2nd Sunday in Advent ~ December 9, 2007

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. The wonder of the Christ Child, that is our theme as we journey through Advent this year. Today our Gospel lesson focuses on John the Baptist, a traditional story in Advent. And so we will focus on the wonder of baptism and how God comes to us with forgiveness, new life and salvation.

Matthew, as well as Mark and Luke, records that John the Baptist (or Baptizer) is preaching in the wilderness calling the people of Israel to “repent.” John is preaching and gathering a large following. Around the time of Christ people did have a heightened sense of the Messiah coming, or at least a wish for a Messiah to free Israel from the tyranny of Rome. So John’s message was gathering attention.

Matthew begins with John preaching repentance. First we need to see what John meant by repent. We think of repentance, and rightly so, as confessing our sin before God. This is correct but not fully the way John’s audience would have heard repentance. They did confess their sin but “repent” as John spoke it also carried the idea of turning back to the Lord. This is important because it would have called to mind the prophets of the Old Testament who also called on the people of Israel to “turn back to the Lord.” And that is why John’s message had caused such a stir – people saw him as a prophet. In fact you could say that this section of Matthew is still in the Old Testament as John fulfills the “last” prophet before Jesus role.

Then Matthew records that John wore a garment of camel’s hair with a leather belt and ate locust and wild honey – not the typical dress and diet at the time. But again it was a sign of a prophet who were often called on to distinguish themselves from the rest of society. John’s message and image would have been received as a prophet and that is why so many gathered to hear him.

John also baptizes the people who come to hear him and repent, turn back to the Lord. As John was preparing the way for Jesus he was baptizing people. Here too we need to come back to the context of the time over 2000 years ago. Today we think of a Christian baptism but that wasn’t quite the case here with John. While John’s baptism will point to a Christian baptism it wasn’t quite the same at this point.

We have seen through archeology and other historical sources that purification rituals were very important to Jews around the time of Jesus. We have discovered many “baths” or “pools” that date to the time of Jesus that indicate a heightened awareness of being ritually pure for the Lord. So for John to baptize (literally “apply water” in definition) was not a new thing for the crowds that gathered around John. To physically be baptized after hearing the message of repentance was a typical thing to do. It symbolized that a person was dedicating themselves to God.

But things are going to change here as often God does when He reveals His plan. There is something greater going on here then just mere ritual of “repentance.” Matthew records for us that John alludes to something greater coming and that what is “old” will now be made “new.” First we see John taking the Pharisees and Sadducees to task. They were coming to John too like the rest of the crowds. But John saw in them emptiness in the ritual. They were coming because it seemed like a popular thing to do. They were coming because they felt that they were the chosen people because of their heritage. John warns them that this was not about them but about God. Repentance that he preached wasn’t about looking good themselves but was about turning to see what the Lord was about to do for the world. And God was going to make things right through His righteous judgment. So, this wasn’t a Christian baptism and Matthew will later record for us in his final chapter but this is a preparation for something greater in Christ.

And now John turns to the crowd and proclaims a “mightier one” is coming and talks about His baptism. Here again context is very important. John tells us in verse 11 that Jesus will baptize with “the Holy Spirit and with fire.” What does he mean by “fire”? Some have taken this to mean two types of baptism – one with water and one with the “fire of the holy Spirit.” But I don’t believe John is advocating two baptisms and it hinges on the word fire. Let’s see the context of this word. In verse 10 just before this we see John taking about God’s judgment in the form of fire. He states, “Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Fire here is destruction or God’s wrath. The in verse 12 John states, “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.” Again fire is used here for judgment.

So what can John mean connecting judgment with baptism? Here is where the change in baptism comes. John’s was focused in on the person “turning toward the Lord.” It was focused on us coming to God. Now in baptism, a Christian baptism, it is not about us coming to God but Him coming to us! You see the wrath of God is what we deserve. Coming to God on our own we face His full righteous judgment. And fire is the symbol of that judgment. So do we face judgment when we are baptized? Let’s approach the text again, this time seeing what happens right after this account of John. Matthew records for us that Jesus is baptized. That is crucial. Why? Because in Jesus being baptized, “to fulfill all righteousness,” he takes on the fire of God for us. Jesus carries the full load of God’s wrath over sin. He takes it to the cross and breaks the stranglehold of sin on the world. Jesus dies for us and rises again to give us new life. The baptism that John refers to is one in which God come to us in Jesus Christ. And that is our Christian baptism. This connection of Christ carrying all our sins in baptism is reflected in Paul’s words in Romans, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4, ESV) We too die to sin and see the “fire” in baptism, but not the full wrath of God which was taken for us in Jesus Christ.

Baptism in no longer about us coming to God, it is about God coming to us in Christ Jesus. And that is the wonder of Christmas – God coming to us. The wonder of baptism is what God has done for us in Christ – taken the full fire of God’s wrath for you and me and gives us new life and salvation. Thanks be to God for coming to us in Jesus. In ordinary water and a few simple words the Word of God – Jesus Christ – now come to us and redeems us to be His own. What a wonder we have in baptism. Amen.