he tells them: “YOU killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead…” Acts 3:15
In fact, it was so much a part of Peter’s preaching that the Sanhedrin complained “you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon US.” Acts 5:28
BUT… THEY WERE GUILTY! They’d killed the Son of God. IT WAS THEIR FAULT!!!
But Peter didn’t stop by just telling them it was their fault. He gave them the remedy: “REPENT and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
ILLUS: I had a discussion with a friend some time back about guy we both knew (Fred). My friend said “Fred is so depressed. His life is falling apart and he THINKS it’s his fault.” I said “IT IS HIS FAULT! I like Fred, but everything that’s gone wrong in his life can be traced back to his own lifestyle and his attitude. Until he changes (REPENTS) things aren’t going to get any better. And the first thing he needs to do - is great right with Jesus.”
Without Jesus in a person’s life, any FIX a person makes to their lives will be like putting a band-aide on a major wound. It’s not going to fix what is really wrong.
John’s message can be summed up by this simple poem: “Life is short, death is sure. Sin’s the cause, Christ is the cure.” And John the Baptist knew that. He’d been sent to give a knowledge of salvation and of forgiveness of sins, but salvation and forgiveness could NOT be given by God… without repentance. That’s why John repeatedly told his crowds REPENT for the kingdom of God at hand.
One last thought: I was intrigued by realization - John was BORN to preach Jesus. In fact, everything about John the Baptist pointed to Jesus. Believe it or not, even John’s NAME pointed to Christ’s message.
Shortly after John was born “… on the 8th day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, ‘No; HE SHALL BE CALLED JOHN.’ And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name." And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they all wondered.” Luke 1:59-63
So, why did his parents name him John? Well… “Because the angel said to him ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.’” Luke 1:13
John’s NAME was God’s idea!!! But why would God bother? Why bother to choose that name? Because the name John means “God Is Gracious.”
Paul wrote: “For by GRACE you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is THE GIFT OF GOD” Ephesians 2:8
In other words, you and I are saved because GOD IS GRACIOUS!!! And God gave us His grace thru the blood of Jesus Christ. “God is gracious”: That’s what John’s name meant. So John the Baptist WAS BORN to testify about Jesus, and everything about John’s life pointed to Jesus.
Now, did you realize you and I have been RE-BORN? (That’s what happens when you’re baptized into Christ, you are born again and you rise from the waters a new creation in Christ). So, we’re re-born - what were we RE-born to do?
To point to Jesus.
Paul said “… we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us…” (2 Corinthians 5:20) Everything about us… should point to Jesus. When people get to know us, they should KNOW we belong to Christ and that should point them to look at our savior.
CLOSE: My mom and dad went to visit some friends for a meal and cards games years ago. The friends were NOT Christians, but when they sat down to eat… they asked Dad to pray. They told him “We know you’re a Christian…” It wasn’t long after that, the people began coming to church – and they were reborn into Christ as well. That’s our objective as born again believers in Christ.
INVITATION
Footnote: There are not many carols (I couldn’t find any) that point to John’s life and ministry… so I changed the 2nd verse of “O Come All Ye Faithful” to use for this Sunday’s message (we use overhead projection). You’re welcome to use it. It goes like this:
“Jesus was come - God in flesh appearing; Hear John the Baptist speak of His Kingdom come; Son of the Father, eternal life to give us.”
