St. Matthew’s Ev. Lutheran Church + Benton Harbor, Michigan
3rd Sunday in Advent, 12 December, 1999
Text: John 1:6-8, 19-28
"Come to Bethany beyond the Jordan"
By Vicar Michael Paul Sullivan
Grace mercy and peace to you from our coming LORD Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for our consideration this Advent Sunday is taken from the 1st Chapter of John, select verses. We read:
6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 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.
19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of
Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to
confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." 21 They asked
him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Finally they
said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.
What do you say about yourself?" 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah
the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight
the way for the Lord.'" 24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25
questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor
Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 "I baptize with water," John
replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who
comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." 28
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was
baptizing. This
is the Word of the Lord.
Dear Christian Friends,
I think it is safe to say the most of us are happy that
Christmas is coming. Soon we will be
together with friends, and family. We
are all eagerly preparing for Christmas, looking forward to that happy
day. So, are you prepared for Christmas
yet? Maybe some of you think you are,
and others are still scrambling to get gifts bought, decorations set up, and
cookies made. But listen again to my
question. I did not ask if your house,
pantry and tree are prepared for Christmas.
My question is, “Are YOU prepared
for Christmas?” Are your hearts
prepared for your Saviors coming? You
see, unless our hearts are prepared for Jesus, we are not ready for Christmas,
even if we have all our gifts bought, cards sent out and everything
decorated. Today we are going to go
back in time to listen to a man sent out by God to prepare God’s people for
Jesus coming. His message was not just
for the people of Israel. His message
is God’s message meant for all people of all time. As we go back to witness one of John’s messages, may the Holy
Spirit open our ears and minds, and prepare our hearts for Christmas. Come to Bethany beyond the Jordan! Witness the dramatic scene! Mark the supreme
issue! Carry away the fullness of faith!
Our text takes us back to the hot, dry desert region near the Jordan river. The ground is rocky, with not much growth except by the river itself. There is a small town not too far away. We see a large crowd and a strangely dressed man in the middle of it. That’s John the Baptist. Everyone is wearing a linen garment, much like this alb, and what looks like a toga around it. John, on the other hand, is dressed in a garment made of camel hair with a belt around him. He has long hair and a wild look to him.
This wild man, John, is an excellent preacher. His message cuts to the heart. Even though He looks like a mad man, he speaks with more authority than the high priest! There are all sorts of people around us. Tax collectors, Pharisees, women, children, rich, poor, and even Gentiles like Roman soldiers.
As
we approach John, we hear him saying,
"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to
yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these
stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
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." The whole crowd asks, "What should we do then?" John answers, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and
the one who has food should do the same."
Some tax collectors in the crowd ask, "Teacher what should we do?" "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he
tells them. Now some
soldiers ask him, "And what should we do?" He replies, "Don't
extort money and don't accuse people falsely-- be content with your pay."
If
we asked John what kind of fruits of repentance does God look for in our lives,
he might answer, “Share God's blessings with those who are in need; be honest
in your business dealings; don't cheat on your taxes; don't take advantage of
other people; be content with God's gifts; speak well of others and don’t
slander; go out into your community and
tell them about Jesus. The list could
go on.
John’s
message was so powerful that the people
were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might
possibly be the Christ.
All
of a sudden an official delegation of priest and Levites appears at the
scene. The crowd splits in two as they come towards John in order to ask him
some important questions.
Part two: Mark the supreme issue
The
Sanhedrin (the Jewish high court for religious affairs) was frightened with what
the people were saying about John.
There were others before John who claimed to be the Messiah and tried to
revolt against Rome. The only thing
those madmen brought were angry Roman soldiers and a bloody death to many
people.
The
Sanhedrin sent out this delegation to find out who John claimed to be. If the reports were true, that he claimed to
be the Messiah, action would have to be taken.
The delegation was in no way interested in John’s message and preaching (which they should have been). They represented people who were proud and filled with self-love. The leaders of the Jews resented the fact that the people preferred to listen to a madman like John, instead of coming to them.
The delegation asks John who he is. But John is a humble man. He is God’s messenger to prepare people for
Jesus coming. He, in no way, wants to
draw attention to himself, but only to the coming Savior. He wants people to realize their sinfulness,
confess their sins, trust in the Lord’s forgiveness received through baptism,
and show fruits of repentance. The
problem is that the delegation doesn’t care about his message or his
ministry. All they care about is him. You can just hear their sharp question, “You
there! Who are you?”
And
now a clash of wits begins. On one hand
the delegation wants to know nothing more than who John is. On the other hand, John wants to tell them
nothing more than who the Savior is, whose way he is preparing.
John,
giving glory to God alone, answers their concern about him, but not their
question. “Who me? I am not the
Messiah,” he replies.
Now
that the delegations main concern was addressed, they ask him a couple more
questions to see whether or not John would claim anything else about himself
that might be considered inappropriate.
“Who
are you then? Are you Elijah.” The delegation was referring to a passage in
Malachi, which stated that Elijah would come before the great day of the LORD. Jesus, in the Gospel of Matthew, said that
John the Baptist (whose ministry was in the spirit of Elijah) was the
fulfillment of this prophecy. But John
says, “No, I am not Elijah.” John said
this because the Jews falsely understood this prophecy to mean that Elijah himself
would come back to earth. John was NOT
Elijah, and that is why he answered as he did.
“Are
you the Prophet?” This question was a
reference to a passage in Deuteronomy, where God promised to send a great
Prophet to whom everyone was to listen.
This passage is actually a prophecy of Jesus, our great Prophet, Priest
and King. John certainly is not the
Messiah, and thus answered no.
The
delegation didn’t know what to do. If
John didn’t make any of these claims about himself, why were people following
him? They needed an answer to bring
back to the high priest and members of the Sanhedrin. Notice that they STILL don’t ask what he is teaching, what he is
doing, or anything about his message.
They say, “Who are you, then?
Tell us so that we can report back to those who sent us. What do You
say about Yourself?”
John
finally masterfully answers their questions.
His answer is wonderful in both a legal and spiritual way. Humble John the Baptist makes no claims
about himself. He lets Scripture do it
for him by summarizing the first couple verses of Isaiah 40: "I am the voice of one calling in the
desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'
The
first part of his response describes exactly what John is doing: Calling out in
the desert. The fact that the
delegation found John in the desert proves that he is the voice of one calling
in the desert. More importantly,
though, John gives the delegation his witness, his message, his call to
repentance: 'Make straight the way for
the Lord.' Even though the
delegation didn’t ask John or even want to know what he taught, they heard it
anyway. They heard that the Lord, their
Messiah and Savior, was coming. God’s
Word was preached to them. Through this
little statement, God called the each member of the delegation to
repentance.
The
delegation not only heard God’s message to prepare for Jesus’ coming, but they
also had to spread it, unwilling though they were. When they got back to the Sanhedrin, they had to tell the whole
counsel this statement, and thus witness God’s call to repentance to them also.
But
there is yet another delegation in the crowd.
This one is from the Pharisees, a very strict religious order of the
Jews who were extremely proud of themselves.
Many of them felt that they were beyond sin and could keep every letter
of the law.
They
heard the entire conversation John had with the delegation, and decided to try
to show their knowledge and challenge John by asking him: "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah,
nor the Prophet?"
Their
question was almost identical to that of the delegation. Again, they didn’t ask John, “What do you
mean when you say the Lord is coming?
When will he come? How do you know he is coming? What will he do?” They didn’t even care about John’s message concerning the
Messiah. Their question was like saying
to John, “Who do you think you are getting all these people to listen to you, a
mad man in the desert! What gives you
the right to baptize and teach?”
The
Pharisees obviously hadn’t listened to John’s answer to the 1st
delegation. John allowed the LORD, through
the prophet Isaiah, to answer that question for them. One of the greatest prophets of all time just said that the LORD
gave John authority to baptize. But wonderful John, tempted though he
was to witness about himself, gave glory to God. Humble John once again pointed to Christ.
"I baptize with
water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs
of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." John’s answer was like telling them. “You’re right. I am
nothing compared to the one whose way I am preparing. He has authority. I am
restricted to using the means of grace, water and the Word, for my
ministry. The one coming after me won’t
be restricted to using these things. He
is the author of the Word and the one who gives baptism its power. I am nothing compared to him.”
Once
again, John masterfully gives glory to God, and turns their question around to
call them to repentance and show them that the Messiah is coming.
Part Three: Carry away the fullness of faith!
The
Messiah, Jesus, was already on the earth as John spoke to the Pharisees. He was so close. How horrible for the Pharisees that they did not know him. Not knowing the Messiah meant not knowing
their salvation. O, that the Pharisees
and the delegation of priests would have listened to John’s message and applied
it to their hearts! Unfortunately
Scripture tells us that most of them didn’t listen. They were blinded by their own sinful pride in themselves. Their own self-righteousness even led them
to murder God’s Son on the cross.
But
many did listen to John’s message. Many
in the crowd took to heart his witness that the Messiah was coming. Their hearts were prepared for Jesus and
they looked for him. They prepared
their hearts through repentance: confessing their sins to God and trusting His
forgiveness. Their hearts were prepared
by God through the water of Baptism and seal of the Spirit. They took every opportunity to hear God’s
Word and, then, when the Messiah did come, they recognized him. They trusted in Jesus as their only Savior
from sin, and their only way to heaven.
They were sad when Jesus died, but then realized that it was for them
and their salvation when he rose again from the dead.
As
we come back from scene in the desert, there are many things we can carry back
with us. We are once again looking
forward to celebrate Christmas. Let us
not be like the blind Pharisees and Saducees who weren’t even looking for
Christ because they were blinded by themselves, and their own goodness. Let us not be worried about getting all the
outward trimmings ready for Christmas and forget about Christ. Listen to John the Baptist’s call: Repent. Prepare yourself for Christmas. We are about to celebrate Jesus’ 1st
coming to earth. Remember that Jesus is
not just a cute little baby, but the Almighty God himself! He is our once-and-for-all sacrifice for
sin. He is our creator and eternal
judge! As you look at the manger, don’t
forget the cross that follows it.
Let
us, then, prepare for Christmas by looking first of all at the 10 commandments
and realizing that, because of our countless sins, we are only worthy of hell
fire. After recognizing this fact, let
us confess our sins, listen to God’s word and remember how our almighty God
saved us when he came to this world.
Let us rejoice remembering His first coming as our sacrifice, and look
forward to his second coming as our glorious King and God, when he will take us
to heaven to be with him for ever. Then
we will be completely prepared to celebrate Christmas. Amen.