Download Prepare, Repent Matthew 3:1

Prepare, Repent
Matthew 3:1-12
4 December 2016
those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one
calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” 4 John’s clothes were
made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5
People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing
their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to
flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children
for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will
come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor,
gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
1 In
Have you ever had to take a test that you were completely unprepared for? I would say that the answer
for most of us is no. Now I know that some of you remember that one high school biology test that you were
going to study for, but then the game was on and your friend called and you never actually got around to
studying. And I know some of us have had those supercool moments of boasting that we got an A without even
studying. But have you ever really been completely unprepared for a test? Probably not. If you were at any
point present and awake in the class, that was preparation for the test. We really don’t do things completely
unprepared. Often it’s just the opposite. How much planning did you do for your wedding? How much do you
prepare before you have people over or before you sell your house? How much research do you do before
writing a paper or putting a presentation or proposal together? Probably a lot.
We’re in Advent, which is about preparing for the coming of Jesus. Like almost everything else in life,
Advent preparation is not just sitting there waiting. But we knew that already. Even the people who are not
sitting in any church this morning know that, because they’ve already got their Christmas trees up. They have
lights all over their houses. They just got their photos taken for their Christmas cards. They’ve been shopping
for Christmas presents and they have a list of all the food they need to pick up for the big meal in three weeks.
So yes, we all know that Advent is a time of preparation. But what kind?
Matthew 3 tells us “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying,
‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ ” First, who is John the Baptist? Apparently, he was a guy who
was alive around A.D. 25. Matthew just says “in those days,” but Luke tells us it was the fifteenth year of
Tiberius Caesar’s reign. But that’s a long time after Malachi. Malachi was the last prophet of the Old
Testament, but he was not just a few years before John; he was a few hundred years before John. So John being
a prophet was intriguing because there had not been one for a long time. Moreover, John himself was the
fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, according to verse 3.
From verses 4 and 5, you can tell that John generated some interest simply by the fact that people went
to see him. This is not like when you’re already at the mall with your kids so you might as well have them go
talk to Santa. John is hanging out in the desert. He’s not exactly on the way. Those who saw him set out to see
him. As it was, the desert was a fitting picture of the spiritual state of Israel. The Israelites who had wandered in
the desert 1400 years earlier were corrupt, and the Israelites of John’s day turned against Jesus Himself and
sought and procured His execution. What about the Israel of today? What about modern day Christians? Are we
in a spiritual desert? You look at Christianity as a whole and you do see a lot of straying from the truth: You see
God’s Word as just a piece of literature that needs to be normed by the times and by the current church leaders.
You end up with Christians and churches saying that homosexuality is perfectly fine. But you also end up with
Christians who are absolutely guilty of the label that’s been imposed on them: bigots, hateful, as if there are
some sins Jesus did not die for. You end up with Christians who believe that people are generally good and
really only need a little help from God because He “helps those who help themselves.” But you also end up with
Christians who believe that we are all conceived in sin, but end up taking that to the level of despair or
defeatism and get consumed by negativity.
What about us in this building? I think one of the biggest dangers for conservative Christians is elitism.
Maybe we get so focused on holding true to God’s Word that it becomes more about our heads than our hearts
and hands. It becomes like a history class where I can recite the facts but it really has no effect on my life.
Ironically, another danger for conservative Christians is putting too much emphasis on traditions. The churches
you want to stay away from are the ones that don’t preach God’s Word in all its truth, not the churches that have
guitars and drums, not the churches where the pastor doesn’t wear a robe. Well, have you been guilty of that
kind of elitism?
Verses 5 and 6 contrast genuine believers with the hypocrites of verse 7. And verse 8 is really the core
of the preparation for the coming of Jesus: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” So what kind of
preparation? Repentance. The Greek word for repentance (μετανοια) really means a change of mind or change
of heart. When you have a change of heart, it doesn’t just stay in your heart. There’s evidence. There’s fruit.
And that’s what John did not see from the Pharisees and Sadducees, so he called them a brood of vipers. What
do you know about vipers? They’re venomous and have long fangs. And they’re snakes. What do you know
about snakes in the Bible? Right before John mentions children of Abraham, he calls the Pharisees and the
Sadducees children of a snake. He’s not just saying they are sly and poisonous; he’s saying they are of the devil.
Sometimes when you have a certain level of security, you become lazy. Maybe your parents own the
company or you have tenure, so you don’t really bother to try to be on time anymore and you’re not worried
about your productivity compared to other workers. Maybe you tied the knot and got married so now you feel
like your spouse is stuck with you so you don’t really have to treat him or her all that well anymore. The people
that John the Baptist was calling out in verse 9 were biological descendants of Abraham, so they just figured
they were grandfathered into God’s favor. God wasn’t going to turn His back on the people of Israel. But
actually, He already had. He allowed them to be conquered when they continued in their idolatry and unbelief.
The reason Tiberius Caesar even gets mentioned in the Bible is that Israel did not automatically have favor with
God simply by virtue of its bloodstream; otherwise God never would have handed them over to the
Babylonians, then Persians, then Greeks, then Romans. And if God can raise up children for Abraham out of
stones, He can certainly raise them up out of non-Israelite parents – you and I. The key is not heritage; the key
is repentance. By acknowledging our sins and admitting that nothing in us is favorable, we put the spotlight on
Christ, where it belongs. John the Baptist famously said “He must become greater; I must become less” (John
3:30). He becomes greater and we become less by letting His work shine. So we don’t prepare for His coming
by hiding our shortcomings or by highlighting our good qualities, whether heritage or intelligence or wealth or
perceived moral superiority. We prepare by repenting, just getting out of His way and letting Him save us. The
way He did that, the way He became greater, is by becoming least, giving up His life for all.
“ ‘The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut
down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more
powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His
winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and
burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ ” God could not just tell us He loved us and everything would be
alright. If He had told Moses that He was a gracious and compassionate God, but then never made or fulfilled
any promises, never gave them the Promised Land, never provided sustenance in the wilderness, what kind of
God would He be? So then how can I just say I love Jesus and I’m repentant but continue my sinful lifestyle
without any attempt otherwise? That’s not a change of heart then; that’s just lip service. The warning is strong
against the fakes: every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down. You can’t have a good tree
without good fruit. Not “you shouldn’t have a good tree without good fruit.” You can’t. The good news is that
part of getting out of Jesus’ way is Him baptizing you with the Holy Spirit. That makes all the difference. Psalm
51 says, “Create in me a clean heart…. Take not your Holy Spirit from me.” The Holy Spirit makes us those
good trees. So as we prepare for Jesus, we repent – we have a true change of heart. Then we have no fear of the
unquenchable fire that is the fate of the chaff; we simply await his gathering of His wheat into the barn.