On Jordan's Bank the Baptist Cry

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Holy Gospel according to St. John, chapter 1, verses 6 -8 and 19 -28. There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all men might believe.

He himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but he confessed freely, I am not the Christ.

So they asked him, well then, who are you? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no. Finally they said, who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself? John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, I am the voice of one calling in the desert. Make straight the way of the Lord. Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet?

I baptize with water, John replied, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan where John was baptizing.

In the name of Jesus, amen. There came a man who was sent from God. That is a huge sentence. God sends men? God sends people? And the answer is, to quote the old show from the 60s, you bet your bippy he does.

God sends people. There was a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light, and he came only as a witness to the light.

Sent Ministry and the Pattern of Paul and John

Now before we get into the meat of our Gospel text, I want to kind of make something clear here. You'll notice God sent John, God gave John a message, and God gave somebody to point to. Not himself. Not himself.

John did not point to himself. He had no airs of importance. He did not hang out in palaces. He did not wear flowing robes. Now we talked about his uniform last week, and like I said, I don't see anybody trying to mimic that uniform in preachers today.

But there's something about John that is very similar to pastors and preachers today, especially if they are ones who are sent from God. I want to give you a cross-reference today's text to kind of frame this.

Acts chapter 20, verses 17 through 35. This is prior to his arrest, before he goes to Jerusalem and is arrested, but he knows that he's about to be arrested. The Holy Spirit has let him know what's up, and he's decided to meet with the elders of Ephesus to kind of give his last parting shots, kind of like last will and testament, if you would.

He has no clue as to whether or not he's going to see these men again for the rest of his life, and so he's going to make one impassioned plea. And what's fascinating is that Paul's impassioned plea is very similar to Jesus' impassioned plea that we find in the Olivet Discourse.

When Jesus is about to go to the cross, he says, listen, you've got to know this. In the last days, there's going to be deceivers out there. You have to beware of those deceivers. So in the Olivet Discourse, one of the last things that Jesus publicly teaches, he warns us about deceivers.

Well, Paul takes that same tact in this chapter, Acts chapter 20. Here's what he says. Now from Miletus he set sail to Ephesus, called the elders of the church to come to him. Here's what he said. And when they came to him, he said to them, you yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable in teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, interesting, Paul sounds a lot like John the Baptist in that sense. You'll notice the apostolic message is one of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. And John, who's got his foot kind of straddled, one foot in the Old Testament, one foot in the New, think of it this way.

I was reading Johann Gerhard and kind of looking at how he handled this text in one of his sermons, and he made an interesting point. Jesus was born of a fair young virgin. John, well, an old decrepit lady who was past her time to give birth, and it was a miraculous birth on the part of John.

And he says, well, think of it this way. Elizabeth, who is John the Baptist's mother, in some sense just kind of typifies the Old Testament, old, worn out, kind of done with. Whereas it's appropriate that Jesus was born of a fair young teenage virgin.

Think of that with the New Testament coming in Christ. So John is preaching repentance in anticipation of the gospel, the one who's to come, Jesus. Paul now, after Christ's death and resurrection, he's preaching repentance just like John because you're not prepared for the gospel until you are brought to repentance.

And then he also preaches the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. And he says, I did not shrink back from teaching you these things. And now, behold, I'm going to Jerusalem constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction awaits me.

Literally, I don't think God understands that Osha would not approve of these tactics for his employees. It just doesn't seem to work out that way. God doesn't seem to care. When you're employed by God, it could cause all kinds of hardship.

So, he says, but I do not account my life of any value, nor is precious to myself. If only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, true Christian ministry is received.

It's not concocted. It's not innovated. It's not invented. It's received. So, he received his ministry from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. So, pay careful attention to yourselves and all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.

Overseers is kind of the old, old, old, old, old school term for pastors and elders. Who is it that has made pastors, pastors and elders, elders in the church?

Paul says it.

It's God the Holy Spirit. God sends elders. God sends pastors. God sends these men. And they receive from Him a message that they are to proclaim. And like John, they are not to point people to themselves.

Like John the Baptist, they are to point people to Christ. So, behold, I know that among you, none of you I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. I am innocent of your blood.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which He obtained by His own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock.

And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves. You want to know how you can tell somebody is a false teacher or a false prophet? The person they're pointing to always is themselves.

Always.

False teachers are all about self-glory. And so what they'll do is they'll tell you their life stories from the pulpit or the stage nowadays as if somehow how God supposedly is working in their lives and the exploits that they've done somehow measures up and is on par with the stories that we find in Scripture.

And they're not. And the reason why they're not is because all of Scripture is about Jesus. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about Jesus and what He's done for us. So, the mark of a false teacher is someone who draws away the disciples of Jesus and draws them away after themselves.

So therefore, be alert, remembering that for three days I did not cease day or night to admonish every one of you with tears. And now I commend you to God and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands minister to my necessities and to those who are with me. In all these things, I have shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, how He Himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. So note well what Acts chapter 20, verse 30 says about the fierce wolves. They draw away disciples after themselves.

The fifth century church father, Ammonius of Alexandria, preaching on this text, here's what he said. In order to draw away the disciples after themselves, heretics strive to make the people their own instead of the Lord's, so that they might boast in themselves.

Paul himself checked this beforehand when he silenced and censured those who were saying, I'm Paul's or I'm Apollos's or I'm Cephas's. Paul says, who is Paul? Who's Apollos? Who's Cephas, right? Since he did not want their faith to be explained by the name of a person, but by Christ's name.

He wanted them to all be called Christians, even though they had been taught by different teachers. Accordingly, when all the teachers strive for the same goal of proclaiming the true faith, of profiting the students while suppressing their own names, they are then called by the same name, Christians.

So the fruit of false teachers, false prophets, and ravenous wolves.

Is easy to spot.

If they preach themselves, not Christ, then they're wolves, not true shepherds. Flee from them. And if I ever do such a thing,.

Get rid of me.

It's that simple. Wolves preach about their lives, their victories, their dreams, their visions, their ideas, the tips and tricks they've discovered to achieve success. Jesus, if he's mentioned at all by them, is merely held up as some kind of moral example to be followed.

And the goal of their preaching is to convince you to apply the pastor's insights and life tips so that you too can be successful just like the pastor is successful. Faithful teachers of the one true faith, on the other hand, are not like wolves, but like the Apostle Paul,.

Who said this,.

2 Corinthians 4, verse 2,. But we have renounced disgraceful and underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's Word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. Those are the words of the Apostle Paul. We preach not ourselves. We preach Christ as Lord.

So coming back to this, I think it's important that we note here that John the Baptist, he was sent from God and he did not preach himself. In fact, in another gospel he said, Jesus must increase. I must decrease.

John the Baptist Is Not the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet

Another sign that we're dealing with a true man of God. Somebody truly sent. So now back to our gospel text. This is an interesting text in this sense. There's something going on here that's a little bit tough to see.

You kind of have to slow down and think about the setup here because in this text, if you were paying attention when I read it, John the Baptist is asked, are you Elijah? And his answer is no. Now, atheists like to point this out and say, see, the Bible contradicts itself because Jesus said that he is Elijah.

John the Baptist says he isn't, so the Bible's not true. This is only a contradiction if you really are not paying attention to the text, if you're really straining it nuts. But it's important for you to kind of get what's going on here.

So we'll walk back through this. So it says this, now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but he confessed freely, I am not the Christ.

Why would John the Baptist say that? Why would he need to say that? Well, this tells us a little bit about what's going on. The ESV, by the way,.

It says this,.

He confessed and he did not deny, but he confessed. He confessed and did not deny that he's not the Christ? Okay, well, that's not that big of a deal considering he isn't the Christ. But see, the thing is, that's the issue.

The Jews and the Levites were the top religious leaders from Jerusalem. These are the guys from headquarters. Think of it this way. It's as if the Pope sent several cardinals and a few archbishops to come and check out Kongsvinger to see if that Roseboro guy's on the level.

If they showed up here,.

People would be all like,.

Whoa, look at what we've got going on here. That's what's going on here, right? So there's a little bit of intimidation going on, and there's a little bit of prestige of their office going on here. And Luther, in preaching on this text, he nails it.

He points out that this is actually a true trial and a temptation for John the Baptist here because these men are willing to say you're the Messiah. Just tell us you are. We're willing to say you are.

And we can link up and we can do ministry together and just think of the difference that we can make in the synagogues in the world, right? That's the temptation. There's kind of a temptation to power.

So Luther, in preaching on this text,.

He says this,.

First, there are sent to him not servants or ordinary citizens, but priests and Levites from the highest and noblest class who are Pharisees, that is to say the leaders of the people, surely a distinguished embassy for a common man who might justly have felt proud of such an honor or for the favor of lords and princes as highly esteemed in this world.

See, there's a little bit of a temptation going on. Secondly, they sent to him not common people, but citizens of Jerusalem to wit the capital of the Sanhedrin, the leaders of the Jewish nation, so it was as if the entire people came and did honor to him.

What a wind that was and how he might have been inflated had he possessed a vain and worldly heart. Thirdly, they did not offer him a present nor ordinary glory. Instead, they offer him the highest glory of all, the kingdom and all authority being ready to accept him as the Messiah.

Surely a mighty and sweet temptation, for had he not perceived that they wished to regard him as the Christ, he would not have said, I am not the Christ. And Luke 8, 15 through 16, Luke writes that when everybody thought that he was the Christ, John spoke and said, I am not who you think I am, but I am being sent before him.

Fourthly, when he would not accept this honor, well, they tried him with another and were ready to take him for Elijah. For they had a prophecy in the last chapter of the prophet of Malachi where God says, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

And then fifthly, seeing that he would not be Elijah, they go on tempting him and offer him the homage due to an ordinary prophet, for since Malachi, they had not had a prophet. John, however, remains firm and unshaken, although tried by the offer of so much honor.

That's what's really going on here. He's truly being tempted with like the highest honor of all. Just say you're the Messiah and we're ready to follow you. We're ready to give you that honor. And so the answers to the questions that he gives are this rebuff of the temptation that has really kind of come up to him at this point.

So the Jews asked John whether he's Elijah, who's to come before the Christ, but the thing is is that the Jews, they actually erred in their thinking regarding Elijah at this point. They thought that Elijah was going to bodily come back.

That's what they were thinking. So they read the prophet Malachi and they think, well, that means Elijah in the flesh. Well, that's not exactly what happened. And we know this from Luke chapter 1 where we have the narrative of the conception and birth of John the Baptist.

Luke chapter 1, starting at verse 8,.

Says this,.

Once when Zechariah's division was on duty,.

This is his father,.

And he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by law according to the custom of the priesthood to go into the temple of the Lord and to burn incense. And when the time for the burning of the incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear. Normal thing to have happen to you if an angel appears.

Those who say, oh yeah, I see angels all the time. I go and have coffee with them at Starbucks. Probably not telling the truth. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard.

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to give him the name John. Which kind of tells us something a little bit about how long it takes God to answer prayer sometime. Do you really think that it was like last week that Zechariah was praying that his wife would get pregnant?

She had passed through menopause decades ago. So this was a prayer that he sent up to God back when he and his wife were young. And here we have this great news in the sense that God hears these prayers.

God heard your prayer all the way back then and he's going to answer it.

He continues.

He says,.

You are to give him.

The name John.

He will be a joy and a delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or any other fermented drink, which means he's to be a Nazirite.

And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel, he will bring back to the Lord their God. And listen to this. And he will go before the Lord in the spirit and the power of Elijah.

There's the key. Malachi is rightly understood not that Elijah is coming back in the flesh, which is what the Jews at this time thought, but that the forerunner of the Messiah would come in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers.

To their children, the disobedient.

To the wisdom of the righteous and to make ready a people prepared.

For the Lord.

Now, that kind of gives you the idea. So when John says, I'm not Elijah, he's speaking the truth. He's not Elijah because the prophecy actually wasn't that Elijah would come back in the flesh, which is what the Jews were asking him and that's what they thought.

Instead, the prophecy really truly is rightly understood that the forerunner of Christ would come in the power and the spirit of Elijah. You remember, Elijah's prophetic mantle was passed to Elisha, which shows that he has this transferable power,.

So to speak.

Remember Elisha said, I want to have a double portion of your anointing kind of thing? And so it was. So that's the idea. The one who would come before Christ would come in the power and the spirit of Elijah.

That mantle went from Elijah to Elisha and remained dormant for hundreds of years and then God gave it to John the Baptist. Not that he was Elijah, but that he came in the power and the spirit of Elijah.

And this is kind of what Jesus says. And I think Jesus in Matthew 11 really helps us clarify and understand what's going on here. Now, note, John the Baptist did not preach about himself. He always pointed people to Jesus.

That was his job and all good pastors and ministers do that. Bad ones don't. And here's what Jesus says. Now notice, this praise from John the Baptist doesn't come from John the Baptist. It comes from God himself.

Here's what he says, Matthew 11. What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Well, if not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Oh, those were some fine clothes that Elijah wore, right?

I mean, John the Baptist. No, those who wear fine clothes, they're in king's palaces. So then what did you go out to see? A prophet?

Well, yeah,.

But I tell you, more than a prophet. John the Baptist was more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you. I tell you the truth, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist.

High words from Jesus. Yet he who is leased in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. For from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing and forceful men may lay hold of it.

For all the prophets and the law.

Prophesied.

Until John. Notice what Jesus says. The law and the prophets prophesied until John. The office of the prophets is closed. Jesus has arrived. We have no need of prophets to tell us about the one who is to come because he has already come.

So, if you're willing to accept it,.

Jesus says,.

He is the Elijah who was to come and he who has ears, let him hear. So you now see, Jesus is not contradicting. John and John is not contradicting Jesus. John here is saying, no, I'm not Elijah in the flesh.

That's what he was saying. So you see now the temptation that John was put under by this delegation of priests and religious leaders and how they were willing to bestow on him the honor of the Messiah himself.

But he confessed and did not deny, I am not the Christ. That's why he said it. Now, the text also has this little bit of a kicker in here and you have to know a little bit of history here to know this.

Here's what it says. Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned John the Baptist. So why then do you baptize if you're not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet? Now, real quick question. This is kind of a rhetorical trick question.

If you would.

Where in the Old Testament do we find the office of the Pharisees established? I'll play the Jeopardy song.

Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da.

All right.

Chris, I'll take Pharisees.

For 500.

What is nothing in the Bible? Nowhere in the Bible. That's the answer. Nowhere in the Bible is the office of the Pharisees established. The Pharisees were usurpers. Their office is nowhere in Scripture.

They came on the scene by their own authority. This is an important thing. So they are now an established weed, if you would, in Israel, in the religious community. Self-appointed and dictating how people are to understand Scripture.

So these people who do not have a biblical office are questioning John the Baptist. Why then do you baptize if you're not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet? This is a dangerous question, and there's a lot in it going on.

And Luther says this about this.

He says,.

Behold these Pharisees who profess their willingness just a few minutes ago to accept John as the Christ when then they veer around when things turn out as they desired and they censure John's baptism.

They say, as it were, Well, since you're not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet, you are to know that we are your superiors according to the law of Moses, and you are therefore to conduct yourselves.

As our subordinate.

You are not to act independently without our command or knowledge and without our permission. Who has given you power to introduce something new among our people with your baptizing? You are bringing yourself into trouble with your criminal disobedience.

John, however, as he had despised their hypocrisy, likewise scorns their threats, remains firm and confesses Christ as before. Moreover, he boldly attacks them and charges them with ignorance, saying, as it were, I have no authority from you to baptize with water, but what of it?

There is another from whom I have power, him you do not know, but he is amply sufficient for me. If you knew him or wished to know him, you would not ask from where I have the power to baptize, but you would come to be baptized yourselves, for he is much greater than I, and I am not worthy to unloose his shoes or latch it.

So that's what's going on with that question. It's the Pharisees basically saying, stand down. You're our subordinate. We're superior to you. You don't have the authority to do these things. And so we read then, understanding this, in an office greater than the prophets, because he was more than a prophet, John the Baptist did not point to himself.

Instead, he pointed to Christ, and he prepared the way for the gospel, the good news. And this Advent season, as we prepare for the good news that unto us, a savior is born, let us heed anew the message of Jesus' forerunner.

Consider our sinfulness and repent of our sins.

And iniquities.

Advent Repentance, Law and Gospel, and Johann Gerhard's Prayer

And to kind of help us do that in the spirit of Advent, I'd like to read to you a prayer that Johann Gerhard wrote a long time ago,.

But he was a great.

Lutheran theologian. Kind of a confession,.

If you would,.

And here's what he says. O holy God, and just judge. You gave to us your law on Mount Sinai, and you desired that it be the norm for all of our actions, our words, and our thoughts. Thus, whatever does not agree with this norm is considered sin in your judgment.

Whenever I look into the brilliant mirror, I see my foulness, and I tremble violently. I ought to love you, God, above all things, but often I often love the world and become oblivious to loving you. I ought to fear you, God, above all things, but I often sin willingly and forget to fear you.

You require that I trust in you, my God, above all things, but in difficult situations my heart often wavers, and I nervously and anxiously doubt your fatherly care. I ought to obey you, my God, with my whole heart, but my stubborn flesh opposes my intention to obey and takes me prisoner and a captive to sin.

My thoughts ought to be holy, my desires holy and pure, but often the glory of a quiet mind is disturbed by conceited and impious thoughts. I ought to call on you, my God, with my whole heart, but my mind often wanders while praying and is anxiously troubled, wondering if my prayers are heard.

How negligent I am in prayer and how feeble in trust. How often, indeed, my tongue prays, but I do not worship. I do not worship you in spirit or in truth. How often I completely forget the kindness that you have shown me.

Every day you lavishly pour out your gifts on me, but I do not pour forth thanks to you. How cold are my thoughts concerning the vast and countless gifts that you have given to me. How incredibly feeble the devotion of my heart.

I use your gifts, but do not praise you,.

Their giver.

I am stuck in the streams. I do not hasten to the source. Your word is the spirit's word of life, but I often hinder it from bringing forth fruit. I ruin the work of the Holy Spirit in me. More often than not, I snuff out the spark of good intention.

I do not anxiously ask for the increase.

Of your gifts.

How many of you,.

In hearing those words, says that's me? This describes me to the core. It's as if he was looking right into my heart and looking right at my life. Advent is all about preparing for the arrival of Jesus, and that preparation comes in repentance, which causes us to have to take a hard look at ourselves.

And to be honest.

But his prayer.

And his meditation doesn't end there, and here's how he ends. For this and for all of my sins and failures, I offer to you, my God, the faultless and perfect obedience of your Son, who in the days of his flesh, he loved you perfectly with his whole heart and depended completely on you.

No taint of sin was found in his deeds, words, and thoughts, not even the slightest stain of guilt. That which I lack, I confidently draw from his rich supply. Because of your beloved Son, Lord, have mercy on me, your servant, O God.

You are truly prepared.

For Christ's arrival when you take a hard look at your life and understand your foulness, your sinfulness,.

And your unworthiness.

And don't try to bargain with God and say,.

Well, I'll do harder,.

I'll try better next time. Instead, only offer to God what Christ has done for you. Because as Isaiah the prophet said, he, Jesus, was pierced for your transgressions. You can't offer to God anything other than what Christ has done for you.

And when you do that, you understand law, gospel, sin, grace, repentance, and the forgiveness of sins. And you are truly prepared.