“The One Who Cries Out”

Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12

Jesus certainly had some very unusual relatives. There was Rahab, the prostitute, Ruth, the widowed Moabite, and David, both a man after God's own heart and a murderer. And if these folks didn’t bring enough baggage to Jesus’ heritage, let’s throw in His cousin John.

But John, with all of his strange ways, must be acknowledged as the first one, after Mary and Joseph, to know the truth of the Christ Child. While still in Elizabeth’s womb, John leapt for joy at the very presence of the yet-to-be-born Savior, and in his excitement, he “witnessed”, in no uncertain terms, to his mother (Luke 1:39-45). In his recognizing the uniqueness of Jesus, it was now confirmed that John had been chosen by God as the fulfillment of prophecy, and he began his ministry even before he was born.

Read Matthew 3:1-6

With camel hair to clothe him and locusts and wild honey to nourish him, John began his own individualized and very special ministry. He would never be identified with polite society and the conventional wisdom of Judaism, and he also would never be identified as one of Jesus’ inner circle. He was as radical as the Messiah he was called to proclaim. And he would be as welcome to the ruling aristocracy as the locusts that he ate. Confession? They did that daily, and loudly, as they stood on the steps of the temple, and didn’t need some ignorant itinerant telling them that they weren’t doing it right! Cleansing? Baptism? They were already members of the “chosen” nation – they were already chosen by Yahweh – why should they be baptized?
But rejection by the Jewish leadership could never deter John. He was called to proclaim, and proclaim he did.

Read Matthew 3:7-10

The Pharisees and Sadducees, normally at opposite ends of the religious spectrum, were becoming united in their hatred of John’s message of salvation. They were hearing that their blood line wasn’t sufficient – that they were still going to face “the coming wrath” if they didn’t accept the Divine intervention that was right on their doorstep, and they didn’t like that one little bit. And if that wasn’t enough, John tells them that God isn’t constrained by their understanding that Israel is the only nation, the only people, who God likes.

The great Joe Garagiola tells about a time when Stan Musial came to the plate in a critical game. As a super hitter, Musial was at the peak of his career. The opposing pitcher in the game was young and extremely nervous.
Garagiola, as the catcher, called for a fastball and the pitcher shook his head; Joe signaled for a curve and again the pitcher shook him off. He then asked for one of the pitcher's specialties and still the pitcher hesitated. So Joe went out to the mound for a conference. He said, “I've called for every pitch in the book; what do you want to throw?”
“Nothing”, was the pitcher's shaky reply. “I just want to hold on to the ball as long as I can.”
- Homiletics Online

These learned men weren’t dummies! They knew that judgment would be coming, and that they would be held accountable for the lives they were living. I also think that they had a sneaking suspicion that their efforts were, in all likelihood, insufficient to please almighty God. But just like the pitcher who had to face Musial, they wanted to hold on to their understanding of religiosity as long as they possibly could. And John was telling them that the time had come to “let go”, and that there wasn’t a lot of time left to delay their decision.

This is the worldly view of faith – that somehow, we must have to be involved, to do something that will please God so that we can receive His favor. How could such a simple thing as “repentance and acceptance” be adequate?
A number of years ago when Diane and I were at Apalachin, we were teaching the Junior High Sunday School class, and why we ever agreed to that I will never know! But that’s another story. One day, one of the girls brought in a survey paper with the question “If we are good, will we get to heaven?” 2 of her teachers had already responded, and both of their answers were “Yes. Being good is enough.” I asked if I could respond, and was told yes. So I wrote “No. Only our belief in the goodness of Jesus is enough to get us into heaven.” That, unexpectedly, prompted a 2-3 week discussion that centered on what the Bible had to say about salvation. I don’t know if it made any difference in the kids’ lives, but at least there was one “No” on her survey.

Hanging onto the “ball” of personal effort in gaining salvation, no matter how long we do it, won’t make an iota of difference in the long run, because eventually, we will have to let go! We will either have to make our own inadequate pitch to the best hitter in this world, or we will have to give it up to our “relief”. The second option is the only one that will keep the opposition from hitting a home run against us, and the first one will guarantee that evil will be struck out, once and for all. We have to “Give it up for Jesus!”

Read Matthew 3:11-12

John’s message that Jesus’ baptism and refining is more powerful than the one he is doing with water, does not tell us that water baptism is unnecessary! He is simply saying that our physical baptism is the outward sign of our claiming the inner grace that comes from God Himself. On the other hand, baptism by the “Holy Spirit and with fire” is not, I believe, a reference to Pentecost, but rather is a factual statement that Divine Cleansing and Holy Refining can only come to us through Godly Intervention, through our faith in Jesus Christ. We also need to remember that fire has two purposes – one is to consume, and the other is to purify, and Matthew includes both of these references in the passage.
The believing Church will be refined, and all unbelievers will be consumed.

Jim Wallis, in his book “The call to Conversion”, writes:
“Our call is to seek the conversion of the church in the midst of a crumbling empire, an empire to which the church is now closely allied. Our question today is still the old question of spiritual formation: How is the mind of Christ formed in us and in history?
To answer that question, we need to use an approach which begins by taking seriously the following questions:
1. Will we follow Jesus?
2. Is the Church to be the presence of Jesus in the world?
3. If so, what would Jesus' presence look like now?
-- Jim Wallis, “The Call to Conversion”, (San Francisco: Harper-Collins, 1992).

We will probably see His presence in a very surprising way. I believe that it would, and does, look like John the Baptist who lives on the fringe of both society and the Church, and like John the evangelist who was the only man whose faith was sufficient to allow him to stand with the women at the foot of Christ’s cross, and like Nicodemus the Pharisee who began in faith with a secret visit to Jesus in the middle of the night and who eventually showed far more faith when he took that public stand at Calvary and His presence will look like you and me, loving the people of this wicked old world on behalf of Christ, wherever, whenever, and however they and we may meet.

The need for “one calling in the wilderness, to prepare the way for the Lord” is even more vital today than it was in the first century. John cried out in preparation for the Lord’s first coming, and we must be crying out in preparation for His second. And the cries?

John’s message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Ours is “Give it up for Jesus!” And these messages are one and the same.