Matthew 3:13-17 John the Baptist
Shalom, may God’s peace be with you!
I’m a changed man.
All it took (laugh), All it took was an event of unimagined importance; change does not come easy.
Let me tell you a bit of my story.
My parents were older when they had me and there was a kind of miracle involved with my birth.
My mother was believed to have been barren and my father, a priest, when he was told by an angel that he and my mother would have a son, made the mistake of asking the angel for some proof.
(Well) He got his proof; my father was struck mute; he couldn’t speak until after I was born; his voice was returned to him only after the elders of the community challenged my mother about the name given me by God, John; in time most people came to know me, not only as John, but as John the Baptist.
My parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, were loving parents and faithful Jews; my father taught me the Scriptures and what it meant to be a child of Israel.
By the time of my teens my parents had gone to be with the Lord and I was left by myself.
Extended family members offered me love and a place to stay, but I was ready to move out on my own; I felt called to move out into the wilderness.
I found a community of faithful Jews out there, men dedicated to God and to the ritual cleansing of the body and spirit; as a member of this community I did this regularly.
My calling, though, was not satisfied by my life there, but before I moved on, the community taught me the importance of baptism, repentance and absolution and I learned the ways of surviving in the wilderness, eating foods like locusts and wild honey.
Locusts, they’re not so bad, and who doesn’t like honey?
But more important, my calling now took me towards Jerusalem, the heart of the faith of my people Israel, but my calling was not to the Temple of our Lord, my calling took me to a part of the wilderness near Jerusalem and to the Jordan River.
There I preached to whoever would listen, and baptized those who felt moved to repent of their sins.
I was not a loveable preacher; I was known to call people out for their sin; I was heard calling some respected men of our faith “a brood of vipers”, asking them “who warned them to flee from the wrath to come”.
That gets me to what there was in my life that was so very important.
My calling was not just to call people to repent and cleanse them through baptism; my calling was to prepare the way for the Messiah of God, which meant preparing the masses to receive the Messiah, by first purifying them of their filth, their sin with a baptism of water.
Day-in and day-out, I stood waste deep in the Jordan river, condemning sin and calling everyone to repent and be baptized, warning them of the coming of the Lord.
You would call a preacher like me a “fire and brimstone” type preacher; I was a good one
I often wondered why so many people came back, again and again, so that I could beat them up with my words again and again.
It seems that they knew that they needed to hear what I was saying, but then my calling was to come to a quick end.
The one for whom I was to prepare the way was standing right in front of me, asking me to baptize him, how could I, how could I not?
It didn’t seem right; but Jesus the Messiah of God assured me that this was what God intended, that by baptizing him I was fulfilling all righteousness, fulfilling the Scriptures.
I baptized the Messiah of God, knowing full well that he had not a single sin for which to repent.
Could he have been repenting for the sins of others? I did not fully understand, but Jesus told me that it was to “fulfill all righteousness” and so who was I to argue.
I was in awe, and as Jesus came up out of the water I was struck with wonder.
Never before had I seen the heavens open as they did, never before had I seen the Spirit of the Lord descend and never before had I heard the voice of God the Almighty speak!
I had received word of my calling and direction for my ministry from the Lord, but never in such a clear and wonderful and public way.
And now the Messiah of God had begun his ministry!
In some ways my ministry continued as before; I had always pointed to the coming Messiah, but now I knew exactly who to point them to.
I called for repentance as always, I baptized as always, but then I sent them to Jesus who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit; I even sent my own disciples to follow and help Jesus.
As I said earlier, I was a changed man; my preaching, while more urgent than ever before, as I learned more and more of Jesus’ ministry, as I realized that God loved us more than he hated our sin, softened, from outright condemnation and judgment to that of a sincere and heartfelt invitation to God’s love in Jesus Christ through baptism.
In just a matter of months, after the Lord, the Messiah, Jesus submitted to being baptized by me, my new and much gentler ministry, quickly came to an end.
I was arrested and as you probably know I was later beheaded; well, we all die, but what is death to God and as you can see God has rewarded me, giving to me a new life and a place in God’s kingdom.
The meaning of baptism changed with Jesus, though I did not then understand how it was changing.
As Jesus was baptized only once, so it was that a onetime baptism would become the tradition for all who would follow Jesus.
Baptism was still for the forgiveness of sin, but it was a once and for all time thing, and baptism would now mark all those who were baptized as children of God, offering to them gifts of the Holy Spirit.
That was never a thought in my baptisms.
Still, I am pleased to have been given a part in God’s plan, of preparing the way for Jesus, small as it was.
I am pleased to stand here today before you, letting you know that Jesus came not to judge and condemn, but to forgive and to offer God’s love.
And remind you that baptism is important; it is a gift, much like a door, through which all that Jesus promised will come to us.
It doesn’t matter whether you are baptized as an infant, a child, a teen or an adult, the Holy Spirit showers the Spirits gifts upon you, because of Jesus.
See how much I have changed, I have preached to you for the past 10-12 minutes and I did not once raise my voice, I did not once threaten you with God’s condemnation and my message centered on God’s love in Jesus.
Shalom, God’s blessings and peace be with you.