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Introduction:
Today there are an estimated 8 billion people in the world.
During Jesus’ time there was an estimated 200-250 million.
Both are pretty big numbers.
Obviously there are many more today.
But as we look at the scores of people over the centuries we can’t help but overwhelmed.
There have been countless people who have accomplished amazing things.
There have been men who have risen to power like Alexander the Great who conquered much of the known world in only a short time.
There have been men like Albert Einstein who impressed the world with his intellectual abilities.
There have been men like Benjamin Franklin who impressed the world with his inventing and electrical abilities.
With a world history full of giant figures such as these, how can a simple carpenter from the rural town of Nazareth stand out?
As we have already discussed, his birth was so simple that He was laid in a glorified feeding trough.
Yes, we went through some of the amazing prophesies of His future as a baby with Simeon and Anna and His incredible interchange with the rabbis in the temple at twelve years of age.
But from the age of twelve until we see Him back on the pages of Luke around age 30 there hasn’t been anything of note that the Gospel writers recorded.
All of that is about to change though.
Our Scripture today puts a spotlight on the Messiah.
John the Baptist along with the Gospel writer Luke are about to magnify the might and glory of Jesus Christ.
We are going to see that although He is fully human - one of the many billions that have walked the earth - He is much more than just that - He is mightier than all and He is above all.
Join me as we read today’s Scripture:
Read Full Scripture:
Prayer
Today we will see two overarching attributes of Jesus Christ that we should recognize.
The first is…
I.
We Should Recognize That Christ is Mighty (15-20)
In verse 16, John the Baptist refers to Jesus as mightier than himself.
The Greek word for mightier given here is ischyros (ees-he-rose) which means strong, powerful, and champion.
During this first point we are going to see that Christ outshines all the rest.
The first that Christ is outshines is…
Christ is Mightier Than John and All Other Men (15-16)
The people noticed something different about John.
Obviously, we know he was a prophet.
But by the power of his words and his miraculous birth to two aged Levites, there was some thought beginning to develop that he might very well be the Messiah.
John addressed this by quickly diverting all attention from himself to Jesus.
He humbly acknowledges that he isn’t even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals.
This was quite a humble statement for him to make.
Only the lowest of slaves had the duty of removing their master’s shoes to clean them.
If you recall, back in John’s day, they walked along dusty roads and would have had extremely dirty feet after traveling.
He then proceeds to show the huge chasm between Jesus and himself by differentiating their baptisms.
He compares the baptism that he is doing with the baptism that Christ will bring.
Baptism here is used more metaphorically to comparing the difference in power and authority between John and Jesus’s work.
John’s preaching and work was to prepare the way for Christ.
He was to call the people to repentance and prepare a people ready for the Lord.
Jesus was coming with power and authority.
The work that Jesus was bringing came with the power of the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Obviously we know that the Holy Spirit was given to the Apostles and fell at Pentecost (See Acts 2).
The Holy Spirit fills all true believers in Christ.
The Holy Spirit bestows spiritual gifts and illuminates the Scriptures for believers.
All of us who follow Christ are only able to follow because of the work that the Holy Spirit does within us.
It is through His power that we can do the works that He has prepared beforehand for us to do (Ephesians 2:10)
But what about the fire that John mentions?
Commentators are divided on the direct application of this here.
Some say that John refers to a refining fire.
See 1 Peter 1:7
Fire is sometimes used in refining terms in the Bible when discussing believers.
The metaphor here speaks of gold that is tested by fire.
The fire is used to burn off the impurities and makes one more pure and more like Christ.
God often uses trials in our lives to refine us.
However, the fire mentioned in Luke 3:16 is most likely referring to the fire of judgment on unbelievers.
The reason that this is the most likely correct interpretation comes in the context of this Scripture as seen in the next two verses where we see that…
Christ is Mightier Than the Chaff (17-18)
Obviously we see fire here clearly referring to the fires of Hell for the unbelievers.
A while back we discussed what the process of winnowing was, but let’s readdress it here to help see the illustration that John is providing about the judgment of Jesus.
Here we see pictured an example of winnowing.
The grain would have wheat grains surrounded by a husk material called chaff.
The winnowing fork would be used to toss the wheat and chaff up into the air.
While in the air, the chaff would blow away while the edible and good wheat would fall to the ground.
Winnowing was done because chaff is indigestible to humans.
It may make you feel full when eating it, but it provides no nutritional value.
A diet full of chaff in the first century would lead to a life that didn’t last very long.
This is why the Bible refers to chaff as unbelievers.
The pure wheat would be gathered and placed into the barn - meaning that we who are in Christ are placed under His eternal protection and grace.
We are destined for heaven and will spend eternity with Him.
Yet the chaff, or unbelievers, have a much different fate.
We see that the chaff is gathered and is burned with an unquenchable fire.
The word unquenchable here refers to the eternal nature of Hell.
It can also be translated inextinguishable.
The Greek word for unquenchable is actually asbestos which is where get the English word asbestos which is spelled exactly the same way.
The material asbestos was termed such because it is highly fire resistant and seems to never fully be burnt up.
In the same way, there is no end to the burning of the chaff or unbelievers.
Interestingly, we now know that asbestos is also a cancer causing agent and can also lead to lung disease and scarring.
How terrifying is this illustration.
Unbelievers are compared to chaff - no nutritional value and gathered to be burned.
The burning of unbelievers is unquenchable or inextinguishable.
Unquenchable in Greek is asbestos which now refers to a material known to cause cancer and lung disease.
Brothers and sisters, I pray that everyone here is wheat.
I pray that you are prepared to be gathered into the barn of heaven and not thrown into the unquenchable fire.
There is only one way to avoid such a fate.
And that is by repenting and placing your faith in Jesus Christ alone.
He is mighty to save my friends.
We have seen that Christ is mightier than John and all other men.
And now we have seen that Christ is mightier than the chaff.
Jesus Christ, being the mightiest of all, came to separate the wheat and the chaff.
Jesus uses a similar analogy in Matthew 13:24-30 in his parable of the weeds and the wheat.
Many of us who know the KJV may remember it as the parable of the wheat and the tares!
Jesus tells us of a parable where a man plants wheat but his enemy sows weeds afterward.
The servants desire to fix this injustice immediately but the master says the following:
That is where we are right now my friends.
The weeds are growing and winding all through the wheat plants.
We see weeds everywhere we look.
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