Sermons

Matthew 3:1-6 – Voice in the wilderness

Alaska dialed up some beautiful weather yesterday. 

• My family and I were driving back from on Seward Highway and were suddenly brought to a standstill.
  • Five cars back from several rescue vehicles and first-responders.
  • Eventually, I walked up to ask whether everyone was okay.

 

• A cameraman from KTUU was there, not sure how?
  • He told me hikers were stranded at the top and that a bolder had just rolled onto the highway.
  • The rescue squad talking by walkie-talkie was figuring either a way up or a way to guide them down.

 

• These hikers had lost their way.
  • Putting themselves into immediate danger.
  • If they could get to safety by themselves, they would but instead, they needed an extraordinary rescue.

A lot has changed in our world over the last six months. 

However, one important thing has not. 

• We need an extra-ordinary rescue. The same rescue we always needed!

First responders always stand out when in mode.  They are meant to!  Their safety and their authority!

• On a mission, dressed in gear to do their mission, called, trained, and equipped.
• In a way, they remind me of Matthew’s first-responder on center stage.
  • John the Baptist (v. 1).
  • “Baptist” is a noun, what John was known for.

 

• Preachers call him John the baptizer, putting distance between themselves and the Baptist denomination.
  • Baptizing was what he did – immersing converts.
  • But, baptizing was not all he did!

He was first a preacher. 

• John preached with an aim to rescue well-intentioned people who (like lost hikers) wandered into danger.
  • More than mortal, eternal danger.
  • John’s bullhorn bellowed a single theme, “Repent!”

 

Prop: Come to Jesus for Rescue

 1. The Messenger (vv. 1-4)

“Who is John the Baptist?”

• The last prophet in our Old Testament refers to John.
• Before the darkness of 400 years of silence:

^ESV  Malachi 4:1-6 ¹ “For behold, ^athe day is coming, ^bburning like an oven, when ^call the arrogant and ^call evildoers ^dwill be stubble. The day that is coming ^dshall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.² But for you ^awho fear my name, ^bthe sun ^cof righteousness shall rise ^dwith healing in its wings. You shall go out ^eleaping like calves from the stall.³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, ^aon the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.^{4 a}“Remember ^bthe law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules¹ that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.^{5 a}“Behold, I will send you ^bElijah the prophet ^cbefore the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.⁶ And he will ^aturn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^bstrike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”        

 

• Elijah was coming but this was John coming in the spirit of Elijah!
• Malachi 3 clarifies the mission that precedes “the day of the LORD” (Mal. 4:6).

Grace before judgment! 

^ESV  Malachi 3:1 ^a“Behold, I send ^bmy messenger, and ^che will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^dwhom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^ethe messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

• John was the “messenger” of the Lord and Jesus’ first public appearance was to “cleanse the temple!”
  • The Lord is Jesus!
  • Rescue comes from one source.   One way to Jesus.  Repent! 

“What was John the Baptist like?”

• John’s testimony was humility.
• John is highlighted in all four Gospels.

^ESV  Mark 1:7 And he preached, saying, ^a“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

 

• Untying a person’s sandal strap was the lowest task of the lowest slave.
• Jewish slaves were not permitted to do this for just anyone.
• A pedestrian society where people walked through animal feces.
• John confessed, “I am not worthy to clean your feet, Jesus!”

 

^ESV  John 3:30 ^aHe must increase, but I must decrease.”

• What Jesus said of John:

^ESV  Matthew 11:11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

• John fulfills a direct prophecy from Isaiah 40 and Malachi 3.
  • John “came preaching in the wilderness” (v. 1).
  • John from the southern region around the Dead Sea, in “a rugged wasteland.”

 

• He appears with suddenness and the voice of God.

 

• He is the final Old Covenant prophet!
  • John’s ministry was defined by Matthew citing Isaiah 40:3.
  • All four Gospel writers tie John’s mission to Isaiah 40:3 (cff. Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23).

^ESV  Luke 3:5-6 ^aEvery valley shall be filled, ^band every mountain and hill shall be made low, ^cand the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, ^{6 a}and all flesh shall see ^bthe salvation of God.’”

^ESV  John 1:22-23 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^athe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight¹ the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

• A Town Cryer, laying the groundwork, for King who is coming!
  • In the Roman Empire, when rulers were coming, there was always an announcement.
  • Would have been awkward and otherwise uneventful.

 

Skip down to verse 4 for his strange attire. 

Why did John dress this way?  [Answer] Because Elijah did. 

• John was set apart as a prophet from birth.

^ESV  Luke 1:13-17 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^ayour prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^byou shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^arejoice at his birth,¹⁵ for he will be ^agreat before the Lord. And ^bhe must not drink wine or strong ^cdrink, and ^che will be ^dfilled with the Holy Spirit, ^eeven from his mother’s womb.¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,¹⁷ and ^ahe will go before him ^bin the spirit and power of Elijah, ^cto turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^dthe disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^eto make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

 

• John would undergo the Nazarite vow (Num. 6:1-21).
  • Never a doubt in John’s mind how he would dress or eat.
  • He was to come like Elijah the Tishbite (cf. 2 Kings 1:8).

^ESV  2 Kings 1:8 They answered him, ^a“He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

• Rugged and supposed to be.
• Camel’s hair was functional, Gortex, water-resistant and warm.
  • His clothes and approach were not shticks or a prop/gimmick.
  • His identity was actually non-identity.
  • His clothes, a uniform of a first-responder, he was a normal prophet, looking as radical as his message.

John’s pulpit was the wilderness. 

• He ate Locus and wild honey because high in protein for energy and a lot of them.
• His life not meant for leisure but mission.

These days, we need the spirit of John the Baptist. 

• Spirit of humility bold to promote Christ.
• Proclaiming Christ with abandon!
  • When you come in this spirit then you are living.

John denounced evil wherever. 

• Herod the King?
• Unlawful incestuous marriage to his brother Philip’s wife?
• John called it out.  

 2. The Message (vv. 1-2)

The timing of John’s message was perfect. 

• “In those days” is a loose expression in the Old Testament (cff. Gen. 38:1; Ex. 2:11, 23; Is. 38:1).
• Could mean, “Crucial days” or “in the days when Jesus and his family lived at Nazareth.”

This sermon marks history!  Something has changed!  Is different! 

• John steps out of the wilderness, from rural Judea preaching a word: “Repent” (v. 2).

Metanew is “to change your mind” – “to change your thinking.” 

^ESV  Luke 15:17 “But ^awhen he ^bcame to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

• It does not stop there.
• True repentance is the transformation of someone’s entire life.
  • 180 degree turn around.

“How do you know when someone repents versus just being sorry?”

• Repentance begins with God as a gift.
• When someone repents, the Spirit of God is at work in the heart.   

^ESV  2 Corinthians 7:9-11 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but ^abecause you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. ¹⁰ For ^agodly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas ^bworldly grief produces death.

¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, ^awhat zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

 

^ESV  2 Timothy 2:25 correcting his opponents ^awith gentleness. God ^bmay perhaps grant them repentance ^cleading to a knowledge of the truth

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 2). 

Change! 

• Preachers, who water down the message, short-change the one thing people truly need.
  • Hope! Our world needs hope, the hope of Christ! 
  • If hang your hopes on religion you come up empty.
  • If you hang your hopes on the satisfaction of hidden sin, you come up empty.

 

• Left joyless and hopeless.

“Why repent?” 

• Why give up the world?
• “…for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 2).
  • We have talked all about the “kingdom.”  
  • Past, present, and future versions of God’s
  • The kingdom represented in Israel, in the coming of Christ, coming in your heart, and when Christ comes to reign again on earth!

John speaks of Christ’s presence on earth. 

• Heaven had come down to earth.
• Jesus’ presence, this time, was grace!
• The grace of heaven.   Resurrections.  Exorcisms.  Hope! 
• Heaven is no more death, no more demons, no more sickness, no more sadness
• Christ gives you this as a promise, now.

 

“How do you get this Kingdom?” 

• One way! Repent!  Repent! 
  • Give money? No! Join a Bible study?  No! 
  • Become a member? No!  Serve in Children’s Ministry!  No! 

 

• One thing would give them the hope of heaven!
• One thing today! One thing!  One way!  Repent!      

 3. The Masses (vv. 5-6a)

And, people did. 

“Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him” (v. 5).

• This means everyone!
• Everyone was ripe for harvest.
• Everyone was tired of darkness.
  • Tired of the lifelessness.
  • Tired and ready to breakout.
  • Ready to come outside and get some fresh air!

 

• Truth, not hypocrisy.

People from the city and people from the country coming in droves. 

• Breaking free to be set free for the unique baptism of John.

The river Jordan moves so you would have to be in a tributary or quieter offshoot. 

• Ceremonial washing was for the priesthood.
• John’s heritage was the priesthood (father Zechariah) – what he left this to be a prophet.
  • John’s attire rebelled against ceremonialism and religious formality.
  • A wilderness preacher, calling people to leave religion.
  • Come to camel skins, locust, and honey made from tree bark sap!

 

• Baptizing was unique to Jewish tradition kept for Gentile proselytes.
• This baptism meant more.
  • For the inner change of repentance.
  • Symbolized by outward immersion!
  • Dunking your whole self!   

More on baptism next time. 

I want to end with the final point relating back to repentance. 

What is the chief mark of repentance? 

 4. The Mark (v. 6b)

Repentance begins with “confession of sins” (v. 6)! 

• Out of the heart, the mouth speaks (cff. Matt. 12:34; Prov. 4:23; Prov. 10:11).

^ESV  Matthew 12:34 ^aYou brood of vipers! How can you speak good, ^bwhen you are evil? ^cFor out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

^ESV  Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for ^afrom it flow ^bthe springs of life.

^ESV  Proverbs 10:11 ^aThe mouth of the righteous is ^ba fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked ^cconceals violence.

• Confession is the word, homologew.

 

• Saying the same thing God already knows to be true about you.

^ESV  1 John 1:9 ^aIf we confess our sins, he is ^bfaithful and just to forgive us our sins and ^xto cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

• Verse 6 says, exhomologoumenoi – present middle meaning ongoing and inside!
  • Confessing sins! Out loud and publically. 

Whenever I hear someone do this and say more, I listen. 

• Witnessing true spiritual repentance.

^ESV  Proverbs 28:13 Whoever ^aconceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who ^bconfesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

^ESV  Psalm 32:5 I ^aacknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I ^bwill confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

 

We need rescue.  We need hope.  We are still living pre Day of the Lord! 

The age of grace.  Repent for grace!  Repent for hope!  Repent for Jesus!