John the Baptist, Caught between the Old and New Testaments Advent 2, December 9, 2007

GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 3:1-12 [A voice of one calling in the desert.]

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 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.’”
Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 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 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. 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 to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“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. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

We can divide the Bible between the Old and New Testaments: that which came before and that which came after Jesus. But it is more than just a time difference; it is a difference in the way God deals with people. It is Old Way and the New Way. It is the Old Covenant, the Old Agreement or Promise and the New Covenant, the New Agreement or Promise. The old looks forward to what Jesus will do for our Salvation, and the new looks back toward what Jesus did on the cross for our Salvation.

Those who spoke the Word of God in the Old Testament were called “prophets,” those in the New Testament who spoke the Word of God were called “apostles.”

Today we read about John the Baptist. Is he of the Old Testament or the New Testament? His story is written in the four Gospel books of the New Testament, but actually he is part of the Old Testament. He died before Jesus was crucified and risen again. He was a prophet in the style of the other Old Testament prophets. He spoke the Word of the Lord. He spoke of the future, but he spoke of it because it had meaning for the present time. In other words, the future was the wrath and punishment of the Lord upon a rebellious, sinful nation. Therefore, the message for right now was to believe and trust in God and to repent and to live lives that reflect the love and grace of God. John said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 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 to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

John prepared the road for Jesus to come. He was preparing the hearts of the people so that they could welcome Jesus into their lives. He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” His message was not sweet and nice Gospel. It was a message of the wrath of God. It called on people to repent. It was pure Old Testament in style.

The New Testament style has sweet and nice Gospel. It is the message of the love of God. It calls on people to repent, but it gives the power to repent. As John the Baptist said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” In the New Testament, the emphasis is not that we must be good in order to escape the wrath of God. The new emphasis is that Jesus took upon himself the wrath of God and died on the cross to forgive our sin.

Of course Jesus also started his mission work by saying the same words as John, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But repentance has a new power. It is not what I do, but rather it is living in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the forgiveness of Baptism.

John the Baptist was a person of the Old Testament Era. How about you? Are you an Old or a New Testament person? Would John the Baptist be correct to include you in that “brood of vipers?” Are you as dangerous and hated and feared as a poisonous snake, like the Okinawa habu? Are you like the serpent; are you a child of the devil? If you feel that John is speaking to you in these words, then you are still living in the Old Testament yet.

Advent and Christmas call upon us to leap into the New Testament, to believe that the Child born in Bethlehem is our Savior. We remember that in our Baptisms we are made members of God’s Kingdom. The Word of God in our Baptism forgives our sin, and therefore we have eternal life and salvation. Therefore we no longer fear the wrath of the Lord, rather we rejoice in the love of Christ.

Every year at Advent we hear this message from John the Baptist. We need to hear it because our sinful nature pulls us back to our old ways. Usually our sinful hearts cannot hear the love of Christ, so we need to hear about the wrath of God so that our hearts are open to the Gospel of forgiveness and peace. Then we are ready for Christmas. This is what gets us into the “Christmas mood.” John said, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” To put that into a New Testament Christmas expression, decorate not just your house, but decorate your heart with the fruit of love, of charity, of peace. Let people know Christmas is coming, by decorating your house, by inviting them to Christmas Eve worship, and by witnessing the Gospel. It is a New Age. It started 2000 years ago, and it starts anew each time we believe in Jesus as our Savior and enter into the New Testament Promise of Christ,

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church