Advent 2-C
Beloved. Today in the Gospel we meet one of the great figures of Advent—St. John the Baptizer. It seems as if he just suddenly appears on the scene: In those days John the Baptizer came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. But we know from St. Luke’s Gospel that the angel Gabriel announced to John’s elderly father, Zachariah the priest, that he and his elderly and childless wife Elizabeth would have a son, [1.16-17] who would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and go before [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. John’s task was one of preparing the people for the coming Savior, Christ Jesus. And sent by God, he came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.
And it is interesting where John comes preaching. He doesn’t go to the temple area; he doesn’t go to Jerusalem or any other big city but to the wilderness of Judea. Again, with God and His ways, there are no coincidences. That wilderness of Judea is a very fitting picture. When we think of the wilderness in Scripture, probably the most familiar image that comes to mind is the 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert going from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land being led by Moses. And now with John’s coming to prepare the way for Jesus, for the long promised and awaited Savior, here is the announcement that Jesus the new Moses, one greater than Moses is here! Here is the One, Jesus, who would lead the people—both Jew and Gentile—not only out of physical slavery but out of spiritual slavery to sin, death, devil and hell; who would lead them into God’s eternal kingdom. In those days John the Baptizer came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.
The other thing that is striking about John is his appearance. Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He looks like how one would expect a prophet to look. The OT prophet Elijah had a similar appearance. He is described this way [2 Kin 1.8]: He wore a garment of hair, with a leather belt about his waist. John’s appearance gave emphasis to the profound earnestness of his call to repent, of his call announcing the coming of the kingdom of God. Not only did it attract attention to him, but it showed how different the kingdom of heaven is from what people normally think of a kingdom. When we hear about a kingdom, we generally have an image of all sorts of wealth and prosperity. People try even to make their own kingdoms with all sorts of self-indulgence. But what does John here show by his appearance? He shows that the kingdom of heaven is something different. It is the rule of God in the heart; not our rule over others. It is the rule of God in the heart and the blessings that He gives us as He rules there—blessings like the forgiveness of sin, eternal life, peace, joy, the Holy Spirit, and the like. John, by His appearance, is teaching his hearers—and us—that we dare not get our hearts attached to the things of the world. The things of the world are to serve and be a benefit to us, yes, but we dare not make them the end all. The kingdom of heaven is not an earthly kingdom; it is not focused and centered on the things of this world but is a spiritual and heavenly kingdom. We do well in these days before Christmas with its emphasis on all the materialism that supposedly will make us happy if we get it for Christmas to remember the message and image of St. John the Baptizer—one of detachment from these things and attachment to Jesus and His gifts and blessings.
That was John’s task—to prepare the way for Jesus. St. Matthew writes of John: For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” So significant is John that he was prophesied about eight centuries beforehand by Isaiah. So when he came on the scene, that was a fulfillment of prophecy. And so blessed was John that when he came he could actually point with his finger at Jesus and say [John 1.29]: There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. All the OT prophets who came before him could only point to Jesus at a distance. John was there physically and literally pointing to Jesus saying the Savior has come!
John caused enormous excitement. And that’s the power of God’s word as he openly and fearlessly proclaimed it. Our text: Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But then we hear a seemingly rather odd statement: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Doesn’t this sound odd? After all, you’d think John would want as many as possible to come to baptism—especially the religious big-shots of the day. Wouldn’t that give him more prestige?
But what does John see? He sees these religious leaders coming to him to be baptized, but they lacked repentance. That’s why he scolds them/ calls them out. Couldn’t he just let them come? No! What good would that do? A false outward motion of repentance is no repentance. It does no good. So what does John do in our text? He preaches sharp Law and calls on them to repent. And this is for their spiritual good, so that they will actually recognize and sorrow over their sins and look for and yearn for a Savior from sin. Today, too, we hear the call to repent. A lot of people don’t like the Church and think and say all kinds of nasty things about the Church because we dare to call sin, sin and dare to call people out for their sin. In the Church, we have special times for examination of heart and life, the penitential seasons like Advent that we’re in now and the greater penitential season of Lent. Like St. John, we preach repentance so that we sinners turn from our sin and are saved.
It is very easy to come up with all kinds of excuses of why I committed sin, but at the end of the day it is still sin; sin that needs to be repented of. Let us not think that we are so good, and that our sins are no big deal. If we think we have no sin, or our sin is not all that bad, or that we’re at least better than others, let us hear: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” This Advent, as we prepare ourselves, prepare our hearts to welcome the Christ Child again at the celebration of His birth, may we hear and take to heart John’s call to repent. Where there is sorrow over sin, then there is a longing to be rid of that sin, to have that sin forgiven; then there is the desire for the Savior of sinners, Jesus.
This is part of Advent’s call—to prepare the way of the Lord, to prepare His way as He comes to us in His word and sacrament with His gifts and blessings so that we receive them—and Him—in faith. The thing is, sorrow over sin is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. It all comes down to the fact that if we don’t think we are sinners, what need do we then have for a Savior? Why Jesus? That’s why the Pharisees and Sadducees going through the outward motions of going to John for baptism—for whatever reason—needed to hear: 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. Even now the axe is laid on the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. There are consequences of sin that are not repented of; very serious consequences. And that’s why we need this call to repent, from the heart. And at the root and heart of this call to repent is love—God’s love for us sinners. He doesn’t want us to be in hell for all eternity. He wants us in His kingdom. He wants to rule our hearts and lives now and to give us His gifts and blessings in Jesus. He wants for us to be eternally with Him in heaven. And that’s why the call to examine heart and life and to repent now—while there is still time before it’s too late.
The thing is, it’s not just a call to recognize and sorrow over sin. If that’s all that there is, what is the point? –Just to feel bad? No! There’s something much more and better and it’s this: God’s promise to forgive us our sins in Jesus and to give us eternal life. The call to recognize our sin and sorrow over them also has with it the promise to forgive us sin. When we recognize our sin and are crushed by the Law of God, rejoice! It doesn’t end there! God is directing you to Jesus; He is offering and promising you the forgiveness of your sins. Again, without the promised forgiveness, what would be the point? So when John says to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized but without repentance, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” he is not only saying, “recognize and sorrow over your sins” but he is also saying that when you recognize and sorrow over those sins, there is help and rescue from those sins and their consequences. In this way, when we hear the call to repent, it can even create faith as our hearts and minds, dear Christian, are directed to Jesus and His saving work. So don’t get uptight and defensive when you hear the call to repent, instead see there God, in love, calling you to recognize your sin so you can in faith grab ahold of His promise to forgive you for Jesus’ sake. Look at that promise John gives in his word of warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him without repentance: His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. He will gather safely all His dear Christians, all the repentant sinners who in faith hold to His word of promise to forgive.
John’s words also give us a further comfort: I baptize 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 baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Here John shows his mission is only temporary. He is to prepare the way of the Lord, of Jesus the Savior. He is to point to Jesus. Jesus is the mightier one because He is not only a man but He is also the true God. Jesus had a very specific work that John couldn’t do—whose sandals I am not worthy to carry—namely be the Savior of the world, die on the cross to reconcile all of sinful humanity to God, to bring about for all the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. But John was to point to Him—and he did so literally.
And now that Jesus has come and carried out His saving work by living a holy, sinless life, suffering and dying on the cross and rising again from the dead, He gives us in full measure the Holy Spirit. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. For most of us it was in Holy Baptism that we received the Holy Spirit. When He came to us, He created faith in Jesus in our hearts, faith that receives Jesus and His work, faith that is bold to confess sin and hold to God’s promises. And now the Holy Spirit leads us into a life of faith and good works. Where He is in the heart, there is no sham repentance but true sorrow over sin and a longing for a Savior from sin. And not only that, but with the Holy Spirit in us—as He is in the heart of every Christian—He is leading us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. As a fire, He cleanses and purifies our hearts so that we strive all the more and harder against sin, so that we fight against our old sinful nature and desires.
Yes, sadly, often that old sinful self will win and we will sin. That’s why as Christians we still need to examine heart and life and to repent. But for us, yes, while we lament our sins, we can actually rejoice in the call to repent because it points us to our Savior and God’s promise to forgive us. And this strengthens us all the more to fight against sin in the power of the Holy Spirit who is in us. INJ