Scripture: Luke 3:1-20
Video Link: https://youtu.be/eeSiWyptiKc
Structure:
- Introduction
- John’s timing (darkness & light)
- John’s baptism (repentance & forgiveness)
- John’s message (judgement & hope)
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Good morning everyone.
Can anyone hear tell us what the phrase Magnum Opus means? [Wait]
That’s right, magnum opus is a Latin term which literally means great work. A person’s magnum opus is their greatest work.
The painting of the Mona Lisa is arguably Leonardo da Vinci’s magnum opus. Moby Dick is considered Herman Melville’s magnum opus. Winston Churchill’s leadership during World War Two was his magnum opus.
And, in the book ‘Charlotte’s Web’, Charlotte (the spider) refers to her egg sac as her magnum opus, the ‘finest thing she has ever made’.
I wonder what your magnum opus is?
Today we continue our series on John the Baptist. Last Sunday we heard about John’s purpose in being born; to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. This morning, we jump forward three decades to that time when John fulfils his purpose. Luke chapter 3 describes John’s magnum opus, his great work. From Luke 3, verses 1-18, we read…
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The axe 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.”
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
Today’s message highlights three aspects of John’s opus: John’s timing, John’s baptism and John’s message. Let’s begin with the timing of John’s work.
John’s timing
In cricket, it is a thing of beauty to watch a batsman gracefully drive the ball through the covers with little effort. That’s the power of timing.
Likewise, cooking is all about timing. If you leave your chicken in the pan too long it becomes dry and chewy. Not long enough and you end up with food poisoning. Get the timing right though and the chicken is succulent, delicious.
And when it comes to music, it’s not enough to hit the right notes, one must also be in time with the conductor and the other musicians.
In the opening verses of Luke 3, the gospel writer goes to some trouble to underline the timing of John’s public ministry. Luke lists all the relevant political and religious leaders at the time the word of the Lord came to John.
From what we know of these leaders, historically, they were men of darkness. They abused their power and committed acts of gross injustice.
Among other things, the Emperor Tiberius ordered the deportment of all Jews from Rome. The last years of his reign were a time of pure terror. [1]
Pilate, the governor of Judea, ran an administration characterised by bribery, racial insult and frequent executions without trial. Pilate was the one who handed Jesus over to be crucified. [2]
Then there was Herod Antipas, sort of a puppet of Rome, ruling in Galilee. Herod was thoroughly immoral. When John the Baptist told Herod to tidy up his act, Herod threw John in prison.
Even the Jewish high priests, Annas and Caiaphas were rotten. They conspired to have Jesus murdered.
Probably these rulers thought of themselves as stars. But really they were more like the darkness of the night sky. In contrast, John the Baptist is like the moon against the backdrop of this dark time in history. John reflects the divine light of God’s word and he has a strong influence on the people, bringing about a tide of social change.
According to Luke, John is the one Isaiah spoke about when he said: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord…
Isaiah originally spoke that word, centuries earlier, as a kind of night light to comfort the people of Israel who were sitting in the darkness of exile.
The interesting thing with Isaiah’s prophecy is that, all people will see God’s salvation. So the redemption on offer here isn’t just for Israel, it’s for all people. God’s salvation is universally offered.
John the Baptist came on the scene at just the right time in history, when anticipation of God’s redemption was high and Jesus was about to emerge publicly. John was the bearer of God’s word, identifying Jesus as the true light of the world, God’s Messiah.
John’s baptism
Okay, so John’s timing was God’s timing. What about John’s baptism?
Well, John was a prophet and prophets usually communicate God’s message in two main ways; through words and through signs.
Sometimes the signs are super natural, like when Moses parted the Red Sea or when Elisha healed Naaman of leprosy. Other times the signs are everyday things, which may appear odd but are invested with a special meaning, like when Jeremiah wept over Jerusalem or when Hosea married a prostitute.
Baptism, immersing people in water, was John’s sign from God to the people.
It was not a miraculous sign, it was something anyone could do, and yet it was both distinctively odd (at that time) and invested with meaning.
Baptism wasn’t really something Jews did. Gentiles, who wanted to convert to Judaism, underwent a ceremonial bath as a kind of ritual cleansing but Jews did not do this because being descended from Abraham was their ticket, or so they thought.
John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In the Bible, forgiveness is not automatic. Forgiveness goes together with repentance. We can’t separate them. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in behaviour.
If you are driving in your car and you take a wrong turn, then repentance is realising your mistake, turning your car around and driving in the right direction. Spiritually speaking, there are two roads you can take in this world. One leads to life and the other leads to destruction. Repentance puts you on the road to life.
Another example of repentance. If you are baking a cake and inadvertently put a cup of salt in the mix, instead of a cup of sugar, then repentance is throwing the cake mix out and starting again using the right ingredients this time. Otherwise you (and everyone else eating the cake) will get a nasty surprise.
Spiritually speaking, we might think of our deeds, in this life, as the ingredients we use to make a cake. We want to make sure our deeds are good because, at the end of the day, we get out what we put in. We eat the deeds we bake.
What are you putting into the mix of your life? The measure you use for others is the measure God will use for you. If you forgive others, God will forgive you. But if you nurse resentment, God will leave you in the prison cell of bitterness. That is what Jesus taught.
John told his fellow Jews, it’s not enough to claim Abraham as your ancestor, you cannot rely on your parents’ faith; that is no guarantee of salvation. Nor will sacrificing animals save you. You need to repent and believe in God’s Messiah, then you will be forgiven. Being baptised is a public sign of one’s repentance. It shows you are committed to righteous living.
Baptism involves being immersed in water and so the most obvious symbolism here is cleansing from sin. Not that the water of baptism takes away sin. No. Jesus is the one who takes away our sin. The water is a metaphor or a sign pointing to what Jesus does.
One of the odd things about John’s baptism is that John himself administered it. This was in contrast to the Jewish washing rituals of the day in which the person bathed themselves. So those who went to John for baptism were putting themselves in the hands of God’s representative. This signified their surrender to God’s purpose.[3]
But wait, it gets even weirder. John’s baptism took place in the wilderness, near the Jordan. We would expect a sacred ritual like this to happen in or near the Jerusalem temple. But no, it happens in the wilderness, an untamed and potentially dangerous place, outside the sphere of institutional religion.
The wilderness reminds us of Israel’s exodus from slavery in Egypt and the Jordan is the river Israel crossed when entering the Promised Land.
By coming out into the wilderness to be baptised by John and then returning home, the people were symbolically leaving behind those attitudes and habits that enslaved them and re-entering their everyday life with a new freedom, characterised by righteousness. The journey to the wilderness and back signified a fresh start.
John’s baptism informs Christian baptism. Christian baptism borrows from John’s baptism the imagery of repentance from sin, surrender to God and making a fresh start by following Jesus. For John and for us, baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality.
That being said, John’s baptism is not exactly the same as Jesus’ baptism. John himself made it clear he was not the Christ saying…
I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
John’s baptism is like a sign post, pointing to Jesus’ baptism. The Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to repent and grow toward Christlikeness. The Holy Spirit is the primary sign that we belong to Jesus.
John’s pathway to salvation; of repentance, believing in Jesus and being baptised, is still the pattern of Christian conversion for many people today.
Okay, so in thinking about John’s magnum opus (his greatest work) we’ve considered John’s timing and John’s baptism. What about John’s message?
John’s message
Well, like the prophets before him, John proclaimed a message of judgement and hope. Judgement and hope may seem polar opposites but, in Christian thought, they are one, like a single guitar string held against the fret board of history.
In verse 9, of Luke 3, John says to the crowds…
9 The axe 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.”
And, in verse 17, John employs another image of judgement, saying…
17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
This is a poetic way of saying: The Messiah is coming soon to destroy the wicked and save the righteous. But, as scary as it sounds, the coming judgement is actually good news. Because, if you are oppressed by evil men, then removing the evil will make life better for everyone.
Even if you are wicked though, there is still hope for you, provided you stop behaving badly and start practising social justice.
I’m reading Bono’s autobiography at the moment. As well as being a rock star, Bono has also worked as a social justice activist. Among other things he has lobbied some pretty powerful people to forgive third world debt and provide medicine to fight the AIDS epidemic in developing countries.
In the pursuit of social justice, Bono has had to build relationships with people who hold a different point of view. Bono writes…
The search for common ground starts with a search for higher ground. Even with your opponents. Especially with your opponents. …you don’t have to agree on everything if the one thing you agree on is important enough. [4]
Now I’m not suggesting that Bono is a modern day John the Baptist. For one thing, Bono doesn’t live on locusts and wild honey. But I do like his idea that ‘the search for common ground starts with a search for higher ground’.
It seems to me that John had little in common with those he was communicating with. Nevertheless, John was uncompromising in his search for higher ground.
When the people asked what does repentance look like, what should we do? John pointed them to the higher ground of social justice saying: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
And when tax collectors and soldiers came, John did not require them to quit their jobs and join a monastery. He basically told them to remain in the world and be fair with people and not abuse their power. We can see the wisdom in this. When tax collectors and soldiers act justly and show restraint, the whole community is better off.
The repentance John had in mind wasn’t just personal, it was also social. Forgiveness without repentance doesn’t help anyone. But when you tie repentance to social justice (as John did) that redeems the soul of the individual and it makes the world a better place, at the same time.
Weeding out corruption at an interpersonal level was something almost everyone (except the ruling elite) could agree on. By preaching the higher ground of social justice, John helped many to find common ground with Jesus and with each other.
But you are never going to get everyone to agree. John wasn’t able to find common ground with Herod. Sometimes social justice divides people.
John’s message is still as challenging and relevant for us today as it was 2,000 years ago. Social justice begins with each of us personally. How do we practice right relationships in our homes, our schools, our places of work and our community?
Conclusion:
This morning we have considered John’s magnum opus, his greatest work. John came onto the scene at just the right time in history, reflecting the light of God’s word in a world darkened by evil leadership.
As part of his work John baptised people. John’s baptism was a tangible sign of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John’s baptism anticipated Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit.
John’s preaching (his spoken word) was a message of judgement and hope. The Messiah is coming soon, so get yourself ready by practising social justice. Then you will find some common ground with Jesus and with each other.
The question remains: Are we ready for Jesus’ return?
Let us pray now as we prepare our hearts for communion…
Father God, you are the author of salvation. You bend the arc of history toward justice. Forgive us for the times we have failed to act justly or show mercy.
Lord Jesus, we thank you for suffering on our behalf. Thank you for your grace. May you be honoured in the breaking of this bread and the sharing of this cup. Empower us by your Holy Spirit to live out social justice for your glory. Amen.
Questions for discussion or reflection:
What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
- What is your magnum opus?
- What is significant about the timing of John’s public ministry? What is significant about the times in which we live?
- Discuss / reflect on the symbolism of John’s baptism. How is John’s baptism similar to Jesus’ baptism? How is it different?
- Can you think of a time when God changed your mind and behaviour? What happened? What deeds are you putting into the mix of your life?
- Why does John tie repentance to social justice?
- Are we ready for Jesus’ return? How do we practice social justice in our homes, our schools, our work places and our communities?
[1] Refer Joel Green’s NICNT on Luke, page 168.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Refer Joel Green’s NICNT on Luke, page 164.
[4] Refer Bono’s book, ‘Surrender’, pages 392-393.
Tawa Baptist 