Matthew 3: 4-17  NIV

Warm-up Artistes

Generally, if you’re a headliner, you want an opening act that is beneath you on the talent/popularity scale. Did you know that Queen opened for Mott the Hoople? Stevie Ray Vaughan for Huey Lewis and the News? The worst: Hendrix opened for…(wait for it)…the Monkees!

When the opening act is so great, you’ve got to expect a phenomenal headliner. Following the shootings in Paris a few years ago, U2—perhaps the biggest band in the world at the time—served as the opening act for the Eagles of Death Metal, a band from Palm Desert. There was something beautiful and gracious about it. U2 took used all of its talent and gravitas in filling that stadium—all in order to pave the way for the Eagles of Death Metal, whose concert had been interrupted by terrorist gunfire. U2 turned over all its movement and momentum to a mostly unknown band and honored them beyond comparison.

When the best of the best says “Something’s coming, and we are not worthy to shine their shoes!” The people’s expectations go off the charts.

This is Israel. 430 years of waiting for a prophet—particularly the one who would introduce the long-awaited Messiah—built the tension like a winding coil. The spiritual hunger for God’s arrival and justice was feverish. The people awaited “Elijah,” who was not only the greatest prophet but the promised warm-up act for the Messiah.

The nation was poised for God’s self-revelation. Like a long-awaited Star Wars movie, the last preview has been shown, the lights dim, and the opening chord sounds—the audience is put on the edge of its seat, crazed with anticipation.

The people are ready.

John B. is Elijah

John created a movement—a revival—that drew people from all over Israel down to the Jordan river. His message is that of all the Old Testament prophets: God is holy and demands our righteousness but we—individually and collectively—fall short. He called Israel to confession and repentance. Baptism signified God’s mercy and forgiveness, the washing away of sins.

A few weeks ago, when we were still up at Camp Yerganawana, we remembered the account of Jesus’ transfiguration. A voice came out of the clouds and said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
At Jesus’ baptism, it is the same. Though he needs no baptism—since he was without sin—he steps into the water like the rest of us. He goes in to wash away the sins of Israel, perhaps even for those who have not yet repented, in order to “fulfill all righteousness.”

A voice comes from Heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.”

As with the Transfiguration, Jesus is being authorized and legitimized by God the Father himself. This is terribly, terribly important.

First, it means that Jesus was not self-authorizing. Jesus didn’t just show up and say, “Hey everybody, I’m the Son of God in the flesh—you ought to believe in me because I say so.” Jesus could have said this because in truth he had that authority but he did not. Jesus’ self-revelation came through the way he lived—through his works, deeds, and character—not by proclaiming himself.

Second, it means that Jesus’ messiahship was not culturally constructed—it wasn’t an invention of the Jewish people. It couldn’t have been because though ravenous for a Messiah (and they had advanced more than a dozen candidates in previous years), they could not have conceived of one who would be both figuratively and literally God’s Son.  That was nowhere in the Jewish imagination; in fact, that was categorically excluded.

In his baptism, Jesus has the authorization of Israel’s greatest prophet and the voice of God the Father to proclaim him as more than Messiah; he is God’s Son which means he is God in the flesh.

Lest anyone think that John might have been an unbalanced cult leader like Jim Jones or David Koresh, Jesus makes clear that  John was the greatest human being ever born: 

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.  —Matthew 11:11a

Furthermore, Jesus later reveals that John is the Spirit of Elijah:

For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.  —Matthew 11:13-14

This is followed by a marvelous promise to you and me—the promise of what we are made into by the grace of Christ:

Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.     —Matthew 11:11b

John glorifies Jesus. John’s movement in time is handed over to Jesus, and now John’s powerful popular movement all un veeringly focuses and points to one thing: that Jesus is Messiah.

Not John only, but the proclamation has become that the Law, the Torah, and the Writings—the entirety of the Old Testament—constitute a grand pyramid leading to one, central point: a capstone of utter fulfillment and God’s self-revelation. John names it when he sees Jesus and proclaims him the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The warm-up act has done its job and Jesus is announced and steps onto the stage. The only problem: Israel was such a social/political/theological mess that it had lost all eyes to see and ears to hear.

ISRAEL: MESSED UP

Providing a picture of the context into which Jesus is introduced is necessary, for we will be reading through this all Fall. It is important that we know and understand who are the main players in the gospel drama of Israel. As we consider them, I invite you to find some of yourself reflected in each.

The Players

Sadducees

These were the Jews who followed the Torah alone. No prophets, no Wisdom literature—just the basics, just Moses. They were  aristocratic, wealthy, and constituted much of the ruling class. The Sanhedrin was Sadducee-heavy. They were sophisticated—probably well-educated in Greek as well as Hebrew—and they in large part ruled the Temple. Theologically, they were fiercely materialistic. They denied the supernatural almost entirely, disbelieving in angels, demons, or an afterlife. They denied all talk of resurrection.

Today, the Sadducees are probably best represented by seminary-educated clergy, especially those who went to Princeton Theological Seminary and like to quote high-brow theologians like Karl Barth. They stand around at Alumni meetings and chuckle amusedly over the escapades of trailer park evangelists. [Okay, I need to take a breath now].

Pharisees

Pharisees were the true believers and true practitioners of Judaism. They were “on fire for the Lord” laypeople, following the Torah, Prophets, & Writings to the letter (all KJV, no doubt). They were the most-committed, most-observant devotees of Judaism and referred to themselves as “the Righteous Ones.” Purity, devotion, and sincerity above all shaped their discipline.

These are like the “on fire” Christians who are better believers than you and me. They are super-Christians, super on fire for the Lord and tend to call attention to the fact that most other Christians just don’t measure up.

These first two groups—Sadducees and Pharisees—are the ones who riled Jesus the most, the ones who merited his anger and harshest words. We clergy and devout believers need to keep that in mind as we read through the New Testament.

Essenes

These were those who had departed the rest of the world in order to seek ultra-purity. The Essenes resided down toward the Dead Sea at Qumran, and embraced a life of ultra-purism and separation from the evils of the world.

We think John the Baptist may have started here, as one who shunned the things of the world in order to focus on pleasing God.

Essenes were monastic, celibate, and spent their days as scribes and practitioners of righteousness. They had several baptisms, sometimes several in the same day. To them, cleanliness meant godliness.

No just anyone could be an Essene. They were strictly exclusive and elitist. They believed that a Messiah, a Son of Man/Son of God, would come and initiate the battle for Israel. God and the angels would come down and fight against the Sons of Darkness, and the Sons of Light would be eternally vindicated.

Do we know people like this? They are overwhelmed by the modern world to the extent they just want to stay at home in their basements surfing the internet for end-of-the-world scenarios? They long for that special, insider information that sets them apart from the hoi polloi and distinguishes them as part of the elite group of “knowing ones”?

The People

The people are those Jews living throughout Palestine who are just trying to survive. They too are looking for hope and deliverance. They are loyal to God, country, and Temple, but frustrated by the Roman occupation and the self-serving interests of the Temple leaders.

Among them, there were Zealots—political revolutionaries and radicals who sought the Messiah as a military rallyer who would lead the people to take back Israel by violent revolution, if necessary. The Zealots were activists who sought justice and the vindication of the Jewish people.

Today, we would call these “folks” with the additional “radicals” for the Zealots.

Sinners

Sinners may not be who you think. When the gospels mention “sinners,” our contemporary imaginations run to scenes of gangsters in Las Vegas surrounded by gambling, booze, drugs, wild sex, and other corruptions. For the New Testament context, the word “sinners” usually refers to Jews who had no connection to the temple—Jews who had lost their status in the larger Jewish community.

Non-tithers could be cut off from the Temple. They were disconnect, non-observant or semi-observant Jews just making their way in the world.

Sinners were those who had been disowned by the temple leadership for whatever reason. They were still “Jewish” in every sense of the word, but they were not considered Jews by the top brass.

When Jesus says, “I’ve come for the lost sheep of Israel,” he means these. When he is accused of eating with “sinners and tax collectors,” it means he was meeting with his people who had been pushed beyond the margins of Jewish acceptance.

Today, these could be lapsed Christians, non-observant Christians, or even beyond—that group of wild folks converging on Vegas. Sinners are never hard to find.

Gentiles

Gentiles means all non-Jews. In the gospel environment, it meant the Romans who ruled, occupied, and taxed Israel. It meant Arabs sharing the land  and doing commerce in their cities. Greeks, Egyptians, Syrians, and others made livings in Palestine and were generally looked down upon by the Jews. They are regularly referred to as “aliens,” and a premier virtue among Jews included showing hospitality and fair treatment to all aliens in their land.

To Christians today, our “gentiles” are people of other faiths and non-western cultures. We too should be diligent in practicing responsible hospitality.

Seeing Ourselves

As we see ourselves in these different people groups, we too are called to repentance and confession, but unlike the baptism of John, we have a different foundation.

Jesus the Messiah fulfilled all righteousness for us. When we offer him our sins, he takes the full weight upon himself. In that hole left from our discarded sins, he places his Holy Spirit.

When we remember our baptism, we recall that Jesus was baptized for us as well, making our baptism all the more powerful.

The life we live is a response of gratitude. We are no longer obliged to fulfill righteousness because that has already been finished by Christ.

We “practice” righteousness because it is no longer demanded of us. As a lawyer practices law and a doctor practices medicine, we disciples of Jesus practice righteousness. We are practitioners of righteousness, neither assuming we master the tasks nor complete them in the flesh.

May God receive all praise and glory for all he has done on our behalf! †