Who Is The Man?
John the Baptist – what an interesting character to put it mildly.
Matthew’s depiction of him is to serve the purpose of the man with the voice crying out in the wilderness – the forerunner. In a lot of ways John takes his place in the pantheon of great prophets in the history of God’s people. Reminiscent especially of Elijah the Tishbite, John appears to be going against the grain of popularity, and in doing so attracts the crowds. He is not your typical temple-sponsored mouthpiece. He is outside the mainstream and being a man in the wilderness, he calls people to recognise their own spiritual emptiness and do something about it.
Something I find rather interesting in the gospel narratives is how baptism is just explained as something that is done – no build up to it, no origin story and no indication of what it means other than being something related to the message he was preaching and the accompanying confession of sins.
In any case in the middle of the desert (ok it could have been slightly to the left or a bit to the right, but that doesn’t flow as well writing it) by the River Jordan here he is declaring that the kingdom is here and it’s time to repent.
What The Man Says
The message is so compelling that people from the built up areas come flocking to the river indeed if they didn’t think of it already we can imagine it would have been an appropriate time to come up with the first drafts of the favourite ‘spiritual’ Shall We Gather By The River.
Yet there is something powerful about the message – something powerful, something encouraging, something comforting and something challenging.
Something Powerful – The Kingdom of Heaven refers to a rule far greater than anything considered on earth. After years of oppression both politically and religiously, here is now the opportunity to embrace the fulfilment of years of prophecy and promise of liberation. That could not be embraced by any state of being – it had to be welcomed by a people turning away from their sins, turning away from a life of rebellion against it. Not only turning away from, but also turning to the ultimate rule.
Something Encouraging – At last the shackles could be released, because in embracing and turning away and then turning to this Kingdom of Power and total rule there is the chance to see yourself as part of something greater than what your current existence has promised.
Something Comforting – In the alternative prevailing kingdom what was presented was slavery, misery and eventual demise. This kingdom from above promises that which comes from above and reflects those heavenly values of righteousness, peace, justice and joy.
Something Challenging – This is where the rubber hits the road. Among the throng of people making their way to hear what the man says there are the religious top dogs and John has a message for them. The message, however, also has some warning notes for the smugly pious folk who feel that they are already in a religiously privileged position.
The Challenge In What The Man Says
Listen to what the man says,
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. (Matthew 3:8, 9)
Right there is the prerequisite – by fruit in keeping with repentance, this is not about jumping hoops before you’re good enough for baptism. This is a matter of the heart – being contrite and genuinely desiring change from self-sufficiency to God-sufficiency – this is why the confession of sins is so much a part of the process. This is a humbling process, one which might not be up with the status quo for the religious hierarchy.
Right there in these words, however, the doors are open for those who were not a part of the family of Abraham to become a part as another John would say later on in his writing to believers when he called them to behold what manner of love the Father lavished on them in calling them sons of God and so they are. (1 John 3:1)
And yet that’s not all there is to the stark warning,
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptise you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:10-12)
Listen to what the man said. In as much as it’s good news to know that heavenly kingdom is near and in as much as it is encouraging to know that the door is open to those who believe, it is not all plain sailing. There is an element in which the mission of Jesus is as much as about clearing out the trash as it is about collecting the bountiful harvest for his barn.
Those are sobering and challenging words.
We get the good stuff and more importantly we embrace the King as well as His Kingdom, but we must ever be mindful to ensure that we are productive where the quenching work of the Holy Spirit makes us pure in His eyes and we are in the place to embrace all there is about this new, more powerful, encouraging and comforting rule.
We do that as long as we follow the people to the place where we recognise how spiritually barren we are without God, how much we need to turn to Him and His ways and His rule.
We do that as long as we listen (and respond by faith) to what the man says.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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