Make Way for the King!

Intro

So today, we come to the point in the Gospel of Matthew where we talk about John the Baptist. Some might say that John had a very unique ministry. He was an odd bird, that’s for sure. We like to think of John the Baptist as odd because he dressed odd, ate odd, and was odd. However, I would contend that for us as believers, John the Baptist’s ministry had a whole lot in common with the church’s ministry. Consider that John the Baptist lived faithfully, if oddly, proclaimed boldly, and pointed everyone he could to Christ.

Church, that’s our mission. To live faithfully to God, proclaim the Truth in love, and point everyone we can toward Christ. John may have been an odd guy, but we have more in common with John the Baptist than we do our unbelieving friends. I want you to see today how we can emulate our lives after him. Let’s look first at who the man is.

The Man

Matthew 3:3–6 (ESV)

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.

You know, around here, if you saw somebody like that, you might ask, “boy, were you raised in a barn?” Reminder, by the way, that Jesus was born in one… Nevertheless, we look at the person of John the Baptist, and we’d likely, today, mistake him for a homeless guy.

I remember living in New Orleans, we’d go down to Cafe du Monde to have beignets and coffee. It was one of the places I’d always take people if they came to visit. It’s in the French Quarter, next to the levee. And there’s all kinds of people in the French Quarter. And before you judge me, the French Quarter is much more than just Bourbon Street, okay? We’d skip over that part, doing one of these… But amongst all the different types of people you’d find in the French Quarter, including bicycle gangs… You heard me right… were the gutter punks. I’m not using a derogatory term, it’s truly a subculture, and how these folks choose to live. They never bathe, they live in the streets of New Orleans, who knows what they eat… And they’re not your typical homeless folk. They are typically about my age, and just want to travel and hop trains and panhandle. They don’t work not because they can’t find jobs but because this is the lifestyle they choose. Some got there through hard drugs, others got there through a tough childhood.

Here’s a picture of a gutter punk you might see on the streets of New Orleans. This is a tame picture, by the way…

When I think of John the Baptist, I think he might have looked a little like these guys. But he was worlds different. He didn’t look like this because he lived a hedonistic lifestyle. He lived like this for the exact opposite reason… He had a MISSION.

John the Baptist lived a simple life, really. He ate simply, lived amongst the wilderness, and had a ministry. That’s kind of all we know about his lifestyle. What can we learn from the life of John the Baptist? It’s a good thing to live simply. This probably propelled John to focus more on his ministry, as he had no pursuits to get him distracted from his main goal in life, which was to point to the coming Christ.

Now, while i wouldn’t tell you to go live John the Baptist’s life, I would challenge you to think, “What are some of the extras in my life that pull my attention off of Christ?” I’m not talking about a harmless hobby, I’m talking about the phone addiction. I’m talking about the acquisition disorder… You know, you have to acquire more and more and more, and it never stops? I’m talking about the friends you keep around who don’t bring you closer to Christ, but drag you away from Christ with them!

John was a man who allowed his mission to shape his life. Men, listen up, because you need to hear this. A man who has no purpose loses his way. I see it all the time. Some of you guys live without discipline and focus because you have no idea what you’re trying to accomplish. You’ve got no purpose to live for, and I’m tired of seeing it. A man without a purpose loses touch with his family, slouches on his responsibilities, and goes through life just looking for the next thing to distract him from his pointless life. And he can’t think about how pointless his life is, or he’ll get all emotional. He surrounds himself with friends who do just as little as he does who can stroke his ego and tell him that it’s not he who’s at fault, but everyone else.

Look, some of you younger guys need to suck it up and figure out what you’re living for. Might I encourage you to look at the life of John the Baptist, who gave his whole life to making Christ known? This was my story. I had no purpose of my own for which I lived. I just sat around, every waking moment glued to a computer screen so I could distract myself from what little purpose I had.

I submit to you that a man is not complete without a purpose! You give a man a purpose and he’ll storm the beaches of Normandy, knowing full well he might die! You take a man’s purpose, and he’ll waste his life pursuing his own pleasure, blaming everyone else for his own faults.

John the Baptist’s life was one of purpose. His purpose was to be useful to God, and because of that, he could live simply and preach boldly. Just look at the difficult message he shared with his countrymen:

The Message

Matthew 3:1–2 (ESV)

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

“Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

John starts right out of the gate with a tough message. The word, “Repent,” carries significant weight behind it.

Again, you’ve heard me say this before, to repent is to completely go back on how you formerly believed and lived. John’s message is “Repent! the Kingdom of Heaven is coming!”

What does that mean? Specifically, that God is about to take back His rightful place on the throne of the earth. Not only on the throne of the earth, but also on the throne of our hearts.

This brings us to another point of what made John the Baptist the man he was… Not only did he know his purpose, or his mission… He knew his master! Truett Cathy, founder of Chick Fil A said you have three M’s to choose that will cement the outcome of your life: Who will be your Master, what will be your mission, and who will be your mate?

Seems that John the Baptist missed the third M, but oh well. He didn’t have a mate.

But he was certain Who his master was. And out of that came his mission.

Guys, it’s time to get off our phones, quit letting our jobs control our lives, and get after the mission of God!

John was so zealous for God, and so committed to his mission that he kept the purity of his life and his message.

Watch how his ministry continues and how he explains the message to those who would infiltrate his ministry without pure hearts:

Matthew 3:7–12 (ESV)

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? 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 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.”

Let’s break this down a little bit. So the religious elite come in, and John gets pretty tired of their charades. It likely didn’t take long, but there was probably some time going on here. Maybe one would come, then a few more, then a few more. Or maybe they all just showed up one day, who knows. The Scripture doesn’t elaborate on that. But John’s message to them is pretty strong. A couple elements of that:

The insult & the wrath

Bear fruit - John says this because he knows that Pharisees are all about airs and appearances. God is not. God desires true repentance. True repentance is NOT presumptuous. True repentance is the casting away of one’s own self-importance. God can save anyone, but it’s the contrite and lowly He saves… Not the arrogant and self-righteous. Repentance is saying, “God, I am wrong, and YOU are right!” So when John says bear fruit in keeping with repentance? It means have the attitude and mindset that this isn’t about me.

Then, John really drops the hammer… Or maybe I should say drops the axe… He says that God is ready to cut out the trees at their roots and throw them into the fire. Listen y’all, he’s talking about eternal judgment here, and he’s saying God doesn’t care who your daddy is. Someone once said, “God doesn’t have any grandbabies. He’s got sons and daughters.” Here’s what God is saying to all people everywhere, Jew and Gentile alike: “You need Jesus Christ. Without Him, you have no salvation from the consequence of your sin. Without Him you have no purpose. Without Him you are consigned to an eternity under God’s wrath against you for your sin.” Someone will say, “preacher, that’s not a very loving message,” uh, yes it is. When you’re in the car with someone and they’re barreling down I-75 at 80 miles an hour going the wrong way, what would you do? “Oh, um, if you don’t mind, I just want you to know you’re going the wrong way.” NO! You communicate with urgency! “Hey! Wake up, you are going to get yourself and someone else killed!!!! Turn around!!!!” It IS love to steer people away from an eternal fate of hell. Urgency is needed in our day.

Then I want to continue on and put in a little side not to what John says next: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” This is often used as a prooftext for charismatic gifts, with the emphasis on the fire, right? Look, here’s what I’m going to say… The fire here is not the same fire that is spoken of in Acts. This fire is in the context of judgment. Read the whole text (v.12), it’s about Jesus either baptizing you with the Holy Spirit unto salvation, or baptizing you with fire into judgment. What you do with Jesus is the choice you make, either to be saved or to be lost.

Let’s retain the purity of this message… The message of the church is in danger of dilution. The Gospel is not. The Gospel will always stand, and God will always preserve a remnant for His Name. But the church can lose its lampstand, so to speak. That comes about in a few ways… Unfaithful practice, and unfaithful message. Faithful practice is rooted in love and truth. Jesus came to show the world how to love, but that comes through repentance. Faithful message is rooted in love and truth.

And so John points people to Jesus. That’s what makes this next part such a baffling interaction for John…

The Ministry

Matthew 3:13–17 (ESV)

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

So John’s confused, right? What’s going on here? And Jesus’ response is his first in the Book of Matthew: “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness.” This is prophecy speak. Jesus is to pass through the waters, Just as Israel did. This is to fulfill the prophecy. John recognized Christ, and he found himself unworthy. But yet, he went along with it, A) Because the Lord told him to, but B) because it was his purpose.

And in doing so, John set into motion the events that would lead up to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. At that point, the Holy Spirit came on Jesus and affirmed His sonship. What a sight that must have been.

John’s baptism was to show Christ, and so too, our baptisms are to show Christ to the world. This is what we mean by immersing and bringing up out of the waters. Buried with Christ in the likeness of His death, raised to walk (resurrection) in the newness of life. We show Christ to the world. Whether John knew it would symbolize Christ or not, I don’t know, but he proclaimed the death and resurrection of Christ by pointing to Christ in this way before Christ ever even started His ministry.

Christians, John’s purpose is our purpose. Point to Christ. I love what John the Baptist says elsewhere in the book of John (Different John, by the way…) “He must increase… I must decrease...” Seriously, if you are looking for a challenge of growth to start off the new year this week, go study everything you can on John the Baptist. You will be challenged to grow in your lifestyle and proclamation of Jesus Christ.

John truly lived a Christ-centered life. He’s an example for us all. I want to return to something I mentioned earlier about purpose…

Conclusion

When Katie and I were at the marriage retreat a few weekends ago, we met a couple there, and he was wearing a shirt that had his company logo on it, so I asked him, “Oh, hey, you work for so-and-so?” His reply was, “I work at this company.”

I was a bit put off by it, like I just offended him or something. It’s not like his company was of bad repute or anything. I thought he might be proud of it! We kept on in conversation and eventually departed from one another, and it was one of those phrases that just stuck with me. Saw the couple the next day, so I ribbed him about it because that’s kind of a personality trait of mine. I like to joke with people. So I must’ve really offended him, right? Turns out, even his wife was caught off guard by his comment!

But then he explained it, and I found the reason to be very profound… He this story of when he was younger, he found himself in a mental hospital for some bad decisions, and he made friends with one of the janitors. The janitor was so friendly and was always so joyful at his job, singing and always talking, and one day he asked him if he liked working for the mental hospital. He said, ‘brother, I don’t work for this hospital… If I worked for this hospital, I’d be so depressed. Could you imagine working for a place that sees people at their lowest all the time? I work AT the hospital, and I work FOR the Lord, Jesus Christ.”

That left a profound effect on this guy.

Listen, folks, this was a man like John the Baptist. He janitored a place no one really wants to end up. But he was happier than most people on earth. Because he knew his identity. He knew his purpose. He knew his master. I wonder… Can the same be said of you?