Luke 3:1-20 "John's Baptism" What does a radical Jewish prophet in the first century have to say to us? We get our news from sophisticated news anchors on their dignified sets. We go to highly trained doctors and specialists to have our diseases healed. We even like our pastors to have seven years of advanced education and apparently you wanted one with fifteen years in post-secondary schools. So why should we listen to a ragged, homeless wanderer who says that "God spoke to him"?! God has chosen the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. He often sends his messengers in unlikely ways at least, unlikely to those who don't understand. Because while John may appear strange and wild to our eyes, for those who with true wisdom, who understood the Word of God, he appears in the right place, at the right time. 1. John's Call as a Prophet (3:1-6) At the beginning of Luke's gospel he sets up the political context. In 1:5 we hear that this was in the days of Herod, king of Judea. In 2:1 we hear about the decree from Caesar Augustus, and Luke identifies the political situation again. So we should not be surprised that once again Luke situates the ministry of John the Baptist in its political context. It was the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Since Tiberius reigned from 14-37, this would put it right around the year 29 AD. Luke goes to the extent of identifying the various Roman governors, as well as the high priests in the temple. He told Theophilus (and us) that he had researched the matter thoroughly, and so now he explains the exact historical situation. And for people in the middle of the first century, this would have been like someone saying, "at the time when Ronald Reagan was running for president, and Pope John Paul 2 had just been elected bishop of Rome." Even younger adults would say, ah yes, I remember that time! Theophilus might say, "oh yes, I got married around then! I had no idea that such marvelous things were happening." But it was that time that the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. There are three things about this call that we should notice: 1) that the word of God came to John This is standard prophetic language. Frequently we heard the prophets saying, "and the Word of the LORD came to me." It is a statement of Divine sovereignty. God calls his prophets they do not simply take up the job at their own initiative 2) but not only did the word of God come to John, we should also notice that it came to John the son of Zechariah. John is the son of a priest. And, if we have been doing our math, John is now around 30 years old. Thirty was the age when a priest would ordinarily begin his temple service. There is no mention of John going up to the temple to be consecrated as a priest. In fact, John appears to be rather hostile to the "Jerusalem" party (as we'll see in a minute). 3) and this is our third point. Because the word of God does not come to John in the temple. Isaiah had received his call in the temple. The prophets of the OT were regularly around the temple, calling the people of God to repentance. But the word of God comes to John in the wilderness! The wilderness was littered with revolutionaries, zealots, and other malcontents. New prophets and messiahs frequently popped up in the wilderness. It was in the wilderness that God had called Moses and Elijah. It was in the wilderness that God had called Israel to himself. It was in the wilderness that God had provided for his people, with bread from heaven, and water from the rock. So when the word of God comes to John in the wilderness, it suggests that John is going to be talking about a new Exodus. The Essenes are perhaps the most famous of the wilderness communities, because they lasted for several decades, had a regular community, and produced a lot of literature. It is possible that John knew them, and had visited their community in Qumran. But while his message has some similarities to the Essenes, he has a different mission. His is the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways. and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. This is what Isaiah had said about the voice calling for the restoration from Exile. Isaiah 40 speaks of the day when God would bring his people back from Babylon. the day when God would deliver his people and re-establish the kingdom of God. But when that day came, and the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt, and the temple was rebuilt, Nehemiah tells us that those who returned recognized that they were still in exile. They were still slaves. The kingdom had not been restored. The son of David was not sitting on the throne. They had to pay taxes to a foreign king whether Persian, Egyptian, Syrian, or Roman. And after 500 years it became perfectly clear that the day spoken of by Isaiah had not yet come. But now Luke tells us that the voice promised by Isaiah was the voice of John the Baptist. The voice of one crying in the wilderness calling all the exiled people of God to repent and be baptized, for the kingdom of God is at hand! And John's voice calls to you as well! The word of God comes to you in the wilderness in the midst of our exile here! And John calls you to repentance: 2. John's Message of Repentance (3:7-9) What is John's message of repentance? Verse three says that John came "proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." Why is this important? 1) It is important first because of where he is doing it. John has come from the wilderness to the Jordan, just as Israel had done in the days of Joshua. The Jordan River was where Israel first entered the promised land. Joshua brought the people of Israel through the Jordan River into Canaan. So for a prophet to baptize people in the Jordan is to proclaim a new Exodus. 2) Second, it is important because of what he is doing: he is baptizing. What was baptism? I am not asking what is baptism but what was baptism for John and the Jews of his day. After all, Jesus hadn't come yet. Jesus had not instituted the sacrament of baptism. (Children, what is a sacrament? "A sacrament is a holy ordinance, instituted by Christ...") So baptism wasn't a Christian sacrament yet. The Jews had used baptism as a sign of cleansing for Gentiles. When a Gentile converted to Judaism, they would have the Gentile convert baptized in order to symbolize the washing away of his old Gentile life, in preparation for circumcision. Why did they use baptism in this way? Think of Naaman, the Syrian general, whom Elisha told to wash 7 times in the Jordan. The Jews were, in effect, saying, just as Naaman was baptized, so all Gentile converts should be washed. But baptism also had roots in the cleansing rituals of the Jews. Whenever a Jew became ceremonially unclean, washing with water was part of the ritual required in order to participate in temple worship. Are you beginning to see how radical it was for John to be proclaiming in the wilderness around the Jordan River, a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? John was the son of a priest. His father was in the temple when he received the angel's message about John's birth. And now John is saying that you can have here and now what you would normally get through the temple: the forgiveness of sins. And what is more, he is baptizing Jews: If he had come baptizing Gentiles, everyone would have said, "oh what a good boy!" But he is baptizing Jews. He is saying: Your circumcision is not enough. God's covenant have sinned. You Jews have become unclean. Your sins have made you no better than Gentiles. If you want to be a part of God's covenant people, then you need this baptism of repentance. John's baptism is a prophetic renewal movement, but unlike all previous prophetic renewals, this one is oriented away from the temple. John is not trying to reform existing institutions. He is gathering disciples in opposition to the temple, in preparation for the coming of the kingdom of God. And if you do not follow John, then you are setting yourself against the kingdom of God. You can understand, now, why the Jewish authorities were not altogether happy with John. And you can understand why nobody complained when John was locked up by Herod. Notice what John says to the crowds. In Matthew's gospel we are told that he called the Pharisees and the Sadducees a "brood of vipers." But Luke says that he said this to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him. Matthew makes it look like John is sympathetic to the crowds, but he isolates his scathing criticism for the elites the Pharisees and the Sadducees. But Luke points out that John's message was universal. It was not just the Pharisees and the Sadducees who had fallen short of God's glory. Israel had become a brood of vipers. Psalm 140 refers to the wicked as vipers and the Psalmist prays that God would deliver him from such! John says that Israel has become wicked. Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. When John proclaims the coming of the kingdom, that means the coming of God's judgment. Because the coming of the kingdom means the coming of a righteous king! And when a righteous king sits upon his throne, then he renders righteous judgment. John uses the image of a tree. Will a good and righteous king cut down a tree that bears good fruit? Of course not! But a barren tree or worse, a tree that produces nothing but rotten stink fruit? That tree shall quickly be destroyed! John's message is that the coming of the kingdom signals the coming of God's judgment. Are you ready for that judgment? John declares that Israel the chosen people of God were but a brood of vipers. If you would survive the judgment of God, then you must repent of your sins and be baptized, and bear fruit in keeping with repentance. What is fruit in keeping with repentance? 3. John's Answers (3:10-18) I'm glad you asked that, because that is precisely what the crowds asked too! When the crowds heard that they were no better than a brood of vipers, they asked, what then shall we do? If God's purpose was simply to destroy you, then he would not bother telling you that judgment is coming! The purpose for sending a prophet with a message of judgment is so that people would repent and believe the gospel the good news that there is a way to avoid God's judgment! John's response is that the fruit of repentance is love. Not just a warm, fuzzy feeling, but a love that is active in good deeds. Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise. Jesus will expand on this in the Sermon on the Mount, but John's message is clear. If you have more than you need, then show mercy to those who are less fortunate than you are. Do you look for ways to give to those in need? It is a good thing to give through the diaconal offering, because that enables us to help the needy corporately, but what about individually? John's point is that you are to be personally concerned for those in need. We have been unable so far to send a team to help rebuild in the Gulf states, but we could do something closer to home: participate in a Habitat for Humanity building project, or volunteer down at the homeless shelter. Ministering to those in need can be hard work, but John gives this as an example of what it means to repent and believe. Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" Tax collectors were hated, largely because they would usually charge more than Rome did! Back then they didn't have the IRS. You didn't "file" your taxes with anyone. Let's say that the region of Judea was theoretically supposed to pay Rome 2 million dollars. If the governor simply proclaimed, "pay me now," perhaps a few conscientious folk would pay voluntarily, but not many! So the governor would hire a tax collector (like Zaccheus). He'd say "bring me a 1.5 million dollars, and whatever else you collect, keep for yourself." But the tax collector was also the tax assessor! So he'd show up and say "you owe $2,000," (when in fact, you really only owed $1,500). But what were going to do? Complain to the governor? The tax collector was standing there with a couple of ugly goons in uniform who would break your arm as soon as look at you. So you paid the extra $500, and cursed the filthy thief as soon as he was out of ear-shot. It is remarkable that John didn't say, "quit your job," because an honest tax collector was as rare then as an honest politician is today! But John says, collect no more than you are authorized to do. You can be a tax collector (or a lawyer, or a politician!) but you must be honest, and love your neighbor. Soldiers also came to John what about us? (These were likely the ugly goons who had been with the tax collector!) And John says, do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages. Soldiers were not very well paid. It was easy to use their position for their own advantage. But John says, no, be content with your wages. Luke here shows us that even soldiers and tax collectors can be part of the kingdom of God. Pacifists usually don't like these verses! Because John does not object to having soldiers in the kingdom of God. So long as they are faithful first to God, then they may serve in the army. And the Roman army was not exactly a godly place to serve. The Roman army did not always follow "just war theory" but was at times called upon to fight unjust wars. John is saying that you can be a faithful tax collector or soldier serving a wicked emperor (Tiberius), or a wicked governor (Pontius Pilate in Judea or Herod in Galilee). The combination of John's new exodus themes, with the imagery of restoration from exile, raises expectations. Not surprisingly, people start wondering, "is this the Messiah?" John did not need any special discernment to figure this out. He knew that his message would provoke this question, so before they had a chance to ask it, he answered it: I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. John distinguishes between two baptisms: John's baptism which was a baptism with water only; and Jesus' baptism which is a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. Malachi 3 had spoken of the coming day of the Lord as a day when God would judge his people with fire. Ezekiel 36 had spoken of that day as a day when God would sprinkle clean water on his people and put his Spirit within them. John connects the Spirit and fire. The one who comes after him is the one who will baptize with Spirit and fire. Spirit-and-fire baptism is a baptism of judgment. Spirit-and-fire baptism reminds us of the glory of the LORD that had filled the tabernacle and the first temple in Solomon's day. It reminds us of how that glory was conspicuously absent when the second temple had been built 500 years ago in the days of Haggai and Zechariah the prophets. But John says that now, one is coming who will baptize with the Spirit and with fire. And when the glory of the LORD is poured out upon his people, the wheat will be gathered into the barn, but the chaff will be consumed by fire. The axe is laid to the root of the tree. The winnowing fork is in his hand. He is coming. All is ready. Are you? So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. This is good news that God's judgment is coming! Because it means that all that has been wrong with the world is going to be set right! 4. John's Future: Prison (3:19-20) Luke then tells us about John's imprisonment. Even before we hear about the baptism of Jesus. Why? Luke is wrapping up his story of John. Matthew will spend a lot of time with John. John pops up all over Matthew's gospel. But John's ministry is over for Luke. And so he tells us that Herod locked up John because John had reproved him for taking Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done. While John was willing to say that faithful people could work for Herod, he did not hesitate to point to all of Herod's wickedness. The gospel does have a political aspect to it. The good news of the coming of the kingdom of Jesus Christ points out that all other kingdoms must bow before his! And if rulers insist on acting wickedly, the gospel will call them to repentance as well! It is not just the tax collectors and soldiers who must bring forth the fruit of repentance, but kings and governors too! And John will pay for his boldness. In the end, he will pay with his head! Faithfulness to the kingdom of God may not be popular among the rulers of this age, but the one who is faithful unto death will be saved. For Jesus said that John was the greatest of those born of women. But that the least in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than John. John was the greatest of the OT prophets, but we have received the Spirit-and-fire baptism of Jesus! Therefore we should have even greater confidence than John!