Introduction
For all who have ached to serve God and see his kingdom advance, we must surely appreciate Oswald Smith, standing before an examining board in 1920. One dream dominated his heart – to be a missionary for Jesus. Over and over he had prayed, “Lord, I want to go and tell people of you. Open a door of service.” Now, at last (he thought) his prayer would be answered. But when the examination concluded, the board rejected him. He did not meet the qualifications; he failed the test. Smith had a dream; God sent a detour. What would he do?
Disappointment – we all know the feeling of frustrated expectations. We want life to unfold in a certain way, but circumstances refuse to cooperate.
You were hoping marriage would end the loneliness. You expected to be free from financial troubles. You intended to have a satisfying and successful career. But life disappoints – God disappoints. He could open a door; instead he sends a detour. What will we do?
As Oswald Smith dealt with his disappointment, an idea arose in his mind. Maybe he could be part of a church which sent out missionaries; he spent his life pastoring The People’s Church in Toronto, Canada, a church known internationally during his tenure as a “missionary sending congregation.” God’s work was more wonderful than Oswald Smith dared imagine.
In our text, religious leaders want to see what God is doing. The crowds are excited about John the Baptist. Maybe this is a new work of God – something great finally is going to happen. After centuries of waiting, is God opening a door for his people? When they meet John, however, their expectations are not met by John. They end up angry and will eventually lash out to murder the one to whom John pointed.
Few of us are likely end our disappointments with violence. We may, however, begin to play religion, pretending to follow God and his ways. Our love for the Lord may grow cold. We may drift, finding faith irrelevant to daily living.
Whatever the cause and whichever path we follow, part of the solution is to consider how God’s detours lead us to places more glorious than we ever imagined. To see that, let us compare John’s reaction to Jesus with that of the Jewish leadership. Jesus arrives – God’s answer is here. But when he is not what is expected, how will we respond? God often does differently than we expect; God always provides better than we could hope.
1. Knowing God’s Solution to Sin is More Satisfying Than Our Success (29)
J. C. Ryle says this is “a verse which ought to be printed in great letters in the memory of every reader of the Bible.”
Of course, Christians believe all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable. But this sentence shines brighter than most, even on a sun-lit day. Here is the main point of the main point – God has provided a solution to our greatest need, to mankind’s central problem.
Shakespeare well understood our need and illustrated it through one of the more famous lines in literature. Lady Macbeth is consumed by guilt over her participation the murder of Duncan. She is racked by nightmares, and often sleepwalks while rubbing her hands, trying in her dream to wash away the guilt from the blood which stained her hands. When the Doctor is called, he sees her walking and “washing,” saying, “Out, damned spot! out, I say! … What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.”
The stain of sin damns her soul in guilt and misery. Sin had ensnared Lady Macbeth and demanded that she not rest until Duncan is dead and her husband named king. Success would be her Savior. But success only condemns.
How wonderful for God to send a lamb to take away the sins of the world. Observe, please, two truths about the work of Jesus.
First, his is a most difficult work. Great minds have sought a way out; all have failed. Saviors have been put forth, but all have fallen away. “Senators, poets, sages, priests – all have tried a thousand ways and sought through a thousand ages, to put away sin.” But to no avail. Jesus alone has done and continues to do this work. We may wash our hands or hide them in our pockets, but the spot remains. Who would have thought the old man would have had so much sin in him? It is a difficult work.
Second, please believe this is an indispensable work. Maybe many of you have experienced the grace of God and well know that the work of Christ is indispensable for eternal salvation. But have we thought about the misery which sin spreads into life here and now? Do you realize (as one pastor has said), that “sin is the fountain of all our intellectual, social, moral, political and religious suffering? Until this fountain is dried up, the streams of misery will ever roll through the heart of the world. Sin must be taken away from our literature, our governments, our institutions, our hearts and lives before the world can be made happy.” (Thomas, Commentary, Kregel Bible Study Classics.)
Even in our church, where many strive to please God, we have seen some people hurt and leave. Could we not agree with James: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4.1-3).
How great is our need for a Savior! How marvelous is John’s claim: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
For years Jews have known of the promised lamb. It began in Genesis 22, with Isaac’s question: “Father, behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?” And Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”
The same promise was highlighted at Passover, as the blood of a lamb saves Israel from the angel of death which devastates Egypt. Then anticipation builds year after year, as lambs by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, are slaughtered! At times blood ran in the gutters along the streets, so many were killed.
And now, at long last, the One to whom all animals pointed. The blood of an animal cannot atone for our sin – only a human can. And here is the man. But not an ordinary man, the God-man – in two distinct natures and one person forever, Jesus, to lay down his life for a final and full eradication of sin – its punishment, its power, and eventually even its presence in this world and the age to come.
It’s a great story – virtually too good to be true. What then is the problem? Why is he rejected, despised, forsaken? The Jewish leaders wanted a messiah. They came to see John. But Lamb was not what they expected. They wanted a savior for their success, not a Savior from their sins. Their expectations were too low; God’s provision was more glorious that they could take in.
Could we have the same issues? Last week God thrilled us with hope built on the power of God which is ours in Jesus. But “God for us” does not translate into our always having our expectations met, does it? Yes, Jesus promises that whatever we ask in his name we will have. Yet James reminds us of the balance: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
Could our expectations be too low? Might God’s provision be more wonderful than we dare imagine?
Maybe we hope Jesus’ power will finally remake our spouse into the person I have wanted. Instead, the Lamb offers power over our own selfishness, so that I can love our wife as he loved his church, and gave himself up for us.
Maybe we hope God will change our enemies into friends. Instead, the Lamb offers power over self-preoccupied feelings of revenge, so we can love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Maybe we hope God will provide wealth and comfort. Instead, the Lamb offers power over covetousness, so that we are content with our spouse’s many failures and our pastor’s weaknesses, content in plenty and in want.
Maybe we hope Christ will cause others to recognize how valuable we are. Instead, the Lamb offers power over pride, so we delight to treat others as more important than ourselves.
John Newton penned a wonderful hymn:
“I asked the LORD that I might grow In faith, and love, and every grace; Might more of his salvation know, And seek, more earnestly, his face.
"’Twas he who taught me thus to pray, And he, I trust, has answered prayer! But it has been in such a way, As almost drove me to despair.
"I hoped that in some favored hour, At once he’d answer my request; And by his love’s constraining pow’r, Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
"Instead of this, he made me feel The hidden evils of my heart; And let the angry pow’rs of hell Assault my soul in every part.
"Yea more, with his own hand he seemed Intent to aggravate my woe; Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.
"LORD, why is this, I trembling cried, Will you pursue me to the death? ’’Tis in this way,’ the LORD replied, ’I answer prayer for grace and faith. These inward trials, I employ, from pride and self to set you free; And break your schemes of earthly joy, that you may find your all in me.’”
Success poses as a powerful savior. Faith recognizes and rejoices in freedom from sin as a greater satisfaction.
2. Revealing God’s Glory is More Rewarding Than Our Recognition (30-31)
If you have been at church for a while you may have learned the first theology question: “What is man’s primary purpose? Man’s primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” This is first because we believe the answer captures the essence of life’s purpose: we exist to glorify God, which is infinite joy. But what does that look like?
Our text describes a man who places God’s glory above his own. Jesus said of him, “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11.11). He was called by Christ a “burning and shining lamp.” God himself sent John to prepare the way for the anointed Messiah. This man had every reason draw attention to himself. Yet every word, every action, every thing about John is about Jesus. And that was a problem for the religious leaders. Note well that what God offers is of greater reward than what they wanted. They expected Messiah to recognize their greatness; not a Messiah who would reward them for recognizing his greatness.
Do we profess faith in Jesus? Then let us seek the reward John obtained – let us learn the humility which reveals God’s glory. Here is the grace with which all must begin who would be saved. Here is a grace which all saints may long for and labor after. Not all have the greater gifts; not all have the money to be overly generous; not all have positions of great influence. But all may enjoy the reward of placing God’s glory above their own recognition.
Yes, I am aware that it is especially incumbent upon me, as a pastor, to display extraordinary progress in this grace. Pray for me – ask God to allow my ministry among you to reveal Christ, ask God that my preaching would always point you to Jesus, ask God to make my burning passion and desire nothing but his glory. This is the grace most beautiful on the last day. This is the grace rewarded.
3. Seeing God’s Spirit Working Is More Significant Than Our Outward Ceremonies (32-33)
John’s uniqueness was not baptizing with water. As we hear in their questions, these leaders were familiar with the ceremony. It was often used as a sign of cleansing and a rite by which proselytes and their children were admitted into the Jewish church. They knew the promise of Ezekiel 36: God would sprinkle his people with clean water as he restored them to himself in a new covenant. None of this was a surprise.
The problem was that John always pointed beyond the ceremony to the supernatural work of Jesus. The Jews expected Messiah to see their forms of religion and be impressed; Jesus offers to impress us with the work of his Spirit. What Jesus offers is far better than they dreamed; they could not receive it because their expectations were too low.
John received it. When it comes to outward forms, none could claim a better pedigree than John – he baptized Jesus! If anyone’s ceremony was significant, surely it was John’s. But what does he say? “Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit; that you must seek.”
Please know this: churches are filled with women and men counting on an outward ceremony to bring them to God. They know the day the walked the isle; they marked the time they prayed the prayer; their baptism certificate is signed by the priest; their first communion is most significant.
I do not denigrate the sacraments. But they do not save. You must go to Jesus for the supernatural work of his Spirit. Do you know the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Has Christ placed his seal on you? Is that which is significant in your life a supernatural work? Will you, today, receive the work of Messiah? Faith appreciates baptism and the Lord’s Supper because they picture the work which Christ has done and is doing in your life.
4. Conclusion (34)
Joni Eareckson Tada: was in a diving accident in 1967 which left her a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. She spoke at a conference Helen and I attended two years ago. The topic was suffering and the supremacy of Christ. At the end of her talk she said: “I hope I can bring this wheel chair with me to heaven…. I will put it over here. And I will stand over here in my new glorified body, standing on new, grateful, glorified legs. Holding my Saviors hands, nail scarred hands. I can say, “Thank you, Jesus…. You were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble. ’Cause that thing was a lot of trouble. But the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. It never would have happened had you not given me the bruising of the blessing of that wheelchair.”
God did not provide what the Jews expected and they rejected the Messiah. What are we expecting? How will we respond?
