Prepare the Way

2^nd Sunday In Advent

Rev. Steven D. Spencer

Matthew 3:1-12

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" 4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

John was preaching in the wilderness of Judea, right next to the Jordan River. Dressed in camel’s hair and wearing a leather belt. The last time a prophet had worn that outfit was Elijah back in 2 Kings nearly 900 years earlier. He's eating locusts and wild honey-good. God had once led His people Israel through the wilderness and finally through the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Now, the people are called to the wilderness and into the Jordan, be baptized by John and have the hope of the Promised Land of Heaven.

John is fulfilling prophecy: he's the one 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.'" He's not just fulfilling Isaiah. He's also fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi, right at the end of the Old Testament, who promises a messenger to prepare the way for the Savior, and then identifies the messenger: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD (Mal. 4:5). There's John and Elijah again; and Jesus will later declare that John is the Elijah who was to come before Him to prepare the way (Matt. 17:12-13).

The setting, the clothing, everything has a reason, to prepare the way of the Lord. And as crowds gather to hear this prophet speak and prepare, here’s the summary of his sermon: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That's it. That's the whole message in a nutshell. But let's break it down.

Repent. We normally think of repenting as being sorry for our sins. But there's more to it than that. In the Greek repent literally means to "change one's mind." When you repent, you're saying, "I thought it was okay, but now I know it's not." That's an act of repentance. And it only happens only by the grace of God. But again, there's a greater depth to repentance because there's a greater depth to sin. When John calls the people to repent, he’s calling them to repent of all of their misconceptions and wrong ideas about the Savior. If they have the wrong idea of who the Savior is supposed to be, then they're not going to like the Savior for who He truly is. If they're looking for the wrong things in a Messiah, then they're not going to recognize Him when He makes His appearance. Remember, John the Baptist is called by God to prepare the way of the Lord. He therefore prepares the people by teaching them the true nature of their sinfulness, so that they see the need for the Savior; and he prepares them by teaching them who the Savior is, and what He will do.

For instance, Pharisees and Sadducees both come to see what John is up to, and each has an idea of what the Savior will be like. The Pharisees know what they're looking for. Since they believe that they're saved by keeping rules and doing works, they're looking for a messiah to lead them in rule keeping, to model holiness and the works-righteous way of salvation. The Sadducees, on the other hand, are skeptics who deny the resurrection of the dead. They're going to want a messiah who makes life in this world better and more carefree right now, because they believe this world is all there is. Pharisees and Sadducees make strange bedfellows, although they will find a common cause in their hatred of Jesus; they also appear to share the belief that God must love them because they're descendents of Abraham.

So if the Pharisees are looking for a messiah who teaches salvation by works and keeping the Law, they're not going to follow Jesus, who teaches salvation by grace. The Sadducees deny the resurrection of the dead, they're not going to follow Jesus who has an appointment with a cross and tomb before the stone is rolled away again. Because they're looking for the wrong sort of savior, they're going to miss the real one unless someone sets them straight and prepares the way.

That's the work of John the Baptist, who says: "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.

"Brood of vipers"-sons of snakes, he calls them. They're looking to flee from the wrath, the judgment, to come; but their preconceived notions of a messiah are going to keep them from believing in Jesus. Therefore, along with repenting of their daily sins, first they need to repent of their expectations of the Messiah that aren't true. He isn't going to save them because of their rules. He isn't going to make life easier. He isn't going to save them because of their ancestry.

They need to stop saying, "The Messiah will save us because of who we are and what we do." They need instead to say, "The Messiah will save us because of who He is and what He does." Those are the fruits of repentance, confessing one's sin and unworthiness, and trusting that Jesus saves solely by His grace. That's how one is prepares for the way for the Savior to come.

That brings us to second part John's sermon: "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Hearing these words we might misunderstand them as a dire warning, something along the lines of: "Shape up and be filled with fear; because when the Kingdom of Heaven shows up, you're going to be in big trouble if you haven't repented." But John isn't using the coming kingdom as a threat to make people fall in line; instead, he's preaching glorious news. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand-it's almost here. Why? Because the King is about to arrive! John has been preparing the way for the Savior who is no less than the Lord God Himself, and the Lord is about to make His appearance. (In fact, what's the very next verse after this text? Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him, Matt 3:13.) Jesus is about to appear at the banks of the Jordan to be baptized by John. After preparing the crowds for the arrival of the Savior, John will soon point at the Savior-in the flesh!-and cry out, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

And the fact that Jesus is nearly there explains the two-part sermon: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Turn away from all of your misconceptions of who the Messiah is, and don't try to make Him into someone He's not. He is, after all, the Son of God and not a piece of clay to be molded. He isn't going to change to fit your mind. Therefore, change your mind and trust in Him. And do it now, because here He comes! The time will come when He will sweep sinners like chaff into unquenchable fire, but that time is not yet. Now, He comes in mercy to go to the cross. Now He comes to win your redemption, so that you might be part of the harvest for eternal life. So repent and trust in Him now, for here He is for you.

John's two-part sermon sums up the proclamation of the Church today; to all those who will hear, we declare, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Repent. Get rid of all those preconceived notions of who you think Jesus ought to be, and instead rejoice to trust in who He truly is. For this is who He is: He is the Son of God, begotten of the Father from all eternity who became flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary to be your Savior. As your Savior, He bore your sin to the cross and suffered God's judgment there for you. He died your death and rose again, conquering death and grave for you. He promises to return in glory to deliver you to everlasting life.

That's who your Savior is, according to His own Word. And why would you want Him to be something else?

But there's the Pharisee in us, which says, "I am saved-at least in part-because of what I do or who I am. God looks at me and sees something good: it might be my works or my intentions. It might be my feelings and yearnings. It might be my decision to follow Him. But there's something about me that triggers His love and Jesus' salvation for me." Much of this sounds sincere and upright, but look again. If you say, "I am saved, at least in part because of what I do or who I am," you are saying, "This Savior, Jesus, didn't quite do enough by His death for me. I have to help His plan of salvation by doing my part to make up what He didn't quite accomplish." Do you see? That desire to play a part in your salvation actually ends up robbing Jesus of His glory and taking some of it for you. Maybe a lot of it; and if you persist in believing that your works contribute to your salvation, you're not going to listen to your Lord who declares He saves you by His grace alone (Eph 2:8,9). Believe in your works enough, and you'll miss the Savior who did the work. By the grace of God, change your mind; or, in the words of the text, repent.

There's the Sadducee in us, that says, "All I want out of Jesus is help for this life. If He gets me out of a jam, or cures my ailments, or keeps me wealthy and prosperous and out of most trouble, well, that's the savior I'm looking for. I'm not really concerned with those abstract concepts like final judgment, resurrection of the dead, heaven or hell or eternal life. I want a savior who's going to show results right now." That is, after all, the sort of savior that you'll find on channel 24 or in pop devotional writings. But if this is the Savior you're looking for, you'll pass right by Jesus. He declares that He's sacrificed Himself to make you holy with God, not popular or successful in the world. He warns that the world will persecute the Church. He tells you that He disciplines His children and even uses affliction and weakness to strengthen their faith. If you're looking for a savior to make this world paradise, you'll walk right by Jesus; He came to deliver you from this world to everlasting paradise. Better change your mind while there's time. In other words, repent.

That's exactly the temptation that lies always near to our sinful flesh. We want Jesus to be a Savior that He's not, instead of the Savior whom He is. Each one of our desires tries to put Jesus in a box and make Him into a messiah of our liking and making; each one of our desires tries to limit the holy Son of God, make Him less than He truly is.

Repent, because there is still time. In other words, repent, because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. We look forward to Christmas in just a couple weeks' time, and marvel that Mary holds her newborn Creator to her breast. The King is born in Bethlehem, which is why the shepherds will gather there, too. But dear friends, the King is just as near to you as He is to Mary the day of His birth. He graces you with His presence in His Word and His Sacraments. He does not yet come with winnowing fork, to sweep the sinner into judgment. Still, now, He comes with grace-to forgive your sins, to strengthen your faith, to prepare you for everlasting life.

Jesus says: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Do not delay! And do not seek to make Me into something less than who I am; for I AM the Son of God who has died for your redemption. And because I AM WHO I AM, my promise to you is that I will raise you from the dead for eternal life." Prepare the way of the Lord.

"Repent, because the Kingdom of God is at hand; and because Jesus is here, you can know without a doubt that all your sins are forgiven." In Jesus Name and for Jesus sake, Amen!

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! Amen