THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on October 23, 2019 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: October 23, 2019 from Luke 3:1-20

Theme: Jesus’ ministry was prepared for and announced by the remarkable ministry of John the Baptist.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

We often celebrate the great men of the Old Testament era. We love to think of such heroes of faith as Abraham, or Moses, or Joshua, or Samuel, or King David, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Daniel. They will always stand out in history—not only in ‘sacred’ history, but in all of human history—as among the greatest men who ever lived and the greatest servants of God that He ever used.

But do you realize that one man of that Old Testament era—the last man, in fact, of that era—is greater than them all? His name was John the Baptist. And even though the Old Testament tells us much more about those others—and even though the New Testament tells us only a tiny portion about him—John was still greater than all who came before. Jesus Himself said so. He told His disciples;

“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written:

‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’

“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:7-11).

John was the greatest of all the Old Testament era saints. He was the prophet used by God to usher in the New Testament era of grace. He was the man of the priestly tribe who was used by God to point to the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He was the last of the Old Covenant men who proclaimed the Mediator of the New Covenant—thought he himself never lived to enter into it.

There will never be a moment in history like the one that John was placed in. There will never be another man like John—called by God to stand between two great eras in the history of God’s redemptive work toward humanity and to point clearly to the Redeemer. And yet; in terms of the glories and blessedness and advantages of the New Covenant, every one of us who are in Christ by faith—even the least of us—stand in a greater position of God’s grace than that of John.

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After having told us the stories of Jesus’ infancy, and of His childhood in the temple, Luke now begins to tell us about our Lord’s earthly ministry. And he begins by telling us about how John’s ministry was given by God to pave the way for Him and to point to Him as the Savior.

Luke first tells us about …

1. THE TIMING OF JOHN’S MINISTRY (vv. 1-2).

Luke is one of the greatest historians of the ancient world. And he pinpoints the time of the beginning of John’s ministry with such accuracy that anyone living in those ancient times—and even we today—can know when it was. The times back then were not marked by ‘years’ as we know them today, but rather by the correspondence of the reigns and offices of rulers and leaders. And so, Luke tells us;

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness (Luke 3:1-2).

He identified the times by, first, identifying the years of the reign of the Roman emperor. But more; he also tells us who the appointed Roman governor of Judea was at the time. He also tells us that Herod—who was the grandson of Herod the Great—was tetrarch (that is, ruler over one of the four divisions of a region) over Galilee (in the northern regions); his brother Philip over Iturea (over the regions north of Galilee; and Lyanias (a Roman) ruler over Abilene (near Lebanon). Herod would later imprison John; and this would be because John rebuked him for having lured his brother Philip’s wife away and taking her for his own. Note also that Luke mentions the remarkable fact that there were two high priests serving the Jewish people—Caiaphas, and his semi-retired father-in-law Annas. It was to Caiaphas’ residence that Jesus was taken after His arrest in the garden—to appear first before Annas (John 18:13); and then later before Caiaphas (John 18:24). Caiaphas was the one who—without knowing that he was prophesying—declared of Jesus that it was expedient that one man should die for the nation; and not that the whole people perish (John 11:49-50). Both were referred to as ‘high priest’ at the same time (John 18:13, 19, 24).

What chaotic times these were! But it was into these very times—into times of political and religious division—that God sent forth His man to proclaim the Savior! It was into ‘the fullness of times’ that God sent forth His Son—the times that were just right for the world to hear of Him. When Jesus went into the temple in John 2:20, we’re told that the temple had been in the process of being built for forty-six years. And so, this—along with the other ‘historical markers’ that Luke mentioned—would make the time that Luke has designated for us to fall around early 26 A.D.

And note one more, very important thing. The detail into which Luke went to establish the times shows us that the gospel is not a myth or a fairy-tale. The stories about Jesus’ ministry are not fiction. They are true history—told to us by a remarkably accurate and careful historian.

And so, it was at this point in time that the word of God came to John. And then we’re told …

2. THE NATURE OF JOHN’S MESSAGE (vv. 3-6).

Luke tells us;

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God’ ” vv. 3-6).

In ancient times, when a great king would come to a country, a herald was sent before the king to order that the way be prepared for him—that the rough places be made smooth, and the high places be brought low for the steps of his feet. It was like ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for him. The words that are used here to describe John are taken from Isaiah 40:3-5—a portion of Scripture that prophetically describes the call to make ready for the coming of the Messiah. John was that promised ‘herald’—that promised voice crying out in the wilderness—that prepared the world for the coming of the Savior; so that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God”.

John’s message, we’re told, was one that called for people to be baptized with ‘a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’. We should understand this carefully. It is not that our sins are ‘remitted’ or ‘forgiven’ by the religious act of being baptized. As we will go on to see, this baptism that John performed was a response to faith in the promised Messiah—a faith that was to demonstrate itself in a transformed life. The people were being called upon to ‘smooth out the rough ways’ and to ‘make straight the crooked places’ of their own lives in preparation for the coming of the coming ministry of the Savior. Later on, Luke will tell us about Peter’s sermon to the Jewish people in Jerusalem after Jesus had been raised from the dead; and of how he told them,

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for [or as the word “for” can be translated, “with a view to”] the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).

Later on, Paul would tell the Philippian jailer; “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). And it was then that the jailer and his family were baptized. In John’s day, baptism looked ahead by faith to the promise of what Jesus would come to do—and called forth a life of repentance in accord with that faith; and in the preaching of the apostles, baptism looked backward with faith to what Jesus has done—and called forth a life of repentance in response. But in both cases, salvation was based on faith in Jesus; and baptism was an expression of that faith; and repentance was to be the result.

Now; we should always note that the response that should flow forth from genuine faith in Jesus is ‘repentance’. To repent means to change our mind about our sin and turn away from it. John’s message was a message of baptism unto faith in the promise of God’s Messiah; and this leads us to …

3. THE RESPONSE TO JOHN’S CALL (vv. 7-14).

Some people came to John merely to be ‘baptized’ in an outward and ‘showy’ way—but without a faith that demonstrated itself in true repentance from sin. And so, as Luke tells us;

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (vv. 7-9).

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”; as it says in Jeremiah 17:9. The deceitful human heart will often seek to gain the benefits of God’s grace while still clinging to self and to sin. John called such things for what they were. He was no ‘seeker-friendly’ preacher! He wouldn’t let sinful people count on their ‘pedigree’ to get them into God’s favor. Note that he said that the ax is laid at the root of the tree. It’s not laid at the fruit of the tree—where we might think that if we do enough good outward works, or have a good background, that is sufficient. No! It’s to the root of things that God looks. A bad root will produce only bad fruit. The whole heart has to change—and then good fruit will be brought forth. The ax of God’s judgment is at the root of the tree!

This shows us that John was a fiery preacher. He wasn’t a mere reed shaking in the wind—but rather, was a mighty wind that violently shook the reeds!

So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” Likewise, the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages” (vv. 10-14).

This was a call to respond to his preaching with a faith that led to repentance. To ‘repent’ is the first call of the gospel. It was the first thing John proclaimed. It was also the first thing that Jesus proclaimed (Matthew 4:17). It is what the apostles called people to do in response to the good news. It should be the first call of our message too.

Now; such preaching provoked people to wonder who this great man John really was. And this gave John the opportunity to turn attention away from himself and on to the Person he was to proclaim. Luke goes on to tell us about …

4. THE PERSON TO WHOM JOHN POINTED (vv.15-17).

We’re told,

Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (vv. 15-16a).

John was very careful to make clear that he was not the Christ (see John 1:20). John’s preaching made people wonder, however, whether or not he was. And think of it! Here is the one who Jesus said was—up to that point of history—the greatest man who ever lived. And yet, his task on this earth was to point to Someone even greater. John goes on to say;

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire” (vv. 16b-17).

This coming One of whom John spoke would baptize with the Holy Spirit (which will bring those who believe on Him into His church), and fire (which pictures the judgment of those who will not believe). Jesus puts all people on the fork of a decision—and it’s one or the other—the Spirit or fire! Because He has come into the world, every person now must choose what they will do with Him. If they accept Him, they have the guarantee of the Spirit and are sealed for salvation. If they reject Him, they destine themselves to the doom of eternal judgment. Jesus’ coming drives a wedge down humanity; dividing it into those who will be saved and those who will be lost—those who will receive the Spirit and those who will receive the fire. And it was John’s task to point to Him and call upon people to choose. As it says in the Gospel of the apostle John;

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world (John 1:5-9).

And this ‘witness-bearing’ work involved great sacrifice. Such a message not only draws people to Jesus, but draws the ire of those who reject Him. And so, Luke goes on to tell us …

5. THE COST OF JOHN’S FAITHFULNESS (vv. 18-20).

We’re told,

And with many other exhortations, he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison (vv. 18-20).

John’s uncompromising faithfulness cost him his life. Luke will give us Herod’s own testimony about this in Luke 9:9. Other Gospels tell us the story in greater detail. But the point is that John—this great herald of the Christ—this Old Covenant man who proclaimed the New Covenant’s arrival—never lived to enter the new era himself. His preaching cost him his life.

But we can thank God that he was faithful to his task. This greatest of all men faithfully stood at the crossroads of the ages and pointed out the Savior to humanity.

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We should thank God that He has given us this mighty voice to cry out to us in the wilderness! And though our place in this world is not the same as John’s, we should—like him—point faithfully to Jesus in our time and say, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

EA