Theme: Unexpected (and underappreciated) Gifts from John
1. 1. “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
2. 2. “Bear
fruits worthy of repentance.”
3. 3. “He
(Jesus) is mightier than I”
Sermon Text: Matthew 3:1-12 (NKJV)
1
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and
saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is
he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
"The
voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare
the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’"
4
And John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his
waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea,
and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan,
confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you
to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9
and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I
say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree
which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is
mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will
thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn;
but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Did you make a Christmas gift list this year? I usually don’t but I did this year. Typically, when I’m asked to compile a list, I struggle to think of anything to put down. All throughout the year I see things every now and then that I would like, but they’re not so easy to recall when asked to. For those of us that do make lists, I’m sure it would be somewhat comical to look back on them after several years. Trends and wants come and go. Needs come and go. Just a year or two ago, every kid on the block wanted a fidget spinner. I’m guessing that most would be disappointed this year to unwrap one.
Listen to what one article compiled as the top
toy gifts from each decade of the 20th century.
·
1910s
– Teddy Bear
·
1920s
– Yo Yo
·
1930s
– Shirley Temple doll
·
1940s
– Slinky
·
1950s
– Mr. Potato Head
·
1960s
– G.I. Joe
·
1970s
– Star Wars action figures
·
1980s
– Cabbage Patch kids
·
1990s
– Beanie Babies and Tickle Me Elmo
· 2000s – Nintendo Wii
Depending on the generation you grew up in, one or several of these toys probably strikes an emotional chord in your heart. Maybe you begged mom and dad for one at some point. Maybe you heard the begging at a different point. The thing about it is, very few of these toys have staying power. Yes, Star Wars is bigger today than ever, but only because newer movies have come out. If that ever ends, it too will fade in relevance. Every toy, every gift in fact, has its time to shine.
Imagine a kid today unwrapping a Yo-Yo or a Slinky. Not bad gifts in their own right, but chances are kids would be quite disappointed. Sadly, when a gift fades from the popular limelight, it induces less joy, even if in reality it is still a solid gift.
If there was an example in the Bible of bucking the trends of popularity it would certainly be John the Baptist. Matthew tells us in our text that John wore Camel’s hair, lived in the wilderness, and dined on honeycomb and locusts. One wonders why John chose this lifestyle. He was different. He certainly wasn’t trendy. But His message and his work were indeed impactful. Matthew also tells us that “Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to John.” There was something about John that went above and beyond the current popularity of the day.
In terms of gift-giving, John was the unexpected and underappreciated gift that ultimately proved valuable. You’ve received gifts like that before, haven’t you? Maybe you were upset and disappointed that you didn’t get what was on your list, the most popular gift of the year – whatever it was. But you realized later on it was better that you didn’t get what you wanted, that what you received was more valuable. That was John in a nutshell. Many tried to shut him down, and eventually John would be killed for his faith. But, John’s message was eternal, because it focused on Someone who was greater.
Today, in this summary text from Matthew, the
Holy Spirit gives us three unexpected, and in many cases underappreciated,
gifts from John the Baptist. They come to us in the way that God’s revelation
always comes, through words. The first gift is John’s first message, “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Very little of John’s ministry is preserved for us in the Bible. We knew he had a career of ministering in the wilderness. He clearly made an impact on the people, as he had a following of disciples and some even wondered if John was the Messiah. But, given the effort John put into his work, we have almost nothing of it in the Bible. What we do have is telling. The first public message we hear from John is verse 2: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We might brush past this verse as the meaningless ramblings of a desert preacher, but it actually is the greatest gift John gives. This is the most treasured thought of this section. First, because John imparts the hope we have of freedom from sin. But second, because through these words we see past John to Jesus.
Where does Jesus come in? Well, this very statement was also the first public message that He delivered. You need only to page over to chapter 4 of Matthew in your Bibles and in verse 17 you’ll see that Jesus spoke the exact same thing when He began His public ministry. If both the Messiah, and the Forerunner, began their ministries with this thought, then we clearly want to take it to heart in our lives.
Repent has a negative connotation in our culture. But God defines the words He uses, not the culture. Repentance in the Biblical sense is based on the good news of salvation in Jesus. It means that we not only turn away from sin, but also that we trust that God has forgiven us by His mercy. Whenever God calls people to repent, we should consider that a message of hope. This is why repentance naturally flows into the kingdom of God. It is the tool that God lovingly gives us to offload the burdens of sin upon Jesus and to stand righteous and ready to become a member of God’s family. Both John and Jesus started with repentance, because that’s how faith starts, and that is the essence of life with God.
The second unexpected gift from John was a message about the results of repentance. We may not categorize these words as a “gift” because they sting. John said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”
John shows that he knows the Pharisees and Sadducees well. On the surface, it seems that John’s message is filled with hatred. One imagines a scene of two competing influences vying for the peoples’ attention. On the one hand you have the established religious elite, and the other hand you have the upstart preacher. To the untrained eye, John comes across as vindictive. But these words were indeed a gift, not because the hearers wanted them, but because they needed them.
No better or more loving message could have been given the Pharisees and Sadducees. John knew this because he knew what was in their hearts. That’s why he knew what their immediate reaction was going to be. Notice the connection between what the Pharisees and Sadducees claimed, and what they really believed. John says, “Do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’” John knew that these religious leaders staked their faith in God on their lineage as true Jewish descendants of Abraham. They believed that their bloodline was more necessary for salvation than the blood of a Savior shed for their sins. But by trusting in this vain idolatry, John states exactly what they really were – a brood of vipers, or in other words, offspring of the serpent.
The imagery is intense. The viper, of all the species of snakes, seems beautiful and exotic on the outside, yet it is the deadliest inside. Likewise, the Pharisees and Sadducees adorned themselves on the outside with rich, ornamental clothing and customs, but in their hearts they had no true faith in God. On a different occasion, Jesus compared them with whitewashed tombs, which are decorated in beauty on the outside, but contain death and decay on the inside.
This was hypocrisy at its core. You couldn’t find a greater contrast between John and the Pharisees and Sadducees, both in appearance in belief. The Pharisees and the Sadducees would never stoop to wearing camel’s hair and eating locusts, but they also would never humble themselves by repenting of their sins. Their religious acts were hollow and self-centered. They only cared about what other people thought, to maintain their status in society, not about what God thought. Indeed, they came to John even to be baptized by him. They wanted to be accepted into the movement that was growing, but not because they actually desired to follow the true God, or to accept the teachings about Jesus that John delivered.
Both of these unexpected gifts from John are still desperately needed in our time, and especially in our hearts. They may not be on our gift list, but we need them just as much as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Growing up in a Christian lineage will not save us from the wrath to come over our sins anymore than the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s claim as Abraham’s children saved them. Repentance is the nourishment each sinner needs. When that repentance finds its confidence and hope in Jesus, souls are enlivened with the gospel to bear fruit to the glory of God.
John marks the difference maker in verse 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Repentance is a gift from God because it is the way we receive salvation in Jesus. Without repentance, all signs of religious virtue and piety are hypocritical.
John’s words are not only unexpected, but also
underappreciated – especially by our generation. We live at a time of
hyper-sensitivity when it comes to right vs. wrong. But, far too often, the
attitude behind these activities mirrors the religious elite of Jesus’ day –
they look good outwardly but they are filled with deceit and poison inwardly.
Such is the result of any virtue that becomes detached from Christ and His Word.
It ultimately is a dangerous idol leading one away from God.
This hyper-sensitivity plays out today as people boast of their virtue to others. There is a constant struggle to be shown more pious, more kind, more compassionate, more empathic, more wise, and more moral than the rest of the average population. There is great shaming and criticism given to those who do not reflect the proper virtue of the societal elite today – the loud voices on social media, in newspapers and television, on college campuses, and even many churches.
But if you look closely enough at these movements and the attitudes and beliefs behind them, you’ll see a spiritual shallowness. The virtues striven for are not from God, but from this generation of humanity. There is no humility or repentance, only pride and lust for power. It’s not about bringing people closer to Jesus as their Savior, but shaping the world to conform to popular belief by mob force. It’s a religion of the self, and though it is prevalent today, it is not new.
This was the same spiritual fog that John scattered when he came as such a unique Forerunner of the Savior. Both he and Jesus preached with an intensity of conviction and compassion based on the central truth of God’s Word. They did this for the express purpose of shattering this self-centered framework. It was unexpected and underappreciated back then, as it is today. But, what a gift from God above! These words from John, delivered to us by the Holy Spirit, are the exact nourishment our souls need to be assured of salvation in Jesus Christ alone – not for being lifted up on a pedestal above others. They protect us from the vain dream of human ambition and from trying to recreate heaven on earth according to our terms. They may not be the gift we want, by they absolutely are what we need to be in heaven with God.
Treasure this gift this Advent season. That you may be sustained in repentance through Jesus, that you may bear real spiritual fruits, and that you may have confidence and assurance as a redeemed and forgiven child of God. Amen.
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