Matthew 3:1-12: Repent, for the kingdom of God has come near

Introduction:

I’d like to address a scam that we’ve been seeing go around lately

Someone is sending emails out that appear to come from me, using my name but a different email address

Those emails say that I need some help from you, but not to contact me directly because I’m in a prayer session

The goal of the scam is to get you to respond via email so you can’t verify that its me, and eventually they end up asking you for digital currency

If such a person is watching, you need to stop doing that, repent of your sin, and turn in trust and faith to Jesus

As soon as I say that, I’m a victim of my own sermon today!

The most common idol in the western world today is not some image or statue or god of another name, but simply ourselves

On a collective level, it’s the idol of human achievement, where we see ourselves as essentially good

Even when we do recognize the human condition as broken and sinful, it’s typically in a really generalized and intellectual fashion

Human beings in general

I’m “not perfect”

But I am not acutely aware of, let alone mourn and grieve, my own actual sins

But I can and absolutely will point out and confess other people’s actual sins

These days, it pretty much seems like everyone is really good at knowing what’s wrong with everyone else

Today’s passage from Matthew will hopefully challenge us to see our own sin, to mourn and grieve over it, to confess it and to repent of it

Matthew 3:1–4 ESV

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 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.’ ” 4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Who is John?

Matthew identifies John by quoting from Isaiah 40 A “voice crying”

The emphasis is never on the messenger but rather on the message

John is a rough man who does not look impressive

From a strategic PR perspective, this is not the way to initiate the proclamation of the kingdom of God

A crazy hillbilly preaching an offensive message with no advertising in the middle of nowhere

And that’s the point! Despite John’s bizarre appearance and remote location, crowds flock to him. And why is that? Because this whole thing is about God, not John

And this simple reality was what gave John such boldness

John’s basic message

The basic message of both John and Jesus was summed up like this: “Repent, for the kingdom of God has come near”

Matthew says “kingdom of heaven” because he was a Jew and out of reverence for God he avoided saying God as much as possible

Jesus proclaimed this message as the messianic king over the kingdom of God

John here introduces this message because he is preparing the people of Israel for the coming of the messianic king

I. The offer of the kingdom

John says that the kingdom of God has come near

“Kingdom of God” is a HUGE concept that we will explore throughout Matthew

John is saying that God is bringing out his kingdom, and he is inviting people to enter into it

This is both encouraging and convicting for the people

It means God is graciously offering entrance into his kingdom

But the offer to enter the kingdom implies that they are not currently in it

It is also seeding the idea that the kingdom of God is going to look very different than they expect it to

As we will see, this implication is highly offensive to some people in Israel

Two implications of John’s message:

The kingdom of God has come near, and God has graciously invited us to enter it

Why is this grace? Because every single one of us is a rebel against the king of kings

God does not owe anyone entrance into his kingdom

What does a righteous and just king have the right to do with insurrectionists in his kingdom?

The fact that God is offering entry into his kingdom at all is a profound act of grace

We are not in ourselves ready for or worthy of citizenship in God’s kingdom

This is what is implied in John’s statement to “repent”

Alongside the wonderful and gracious offer of the kingdom is the implication that the people of Israel were completely unworthy of it and were in need of a fundamental transformation

Why was Israel in shambles? Because the people of Israel were idolatrous, wicked, sinful, disobedient to God - they were rebels against him

John is here trying to prepare a people to receive their messiah, their king, and so he tells the people that they need to repent because of the gracious offer of the kingdom

II. The response of repentance

Meaning of “Repentance”

Repentance means the changing of the mind, understanding, perception

What you think, how you perceive the world, and what you understand translates into what you do

This is why theology matters

Many people don’t think theology is important

As soon as they hear the word, they assume “that’s something that professional academics are concerned about”

But theology at it’s most basic is thinking thoughts about God

All of us think things about God - the question is not whether you engage in theology, but rather whether you engage in good theology

In other words, it’s not question of whether you think thoughts about God, but rather a question about whether the thoughts you think about God actually line up with reality, with how God truly is

Why is this important?

You can only rightly worship God to the degree that you know him

You can only live wisely in the fear of the Lord to the degree that you know him

You can only obey the Lord to the degree that you know him

One of the big mistakes we can make here is to neglect the importance of the mind, of right theology and doctrine, in following Jesus and repenting of sin

There is a tendency in Christian circles today increasingly to believe that right theology is somehow irrelevant to living out the Christian faith

We falsely contrast things like “wisdom” and “faithfulness” with “theology” and “doctrine”

One mistake we will talk about is the mistake of not allowing our theology to work itself out in our actions, but the crucial mistake here is in thinking we can act without informing our actions through the right understanding of sound theology and doctrine

Repentance starts with the mind and results in a complete transformation of a life

Two groups

“Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region of the Jordan”

“the Pharisees and Sadducees”

This is the continuation of a theme that began with Herod and the Magi and will continue throughout all of Matthew

In Matthew’s mind, there are two kinds of people, and at rock bottom only two kinds of people

There are those who submit and yield to king Jesus in faith, trust, and repentance, and there are those who do not

The Pharisees and Sadducees were two groups of Jews within 1st century Israel that were politically, doctrinally, and ideologically opposed to one another

Yet here Matthew pictures them together in John’s rebuke. Why?

Because human history is not principally divided up by political allegiances, by ideological stances, by ethnic groups, by national boundaries, or anything else like that

Human history is principally divided up by those who trust Jesus, repent of their sin, and walk in obedience to him, and those who do not

Pictures of repentance Matthew 3:5-6

Matthew 3:5–6 ESV

5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Confession

Confession means to come to the conclusion in agreement with God that you are wrong in thought, word, or action (or all)

Confession is to acknowledge your sin because God has told you that you are wrong and you agree with him

Confession as a part of repentance also helps us remember that this is not about us pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, gritting our teeth, and trying harder

Confession is the act of recognizing our sin, mourning and grieving it, crying out to God, casting ourselves on his mercy

Baptism

Baptism as a symbol of cleansing through confession and repentance of sin

Baptism as a symbol of death and birth into a whole new way of life

John was saying that the people of Israel needed their lives so radically transformed as to be part of a completely new movement of God

Naturally, those who already thought they were pretty swell were not happy about the implications of this

God requiring a symbol of significant transformation meant that what they had been doing wasn’t getting it done

Baptism as initiation into a messianic community

John’s task is to prepare Israel for her Messiah, and so here is here initiating a messianic community to get ready for the coming of Jesus

Next week we’ll talk about this as it relates to why Jesus was baptized by John

In essence, baptism was the action demonstrating repentance and confession

Though Christian baptism isn’t exactly the same as John’s baptism here, the exact nuanced differences are beyond the scope of what we want to look at today

If John’s baptism signified entrance into the messianic community, the baptism that Christians practice is largely the same but with a more fully informed idea of what that actually means

It is still a sign of repentance from sin

It is identifying with Jesus in his death and in his resurrection

it is the step of faith by which we pledge ourselves in allegiance to Jesus, are identified with him, and are joined to his body the church

Fruit worthy of repentance Matthew 3:7-10

Matthew 3:7–9 ESV

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 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.

By John’s rebuke as well as later accounts of the Pharisees and Sadducees, we can determine a few things John had in mind in his harsh rebuke

They felt they could assume themselves part of God’s messianic community without the need for any personal change or repentance on their part

Because they were the most religious and pious people in their day

Because of their ethnic heritage as the people of God

A confession of sin, a statement of repentance, and even baptism mean nothing without an actual transformation in how we live our lives

One of the greatest problems facing the world today is that we at times live the exact same way as the world around us who is not following Jesus

This creates the impression that you can come to faith in Christ and pretty much leave how you live your life intact

You can place your faith in Jesus without actually changing anything at all

Which then causes people to rightfully ask, “what’s the point?”

This issue is compounded the longer we are in the Christian faith, because it’s so easy over time to become blind to our own need for repentance in an ongoing manner

You are not right about everything you think

God does not approve of everything in your life

You still have areas of your life that need to be brought more fully under the lordship of Jesus

To have faith in Jesus means that we trust him, we submit to his reign, we adopt his view of the world, we obey his teachings, we do what he says

What can we do to cultivate a posture of ongoing repentance?

Be humble - be willing to consider that you are totally wrong about some things

Take inventory - ask yourself what areas of your life need to be submitted more fully to Jesus

Confess - acknowledge your sin and your need to grow out loud in a trusted community in specific terms

Repent of your own sin

if you want to see revival and renewal in our church, in our city, in our county, wherever, don’t start with the changes everyone else needs to make.

III. The judgment of God

In urging people to repent of their sin, John gives two reasons. The first, which we’ve already covered, is the gracious offer of the kingdom of God. The second is that the judgment of God is coming.

Matthew 3:10–12 ESV

10 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. 11 “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 fire. 12 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.”

In essence, John is saying that God has graciously given us rebels a chance to lay down our arms, repent, and enter into his kingdom. But if we reject his loving offer, he eventually will give us what we want and treat us like the rebels that we are.

Why the wrath of God is good:

God’s judgment is is consistent, objective, and loving

God’s judgment is consistent where human judgment is shifting and inconsistent

God’s judgment is objective where human judgment is subjective according to the sensibilities of a certain person or group

God’s judgment is loving where human judgment is condemning

Humans make moral proclamations not to help one another but to condemn each other and establish ourselves as superior

God pronounces judgment in order to spur us on to repentance

God’s wrath and judgment is an expression of his love and goodness.

No one actually wants to believe in a God who doesn’t get angry at sin.

God’s wrath is his love distributed

At the same time it can be true that God loves you and is angry at you for your sin and the devastation it has caused in his world and in the lives of other people that he loves

Our problem is actually not with the idea that God judges sin, just that he judges our sin along with everyone else’s.

This is the problem the Pharisees had: they wanted to affirm God’s wrath and justice, but only so far as it came down upon other people’s sins.

As soon as we rush to judgment on them, let us recognize that we are really good at doing the same thing

Conclusion:

We have two paths open to each of us, and only two

The Pharisees and Sadducees who trust in themselves

Everyone else who confesses their sin and repents

We will either respond with agreement with God over our sin, confession of it, and repentance

Or we will respond with our own sense of righteousness, believing we don’t need to respond because surely we are already good

John’s hearers repented on what they knew, and we have a lot more to go on than they did

They repented of their sin at the wild preaching of a crazy hillbilly in the middle of nowhere

We stand on the other side of the cross, where we see the culmination of this story in the son of God giving his life as a ransom for ours, that we might be given the opportunity to repent of our sin and trust him

We know that when we confess our sin and cast ourselves on God’s mercy, that mercy is granted on the basis of the shed blood of his Son.

So ultimately repentance of sin doesn’t primarily involve you gritting your teeth and trying to be better; repentance of sin means turning from yourself to trust in Jesus