The Ax Is At the Root

We are in Matthew chapter 3 this morning.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

We have been going through a sermon series in the Gospel of Matthew.

We started it in Advent, and we're going to go straight,

go right through the rest of the book now that Christmas is past.

So we're in Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

And my name is Sean, for those of you who don't know me.

It's my privilege and joy to preach God's word to you this morning.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father,

your word in Matthew 3 has a sobering message for us.

Won't you help us to be alert physically, spiritually,

to the urgency of repentance and faith in Jesus.

Won't you cast down any fleshly confidence

and false assurances that we presume upon and cling to.

And fix our eyes and all of our hopes

solely on Jesus Christ, your son, our king, Allah.

Speak to us.

You promise the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire

for those who repent and believe.

So, Lord,

fill us more and more with your Holy Spirit

and make those who are not yet born again,

born again,

baptize in your spirit.

Even this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are able, please stand

so that we can honor God as we read his word.

I will be reading out loud from Matthew 3, verses 1 to 12.

Matthew 3:1–12

In those days,

John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.

Repent,

for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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 path straight.

Now John wore a garment of camel's hair

and a leather belt around his waist,

and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea

and all the region about the Jordan

were going out to him,

and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan,

confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees

coming to his baptism,

he said to them,

you brood of vipers,

who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance,

and do not presume to say to yourselves,

we have Abraham as our father.

For I tell you,

God is able from these stones

to raise up children for Abraham.

Even now,

the axe is laid to the root of the trees.

Every tree, therefore,

that does not bear good fruit

is cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance,

but he who is coming after me

is mightier than I,

whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand,

and he will clear his threshing floor

and gather his wheat into the barn,

but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Earlier this month,

Bashar al-Assad,

the Syrian dictator,

was overthrown in a military coup

and fled to Moscow.

Some of you may have read that in the news.

He and his father,

who preceded him,

ruled Syria under a brutal dictatorship

for five decades.

And when the victorious rebel group

took over Damascus,

thousands of Syrians

stormed the capital to celebrate

while also dismantling various statues

of those former dictators

and defacing their posters.

However, not everyone celebrated

when that happened.

The Alawites,

which is a Muslim minority sect

that makes up about 10% of Syria,

supported Bashar al-Assad

because Assad was himself an Alawite.

The majority of Syria's military

and political elites,

including their intelligence agencies

and their paramilitaries,

were all made up of Alawites.

But now that there has been a regime change,

these Alawites are fearing for their safety.

They fear retribution,

and they're calling for amnesty,

for a general pardon and forgiveness

of all political offenses

that took place in the previous regime.

Because one's fortunes can change overnight

when there is a regime change,

and it matters which side you're on.

Matthew 3, 1-12 is a warning

about a regime change that is underway.

2 Corinthians 4-4 describes Satan

as the God of this world,

and we can see why in this next chapter

in the Gospel of Matthew,

when the devil offers Jesus

all the kingdoms of the world

and their glory.

Because under God's sovereign rule,

Satan for a time has been allowed

this authority on earth.

As Matthew 12, 26 makes clear,

Satan too has a kingdom,

and this world is ruled,

as Ephesians 2, 2 says,

by this prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work

in the sons of disobedience.

But Satan and his kingdom

will eventually be destroyed

and give way to the kingdom of God,

to the consummation of the kingdom of God.

And John the Baptist announces

in this passage

that that regime change,

which will in the future be consummated,

is already afoot,

has already begun,

because Christ the King has come.

And so that's the main point

of my message this morning,

is repent,

for Christ the King has come.

Repent means turn.

It says in Acts 26, 20,

repent and turn to God,

performing deeds

in keeping with repentance.

It means you do a U-turn

from living for yourself

to living for God,

from living under the dominion of Satan

to living under the dominion

of Jesus Christ.

It means you do a turn

from living for your selfish,

sinful desires

to obeying God from the heart.

And this message is urgent.

This message is urgent

because regime change

is already afoot.

Repent for Christ the King has come.

And there are two reasons

that Matthew gives us in this passage,

because the kingdom is at hand,

and secondly,

because judgment is at hand,

both brought by,

ultimately,

the Messiah.

We were told at the end of chapter two

that Jesus grew up in Nazareth,

which is why he's called the Nazarene.

Some time has now elapsed since that time,

and Jesus is an adult,

as you will see later in this chapter.

He says in verse one,

in those days,

John the Baptist came preaching

in the wilderness of Judea.

Matthew includes the detail

that John's preaching ministry

took place in the wilderness of Judea,

and this is not an incidental detail.

Matthew is making the theological claim

that John is the voice of one

crying in the wilderness,

as prophesied in Isaiah 40, verse three,

which he quotes later in verse three.

The wilderness has marked

very important transitional seasons

in the history of God's people.

If you remember,

it was in the wilderness

that God first appeared to Moses

and appeared to his people

on Mount Sinai.

It was in the wilderness,

to the wilderness,

that God led his people

out of the exodus in Egypt.

It was in the wilderness

that people journeyed

until they arrived

and conquered the promised land

that God had promised to give them.

And so many of the prophets

employed the imagery

of God turning the wilderness

into paradise

because that's what God

time and time again did

in redemptive history.

Isaiah 43, verse 19 says,

Isaiah 43:19

Behold, I am doing a new thing.

Now it springs forth.

Do you not perceive it?

I will make in the wilderness

and rivers in,

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 44, verse three,

For I will pour water

on the thirsty land

and streams on the dry ground.

I will pour out my spirit

upon your offspring

and my blessing

on your descendants.

So when you see wilderness,

in short,

it's already,

it's a place of transition,

a place of promise,

a place of anticipation.

So when you hear wilderness,

regime change,

the smell of regime change

is in the air.

God is about to break in

and establish his rule

among his people.

That there is a new prophet in town

is already newsworthy.

That he is preaching

in the wilderness

is already newsworthy.

But what takes center stage

here in this passage

is not who John is

or where he is,

but what he says.

He is preaching,

which is even more important

than his baptizing.

He says in verse one,

John the Baptist came

preaching in the wilderness

of Judea.

And this is what he preached.

Repent,

for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

And this is not just

the message

of the previous era

because it's the exact same message

that Jesus preaches

later in the gospel of Matthew

in Matthew 4, 17.

Repent,

for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

We need to turn away from sin

and turn toward Jesus

in faith.

Why?

For,

because,

the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

As the regime changes,

you must pledge allegiance

to the right king.

The word kingdom

in the Bible

doesn't primarily refer

to a place

or a territory

or a realm

like when we speak

of the kingdom

of Saudi Arabia,

which is I think

the official name

of the country.

It rather refers

to a dominion,

to the kingship

and the rulership

of someone

when it speaks

of kingdom.

And so,

when it says

that the kingdom

of heaven

is at hand,

what it means

is the king

of heaven

has begun

his rule.

The king

of heaven

is taking charge.

Of course,

there is a sense

in which God

has always reigned

over all the earth.

He is the sole creator

and Lord

of all the heavens

and the earth.

However,

the Bible

always acknowledges

that the world

is not the way

it's supposed to be.

Ever since

the fall of humanity,

there has been

rebel forces

at work

in this world

who resist

God's rule.

That's why

in Zechariah 14,

5-9,

it prophesied

of the day

of the Lord

saying,

then the Lord

my God

will come

and all the holy

ones with him.

On that day,

living water

shall flow

out from Jerusalem

and the Lord

will be king

over all the earth.

On that day,

the Lord

will be one

and his name

one.

What does it mean

that the Lord

will be king

over all the earth?

He already is king

over all the earth,

but he will be king

over all the earth

in the sense

that he will subdue

all the rebel forces

and bring all

under his submission

and rule.

What does it mean

that on that day,

the Lord will be one

and his name one?

The Lord God

is already one,

but on that day,

all peoples

will be brought

under the one name

of God

and every knee

will bow

and every tongue

will confess.

And so that's

what it means

here,

that the kingdom

of heaven

is at hand,

that the king

of heaven

has come.

But Matthew

is also unique

in speaking

of the kingdom

of heaven

rather than

the more typical

kingdom of God,

which is the expression

that Mark,

Luke,

and John

prefer to use.

Matthew,

however,

prefers to use

kingdom of heaven

even though he does

on occasion

use the expression

kingdom of God

and I think that's

because he wants

to emphasize

that the kingdom

that God brings about

is not an earthly kingdom

in contrast

to the expectations

of many of his fellow Jews,

but rather it's

a heavenly kingdom.

And God is the one

who rules in heaven.

God is described

as the God in heaven

throughout the Old Testament

and so it's Matthew

saying that God

for heaven himself

will reign as king

over his people.

This expression

kingdom of heaven

is related

also to another

peculiar Matthew

expression.

It's the father

in heaven,

which is a common

phrase for us.

God is never called

the father in heaven

in the gospels

of Luke and John.

He is only called

the father in heaven

once in the gospel

of Mark,

but in Matthew

he's called

father in heaven

14 times.

And how were we

taught to pray

to God

in Matthew 6

by Jesus?

Our father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come

and your will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

In short,

when God's rule

and kingship

begin to take effect

on earth

as it is in heaven,

that's when the kingdom

of heaven

has come.

And when exactly

is that going to happen?

In the distant future.

No,

it says,

the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

That's a translation

of a word

that means to draw near,

but it's in the perfect tense.

If the word were in

the present tense,

we translate as

the kingdom of heaven

is drawing near,

that it's approaching,

but that it's still

in the future.

That's how we would

translate it.

But if it's in the perfect tense,

we translate it as

the kingdom of heaven

has drawn near,

meaning it has already

come.

It's not consummated yet.

It's not completed yet,

but it has already begun.

God's reign

has already begun.

We know that

from the parallel expression

in Matthew 26,

when Jesus says

that the hour

of his betrayal

is at hand,

that the hour

of his betrayal

has drawn near,

and immediately

in the following verse,

Judas approaches

and betrays Jesus.

What Jesus is saying here

is that the kingdom

of heaven

is at hand,

meaning it's already here,

and that's such

an amazing thing

to think about.

Because God's people

have been waiting

for hundreds of years

through exile

and through pain

and through oppression

and through sin,

waiting for the Messiah,

the king,

to come and deliver them.

And John comes on the scene

and starts saying,

the kingdom of heaven

has drawn near.

It is at hand.

I wanted to try

to capture this excitement

for you guys,

and I was trying

to think about

what would be

the best way to do that.

I was thinking

of a modern analogy,

and the only thing

I could think of

was these trailer

reaction videos

that I saw

of when the Star Wars

rise of Skywalker

came out.

Have you guys

seen this movie

or have seen

any of these trailers?

I have not seen

the movie,

but I have seen

the trailer reaction video.

and this is a,

I've learned recently,

thanks to John's

in particular,

that Star Wars,

not John the Baptist,

John Buckley,

that Star Wars

has a rabid fan base.

And in 2019,

so every year,

they have a Star Wars celebration.

Do you guys know this?

Every year.

And in 2009,

the Star Wars celebration

was held in 2019

in Chicago,

and this gathered

an estimated

65,000 fans.

65,000 fans

gathered just

to celebrate Star Wars.

And when they showed

the teaser trailer

for the Rise of Skywalker

for the first time,

you can see on camera

the reactions

of tens of thousands

of people there,

and especially honing in,

focusing in on people

who were particularly expressive.

And it's really

something to watch.

They are rubbing

their hands in excitement.

They're bobbing up and down.

And there's collective gasps

throughout the stadium.

They're covering their mouths

with their hands

in amazed disbelief.

Their eyes are wide

with wonder.

And there's spontaneous cheers.

And then at the end of it,

they celebrate

by jumping up and down

at the end.

And in that reaction video,

grown men with beards

hyperventilate

and cry.

I'm not trying to mock you

if you're one of those people.

Because they've spent years

waiting for that movie

to come out,

longing to satisfy

their nostalgia

and to fulfill

their epic fantasies.

And it's finally here.

And they can't help

but cry.

Isn't it sad

that people get

more excited

about the coming

of the Rise of Skywalker,

the movie,

than the second coming

of Jesus sometimes?

If people can get

that excited

about the movie,

think about the palpable

excitement in the air

and the anticipation

of this momentous announcement

that the kingdom of heaven

is not in some distant future.

It is here.

It's at hand.

It has drawn near.

The long-awaited king

has come.

And Matthew tells us

that we can trust

John's announcement

because he quotes

Isaiah 40,

Isaiah 40:3

verse 3,

in verse 3

of this passage.

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.

Isaiah had prophesied

that there would be

a herald

that precedes

the coming of the Lord.

And he will cry out

in the wilderness.

That's why John's there.

Prepare the way

of the Lord,

make straight his paths.

When a king of old

marched out anywhere,

there would always be

heralds and guards

that precede.

And they would go out

before him.

They would open

all the gates

and open all the doors

and they would clear

out the streets

and make people

move out of the way,

move things that are

in the way,

out of the way,

clear the streets,

say,

make way for the king

because it does not

befit the dignity

of a king

to jostle through

a crowd

and to be pushed

to and fro.

So the herald

goes before him

to announce

the coming of the king

to prepare

the way

of the Lord.

And that's how

John views himself

in relation to Jesus

as a servant

and a herald

of the king,

as a stagehand

who works backstage

to get the set ready

so that the lead actor

can come to the scene.

Matthew concurs

with John's assessment

because even though

John was prophesied

of in scripture,

as verse 3 makes clear,

Matthew intentionally

does not use

the fulfillment formula

that he always uses

when speaking

of how Jesus

fulfilled the scriptures.

The word fulfill

and its variation

is used 15 times

to speak of the scriptures

being fulfilled

in the gospel of Matthew

and every single time

it refers to Jesus

and no one else.

This confirms

what Ed said

in his sermon

last week

that Jesus

is the only

expected person.

Jesus,

not John,

even though

he was prophesied of.

Jesus, not John,

is the promised one.

Jesus, not John,

is the expected one.

Jesus, not John,

is the coming one

who fulfills

the scriptures.

Jesus.

But we must not

be fooled into thinking

that John was a nobody.

He's actually

quite important.

Look at verse 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.

Why does Matthew

take a sudden interest

in John's clothing

preferences

and diet?

The Bible seldom

notes what people

are wearing

so this detail

is important.

There was another

prophet in history

who dressed

just like John.

2 Kings 1.8

says that Elijah

wore a garment

of hair

with a belt

of leather

about his waist.

And Elijah, too,

was associated

with the wilderness

and with the Jordan

where John

is baptizing.

Elijah is arguably

the greatest prophet

of the Old Testament.

That's why

as the fountainhead

of the prophets,

I guess he appears

alongside Moses

representing the prophets

and the law

at Jesus' transfiguration

later in the gospel.

And moreover,

it was prophesied

in Malachi 4.5,

Behold,

I will send you

Elijah the prophet

before the great

and awesome day

of the Lord.

So the messenger

that comes

to prepare

the way for the Lord

was expected

to be

a second Elijah.

In fact,

later in Matthew 17,

Jesus himself

confirms

that John the Baptist

is that prophesied

Elijah.

And Jesus says this

about John the Baptist

in Matthew 11.11,

that among those

born of woman,

there has arisen

no one greater

than John the Baptist.

Isn't that something

to hear from Jesus?

In other words,

under the old covenant,

before Jesus established

the new covenant

and poured out his spirit

among his people,

John the Baptist

is the greatest

of all human beings

who ever lived

in God's estimation.

He's the goat.

He's the goat.

And he was popular.

He says in verses 5-6,

Then Jerusalem

and all Judea

and all the region

about the Jordan

were going out to him

and they were baptized

by him in the river

of Jordan,

confessing their sins.

People are thronging

to him

from Jerusalem

and all Judea

and all the region

about the Jordan

and they're listening,

paying attention to him

and they're getting

baptized by him.

Josephus,

who was a first century

Roman Jewish historian,

independently says this

about John

in one of his books.

Now when many others

came in crowds

about John,

for they were very

greatly moved

by hearing his words,

Herod,

who feared lest

the great influence

John had over the people

might put it

into his power

and inclination

to raise a rebellion,

for they seemed ready

to do anything

he should advise,

thought it best

by putting him to death

to prevent any mischief

he might cause

and not bring himself

into difficulties.

John was so popular

and so influential

that he put King Herod

on notice.

His crowds

were flocking to him

and hanging on his

every word.

People openly wondered,

as you see in the

Gospel of John,

whether he might be

the Christ,

the Messiah.

He is the greatest

of all prophets

in the Old Covenant.

But look at what he says

in verse 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 Holy Spirit

and fire.

This is an amazing,

shocking statement.

Shoes are filthy things

in general, right?

If you walk around

Cambridge enough,

you've stepped on

all kinds of dirt

and pigeon poop

and dog poop, right?

But in the ancient Near East,

shoes are even filthier

because it's a desert climate,

it's hot,

people's feet get sweaty,

and it's old streets

where not just people

and vehicles,

but all kinds of animals

are roaming the streets

and dropping their excrements.

Sandals,

open-toed sandals,

caked in dirt

that require daily

feet washing.

So imagine

these filthy sandals,

they're so dirty

that Jewish rabbinical teaching

says this,

every service

which a slave performs

for his master,

every service

which a slave performs

for his master

shall a disciple do

for his teacher

except the losing

of sandal thongs.

So everything

that a slave does

for his master,

a student should do

to his teacher

is what the Jews

are saying.

You should bring him water,

you should serve him,

you should attend to him,

you should listen to him,

you should do everything

like a slave

to his master

except

taking their sandals.

That's too lowly

even for the teacher

and even for the student.

Only a slave

should do that.

And yet John singles out

that particular

humiliating act

and says that

he is not worthy

to do that

for the coming Messiah.

Imagine

a guest coming

into your house,

plopping down

on a seat

and then sticking

one of his foot out

expecting you

to remove

the shoes

and carry it off

somewhere.

What would you do?

You'd probably

stare them down

and say,

go take your own

shoes off.

And then in your mind

you're probably

cursing their

insolence

and arrogance.

but imagine

when that

happened

instead of

responding

that way

you knelt down

with your head

bowed in shame

and said

I'm not worthy

to remove

those sandals.

that's

what John

is doing here.

John is a

humble man

but if all we do

is marvel

at John's

humility here

then we're

missing the point

of this passage.

If I make

John the focus

of my sermon

then John himself

would be unhappy

because that's

precisely

the opposite

of what

John does

here.

The point

of this passage

is not

John's

humility

it is

Jesus'

glory.

John's

saying that

he's not

worthy to

carry

Jesus'

soiled

sandals

that's not

exaggerated

false

humility

that's

the cold

hard

fact

because he

is not

worthy

to carry

Jesus'

sandals.

But how

can someone

be unworthy

to carry

someone's

dirty

sandals?

If you

actually turn

to Isaiah

Isaiah 40:3

40 verse

3 which

Matthew quotes

in verse

3 I think

I have that

to show

and you

look at

the full

context

and it

is original

setting

he says

this

in the

wilderness

prepare

the way

of the

Lord

make

straight

in the

desert

a highway

for our

God.

Who is

John

making the

way for?

it's

God.

You'll

notice that

the word

Lord is

in all

caps

which means

it's not

the word

for Lord

that means

master

but rather

the proper

noun

the name

for God

in the

Old Testament

Yahweh.

Isaiah

prophesied

that John

would prepare

the way

not for

some

mere

mortal

only

but for

God

himself.

This is a

remarkable

Christological

claim because

Matthew is

saying that

that God

is Jesus

God in

human flesh

the divine

king.

John calls

Jesus the

one who is

coming after

me.

In verse

11 later in

Matthew 11

through John

calls Jesus

the one who

is to

come.

You might

recognize that

phrase from

the book of

Revelation which

we were in

not that long

ago.

This expression

the one who

is to come

is laden

with theological

meaning.

20th century

theologian

G.R.

Beasley Murray

entitled one of

his books

The Coming

of God

because the

coming of

God to

save his

people is

one of the

major themes

of the

Bible and

his coming

to his

people is

always

associated

with his

kingship.

He says in

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 33:2–5

33 verses

2-5

The Lord

came from

Sinai and

dawned from

Seir upon

us.

Thus the

Lord became

king in

Jeshurun when

the heads of

the people were

gathered all the

tribes of Israel

together.

It's because

God came to

rule over his

people that he

became king

over them.

Similarly he

says in

Psalm 96

Psalms 96:10–13

verses 10-13

Say among

the nations

the Lord

reigns.

Why do we

say that the

Lord reigns?

For he

comes.

For he

comes to

judge the

earth.

He will

judge the

world in

righteousness

and the

people in

his

faithfulness.

Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40:10

verse 10

Behold the

Lord God

comes with

might and

his arm

rules for

him.

Malachi 3

1

Behold I

send my

messenger and

he will

prepare the

way before

me and

the Lord

whom you

seek will

suddenly come

to his

temple and

the messenger

of the

covenant in

whom you

delight.

Behold he

is coming.

Over and

over and

over again

God is

described in

the scriptures

as the one

who comes

because our

God is not

a God who

stays at a

distance

spectating

with his

arms crossed

but God

who intervenes

the God

who comes

to save

to judge

to deliver

to reign

among his

people.

That's why

Jesus is

Emmanuel

God with

us.

And because

Jesus is the

one who is

and who

was and

is to

come because

Jesus is the

king of the

kingdom of

heaven, John

is right to

herald Jesus'

coming and

then get out

of the way.

Do you

know that

Christ the

king has

come?

Do you

relate to

Christ the

king rightly

as John

does?

Have you

pledged your

allegiance to

Jesus as his

loyal subject?

Have you

submitted every

aspect of your

life to him?

If we think

about it, we

give mere

mortals, sinful

human beings

more respect

than we give

to God

sometimes.

The quality

of attention

we commit

to God,

the amount

of space

we devote

to God

in our

thoughts

and in

our hearts

and our

affections,

the degree

of reverence

that we pay

to God,

the extent

of obedience

that we

give to

God,

make a

sad mockery

of the

surpassing

glory and

worth of

God the

king.

How

different our

lives would

be if we

just grasped

this truth of

how transcendent

and how

glorious our

king really

is.

How much

more grateful

we would

be.

How much

less grumbling

there would

be.

Consider the

examples of

the apostles

in the book

of Acts,

in Acts 5

41, they

are unfairly

arrested and

then unfairly

tried and

then beaten

for proclaiming

Jesus, but

they don't

complain to

God saying,

you know,

God, I've

been so

faithful to

you, I

think I

deserve a

little better

than that.

No, it

says that

when they

were released,

they left

the presence

of the

council rejoicing

that they

were counted

worthy to

suffer this

honor for

this name

of Jesus.

How do you

respond like

that to

suffering and

persecution?

Because they

knew the

surpassing

worth of

Jesus.

They knew

that they

were not

worthy to

carry Jesus'

sandals, so

they rejoiced

to get to

do anything

for Jesus.

They rejoiced

to suffer

this honor

for the

name of

Jesus.

What about

you?

Of course,

everybody wants

to do

glorious and

spectacular and

honorable and

great things

for God.

Even

unbelievers

do that.

Some of

them.

Paul said

there are

some who

preach the

gospel for

selfish gain.

But are

you willing

to suffer

this honor

for Jesus'

sake?

are you

willing to

be ridiculed

and ostracized

for him?

To be

marked in

your workspace

and your

school as

that crazy

evangelical?

are you willing

to associate

with difficult

hard to love

people for

his sake?

Are you

willing to be

the least and

the last for

Jesus' name's sake?

Are you willing to

take backstage

instead of center

stage for

Jesus' sake?

Are you willing to

be forgotten for

his name's sake?

Are you willing to

be misunderstood

and disliked

for Jesus'

sake?

Are you willing

to be poor

for Jesus'

sake?

Are you willing

to do what

he wants you

to do

rather than

do what

you want

to do?

Are you

willing

if he gives

you the

honor to do

so,

to carry

his sandals?

if that's

all you

got to

do

in life?

I'm a

small man,

might not

get to do

much for

God in

this life,

but if I

can carry

his sandals

for the rest

of my life.

we must

repent

because the

kingdom is at

hand, but also

because judgment

is at hand.

He says in

verse 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.

The Pharisees

and the

Sadducees

were the

two dominant

Jewish

religious sects

at that

time.

They

together

made up

the

Sanhedrin,

which is

the highest

ruling

class,

basically

the legal

and political

authority,

religious

authorities

among the

Jews.

But these

Sadducees

and the

Pharisees,

they were

at loggerheads

with each

other.

They didn't

really like

each other.

They disagreed

on many

theological

issues to

paint them

in very

broad

strokes.

The

Sadducees

were the

religious

liberals of

their day.

They were

the academic

and political

elites.

They were

in cahoots

with the

Roman

government.

They argued

that there

is no

resurrection

and no

angels,

no spirits.

But the

Pharisees,

who were the

religious

conservatives

of the day,

believed in

all those

things.

And they

preached strict

adherence to

the Old

Testament law.

They were

the

constitutional

originalists

of their

day.

They sought

to purge

and to

purify

the Jewish

people.

All that to

say they

didn't get

along.

And you

can see

that throughout

the Gospels

and the

book of

Acts.

But when

you find

the Sadducees

and the

Pharisees

making common

cause to

oppose

someone,

that's bad

news.

And that's

what you

see here.

And that's

what you

see again

later in

chapter 16

when they

come together

to test

Jesus.

So notice

it doesn't

say that

they came

to John

to get

baptized.

They came

to his

baptism.

They're on

a surveillance

mission.

They're watching

him,

assessing

him.

Maybe they're

curious to

see what

John has

to say.

His message

about

repentance,

purification

may have

resonated with

the Pharisees

somewhat.

But we

know that

they were

unrepentant

from John's

response.

And John

chastises them

severely.

He says,

you brood

of vipers

who warned

you to flee

from the

wrath to

come.

Vipers are

venomous

snakes.

And the

point of

this comparison

is that

these Jewish

religious leaders

are full

of deadly

poison.

Snakes

are scary,

right?

I mean,

most of us

are afraid

of snakes.

There's

good reason

for that.

If you

don't count

mosquitoes

who spread

diseases that

kill humans

but don't

actually kill

humans

themselves,

snakes are

still to this

day the

animal that

kills the

most human

beings.

it's the

deadliest

animal to

humans.

These

religious

leaders

were like

them.

Jesus

also will

later

call them

twice in

the gospel

of Matthew

brood of

vipers because

they were

hypocrites and

they shut

the kingdom of

heaven in

people's faces.

they spewed

out their

poison with

their deadly

deceptive

words and

they plotted

to kill

Jesus.

And so

John describes

them as a

brood of

poisonous snake

hatchlings that

are slithering

away at the

coming disaster.

Maybe when

you fell a

tree with an

axe and it

falls to their

habitat, they

slither away or

maybe there's a

fire that breaks

out and then

these snakes

slither away and

that's how John

describes these

Sadducees and

the Pharisees.

he warns them

in verses 8 and

9, bear fruit in

keeping with

repentance and

do not presume to

say to yourselves

we have Abraham as

our father for I

tell you God is

able from these

stones to raise

up children for

Abraham.

The Pharisees and

the Sadducees were

not repentant

because and we

know that because

they bore no

fruit in keeping

with repentance.

they had not

turned back from

their sins.

They did not

have deeds that

showed that they

were truly

repentant.

I often use this

analogy when I

speak of repentance.

Imagine that your

friend is giving

you a ride and

you are using the

GPS to navigate for

him and you're

giving him

directions and then

he takes a wrong

turn and so he

needs to do you

turn and so you

tell your friend hey

you gotta turn

around.

There's no way to

get there another

way.

You need to do a