The Sunday After Epiphany
January 9, 2022
M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Luke 3:15-22
In our gospel lesson this morning, John the Baptist proclaims, “he who is mightier than I is coming… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Last week in the sermon, Pastor Cory Eckstrom mentioned the new Netflix movie, “Don’t Look Up.” In that movie, 2 astronomers try to warn the president of the United States, NASA, really, anyone who will listen, that a comet is hurtling toward earth that will wipe out humanity. Most government officials won’t listen to them.
At first discovery, there is just 6 months and 14 days before the gigantic meteor hits our planet. How gigantic? It is the size of Mount Everest. It is 5 to 10 kilometers wide.
The president of the U.S. is more interested in her approval rating than dealing with a catastrophic event. The media is fed the story, and they make light of it. This “extinction level event” barely makes it out of one news cycle.
The president’s administration leads a “Don’t Look Up” movement, while the scientists please with those who will listen, to look up and see what’s coming. This brings us to John the Baptist. He was leading a “do look up” movement in his day. Our gospel lesson begins,
v. 15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,
Why were the people in expectation? It has been over 400 years since the prophet Malachi has spoken to Israel. Could John be a prophet sent by God? Could John be the Messiah?
What are we to think about this John who proclaims “a baptism for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3)? Who is this John?
We know a lot more about him than his first hearers did. We have Luke’s account of his birth. We know that his father was a priest. We know that an angel of the Lord appear to his father Zechariah, and told him to name his son John.
“Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit” and he prophesied that his son John “will be called the prophet of the Most High” (Luke 1:67, 76), but what did the people “in the region around the Jordan” (Lk. 3:3) know about him?
They heard him proclaiming “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” They could see that he was a fiery preacher.
Vv. 7-9 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
They asked him what they should do. He told them some things they could do.
As they wondered whether John “might be the Messiah,
v. 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
John understood his role in God’s work of salvation. He was the forerunner, the advance man, the one called to prepare the way for the Christ, the Messiah, sent by God.
John the Baptist stands between two ages - the age of the law and the prophets, and the age of grace. This is not to say that there was no grace of God in the age of the law and the prophets. It is to say that the time of expectation ended with John the Baptist. John declared that the Messiah is here. The grace of God has come in the One whom John introduces.
As Jesus divides secular time into B.C. and A.D., John the Baptist divides biblical time. Luke writes in chapter 16, verse 16: ““The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.” Those are red letter words - they were spoken by Jesus.
John ends the period of the law and the prophets. Jesus, the One who is mightier than John, whose sandals John is unworthy to untie, He is the One who brings a baptism that forever changes this world. John the Baptist says about Jesus, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
Fire can warm us when it’s in a fireplace or fire pit. Or, it can destroy, as it does in the wildfires we’ve seen on our west coast.
For followers of Christ, the fire of the Holy Spirit purifies and refines us. For those without Christ, the fire of the Holy Spirit is a force that destroys. John makes this clear when he says,
v. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Who here owns a pitchfork? A winnowing fork is a pitchfork, according to some definitions.
They typically have three or four prongs that are widely spread. The winnowing fork is used to pick up grain like wheat. The wheat is lifted up into the air so that the wind can blow away the chaff. The chaff is the inedible husk that surrounds the grain. It is indigestible for human beings.
In John the Baptist’s imagery, Jesus holds the winnowing fork. Jesus uses it to “clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn.” Then, the chaff is burned “with unquenchable fire.”
v. 18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.
Does John’s message sound like good news to you?
The good news is that the time of expectation is over. The Messiah has arrived.
Again, in Luke 16:16, Jesus says:
“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.”
The proclamation of the good news starts with John the Baptist. But, the focus quickly shifts to Jesus. Let’s pick up the story at v. 21.
Vv. 21-22 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus was identified as One who is mightier than John the Baptist, whose sandals John is not worthy to untie. Now, a voice from heaven declares Jesus to be God the Father’s beloved Son, who is well pleasing to His divine Father.
Between John the Baptist’s description of the One who is coming, the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus, and God the Father’s acclamation about His beloved Son, are two verses about John and King Herod. The verses are important as they fill out the bold witness of John. They give us a glimpse into John’s future.
However, these verses are overshadowed by the heavens opening, and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove. These verses recede from prominence as a voice is heard from heaven, saying about Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
John the Baptist has been pulled from the story. Now, we see Jesus.
After Jesus’ baptism…
The heavens opened…
The Holy Spirit descended…
A voice came from heaven.
This is all happened around Jesus as He prayed.
John said of Jesus, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus Himself receives the Holy Spirit, not with fire, but with a gentle dove. Jesus needed no refining fire - he was completely without sin. Jesus’ baptism is a commissioning from God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, for the mission Jesus was sent to complete.
This divine Son is the only divine Son of God. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that He sent his Son…”
He sent His Son to live as one of us,
He sent His Son to show us the way to God His Father,
He sent His Son to die on a cross to pay the full penalty for the sins of the whole world.
God the Father sent His Son to bring a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire for all who will follow His Son. The epoch of Israel, with the law and the prophets is over. The epoch of Jesus has begun with the preaching of John the Baptist.
We live in the messianic age that started with Jesus’ birth and continues until He comes again. This is the age of the Holy Spirit. This is the age of the Church.
It is the Holy Spirit who enlivens the Church. It is the Holy Spirit who brings unity in the Church. It is the Holy Spirit who speaks through the Bible and through Biblical preaching.
It is the Holy Spirit who leads Christians in the way of Christ.
In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther explains the third article of the Apostle’s Creed in this way:
“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”
Without the Holy Spirit, there is no faithful Church.
Without the Holy Spirit, there is no faith in any of us.
We need the Holy Spirit to call us to Christ, to gather us together in His Church, and to enlighten us to God’s will. We need the Holy Spirit to sanctify us, that is, to purify and refine us.
This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the words of John the Baptist about Jesus baptizing “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The “you” first pertains to John’s first hearers. Now, it pertains to all followers of Christ.
The fire is the presence of God like the burning bush that Moses saw that “was not consumed” by the flame (Exodus 3:2).
The fire of God’s presence is seen in the tongues of fire that rested on the Christians gathered in Jerusalem on the Pentecost Day after Jesus’ ascension.
Fire represents not only God’s presence. It also represents His power. Hebrews 12:29 says that “our God is a consuming fire.” What does the fire of God consume? The sin and evil that is in us and in the world.
Lutheran pastor Ben Sadler writes that “Lutherans are known for emphasizing Jesus.” This has been my experience. He suggests that “As Lutherans, we almost avoid the Holy Spirit.” Is that true?
Sadler recounts a time in his church when he was teaching “a few men” about the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, one of the men came up to him and said, “I didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit.”
Sadler wonders whether when we sing, “Come Holy Spirit, renew our hearts and kindle in us the fire of your love,” we’re inwardly thinking, “but not too much, I don’t want people thinking I’m Pentecostal.”
[Ben Sadler, “Why Are Lutherans So Afraid of the Holy Spirit” medium.com]
Are you alive in the Spirit, rejoicing in all that God has given you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Or do you live your life schlepping along, one day to the next?
My sense is that far too many Christians do not live into the great resources that are available to us through the Holy Spirit. Far too many Christians live the quiet lives of desperation that Thoreau spoke about.
The abundant life that Jesus promises His followers is lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why to Apostle Paul exhorts us, “be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). This is why the Apostle Paul admonishes us to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16).
What does the Holy Spirit do in the life of a Christian?
First, as Martin Luther reminds us, the Holy Spirit works in us to bring us to faith in Jesus Christ. Second, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. That is, the Holy Spirit, purifies and refines us, while strengthening us so that we can live for Jesus Christ in the one, true faith. Third, the Holy Spirit assures us that we belong to God’s family.
1 John 3:24 says, “And by this we know that he abides in us, but the Spirit whom he has given us. We know that Jesus Christ lives in us because the Holy Spirit assures us of this.
The greatest gift of Jesus Christ is His life that was sacrificed for us on the cross. A second great gift is the Holy Spirit that Jesus freely gives to all His followers.
After the Last Supper, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:15-16).
He calls this Helper “the Spirit of truth.” Jesus announces about His ascension, “if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you” (John 16:7). Jesus continues, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth… He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (vv. 13, 14).
The Holy Spirit comes to lead us into all truth, and in particular, all truth about Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ.
Think about this: the Holy Spirit replaces the apostles. The Holy Spirit inspires the apostles, the apostles die off, and we are left with the inspired apostles’ teaching. Now, the Holy Spirit is with us so that we can truly understand God’s work to us, the Old and New Testaments.
To shift momentarily from the sublime to the ridiculous, I wasted countless hours growing up watching television game shows. Invariably, these shows would give losing contestants, “lovely parting gifts.” Moving back to the sublime, the Holy Spirit is the parting gift that Jesus leaves with us.
How great is this gift? The Apostle Paul says that Christ in you is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). How is Christ in you? Christ is in you by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, look up. Look up to God the Father who loves you. Look up to God the Son who died on a cross to pay the penalty for your sins. Look up to God the Holy Spirit who has called you to Jesus Christ by the gospel.
Look up to God the Holy Spirit who enlightens you, who sanctifies you, who keeps you in the one, true faith. Look up to God the Holy Spirit who has brought us together in this church, and who unites us in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
“Be filled with the Holy Spirit.” That is the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to you. That is a prayer for every day, and especially for those times when you feel depleted. Pray simply, come Holy Spirit and fill me.
“Walk by the Holy Spirit.” That is Paul’s admonishment to you. In prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you.
Jesus has baptized you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Go forth from this place today assured of God’s love for you and empowered by God the Holy Spirit to live your life for the glory of God.
Let us pray.
