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INJ
Malachi 3:1-7
'The Preaching of John the Baptist'
Divine Service
Gaudete, Advent III | December 17, 2006
Dear Saints,
There are two messengers promised to Israel, to us, by the prophet Malachi. I'll show you, look at the back of your bulletin, to our Old Testament lesson, the first verse.
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, Even the Messenger of the covenant [better is testament], In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.
Do you see the two messengers? Do you see how the first messenger has a lower-case m, and the second has the capital M? The first messenger is John the Baptist, the second Messenger is the Lord Jesus. Two messengers, one after another, the first sent to prepare the way for the second.
That is what John was sent to do, to get ready for Jesus, to prepare the way. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of to the Lord.'” [Isaiah 40:3] John is the preparer, the readier, the table setter.
That is what John's preaching is doing for us this morning (and again next Sunday, for the last two Sundays of Advent), he is getting us ready for Christmas, for Good Friday, for Jesus. And how does he do it? How do you prepare the way for Jesus? How does John make His path straight?
He preaches and he baptizes. With camel hair vestments and locust breath he stands on the edge of the Jordan River and says, “Repent. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent.”
Do you want to be ready for Jesus' coming? For His coming in glory to judge the quick and the dead at His Second Advent? Do you want to be ready when He appears with His angelic hosts, His angelic armies, and He raises all people from the dead? Do you want to be ready when Jesus comes in the bread and the wine with His body and blood? Do you want to be ready for Jesus? Listen to the preaching of John the Baptist: repent.
John shakes up our security; he's uncomfortable. He doesn't look right or dress right or eat right. If he came to our bake sale he would be looking for the cookies with grasshoppers on top. If we saw him we might be afraid that he's going to ask us for money. He looks like an Old Testament prophet, straight from the wilderness, and that is exactly what he is.
But if he is a strange sight for the eyes, how much more for the ears. His preaching is harsh, uncompromising. “Repent.” John doesn't care who you are, some average Joe, a Pharisee, the king, “Repent.” John points to our sinfulness, showing us our unworthiness, our unreadiness, our about-to-be-judgedness. With his preaching he is tearing down the mountains of our pride, the thoughts that we are acceptable with God, that God is nothing to fear or be afraid of. He shows us for what we are: sinners. “Repent.”
“But John, I've lived a good life.” “Repent.”
“But John, I was born a Lutheran.” “Repent.”
“But John, I've tried to do what was right. I've done my best.” “Repent.” No one escapes, no excuse excuses, no one is righteous, no, not one. “Repent.”
And John is even preaching to himself. Even he must repent. John knows that he, too, is unworthy. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance,” says John, “but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.” [St Matthew 3:11] John is not worthy. You and I are not worthy. Jesus alone is worthy, is holy; He is always the greater One, the one who not only exposes sin, but takes sin away.
John does not just point to us and our sin; his chief vocation is to point to the Coming One, the Greater One, his cousin Jesus. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” That Jesus.
Sorrow over our sin is on the first part of repentance, but there is a second and most important part: faith in the Son of God whose death takes away our sin; faith in the promise of our forgiveness.
John was a preacher of this faith, a preacher of Jesus. Even in the womb John is leaping for joy, “Jesus is near, Jesus is here.” In the wilderness, “Jesus is coming.” On Jordan's bank, “Jesus is here.” His whole preaching is this leaping up and down, “The kingdom of God is at Hand; Jesus is near, Jesus is here.”
John is always a prophet, that means that he is always pointing to Jesus, calling men's hearts to the Son of God. And John, in the end, gets a prophet's reward: he is thrown in jail, and then is martyred. His head removed. But when he still has his head, even from jail he's sending his disciples to Jesus, to hear His word and see His promised works.
Remember how Malachi promises two messengers? The second One is the greater, the Messenger of the Testament, the One who brings holiness, Jesus. His holiness will come upon unbelief with judgment, but it will come to us, to all who believe, as a gift, the very gift of our salvation.
Do you want to be ready for Jesus' coming? For His coming in glory to judge the quick and the dead at His Second Advent? Do you want to be ready when He appears with His angelic hosts, His angelic armies, and He raises all people from the dead? Do you want to be ready when Jesus comes in the bread and the wine with His body and blood? Do you want to be ready for Jesus? Listen to the preaching of John the Baptist: believe. Trust the Words of Jesus who has come for our salvation.
May the preaching of John the Baptist continue to prepare the Lord's way among us, that we, even this morning, are ready for His coming to us. That we would trust His word of promise, “This is My body, given for you. This is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of all of your sins.” The Greater One, the Messenger of the Testament made with His own blood, the One whose shoes John was not worthy to untie, this One, this Jesus, comes to serve you salvation today.
Repent. Believe. Rejoice. For you and I, together with John and all the prophets and saints, are made holy by this Jesus. Rejoice. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO
