Matthew 07: Fighting Temptation

Satan Tempts Jesus from a Mountaintop in the Wilderness - Gustave Doré

Scripture Text: Matthew 4:1-11

Introductory Comments

The last time we were together we examined the baptism of Jesus in Matthew chapter 3, and we learned from Matthew’s account three things. First, we learned that Jesus was baptized by John in order to fulfill all righteousness so that, having lived free from sin, Jesus might become a perfect sacrifice for our sin. Second, because of his sinless life and his perfect sacrificial death for our sin, Jesus’ baptism means everything to us. In baptism, we are claimed as Christ’s own, receiving the gifts he received at his baptism, including the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the gift of divine favor and uninhibited love. In Christ, we all get to hear the words, “You are my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased, because you live in and for the glory of my beloved Son.” Third, we learned that these gifts grant to us the power to obey what Jesus will command all of us to do in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We are to be a people on the move, sent into the world to bring the good news that Jesus is Lord and that divine grace is available to all who would believe in His Name. We get the opportunity to be used by God for the glory of His Son. The question we ended with was: Do we live like we believe this?

Having been anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus begins he formal ministry by demonstrating his obedience to God. He is “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” for a time of trial and temptation.

For me, one of the greatest passages in the Scriptures is found in Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

It is critically important that we have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and who has been in every respect tempted as we are, and yet remains without sin, so that by his righteous obedience to the will of God we might be saved. This week’s text from Matthew shows the degree and scope of the temptations placed before our great high priest, Jesus. You can imagine this scene like a duel at 20 paces. Both of the combatants in this story are armed, not with guns, but with the word of God, which should teach us all something right out of the gate, namely: If you want to defeat the temptations in your life and kill of sin by the power of the Holy Spirit, the best weapon we have is the very Word of God. It is in the pages of Scripture that we are able to see clearly God’s will for our lives, so that we may not succumb to temptation. Lesson one of this sermon is, therefore, to live scripture-saturated lives. To live a scripture saturated life is to live in a way that is contrary to what the world expects of you. The world expects you to take the things of the world with utmost seriousness. And so we waste our lives with simple pleasures and pleasantries, rather than be devoted drinkers of the living water of God’s Word. If you are discover that temptation is besetting you constantly, you may seriously want to consider spending significantly more time in your bibles than you do now.

Just a few words on the structure of this passage. You may recall that in the last sermon I said that there was a definite pattern in Matthew’s gospel. Everything points to the humble humility of Jesus. Everything points down. He’s born in a stable and sleeps in the trough. He comes from the backward, insignificant town of Nazareth. His family history is filled with gentiles and sinners.

Direction: Upward to Pride

One of the things I want you to notice in today’s test is that the Devil, who is described in verse three as “the tempter” tries to move Jesus from this position of humility by tempting him with the things that are above. He first temptation begins in the wilderness. The next one from the pinnacle of the temple. Finally, Jesus is taken in verse eight to “a very high mountain.” The tempter moves by employing temptations that are increasingly desirable and which play to pride, probably the key weakness of human moral living. When pride rules, everything in life hinges on satisfying ourselves at the expense of God. We see that the tempter in this duel is very well acquainted with his Enemy. And we should be equally sophisticated in our approach as well. Temptation is from the devil who would separate us from the love of God shown to us in our Baptisms. That’s the tempter’s angle with Jesus, and the tempter works the same way against us.

Threefold Form of Temptation

The second thing I want you to notice is the basic threefold structure of the temptations themselves. We’ll address those by working through the text verse by verse, but here’s a summary. The first temptation addresses human appetites. In this case, it is hunger. The second temptation addresses faith in God’s Word. The third goes right to that big weak spot we mentioned earlier, our pride and lust for power.

Temptation One: Hunger –Perversion our Natural Appetites

[4:1] Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [2] And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. [3] And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” [4] But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Notice that while the Spirit doesn’t lead Jesus into temptation, he leads Him to a place where he is subject to temptation. He’s already been fasting for forty days and nights. How many of you have ever voluntarily fasted for even one day? The first day usually isn’t so bad, but try it for two or three days, let alone forty. Your body is well-equipped for communicating the emptiness of your stomach through hunger pains. We have a hard time imagining even the routine hunger of most of the rest of the world, let alone a deliberate 40-day fast. Jesus was very hungry, loved ones. Hungry enough to be very sorely tested by the devil’s first attempt to separate Jesus from His heavenly Father.

This is the way temptation so often works for us, too. Our appetites are such a rich target because they are right there, present in front of us. I’m hungry! I might die if I don’t get something to eat right now. I complain that way if I'm 15 minutes late for a Big Mac. How much more tempting simple bread must have been to a hungry, salivating Savior, 40 days and 40 nights without one morsel.

And it might not be hunger that gets us into trouble. I remember, in a seminary course on pastoral ministry, the teacher strongly recommenced that we never meet with anyone late in the afternoon, especially if that person happened to be of the opposite sex. Physical tiredness lowered the resistance to other forms of temptation. You might be surprised at the indiscretions of pastors who succumbed to temptation simply because they later claimed to be tired.

Our physical appetites, hunger, thirst, sex, etc., can lead us down paths of destruction. The tempter is trying to get Jesus to doubt his Sonship through via the stomach. “If you really are who God says you are, then turn these stones in to bread.” The devil worked the same way in the Garden. “Did God really say don’t eat the fruit from that tree?”

Jesus knows this what’s up. He knows that there are fates worse than dying from hunger, and so he fires his salvo from scripture, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 – “Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Food is necessary to live now, but the Word of God is necessary to live eternally for and with God. The devil is saying to Jesus, “Prove what God said to you at the riverside by doing something big.” Jesus, however, operates entirely from the perspective of faith by recalling the scriptures and his own baptism.

Temptation Two – Going for the Strength

The tempter’s next move is a straightforward one. Jesus responded to the first temptation by quoting the holy Word of God. Now the tempter demonstrates that he also knows the Word of God, so his next assault against Jesus uses the Word:

[5] Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple [6] and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

So, the tempter seems to be saying, you think your saturated with Scriptures? How far are you willing to believe them? Here’s what they say about you, from Psalm 91. The tempter is abusing the scriptures by taking one verse in an attempt to persuade Jesus to defy the living God.

But Jesus will have none of it:

[7] Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

The devil has tried two approaches now. He’s tempted Jesus at a great point of weakness, and now he’s moved him up to tempt Jesus’ strength – his love of God’s Word. Incidentally, I think from this part of the story we learn the valuable lesson about how scripture can be so easily abused and turned into a weapon. Throughout history, the scriptures, robbed from their true meaning by unscrupulous religious leaders, politicians, and others, have caused tremendous damage and pain. Christians ought never to be guilty of this charge.

Temptation Three – The Very High Place

Temptation three at first glance seems to a bit more difficult to frame. Having tested Jesus’ at a weak point, and then his strongest point, he now tests Jesus based on what Jesus is sent here to do, which is to, as Bruner puts it, “win the world.” Jesus is destined to become Lord of the Universe. The tempter knows this, but then he tries to use this knowledge to drive a wedge between Jesus and his Father:

[8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. [9] And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

The tempter is tempting Jesus with a shortcut that removes the necessity of the Cross. If Jesus has succumbed to this temptation, or any of the others, we all would have been lost. This temptation illustrates this truth the best, because unless Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, we would be utterly lost and condemned to hell.

Again, Jesus will have none of it. He was sent, after all, to gather together those whom His father had given him, so that they would never be lost.

[10] Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Nothing will dissuade Jesus from his mission of saving those whom he was sent to save. Notice also the effect Jesus’ words have. They effect the very thing they command:

[11] Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

The duel comes to an end, for now. Jesus will be tempted again in his life, including the time of his ultimate weakness, when he was hanging on the cross, hearing things like this from passers-by:

[27:40] “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Or this, from the religious clergy of the day, the Chief Priests, scribes, and elders:

[27:42] “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. [43] He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Thank you, Jesus, for withstanding it all for our sakes.

Applications

First, we are to be scripture-soaked people, so that we can endure and stand victorious at the time of temptation.

Second, the devil tempts us by appealing to our sinful pride – perhaps our weakest point. Pride it’s a killer of souls and churches. Pride manifests itself in many, many ways. In religious boosterism, in rumor mongering (which is simply the attempt to look better than the absent one we’re slandering). If you are not a Christian, such behaviors will never bother you because pride and place in this world is all you have. For the Christian, however, these worldly ways lead to death, death to the soul and death to the Christian community. Temptations to our pride are everywhere. Be alert for them, and resist them.

Third, if you are a Christian, your failures to withstand temptation are never the last word, because Jesus withstood all temptations for you. Our response to this story of Jesus’ temptations should be deep, deep gratitude. Our reason for staying steadfast and faithful and obedient is not so that we might earn a ticket to heaven. Christ died to put you in heaven. No, our obedience flows from our love and gratitude for what Jesus accomplished by His obedience, even unto death. Amen.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
September 11, 2011
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

QOTD: Stay at the Wheel!

Just wrapped up Fred Sanders' wonderful book on the Trinity The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything. I've just picked up my next book, on preaching, entitled Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching. This quote is from the introduction, written by J. Ligon Duncan III:

Preaching in the contemporary English-speaking world--and even in the evangelical and Reformed community--has not been impervious to the negative forces brought to bear on proclamation as a method of evangelism and discipleship. A video-drowned and educationally-challenged culture, and a church bent on accommodating herself to the dominant communication theories of the day, challenge the minister committed to the "foolishness of preaching." He faces significant pressure to truncate and thin out his message, to entertain, to explore alternate media, and even to abandon historic modes of proclamation altogether. Such a milieu is discouraging to the extreme for the preacher (young or old, novice or master) who simply wants to be faithful. In this setting, every encouragement is useful. Indeed, it helps to beat this old drum and remind men that they are not crazy for wanting to remain faithful, to say to them, "Stay at the wheel; hold fast; keep on; don't give up; you're not alone."

 Emphasis added.

QOTD: Doubt What the World Exalts

Commenting on Matthew 4:3, the place where the tempter tempts Jesus with the words, "If you are the Son of God," Dale Bruner writes:

It is said we live in an age of doubt, in an age of the death of God. We must be careful how we say this. We ought not imply that human nature has normally liked the truth of God and that only recently, in modern times, have people found God doubtful. As the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531) ... reminds us, ever since the Fall, human nature has universally resisted the true God, hid from God, doubted, and distrusted God. Adam and Eve hid from God immediately after their rejection of God's command (Gen 3:8). And the apostle Paul taught us that we are not so much naturally seekers after God's truth as we are suppressors of it (Rom 1:18-3:20). Human nature lives in doubt of God's reality because it wants to. The last three centuries have simply succeeded in making this fact explicit and praiseworthy. Care needs to be taken lest we glorify doubt and make doubt seem more mature, advanced, and modern than faith. Doubt of God is not a virtue to preen. The praise of doubt is sometimes fulsome, especially in college settings, and is often boorish. Let us doubt a great deal, but not God. Let us especially doubt what the world exalts, "for what is exalted among human beings is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15). And one of the things secularism exalts is doubt of God. "Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth we cannot know it" (Pascal, Pensées).

Emphasis added. Excerpt from Matthew: A Commentary. The Christbook: Matthew 1-12, page 123.

Matthew 06: Baptized in Water and Spirit

Baptism Of Christ - Fra Angelico 1437/46

Scripture Text: Matthew 3:13-17

Introductory Comments

Our focus last week was on the preaching of John the Baptizer and his call to the people to “[3:2] Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This message was preached to all the hordes of people coming to be baptized, including those who, believing that they already had all the salvation credentials necessary, probably thought they didn’t need such a baptism. The message for us, from that, is not just to assume the benefits of Christ without understanding the cost. Understanding the cost Jesus paid for your sin is what drives us to ongoing repentance in the church also. For the Christian who acknowledges Jesus as Lord, repentance shows forth our ongoing dependence upon the abundant grace of God for our very survival now. Seen in that way, repentance becomes for us not a shame inducing dread-laden duty, but an awe-inspiring, joy-filled experience of release, refreshment, and renewal in Christ. We grieve for our sin, and then shout with joy for our forgiveness. Over time, repentance brings us closer and closer to Jesus, sanctifying us in a way that makes us appear more like Him. This ongoing sanctification by God is empowered by the Holy Spirit, who is given at baptism.

This week, we will look at Jesus baptism. This story brings up a lot of questions for the Christian. For example: Why does Jesus need to be baptized if he was born and lived his entire life without sin? That is a very good question. Two other questions flow out of the first one. First, what does the baptism of Jesus have to do with us? Second, if Jesus’ baptism does have something to do with us, then do we have something we must do?

Why Does Jesus Need to Be Baptized?

Matthew has set the scene. John has already appeared in our gospel painting as a man in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets, who even dresses, grooms, and eats like the Elijah. He has told the people that the very kingdom of God has come near, and in his preaching calls upon all the people to repent, to get back in line with God’s ways, in light of the news that God has come near. He has also promised that another one would come, mightier than himself, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The stage is now set, then, for the appearance of this mighty person. And it is here, in Matthew 3, that Jesus re-enters the gospel painting as an adult. This is the one so mighty and great that John said he was unqualified even to tie the might one’s sandals.

At this point, we’re thinking something big is going to happen next. And something big will happen, but in a totally unexpected way. This mighty one, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, comes to John and submits to being baptized.

[13] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. [14] John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” [15] But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

Can you see the pattern Matthew has established so far? The fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham and David are found in a little baby born in a shed and sleeping in a feeding trough. And by the way, his family background is pretty sketchy, what with all the gentiles and sinners scattered in it. And he’s spend much of his life thus far in dirty backwater blip of a town called Nazareth in Galilee, a town of such inconsequence that the great Jewish historian Josephus, a very meticulous man, didn’t bother including Nazareth in his list of cities in that region. Everything about this Jesus points downward, to his humility.

And that includes even this part of the story, his baptism by John. John picks up on this apparent incongruity really fast. This is the mighty one of God, His anointed, and he’s coming here to be baptized with all the other sinners? He’s right here with them. John’s reluctance, given what he has been preaching, is understandable, isn’t it? And so he resists the notion that this Jesus should receive his baptism for repentance of sin. He says, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” John is asking the very question many Christians sometime wonder about. Why does this sinless Jesus need to be baptized in repentance of sin?

And Jesus graciously answers the question this way: “[15] Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” He is being baptized for the sake of fulfilling all righteousness. That’s why he must be baptized.

How will Jesus’ baptism fulfill all righteousness? Here’s what I think this means. Like everyone else there by the riverside, Jesus is declaring publicly through baptism that he will live in total obedience to the will of his Heavenly Father. That’s part of repentance. But here is where Jesus’ baptism by John differed from everyone else’s: Jesus did not sin. Nevertheless, he pledged what every sinner would also have pledged at that time – that he would live a life in obedience to God no matter what. We will soon see why this is such tremendously good news for us in our baptisms. Here’s a hint: We fail constantly to be obedient to the will of God, but Jesus never fails to be obedient. And therein lies our hope, because Jesus’ obedience for us overflows and is given to us as a gift in our baptisms. Jesus’ baptism is, therefore, the root of our salvation from God’s just wrath. Jesus’ sacrificial death for us on the cross was only saving by virtue of the fact that he did keep his commitment to be 100% obedient to God’s law for us. His baptism by John was a public testimony that he would do this, and that public testimony was proclaimed, signed, and sealed by the fullness of the Triune God as described next in the story.

This also ties in with what we concluded last week: Our repentance proclaims our dependence to God, specifically, our repentance shows our dependence on the baptism, obedience, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The good news of the gospel for the faithful in Christ is that his baptism overcomes all of the failures we experience in our lives, even after we’re baptized.

The Baptism of Water and Spirit

Jesus steps into the water.

[16] 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; [17] and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Three things are revealed when Jesus is baptized.

First, the heavens were opened. He is granted unimpeded access to the glory of his heavenly Father. At his crucifixion, the curtain of the temple is torn into two and all have unimpeded view of the Holy of Holies. Jesus blazes ahead in front of us at the moment he was baptized. In baptism, then, we have access to the Father that not even the high priest in the Old Testament had.

Second, the Holy Spirit comes to rest upon him, signifying his anointing as the messiah, the long awaited king. He is, therefore, living out the fulfillment of Isaiah 42:1-4

[42:1] Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. [2] He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; [3] a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. [4] He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

Note in that text from Isaiah that the beloved servant/son is not portrayed by the prophet as a mighty conqueror, but one who is gentle and meek. I think that is why the anointing of the Holy Spirit appears as a dove. This servant of God will serve with gentleness and grace. The people of God are called to share the gospel and love their neighbors in the same manner.

Third, a voice from heaven is heard, from the Heavenly Father, declaring his deep, abiding, eternal affection for the Son. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” He is beloved, precious to the Father, because, with the Holy Spirit, he is eternally begotten from the Father. The Son has always been the beloved of the Father, and here, in Jesus’ baptism, this infinite love is revealed and declared to the whole world, and to each one of you in your baptism.

This account shows us clearly that Jesus is the promised servant and Son of God. And in this reading, he is proclaimed to you as the promised One, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

I started this sermon with several questions. First, why was it necessary that Jesus be baptized? It was necessary for the fulfillment of all righteousness by the beloved Son of God. It was his declaration and commitment to fulfill his mission of living in perfect obedience to the Father.

The good news of the gospel is that the reason Jesus did this was to save lost people like you and me, out of an infinite love that we do not merit, for the sake of the glory of God and his praise and worship.

The second question was: What does the baptism of Jesus have to do with us? And the answer is, everything.

First, Jesus’ baptism transformed the baptism of repentance of John’s ministry into a baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Jesus commands his disciples to baptize, but this time in the name of the three persons who were present at his baptism, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Second, the reason Jesus commands this baptism is because of what this baptism signifies and accomplishes. Because Jesus did not need forgiveness of sins, our baptism, received at His command, grants to us that which he did not need, total, complete forgiveness of sins. If you are in Christ, you receive the benefits that overflow from His baptism. Similarly, because Jesus is fully God, he grants to those who receive baptism the gifts he already has. His righteousness and obedience are imputed to us not on the basis of any merit in and of ourselves, but by virtue of the fact that he was fully righteous and obedient for us. We are also granted the gift of the Holy Spirit, and retain that gift even into eternal life. If you have been baptized into Christ, the Holy Sprit of God dwells within you. Reflect on that for a moment. The very Holy Spirit dwells with you, if you are in Christ.

Third, because Jesus’ gifts are granted to us in baptism, we receive divine favor instead of divine wrath. When the heavenly Father looks upon those who are in Christ, he is able to say to that person, who lives in Christ, “You are my beloved! And I’m well pleased with you, too!”

These are all astonishing gifts, and we all ought to reflect on these gifts every day, with great joy and thanksgiving. If you are in Christ, you have received the very same gifts given to Jesus at his baptism. Through baptism, you are made co-heirs with the Son of God. That should be the source of awe and wonder in every Christian.

But we so often forget. We are so often bogged down by the burdens of life that we do not ever reflect on the nature of what we already have in Christ. I plead with you, reflect on those gifts. Relish in them. They are yours. They are powerful and empowering. Your heavenly Father has seen fit to grant them to you because you are in His Son. The Holy Spirit is at work in you, right now in the hearing of this Word.

The final question was this: If Jesus’ baptism is relevant to us, how are we to respond? We are to respond by obeying the Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 to baptize others in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Churches are all called upon to perform acts of righteousness for the glory of the Father, and one of the most glorious acts we can perform by the power of the Holy Spirit is the baptism of infants and adults in public worship. We are to share the gospel, the good news, infectiously with our friends and neighbors, so that in the hearing of this news Jesus might draw those who are his into himself. Just as John participated in the baptism of Jesus, Jesus commands us to participate in the announcement of his kingdom to the ends of the earth, baptizing as we go. Churches that do not obey this command will, naturally, cease to be, because they are not living in obedience of the command of their Lord. Beloved, we are called to be a baptizing people. Let’s get with it, for the glory of Christ.

We can do this by grace because in baptism, God declares to the recipient, “You are my beloved child! I am all for you! Now go live life like you believe Me.” Amen.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
August 28, 2011
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

Matthew 05: Repent!

John the Baptist Preaching - Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1732-1733

Scripture Text: Matthew 3:1-12

Introductory Comments

Last week’s reading had three parts. We focused on the middle part: The story of Herod’s killing of innocent boys in Bethlehem to protect his power and authority. It was the story of original sin, and we saw how all human beings, including everyone in this place, are born with the same sinful tendencies as Herod.

We concluded, based on an examination of ourselves and recent events in the world, that we need nothing less than total liberation from this sin if we are to be saved. And Matthew shoes us who that liberator will be. He will be one who, like Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. Matthew shows us how Jesus will liberate his people from the massive, Herod-shaped sin-hole in which we all find ourselves.

So the broad stokes of Matthew’s gospel painting look like this: First, there is an decisive announcement in the genealogy of chapter 1 that the messiah has come, the liberator who is both the eternal heir to the throne of David and who embodies the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, that Israel will be a beacon of hope for all the nations of the world.

Second, as evidence of this, Matthew shows us that how idolatrous, gentile pagan are drawn to and worship Christ, while the religiously Jewish “King” Herod stays home. The Magi showed us the power of grace, while Herod illustrated for us life under the power of sin and rebellion against God.

Third, we saw just how that sin and rebellion plays itself out. Sin is the power of death, and Herod, desperate to retain his control and power, takes out innocents in order to protect his own glory. Upon examination of some of the events of the world, and an honest examination of what goes on in our hearts, we also said that we are far more like Herod that we might prefer to imagine. Accordingly, we are need of a great Savior.

This week, we are introduced to the next character on the canvas of Matthew’s painting. It is John the Baptist. John’s ministry is one of calling people to repentance for sin through preaching.

John the Baptist – the Basic Message

Here’s how our text begins:

[3:1] 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. [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.

So who is John? John, we know from Luke, was Jesus’ cousin. And we also know from Luke that he spent a lot of time in the wilderness before his ministry of preaching and baptizing began. Matthew would have us know that John was a long-awaited forerunner of the Messiah. That’s why he quotes the words of the prophet Isaiah (the reference is 40:3). Many believed that the forerunner would resemble Elijah (see for example Malachi chapter 4), which is why John’s dress, grooming, and eating habits are mentioned here. “Here is the forerunner to the Messiah,” Matthew tells us, “Pay very close attention to what he says.”

What he says is what is required of God when we sin: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

What does it mean to repent? The Greek word translated as “repent” means to come back or turn around. It implies radically changing course from the route your on to on, one that leads to destruction, to one that leads to life.

John uses an imperative form of the word repent. His preaching is a plea to the people based on an urgent reality. His call is a warning. Why? Because of the second half of his message, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John knows that God has broken into the world, and that the kingdom of heaven has come near. And John, who stands as really the last of the great Old Testament prophets, knows what happens when repentance is lacking and God is near. There are tremendous consequences, and they are not good.

John’s call to repent is because the kingdom of heaven has come near. That means God has come. And that mean’s God’s judgment has come. This is not a plea to get people to repent so that the kingdom will come. Instead, the kingdom has come, and therefore we must repent.¹

This has huge bearing on everyone hearing this message today. Why? Because repentance is not just for those who need forgiveness from God. We will see soon that repentance is also for those who are already in the church, and who by the power of the Holy Spirit know the saving work of God in Jesus Christ.

This Old Testament prophet in the New Testament draws a big crowd, and we should pay close attention to what happens next:

[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.

We see in verse 5 that many, many people were responding to John’s preaching. They would only do that if they were convicted that what he was saying was true. At this time in Israel’s history, Messianic expectations were on high alert. There was a longing for deliverance from the perceive exile of having to live under the hand of the Romans. And so the people came, in his expectation, that what John was saying was true.

And so they come to him to do two things. First, they came “confessing their sins.” Bruner translates this same phrase as “openly admitted their sins”² and I think that’s a good translation. They came to John, and before him and everyone else declared their opposition to God, and their repentance was signified by a baptism. Sins need to be openly confessed. That terrifies most of us today, because we know what has been going on. But we need it. Confession of sins brings forgiveness. Second, they undergo a ritual bath as a public declaration of their repentance.

We now turn to the next part of our text, which shows us that those in the church needs repentance, too.

The Church Needs to Repent

[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. [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.

When the religious leaders come to see what’s up, John preaches a second message that is, shall we say, indelicate? He doesn’t flatter them at all, but instead calls them a “brood of vipers.” He expresses, it seems, surprise that they would even be there, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He directs them, the pious Pharisees and education Sadducees, to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” In other words, John is saying, you religious leaders need to repent just as much as everyone else you came here to see.

And then he explains to them why: “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.” Don’t presume, pious religious laypeople and leaders, that you can simply say you are circumcised and keep the law and expect to be safe. As we will see, it is not membership in a covenant community that saves you. If you’re not genuinely repentant, God will go ahead and raise up others who will be faithful.

I think this text from Matthew is a warning to the church today: Don’t just presume the benefits of Christ. Don’t just say, “I’m baptized and therefore safe.” God isn’t safe! But he is merciful to those who are truly repentant and who bear fruit in keeping with repentance. The message is: Do not think, beloved Saint, that you’re perfect yet. There is still Holy Spirit work to be done to you, which means there is still sin that must be mortified, put to death, by confession and repentance, so that the sin will be banished from you life and you’re made more like Christ, your adopted brother. Don’t be complacent, church, don’t be lukewarm in attending to your ongoing, every single day need for the grace of Christ!

The church needs this same reminder today. We too often take our salvation for granted. We need the reminder from the law that we, too, must be bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. And the church, perhaps now more than ever, needs the reminder that we cannot simply lay hold to the claim that we’re Christian, have been baptized, and find ourselves on the membership roles of a local church (or, in my case, a presbytery), and participate in a lot of good “mission.” What counts most to God is not the externalities of our faith, but the internal condition of our hearts, the place from which all sin originates. We should be a very concerned if we meander through life and it never occurs to us to repent of our sin. Too many times, Christians neglect repentance and true confession of sin, and as a consequences are subject to temptation.

The other day I heard a story about a person who said, very plainly, that they never sinned. That’s a sign of living without any knowledge of our need for the grace of Christ.

Scotty Ward Smith, a great pastor, said this week, “A sign you’re growing in grace: Your humble cry for mercy is much louder than your angry cry for justice.” Why? Because our angry cries for justice are usually predicated on our own sense of pride in knowing what is right and wrong. In fact, however, our knowledge of our own sinfulness and need for forgiveness is what always leads us back to the one who can save us – Jesus. The self-righteous shouting for justice too often leads back to the self, while the plea for mercy takes us to the Cross and to Jesus.

Jesus will make this plain in his story about the tax collector and the Pharisee. The Pharisee stands in the temple and loudly proclaims his righteousness under the law before others, and thanks God that he’s not a sinner, especially one like the tax collector nearby. The tax collectors, as this is going on, is beating on his chest in mourning and pleading with God for mercy for his sin. Who went home justified, asks Jesus? Why, it was that tax collector whom the Pharisee referred to as a sinner. We must not be like the Pharisee in this story, and the best way to do this is to be sure that we’re well acquainted with repentance. Repentance shows our dependence upon Jesus.

John Summarizes His Ministry

John summarizes his ministry this way:

[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.”

As great as John’s ministry was, of calling people to repentance for sin and preparation for the arrival of God’s kingdom, it was limited. But he knows something more magnificent is coming. There is a person who will come who will bring a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire, who will bring cleansing from sin, meaning, will bring righteousness.

That person is the subject of the gospel, Jesus. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. That’s so huge. If you’re in Christ, you’ve been baptized with the Holy Spirit. You have received, in Christ, the very fullness of God. We’ll speak more about that next week. He’s gathering his wheat into the barn of the kingdom. How does he accomplish this? By calling people to himself, and to accept his sacrificial death on their behalf for their sin. John the Baptist calls us to repentance for our deep sin. Jesus gives the grace of God, forgiveness from sin, rescuing us what condemns us. Amen.

¹Bruner, Frederick Dale. Matthew: A Commentary. Vol 1. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 2007. 87.
²Ibid. 89.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
August 21, 2001
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Copyright © 2011 by Christopher Donald Drew

QOTD: Dorothy L. Sayers on the Crisis of Doctrine

Here's English playwright Dorothy L. Sayers, from her work Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster:

It it is worse than useless for Christians to talk about the importance of Christian morality, unless they are prepared to take their stand upon the fundamentals of Christian theology. It is a lie to say that dogma does not matter; it matters enormously. It is fatal to let people suppose that Christianity is only a mode of feeling; it is vitally necessary to insist that it is first and foremost a rational explanation of the universe. It is hopeless to offer Christianity as a vaguely idealistic aspiration of a simple and consoling kind; it is, on the contrary, a hard, tough, exacting, and complex doctrine, steeped in a drastic and uncompromising realism. And it is fatal to imagine that everybody knows quite well what Christianity is and needs only a little encouragement to practice it. The brutal fact is that in this Christian country not one person in a hundred has the faintest notion what the Church teaches about God or man or society or the person of Jesus Christ ... Theologically this country is at present is in a state of utter chaos established in the name of religious toleration and rapidly degenerating into flight from reason and the death of hope.

Emphasis added. (HT: The White Horse Inn)

Matthew 04: Why We Desperately Need Jesus

Herod’s Soldiers Slay All Children Under Two Years Old in Bethlehem - Gustave Doré

Scripture Text: Matthew 2:13-23

Introductory Comments

We learned last week that there were two fundamental responses to the arrival of the King of kings and Lord of lords. One response is by grace through faith, represented by the Magi, who were called by grace to the very feet of Jesus the Messiah, first by the natural revelation of a star, and then by the proclaimed Word of God in the presence of Herod. We saw a glimpse of the promised inclusion of Gentiles into Israel when they hear and respond to the Word, while the insider, religiously Jewish Herod stays home.

Just as the Magi represent the expansiveness of God’s grace, King Herod represents the other response – the response of a person who is under the power of sin. In this case, Herod was obsessed with his own power and authority, to the point that his heart was hardened against the prophecies contained in the scriptures that he himself knew as a religious Jew. His idolatrous obsession leads to even deeper and greater sin, as we will see this week.

We concluded with the question: How will it be for us? Will God choose us by His grace to live a life that proclaims His glory and might? Or will we be left in sin to live for ourselves and our own motives for our own glory?

Our text this week is in three parts. Two of the parts act, in a way, as bookends for the central part. These bookends are the escape of Jesus and his family to Egypt, and their return after Herod’s death. In between these two bookends is an account of a tragedy that disturbs almost anyone who reads it – the slaughter of innocent children. What on earth does this story about Herod’s brutality teach us? I suggest that it teaches something about our own human nature as sinners who desperately need a savior.

The Escape

Coming on the heels of the recent visit of the Magi, we read this:

[2:13] Now when they [the Magi] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” [14] And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt [15] and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Note again Joseph’s obedience. He does not hesitate, but picks up and heads out to Egypt at the Word of the Lord. And, just as the nation of Israel migrated from the Promised Land to Egypt for safety from famine at the time when Joseph was sold by his brothers and became their protector, Jesus will depart from the Promised Land and go to Egypt for safety. All of this was to fulfill the scriptures, something Matthew is keen to show us, specifically Hosea 11:1. We know that little Jesus will be returning.

We Are Like Herod

We will now see why it was important to the family to leave:

[16] Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. [17] Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

[18] “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Here we see how depraved our human responses can be when we are under the power of sin. I said in an earlier sermon on this text that it is easy for us to sit here today and judge Herod for his atrocious behavior. But the uncomfortable truth about this text is what Herod says about us. Here we learn about the theological concept of original sin – the sin of our first parents into which each person in this room was born.

What do we see of ourselves in Herod? We see a religious insider – a person who attends to the scriptures and who has amongst his advisors learned scholars and teachers. We also see someone with a dark heart who is keen on maintaining absolute power and control over his life and kingdom. Herod points to the fundamental defect of our hearts, original sin. Often, we try to pretend such a thing does not exist. We pretend that men and women everywhere are fundamentally good. We are, in the words of Lady Gaga, “born this way” and so if we are all “born this way” and God does not make any mistakes then we all must be fundamentally good.

There is some truth to Lady Gaga’s words. We are all born in the image of God, but that good image has been badly marred and disfigured by sin. So Lady Gaga’s view of the human being leaves much to be desired. Anders Behring Breivik was born a certain way. Have you seen a picture of him? The 32-year old looks docile, professional, not at all like the kind of person who would murder 80 unarmed innocents. And yet he did, justifying his actions with a 1,500 “manifesto” rationalization of what he was doing, believing himself to be instrumental in saving his own country.

How many of you have been followings the riots in the London and elsewhere in the UK? Gangs organizing themselves for the purposes of making mayhem – destroying 80-year-old family businesses, homes, cars, beating up people and stealing their belongings? What drives this? Sin.

What are we to make of the gang violence that has occurred in recent days and weeks in our own county in places like Philadelphia and in nearby Wisconsin at the State Fair? In both places, innocent people were brutally attacked and beaten by groups organizing themselves via text message and Twitter? Why? For the thrill of the hunt? For the desire to acquire stuff? To be perceived as tough?

Some of the perpetrators in the London riots are already being held to account. What is interesting is the number of these folks who are seemingly well-off. Many lack for nothing. One individual I read about seemed extraordinarily nervous, having been caught stealing from a store. He was ostensibly swept up by the mob moment and succumbed to the opportunity to steal.

What accounts for this? Our contemporary thought leaders, therapists, and political leaders all have the tendency to say people aren’t born this way. A friend of mine recently wrote: “What incredibly bizarre times we are living in right now. I hope these growing pains (global economy, this stage of US democracy, this stage of our global technological capability) lead us to a new Renaissance at some … point! I just have to keep believing in the basic goodness of people.” You see, my friend says, these behaviors represent something aberrant in our basic good nature, something that requires therapy to fix. The biblical answer to this, one which offers a far better explanation, is that we are sinners who are daily tempted to given in in order to protect our own interests, which almost always comes at the expenses of others. I wrote in response to my friend, “The fundamental problem is that not one of us is actually good.” We are all, frankly, born like Herod. What we need is nothing less than rebirth.

Herod teaches us this doctrine of original sin, and also shows us that we who are the religious insiders are not immune to such things. We are indeed saved if we belong to Christ, but we are also still afflicted by sin and temptations to sin. Just two days ago I read this lede from a story in the New York Daily News: “An irate Alabama minister Tased a pastor who had just fired him, setting off a wild melee at a baptist church that ended with a deacon stabbing the minister's mother, authorities said.¹

Peter wrote these words to the early church:

[8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

I read Peter’s instruction to be “sober-minded” this way: Don’t pretend, saints of the church, that because you’ve been freed from sin you cannot sin. The devil knows the truth about us, and wants nothing less than to humiliate the saints by tempting them to fall. To be sure, we are saved from God’s wrath for sin thanks to the shed blood of Christ on the cross, and we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. But we are not yet perfect. All of us would like to say that we’re nothing like Herod. But if we are honest with ourselves, would we not have to confess that there are many times when we harbor some of the most heinous, dark, violent, malicious thoughts and feelings against other people? How, then, can we said to be different in nature from a person like Herod? In truth, we cannot. Peter warns us not to get comfortable with perceived spiritual advancements. Be sober-minded, Peter says. Don’t forget they way you really were born.

Good News Out of Egypt

Herod shows us the extent to which our depravity wreaks havoc on others. We need rescue from this condition. From where will it come? Matthew point to the One we need beginning in verse 19:

[19] But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, [20] saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” [21] And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. [22] But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. [23] And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Why does Matthew bookend the story of Herod’s slaughter with the story about the escape and return of Jesus? What this shows us is that Jesus, like Moses, will be the one to liberate the people from slavery, and a particular form of slavery. He will liberate us from the sin that plagues all of us. The new Moses is Jesus. Matthew is shouting, through his story, to the earliest readers of this account and to you and me today, sinners and saints alike, “You need this Christ! Because of the way in which you really were born, into sin, you have only one escape – This Jesus. It is this Jesus who will lead the people to liberation into the new promised land, the kingdom of God. It is this Jesus who will, finally and forever, succeed where the first Adam failed. It is this Jesus only who will, at the cost of his body and blood, will liberate us from the captivity of our sin, including our original sin. It is this Jesus who will, by his resurrection from the dead, usher in a new reality marked by the the spiritual fruit of new birth – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23).

God’s word for us today is this: Don’t forget where you came from. We were all born as mini-Herods. Believe the good news of the gospel, that in Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven, forever. Be sober-minded. And when you are tempted, run to the Cross, the place where you were saved from the slavery into which you were born. Amen.

¹New York Daily News Story here.

Given at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota
August 14, 2011
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time