VOICES BY THE RIVER JORDAN
Quite frequently we read in the papers of sightings of unidentified flying objects - UFOs. Quite probably they don’t exist, but just suppose they did. What would those people from outer space make of planet Earth? Well, for sure, they would think it was very noisy. There are voices talking ceaselessly over thousands of radio and TV stations, and now there’s the Internet, all clamouring for a hearing, but not having an answer to the needs of the world. We’re going to think of two voices that are different. They had, and still have, a vital message for mankind, because they were authentic words from God, demanding our attention.
In our New Testament lesson we heard how God introduced the climax of his revelation to mankind by two voices in the Judean wilderness. The first was that of the forerunner to the promised Messiah. His name was John, "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" (Luke 3:2). The second was the voice of God himself, confirming that Jesus was indeed that Messiah, the Saviour of the world, "a voice came from heaven, ’You are my son, whom I love’" (22). These are the voices we need to hear.
Our God is a God who speaks. He’s broken into a world that is perishing for lack of a life-giving voice from heaven. That voice tells us the good news of salvation found only in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The same God speaks today, to meet the same need, but now he speaks through the words recorded in scripture as the Holy Spirit illumines them. It’s true God can reveal himself through creation - the beautiful sunset, the majestic mountains and the powerful oceans. But clearest of all is the voice that comes as we read the Bible and accept its message in humbleness of mind and spirit and by faith make it our own experience. With this attitude in mind let’s listen carefully to those voices at the River Jordan. First of all we hear:
THE VOICE OF THE PROPHET
John the Baptist has been described as a courier of the King, his herald, but for no earthly monarch. When our Queen goes on her many travels to her dominions or on state visits to other countries, a great deal of preparation takes place beforehand. Every detail is worked out, the routes are carefully checked for security. Dignitaries who are to meet her are briefed as to what is to happen and what preparations are to be made for her. The day before she’s due to be in a certain place, the advance party is there making sure all is well. That was John’s role. He was the advance man for Jesus. John was the immediate forerunner of the Messiah, opening up the way for the coming Christ, even now appearing over the horizon.
What a mission John had. The Gospels tell us he was "a man sent from God" (John 1:6) and records his credentials for doing what he did, "the word of God came unto John" (2). His ministry was itself the fulfilment of a prophecy made by Isaiah (40:3,4). There hadn’t been a prophet in Israel for 400 years, but John was the honoured successor of all those in the Old Testament. He was very much of that prophetic tradition, cast in the mould of the greatest of them; in fact he was the last of their line. John didn’t call attention to himself; it was his mission that mattered.
John knew he had a high calling because God had spoken to him and was speaking through him. He was more than a front man for a coming dignitary charged with the responsibility of making sure the roads were in good order. He had a higher calling. Paul had the same high concept of representing the Lord Jesus Christ when he told the believers at Corinth "we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors" (2 Cor 5:10). I wonder how highly we prize the honoured title of Christ’s ambassadors, representing him to a largely unbelieving world? And how seriously do we carry out our duties?
John was in deadly earnest in proclaiming his message. He had good news because, in the words he quoted from Isaiah, "all mankind will see God’s salvation" (Luke 3:6) but it wasn’t good in the sense of being comfortable for the people. John was in the same prophetic tradition of Amos bringing news of terror. "Flee from the coming wrath … every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire" (9).
John drew his illustrations from his surroundings. He’d been living for some time in the desert, probably near the Dead Sea. The intense heat of the sun would shrivel up the vegetation, covering the ground with stubble and brushwood, dry as tinder. Sometimes a spark would set the face of the desert alight and out would come the vipers and snakes, scurrying in terror from the menacing flames. It was to them that John likened the people who came to be baptised. They had suddenly become aware of spiritual need. God often uses events, sometimes unpleasant and unexpected, like global warming and the devastation caused by the tsunami to focus our attention on his will and purpose. C S Lewis wrote that illness was God’s megaphone calling that person to stop and think. God’s voice may just as easily be heard in some disappointment or setback, but the point is - are we listening to what God is saying? If we don’t take any notice the experience will be lost to us.
Why was John’s message so stern and why the language so uncompromising? John had to shake the people out of the false confidence in which they firmly believed was their security, both as a nation and individuals. They had grown up with the assumption that since they were the descendants of Abraham, and therefore members of the chosen race, they were already in a right relationship with God. John cried, "don’t tell me we have Abraham as our father, that won’t do you any good" (8). He had to destroy their false confidence in themselves.
The Jews hadn’t the slightest doubt that in God’s estimation they were his favourites. It’s true, God would judge the nations, but somehow the Jews would come out all right. They believed that they were safe from judgement simply because they were Jews, but John knew better. This fundamental error had become part of their way of life and was a stumbling block in their thinking. It had to be demolished before they could come into a right relationship with God.
It wasn’t enough that John’s attractive ministry should draw the crowds to hear his stirring oratory down by the Jordan. He had to touch their hearts and convince them that not even the greatest privilege then known - that of being an Israelite - could itself make an individual right with God and acceptable to him. Many generations have gone by but still the same principle applies today in coming to know God. The stumbling block to the Jews was their claim "we have Abraham as our father." In our own time we have to identify our particular stumbling block. It might be anything: family tradition, race, religion, church going - things good in themselves - but if relied upon will prevent a person from admitting responsibility for sin and trusting in God alone for redemption. What did John have to say? First, there was:
A CALL TO REPENTANCE
The people had to recognise that they had to abandon their pride of self-sufficiency. They had to turn away from evil ways and come to God as sinners needing forgiveness. When John preached his call to repentance, the gospel of the Lord Jesus had yet to be revealed, but John already had a glorious insight into it. When John saw Jesus coming towards him he introduced him to the crowd, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus is the way back to God through faith in his sacrifice as the Lamb of God. Sin has to be dealt with, and Jesus the sinless one, has taken it on himself and dealt with it once and for all.
Many people do hear the voice of God and yet seem to fall away? Why? Is it because their knowledge of Christ is so superficial that they haven’t seen him as the Lamb of God? Have you read "The Journal of John Wesley"? It’s very interesting. In the entry for 24th May 1738, he wrote a detailed account of his spiritual pilgrimage. As a young boy in the family of a clergyman he had been "carefully taught" that salvation could only be obtained by "keeping all the commandments of God." Over the years at school and university, he wrote, "’I now hoped to be saved, by, (1) Not being so bad as other people. (2) Having a kind of religion. And, (3) Reading the Bible, going to church, and saying my prayers.’ I doubted not but I was a good Christian." There are so many today in the same position of false security of their relationship with God.
He was eventually ordained as a minister and lived very strictly, as he put it, "I omitted no sort of self-denial." But this brought him no peace with God. He went as a chaplain to the American Colonies and came under the influence of Moravian Christians and on his return to England in that January he realised that what he was lacking was "faith in and through Christ". He wrote in his Journal that he resolved to renounce all dependence upon his "own works or righteousness" and instead turned to a "saving faith, a full reliance on the blood of Christ shed for me." He finally knew he was converted when his heart "was strangely warmed" within him and "an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins." The second part of John the Baptist’s message was:
THE CALL TO BAPTISM
Gentiles who wished to embrace the Jewish faith had to undergo certain initiation ceremonies, and the rite of baptism was one of them. Those who were already within the Israelite family didn’t need them. But here, John is preaching baptism to the Jews, placing them in the same category as Gentiles. This was a practical way of emphasising that when it came to the essential relationship between God and man, not even the most cherished possession of being a relation of Abraham was of any avail. It was life not lineage that was God’s standard of measurement!
John message wasn’t a cheap gospel. It wasn’t sufficient to repent and be baptised and be the same as you were before. Real repentance has as much to do with the future as with the past. It includes the sincere resolve to amend our ways and renounce old evil. Luke records how specific groups of people asked John how this life of repentance applied to them. His answers were clear and forthright. The message of the Gospel has to work its way through all of life’s experiences. In other words, it’s not only for Sunday but for all of the other days of the week as well.
The wealthy and powerful were told to be open-hearted and kind. God can’t be pleased if the well off don’t help those who have too little. The tax collectors were to be scrupulously honest. The soldiers were to act with absolute fairness. The apostle Paul summarised this teaching when he wrote to his converts at Ephesus to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (4:1). There must have been some remarkable scenes on the shores of the River Jordan. Luke records, "all the people" who responded "were … baptised" (4:21) acknowledging their wrong relationship with God, but there was to be one notable exception - the Lord Jesus.
At this point we turn from The Voice of the Prophet, to:
THE VOICE OF GOD
John’s remit was important but limited. He had two main things to do – to prepare the way for Jesus and then to get out of the way! John became a public figure as the prophetic herald of the Messiah. He said that he wasn’t the Christ but rather, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ’Make straight the way of the Lord’" (John 1:23). This may have been the sign that Jesus was waiting for. He had lived in obscurity for thirty years but now his day had come.
There was now a great movement towards God with the crowds flocking to John in repentance of sin. The hour had struck for Jesus. It wasn’t that he was conscious of sin and the need for repentance. He knew that now, he too, must identify himself with this movement towards God. It’s been said that God has no grandchildren - he only has children! By that is meant that he doesn’t have second-hand relationships. There comes a time for each one of us when we must declare ourselves for God. If we miss the opportunity it may not come again. Have we committed ourselves to God’s Kingdom? Do we know of some service to be done? Have we a talent to dedicate to him?
John was clearly taken aback when he realised that Jesus was in the queue waiting his turn to be baptised. Matthew tells us that "John tried to deter him, saying, ’I need to be baptised by you, but do you come to me?’" But Jesus wasn’t to be put off. He told John, "Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness" (3:13). In submitting to baptism Jesus is declaring his identity with the people in their search for God and demonstrating his intention to be the Saviour of his people. He certainly didn’t need to be baptised for he had no sin, but did so to identify himself with sinful man. Baptism involved getting in the river, being immersed and then getting out. It was a picture of his death, burial and resurrection - a wonderful anticipation of his mission to the Earth.
The climax of the story is still to come. The Gospel writer tells us what happened. "When Jesus had been baptised (there came) a voice from heaven." It was God’s declaration concerning Jesus, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (3:22). The Voice of God to Jesus is in vivid contrast to The Voice of the Prophet to the people. Their baptism was an admission of need but when Jesus emerged from the water God spotlighted him as the Saviour of the world. The message of the Old Testament prophets was to call out from rebellious Israel a remnant of the faithful but when John baptised Jesus its greatest member had been recruited. It’s our calling to follow the Master, to join the ranks of the redeemed.
John the Baptist is one of the world’s supremely effective preachers. There’s a story told of a great preacher being congratulated on a sermon. "Yes," he said, "but what did it do?" What will this account of the Voices by the River do for each of us? Is it calling us to abandon some cherished stumbling block preventing us coming to a real faith in Christ? Is it prompting us to some action necessary to living a life worthy of the Christian calling?
Just as the people came to John to ask what they must do, we too must come to God and test ourselves by the scriptures and let the Holy Spirit reveal to us what to do. If the Lord were to put our lives under quality control inspection would they be rejected as sub-standard? Would the divine inspector say, like many a school report, "Could do better"! Let’s resolve to live more meaningfully, but not to try to do it in our own strength. The key to success is to hear The Voice of God and to follow his instructions.
