Introduction
When the word of God came to John the Baptist in the desert, he went into all the country around the Jordan and began to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Then a large crowd came to John to be baptized. John the Baptist preached to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, and the crowd asked what they should do then. John the Baptist explained to them in detail what they should do in order to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and food should also be distributed. Tax collectors should not collect any more than they are required to, and soldiers should not extort money and not accuse people falsely - be content with their pay.
Since a prophet of God appeared for the first time in nearly 400 years since the prophet Malachi, the Israelites had high expectations for John the Baptist.
I. People’s expectations of John (vv. 15-16a)
Look at verse 15. “The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.” Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. The Jews had been waiting for a Messiah for a long time, and under Roman oppression, fervent anticipation of the Messiah reached its peak among the Jews at that time. They had high hopes that John the Baptist might be the Messiah they had been waiting for, but they could not be sure.
In Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, they asked John directly, ‘Who are you?’ At that time, John clearly answered, ‘I am not the Christ.’ They thought about the prophet Malachi’s prophecy, ‘I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes’ (Malachi 4:5) and asked, ‘Are you Elijah?’ When John answered, ‘I am not,’ they asked again, ‘Are you the prophet?’ The prophet refers to a prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15. Even then, John answered ‘No.’ Then they asked, ‘What do you say about yourself?’ At that time, John the Baptist “replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the desert, "Make straight the way for the Lord"’” (John 1:23, v. 4). John the Baptist said that he was merely the voice of an errand boy preparing the way for the Lord.
Then the people questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” (John 1:25). But John the Baptist did not answer the question and turned the people's attention toward him to Christ, who would come later. Look at verse 16. “John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
I already explained last Sunday that John the Baptist baptized repentance with water. In order to welcome the Messiah, the Son of God, the King, into one's heart, one must repent of all the sins in one's heart and receive baptism by sprinkling water on one's body as a sign that all sins have been washed away, or enter the waters of the Jordan River and be baptized. If they confess the sins in their hearts, cleanse their hearts, and repent, the powerful Messiah will come and baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. At the same time, John the Baptist said that his only job was to prepare people for the amazing work that the Messiah would do when he came, and that he did not even dare to untie the thongs of the Messiah's sandals. In the old days, the lowest servant among servants was responsible for tying and untying the thongs of his master's sandals. However, John the Baptist introduced himself and said that he could not be such a servant.
Would John the Baptist have said something like this simply to humble himself? No. Truly, John the Baptist testified correctly about Jesus, the King. Think about it. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God. He is God Himself. Jesus is the Christ who is King. On the other hand, John the Baptist is merely a creature created by Jesus, who is God. John the Baptist was only the king's messenger. We have no choice but to completely bow our heads and bow before Jesus.
II. Jesus’ Ministry (vv. 16b-18)
Look at verses 16b and 17. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 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.” Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire. What is the difference between water and fire? Water plays a washing role. If clothes or dishes become dirty, wash them with water. Then they can become clean again. However, the limitations of water do not change the nature of the object itself. Impurities inside an object cannot be washed away with water. Water can only wash away foreign substances stuck to the surface. For example, a person who used to swear a lot will swear less, and a person who used to drink a lot will become more abstinent.
What John the Baptist is saying is that people’s problems cannot be solved by just washing away their external sins. A person can be saved only when his or her fundamental nature changes. We cannot solve the sin problem by washing away the sins we commit every day. Because we have a sinful nature in our hearts. Therefore, a person must have an essential change to overcome his or her sinful nature. By being baptized with the Holy Spirit and the fire, a person must completely change. When a person changes completely like that, he begins to hate even the appearance of sin and struggles to live a holy life before God.
Changing people in the world is like being baptized in water. It is a change that requires a little restraint from sin. It is a change that only washes away the dirty surface of an object. To remove impurities in an object, the object must be burned and melted with fire. This is how we make gold, silver, or iron without impurities. The process of changing our inner self is being born again with the Holy Spirit and the fire. John the Baptist testified that Jesus Christ, who would come after him, would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire, turning them into completely new creatures. Jesus' most important ministry is baptism with the Holy Spirit and the fire. Unless a person is born again by the Holy Spirit, he or she cannot enter the kingdom of God. How can a person be born again by the Holy Spirit? That person must accept Jesus Christ into his or her heart. At that time, he/she is reborn by the Holy Spirit and becomes a new creation. Ultimately, people are divided into those who believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit and those who do not.
Then, at the end of the world, Jesus Christ will save those who have received the Holy Spirit and judge those who have not received the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist likened this to a farmer winnowing the grain he harvested during harvest. When a farmer threshes grain, the grain and chaff are mixed together and cannot be distinguished. The threshing method at the time was to spread the grain on a mat and then pound the grain with a winnowing fort in their hands. Then, the wheat and the chaff were separated, and the wheat was gathered into the wheat and the chaff into the chaff. At that time, the farmer gathered the grain and put them into the barn, and gathered the chaff and burned it. The barn symbolizes heaven, and the unquenchable fire symbolizes the fiery hell.
However, John thought that this judgment would occur immediately when Christ came. So, as he preached the baptism of repentance, he said that the ax was already at the root of the trees, and every tree that did not produce good fruit would be cut down and thrown into the fire. However, the judgment of gathering the wheat into the barn and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire will be accomplished by the second coming of Jesus Christ. On the day of final judgment, this world will become a sea of fire (2 Peter 3:7). Those who can be saved at that time are those who have received the Holy Spirit.
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III. The end of John the Baptist's ministry (vv. 18-20)
John the Baptist preached good news to the people with many other words (v. 18). In this way, John came down from the stage of spreading the gospel after completing his mission of introducing Jesus Christ to people. During John's reign, Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, stole his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, and married her. This was a clear act of adultery. Of course, in the Old Testament law, when the older brother died, the younger brother had to marry the older brother's wife and have children to carry on his older brother's family line. But that's when his brother died. Taking one's living brother's wife was adultery. John the Baptist boldly rebuked Herod because he thought the leader of Israel needed to be morally cleaner (v. 19). For this, John was hated by Herodias and ended up in prison (v. 20).
And he lost his life as payment for the dance of Herodias' daughter Salome. From a human perspective, John the Baptist's death seems so meaningless. How did John, a great prophet and preacher, end up giving his life as payment for a girl's dance? However, before God, it was the most blessed death. While rebuking the king for his mistakes, he was imprisoned and ultimately martyred. There is nothing more glorious in the kingdom of God than martyrdom. John's death was the best death and the most glorious.
Jesus’ ministry began with Jesus being baptized by the Holy Spirit when he was baptized by John. Look at verses 21 and 22. “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’” In fact, because Jesus was the Son of God and a perfect man without sin, there was no need for him to receive the water baptism offered by John. However, Jesus received baptism from John as a representative of sinners. And he ultimately died on the cross, bearing all the sins of sinners.
When Jesus was baptized in water and prayed, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form like a dove. The Holy Spirit has no form because he is the Spirit of God. However, the reason he came in bodily form like a dove was so that everyone, including Jesus himself, could see the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus. In particular, the fact that the Holy Spirit came in the bodily form like a dove means that He is gentle like a dove and peacefully resides within us. And doves were used as a means of conveying news in ancient times, as God announced that a new era had arrived.
And the fact that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus means that he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. This was the ceremony in which Jesus was inaugurated as the true high priest. In Old Testament times, when a priest was appointed, olive oil was poured on his head. This was a ritual that consecrated the person and allowed him to perform the duties of a priest. People laid their hands on the head of a living sacrifice to receive forgiveness for their sins, and the priest slaughtered the sacrifice for which sins had been imputed, cut it into pieces, and burned it as a peace offering to God. However, all priests and sacrifices in the Old Testament were shadows of Jesus Christ. Now, when the time has come, Jesus, the Son of God who becomes the reality of the shadow, has come and received the anointing of the Holy Spirit and has become the true high priest. And Jesus will sacrifice himself on the cross as a sacrifice, bearing the sins of his chosen people.
When the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, God spoke from heaven in person, saying, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The reason God said this was not because Jesus did not know that he himself was the Son of God. When God pours out the Holy Spirit, He confirms with heavenly glory that Jesus is the Son of God. God spoke this again in human language so that everyone would believe that Jesus is the Son of God. John the Baptist also said that when he saw the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus, he knew for sure that he was the Son of God who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33-34).
Jesus was baptized and began his public ministry when he was about thirty years old (v. 29a). The Levite began serving in the temple at the age of thirty (Numbers 4:3), and Joseph also became prime minister at the age of thirty (Genesis 41:40). David was thirty years old when he ascended to the throne (2 Samuel 5:4). Additionally, members of the Sanhedrin were thirty years old or older. In this way, the Lord began his public ministry as their perfect entity at the time of full adulthood.
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IV. Jesus’ genealogy (:29b, 38)
The genealogy of Jesus Christ appears in the second half of verse 29. The genealogy recorded here is very different from the genealogy in Matthew 1. This is because it is not the genealogy of Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, but the genealogy of the ancestors of Mary, who conceived and gave birth to Jesus Christ. The reason why it can be said to be Mary’s genealogy is found in the second half of verse 29. It says, “He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli.” This means that Jesus was known to the world as Joseph's son because he legally succeeded Joseph, but in reality, he was not Joseph's son, but a descendant of Heli, Joseph's father-in-law. According to the customs of the Hebrew people, even biological grandsons or maternal grandsons were called sons.
Matthew claimed that Jesus Christ was a descendant of Abraham and David in order to emphasize that he came as the king of the Jews, but Luke kept in mind the fact that Jesus Christ is the savior who is universally related to all people in the world, and wrote the genealogy of Jesus Christ. It was recorded back to Adam, the ancestor of all mankind. This shows that Jesus Christ came to this earth as the second Adam (Romans 5:14, 1 Corinthians 15:22) and became the savior of the whole world.
And the fact that Adam's father is God does not actually mean that God gave birth to Adam, but rather that God created Adam with His power. Therefore, calling Adam the son of God reveals that the origin of all mankind is God. All things came from God through Jesus Christ. And all things are restored to God through Christ. Just as the origin of man began with God's supernatural creation, man's salvation begins with the supernatural virgin birth of Jesus Christ and is achieved by supernaturally regenerating man with the Holy Spirit and the fire.
Conclusion
During World War II, when Dutch woman Corrie ten Boom visited the United States and held a rally, many people gathered. She received applause from the people for her sermon and testimony, but when she did not look happy at all, a reporter asked her, ‘Aren’t you happy, Mrs. Corey?’ she famously replied. ‘Can the donkey be mistaken?’ On Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey, the crowd cheered and shouted Hosanna. This was applause for Jesus and a warm welcome to Him. What if the donkey had mistaken the applause for it? We are just donkeys. Only by exalting Jesus will God be glorified. Faith is not living as I wish or want, but rather a life that gives up myself and the ways of the world and obeys what God wants and commands.
John the Baptist fulfilled the mission given to him as a pioneer of Jesus Christ well. He did not reveal himself, but testified only to Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ is the true savior who came in human form to baptize all mankind with the Holy Spirit and with fire to save them. Many believers make the mistake of boasting about themselves when giving testimony. We must always boast only of Jesus Christ, exalt only Jesus Christ, and preach only Jesus Christ.
