Matthew 3:1-12 Commentary

It’s time for our annual Advent trip to the banks of the Jordan River and to come to terms with whether we are ready—prepared—to repent and receive the kingdom of heaven.

One like John the Baptist was prophesied by Isaiah: a voice crying out in the wilderness, both as a prayer and a call to action, looking for the coming redemption of God among the people. Dale Bruner interprets John’s shouts as “Turn your lives around! Because here comes the kingdom of heaven!”

Bruner also reminds us of a key truth that is easy to overlook in our modernist mindset. “Kingdom” is a large scale, social, word. Even though John is speaking to individuals about the need to change their lives, he is not speaking to them as individuals, but as a community—we might even say as the community that has been set apart by God for God’s purposes in the world. In other words, individuals need to change but the responsibility for transformation does not end at the edge of one’s own heart.

What John is praying and equipping the people for is revival. Think in Ezra-Nehemiah when the people encounter the law again for the first time in a long time. They weep and cry out for grace; they are ready to be different because of what they encounter. And here on the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist is inviting the people of God to the same sort of turn in purpose and way of living. He preaches the law of God, God’s picture of how to live for the good of all, and he offers them an experience to capture the essence of their revival.

Baptism, that experience of going down into the water and coming back out, symbolizes being revived to life. And here too we are reminded that though it is an individual that is being baptised, the whole community is involved as witnesses, as fellow sojourners, as encouragers, and as the family of God being prepared to receive, committing to bearing fruit.

Revivals are cool and all, but they don’t really mean anything if they don’t lead to things being different. And something tells me that the Spirit of God was using John’s to make things different. As Jesus will later do as well, John’s spiritual movement is outside the boundaries of the establishment and has gained enough traction that it’s caught the attention of the official leadership.

Not only do these leaders go out to the River to see what’s going on for themselves, they appear to come looking to gain some credibility or credit by participating in the events. John sees them coming and the fact that they are not there to prepare themselves and the people of God: “You brood of vipers!” John’s words help us remember that though the Kingdom is a social idea and not exclusive to individuals, individual people are responsible for themselves in the process. John warns these looky-loo leaders that they cannot count on simply belonging to the community by birthright: they must live the message (the law) and therefore bear good fruit.

Preparation means knowing what is at stake and getting clarity about what it is that is required of you. Of course, we know that with God, there will always be more: a growing life with God is built on continuously asking “What’s next, God?” But as we sit under the shouts of John the Baptist this Advent Sunday, we remember not only that Jesus came in the flesh two-thousand-some-odd years ago, but he will come again. “Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees!”

The Kingdom of heaven will become the only kingdom on Judgment day. We prepare for this day by receiving the law and being transformed by the gospel grace of Christ and his Spirit. We live out our own baptismal vows (no matter how old we were when they were made) to seek God and God’s ways above all else. We prepare ourselves, our communities, and the world to receive God: both the Spirit now, every day, and Jesus Christ when he returns. We take responsibility for ourselves while also holding the tension that Advent waiting and preparation is a communal work. We shall “bear fruit worthy of repentance.”

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Textual Point

“John can do a great deal according to Matthew,” Dale Bruner writes. “[H]e can preach God’s law of repentance, he can prepare the way, he can baptize, he can receive confession of sins, and best of all he can point to Christ, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.” Sounds a bit like us modern preachers, eh? Bruner goes on, “But John cannot, and his ministry of the law cannot, forgive sins or give the Spirit. That is to say, even John’s magnificent ministry cannot remove our main problem (sin) or impart our main resource (Spirit).” We do well to follow John in turning others towards Christ.

Illustration Idea

I think it’s worth picturing John the Baptist preaching his call to repentance at a place like the UN or a G7 gathering rather than some random street corner. Like Jesus will soon have, John’s influence is significant and the leaders have actually come to him to see what is going on—and to perhaps try for a photo op! Plus, we know he catches the attention of Herod. Of course, John doesn’t have time for political games: he’s too busy preparing everyone for the way and the truth and the life…