Deuteronomy 18:15-19/Philippians 4:4-7/St John 1:19-28
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Our Gospel text for this morning begins with an And, which means that it is the continuation of a previous thought. In order to help us understand the context of this reading, we need to back up to the origination of that thought. It’s not far, the same chapter, just thirteen verses earlier. St John the Evangelist writes, There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, that all might believe in Him. He was not the Light, but came to bear witness about the light (Jn 1:6-8).
That is the Forerunner’s introduction and the summary and content of his message and purpose. St John the Baptizer was sent from God. He came as a witness, a μαρτυριαν, that is, a martyr, concerning He who is the Light and Life of the world, even Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He came to bear witness, that is, to be martyred in both confession and life, for the Light. It is as his father Zechariah prophesied on the day of his son’s birth, You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace (Lk 1:76-79). St John the Forerunner came with singular purpose and focused attention: to make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now, our text, And this is the ματυρια, of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask Him. Both of the words we translate in English as ‘witness’ and ‘testimony’ are from the same Greek word, μαρτυρια, from which we get our English word ‘martyr.’ This is not just a grammatical factoid. The Evangelist is making a theological point. John was martyred for his unwavering confession of the Christ. He would loose his head for refusing to back down to Herod concerning marriage. Some might think this is silly. Why give up your job, your livelihood, your life over what the government thinks about marriage? Because for St John marriage wasn’t just about love, as the world asserts, but because it’s all about Christ, even as St Paul proclaims (Eph 5).
You may think that tangential, but its not. John was sent from God. He spoke as an apostle of the Most High. He pointed always and only to Christ. And he stood there on the banks of the Jordan River calling Israel back to the wilderness, back to the location of their sojourn. Which is to say, he calls them back to their utter dependance upon the Lord and His provision and mercy. How He parted the Red Sea for them that they might safely pass through while He drowned Pharaoh and all his army. How He quenched their thirst with water from the Rock and satisfied their hunger with bread from heaven. He was sent from God, straight down from Mt Horeb, if you will, the Voice crying in the wilderness with the fiery preaching of the fierce anger of the Lord against sin.
But by contrast the delegate from Jerusalem was sent by the Jews. Now there are two parties, the Forerunner of the Christ who is sent by God and the deniers of the Christ who are sent from the Pharisees. John’s chief concern is proclaiming the Christ. Their chief concern is maintaining their own power and prestige and glory. And their questions betray as much. Who are you? is not asked so much as to ascertain who this fiery, desert wild man really is, but to figure out if what he’s doing is going to effect our priorities. Can they accommodate John into their own power matrix and not upset their personal agendas?
It is no different for you. Are you not often sent and driven by your desires and own interests, attempting to accommodate the Word of Christ with your own religious landscape, among your own little pet sins? St John comes to bulldoze that landscape. To level your mountains of pride. To plane over your rough callouses, hardened to the preaching of the Law. Who are you? What do you say about yourself? Are you still attempting to make your own way? To hold onto the sins of your flesh - your anger and contempt, your pride and arrogance, your lust and selfishness - while still having the appearance of religiosity?
Repent. The Voice of St John cries out to you, even now. He beckons you to make a clean break with all that would inhibit the coming of Christ; to stop trying to go your own way and prepare the way of the Lord.
At the Chapel at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne there is a font. Large and imposing. Probably the size of this pulpit. It stands at the entrance to the nave as you come in from the narthex so that if one where to walk straight through the front doors into the Chapel you would run smack into this massive concrete baptismal font. It stands there like a sentinel; forcing you to move. You have to turn to the right or to the left to enter into the Church. In other words, you have to acknowledge and yield to Holy Baptism in order to have fellowship in the Body of Christ.
And that St John standing in the wilderness. He is resolute and unyielding. Concrete. In order to get to Christ you must go through him, that is, in order to receive the Kingdom of God come in the person of His Son, you must repent. For in the end St John is a preacher of Baptism, of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And this is his testimony to the delegation from the Pharisees: will you receive this Word of Christ? Will you repent? Will you turn your back on all that went before, all that you once worshipped and trusted in for this life?
St John’s testimony, is his μαρτυρια, his martyrdom. He was killed for his confession of the Christ. What about you? His cry in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord is a call to repentance, it is a call to martyrdom. Which is to say, it is a call to die to sin, to drown the old Adam in the martyr’s bath of Holy Baptism, wherein you confess and do not deny, but confess, Jesus the Christ, and are joined to His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins.
St John may indeed have come in the spirit of Elijah and Christ says of him, If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come (Mt 11:14). But he will not say this of himself. For even Elijah yielded to Elisha, who received a double portion of his spirit, even as God the Holy Spirit alighted atop our Lord Christ as He descended into the Jordan to be baptized. And as Elijah cast his cloak upon Elisha, passing the mantel, so too did John say of the Coming One, He must increase, but I must decrease (Jn 3:30).
Likewise St John is indeed more than a prophet, but he was not the Prophet like Moses, raised up from among the brothers. For the prophets prophesied until John. They foretold of what was to come. But John proclaimed He who is here, One who stands among you. He was all about Jesus. Even his diet proclaimed him: eating locusts, representing the Law, the embodiment of the plagues of Egypt and God’s wrath against sin, and honey, symbolizing the sweet drippings of our Lord’s sheer mercy and grace in His Gospel.
John is the one who resides in Bethany, which means, “house of suffering” or “house of sorrow,” and he points to the One who comes from Bethlehem, “the house of bread.” He, Jesus Christ, the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, is the Reason for the reason for the season. Does not St Paul exhort you today, Let your reasonableness be known to everyone? Such does St John do. He does not back down or shy away from confessing, and not denying, but confessing, I am not the Christ. But He is. That One over there. Who received the sinner’s baptism. Who was anointed from above by the Holy Spirit. Of whom the Father declared, This is My beloved Son. He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
All of this is why in Medieval Christian art, and even in early Church icons, St John is depicted with an elongated, bony index finger extended in gesture toward either a Lamb or toward the crucified Christ. This is what St John did. He pointed to Jesus. And this is why we need and continue to hear the preaching of St John today. He prepares the way of the Lord. Always. Repentance precedes the forgiveness of sins. Not only in conversion, but in the daily life of the Christian. Your life is a constant and daily return to Holy Baptism; to the continual drowning of the old Adam, to the daily rejecting of the works and ways of the devil, including his cunning wiles within your own flesh and the world around you. And it is a rising to new life in Jesus the Christ, the One whose sandals were unstrapped and His beautiful feet were nailed to the Cross on your behalf.
In a certain sense, then, the sermon, the preached Word of Christ Jesus, is the bony finger of St John, calling you to repentance and pointing you to Christ in your midst, the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. For you have passed through the Red Sea of your Baptism into Christ. You are led by His pillars of cloud and fire, His Law and Gospel. And He does not abandon you in this wilderness. But, behold, beloved, upon the Altar is the Rock which quenches your thirst. The very Blood of Christ Jesus, shed for you. There is the true Manna from heaven which nourishes and sustains you by His grace. The very Body of Christ Jesus, given for you. The Lord is at hand.
Therefore do not be anxious about anything, especially when the delegation of the world tries to interrogate you and seeks to tear you from the confession of Christ in order to maintain their own authority. Confess, do not deny, but confess, “I am not the Christ. But Jesus, He is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away my sin.” This is your reasonableness; the reason, the απολογια, for the hope that is within you. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard you hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, who together with the Father + and the Holy Spirit, one God, be glory now and forever. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Our Gospel text for this morning begins with an And, which means that it is the continuation of a previous thought. In order to help us understand the context of this reading, we need to back up to the origination of that thought. It’s not far, the same chapter, just thirteen verses earlier. St John the Evangelist writes, There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, that all might believe in Him. He was not the Light, but came to bear witness about the light (Jn 1:6-8).
That is the Forerunner’s introduction and the summary and content of his message and purpose. St John the Baptizer was sent from God. He came as a witness, a μαρτυριαν, that is, a martyr, concerning He who is the Light and Life of the world, even Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He came to bear witness, that is, to be martyred in both confession and life, for the Light. It is as his father Zechariah prophesied on the day of his son’s birth, You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace (Lk 1:76-79). St John the Forerunner came with singular purpose and focused attention: to make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now, our text, And this is the ματυρια, of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask Him. Both of the words we translate in English as ‘witness’ and ‘testimony’ are from the same Greek word, μαρτυρια, from which we get our English word ‘martyr.’ This is not just a grammatical factoid. The Evangelist is making a theological point. John was martyred for his unwavering confession of the Christ. He would loose his head for refusing to back down to Herod concerning marriage. Some might think this is silly. Why give up your job, your livelihood, your life over what the government thinks about marriage? Because for St John marriage wasn’t just about love, as the world asserts, but because it’s all about Christ, even as St Paul proclaims (Eph 5).
You may think that tangential, but its not. John was sent from God. He spoke as an apostle of the Most High. He pointed always and only to Christ. And he stood there on the banks of the Jordan River calling Israel back to the wilderness, back to the location of their sojourn. Which is to say, he calls them back to their utter dependance upon the Lord and His provision and mercy. How He parted the Red Sea for them that they might safely pass through while He drowned Pharaoh and all his army. How He quenched their thirst with water from the Rock and satisfied their hunger with bread from heaven. He was sent from God, straight down from Mt Horeb, if you will, the Voice crying in the wilderness with the fiery preaching of the fierce anger of the Lord against sin.
But by contrast the delegate from Jerusalem was sent by the Jews. Now there are two parties, the Forerunner of the Christ who is sent by God and the deniers of the Christ who are sent from the Pharisees. John’s chief concern is proclaiming the Christ. Their chief concern is maintaining their own power and prestige and glory. And their questions betray as much. Who are you? is not asked so much as to ascertain who this fiery, desert wild man really is, but to figure out if what he’s doing is going to effect our priorities. Can they accommodate John into their own power matrix and not upset their personal agendas?
It is no different for you. Are you not often sent and driven by your desires and own interests, attempting to accommodate the Word of Christ with your own religious landscape, among your own little pet sins? St John comes to bulldoze that landscape. To level your mountains of pride. To plane over your rough callouses, hardened to the preaching of the Law. Who are you? What do you say about yourself? Are you still attempting to make your own way? To hold onto the sins of your flesh - your anger and contempt, your pride and arrogance, your lust and selfishness - while still having the appearance of religiosity?
Repent. The Voice of St John cries out to you, even now. He beckons you to make a clean break with all that would inhibit the coming of Christ; to stop trying to go your own way and prepare the way of the Lord.
At the Chapel at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne there is a font. Large and imposing. Probably the size of this pulpit. It stands at the entrance to the nave as you come in from the narthex so that if one where to walk straight through the front doors into the Chapel you would run smack into this massive concrete baptismal font. It stands there like a sentinel; forcing you to move. You have to turn to the right or to the left to enter into the Church. In other words, you have to acknowledge and yield to Holy Baptism in order to have fellowship in the Body of Christ.
And that St John standing in the wilderness. He is resolute and unyielding. Concrete. In order to get to Christ you must go through him, that is, in order to receive the Kingdom of God come in the person of His Son, you must repent. For in the end St John is a preacher of Baptism, of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And this is his testimony to the delegation from the Pharisees: will you receive this Word of Christ? Will you repent? Will you turn your back on all that went before, all that you once worshipped and trusted in for this life?
St John’s testimony, is his μαρτυρια, his martyrdom. He was killed for his confession of the Christ. What about you? His cry in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord is a call to repentance, it is a call to martyrdom. Which is to say, it is a call to die to sin, to drown the old Adam in the martyr’s bath of Holy Baptism, wherein you confess and do not deny, but confess, Jesus the Christ, and are joined to His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins.
St John may indeed have come in the spirit of Elijah and Christ says of him, If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come (Mt 11:14). But he will not say this of himself. For even Elijah yielded to Elisha, who received a double portion of his spirit, even as God the Holy Spirit alighted atop our Lord Christ as He descended into the Jordan to be baptized. And as Elijah cast his cloak upon Elisha, passing the mantel, so too did John say of the Coming One, He must increase, but I must decrease (Jn 3:30).
Likewise St John is indeed more than a prophet, but he was not the Prophet like Moses, raised up from among the brothers. For the prophets prophesied until John. They foretold of what was to come. But John proclaimed He who is here, One who stands among you. He was all about Jesus. Even his diet proclaimed him: eating locusts, representing the Law, the embodiment of the plagues of Egypt and God’s wrath against sin, and honey, symbolizing the sweet drippings of our Lord’s sheer mercy and grace in His Gospel.
John is the one who resides in Bethany, which means, “house of suffering” or “house of sorrow,” and he points to the One who comes from Bethlehem, “the house of bread.” He, Jesus Christ, the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, is the Reason for the reason for the season. Does not St Paul exhort you today, Let your reasonableness be known to everyone? Such does St John do. He does not back down or shy away from confessing, and not denying, but confessing, I am not the Christ. But He is. That One over there. Who received the sinner’s baptism. Who was anointed from above by the Holy Spirit. Of whom the Father declared, This is My beloved Son. He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
All of this is why in Medieval Christian art, and even in early Church icons, St John is depicted with an elongated, bony index finger extended in gesture toward either a Lamb or toward the crucified Christ. This is what St John did. He pointed to Jesus. And this is why we need and continue to hear the preaching of St John today. He prepares the way of the Lord. Always. Repentance precedes the forgiveness of sins. Not only in conversion, but in the daily life of the Christian. Your life is a constant and daily return to Holy Baptism; to the continual drowning of the old Adam, to the daily rejecting of the works and ways of the devil, including his cunning wiles within your own flesh and the world around you. And it is a rising to new life in Jesus the Christ, the One whose sandals were unstrapped and His beautiful feet were nailed to the Cross on your behalf.
In a certain sense, then, the sermon, the preached Word of Christ Jesus, is the bony finger of St John, calling you to repentance and pointing you to Christ in your midst, the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. For you have passed through the Red Sea of your Baptism into Christ. You are led by His pillars of cloud and fire, His Law and Gospel. And He does not abandon you in this wilderness. But, behold, beloved, upon the Altar is the Rock which quenches your thirst. The very Blood of Christ Jesus, shed for you. There is the true Manna from heaven which nourishes and sustains you by His grace. The very Body of Christ Jesus, given for you. The Lord is at hand.
Therefore do not be anxious about anything, especially when the delegation of the world tries to interrogate you and seeks to tear you from the confession of Christ in order to maintain their own authority. Confess, do not deny, but confess, “I am not the Christ. But Jesus, He is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away my sin.” This is your reasonableness; the reason, the απολογια, for the hope that is within you. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard you hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, who together with the Father + and the Holy Spirit, one God, be glory now and forever. Amen.
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