Matthew 3:1-12; Malachi 3:1-2. Repentance

John’s “gospel” is very Christ centered.  John’s very demeanor as well as the wilderness area south and east of Jericho where he ministered helped to deflect attention from him as he proclaimed God’s word.  He had a large following, but it was not because he was the kind of person people wanted to emulate.  His clothing and diet were reminiscent of Elijah (2 Ki. 1:8) who ministered near the same area.  Clearly, he was not doing the ministry things that would attracts crowds nor did his message promise and things of this world.

The message was simple.  He was the “forerunner” of the Lord, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD’.  He called people to be baptized as a sign of repentance; but he made it clear that He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  John understood that his role was temporary and that a time would come when he would be “out of a job.” 

We noted a couple of days ago that this passage explains what John means in his call to repent.  Let us consider the following …

·        Repentance includes the confession of sin, v6.  I don’t believe you can deny that the root meaning of the Greek for repent (metanoieo) means “to change your mind.”  But John was very familiar with those whose repentance was done in secret and who would not let themselves be held accountable for their specific sinful actions.  So the literal meaning of v6 is that, as they came to be immersed in the Jordan, they were confessing their sins.  The two, baptism and confession, were inseparable.

·        Baptism is to be an evidence of the heart, but that is not always the case.  John’s baptism was a statement about the “supposed” repentance of the individual.  It identified the individual with others who were awaiting the Messiah.  But of course, there was still a choice to make when Messiah came.  Therefore, for John:

o   Baptism was not “enough” evidence (v8,10).  In the context we can imagine that some of the leaders came, saying, “We have already been baptized.”  John knew how corrupt the temple leadership was.  So he commanded everyone to bear the fruits worthy of repentance.  Further, John reminded them that the Messiah would be the judge who would cut down those trees that bore no fruit for God.

o   Abraham is not “enough” evidence (v9-10,12).  No nation but Israel was chosen by God to be His witness to the nations.  This was regularly misinterpreted by the people of Israel, leading them to think that just being physical descendents of Abraham carried a lot of weight with God.  Jeremiah fought this hypocrisy; so did Jesus; so did the Apostle Paul; and so did John the Baptist.  We never have some backlog of merit that allows us to take an unrepentant attitude towards sin.

Here is a word for us to carry today: bear fruits worthy of repentance.  That is not a call to self-effort.  It is a call to repentance from the heart.