St. Mark 1:1-8
The prophet Malachi speaks of the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus: “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...”(Malachi 3:1). We pause and we ask ourselves the question: “why did John the Baptist come? What was significant about his coming before Jesus to prepare the way?” When John the Baptist comes to mind we don’t often think about the 400 years in between the prophets and Jesus’ coming. The Scriptures have an ongoing theme where it was said that when the prophets spoke, then God was blessing the people. But when the prophets were silent this was seen as God’s judgment upon the people. The prophet Amos said, “‘Behold the days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I will send a famine on the land--not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord’”(Amos 8:11). This came to pass during what we call the “inter-testamental period.” These were dark days. No prophecy existed. Roman rule became prominent throughout the world. Many different teachings grew and became predominant. The Pharisees and Sadducees grew in power and prestige. To a large degree, the religious focus was more on this life. There was a growing spirit of paganism, as Greek culture prevailed even among the Hebrews. In short, God’s people were being infiltrated by foreign rule, foreign religions, differing views of salvation, and an overall state of moral decay. At the same time, God’s prophets were silent. Yet, God’s promise of the coming Messiah loomed overhead through centuries of prophecies. 400 years of silence set the stage for John the Baptist...and for Jesus Christ. The world seemed dark without God’s revelation to the people, but John the Baptist begins to cry out from the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” Suddenly, after all that time had passed, a lone prophet suddenly appears and begins to preach repentance and to baptize. John raised eyebrows. Ears perked up. The cry was that someone was coming who was exceedingly noble, to the point that John was not worthy to stoop down and untie the sandals of this noble one. The cry was one of repentance. This was a familiar cry of the prophets. Any Old Testament man would recognize the message. God’s voice once again went out as a divine utterance to the people. The voice crying in the wilderness was once again a sign of God’s love to the people...even though the message was not pleasant to the ears. This is something that we must remember when hearing the word of God. Sometimes God’s word is a hard word that makes us stop and think. God’s hard word is the preaching that convicts us of our sins. We often think this kind of preaching to be unpleasant and unwanted, but it is still God’s revelation that rings in our ears, that infiltrates our very being and hits upon our conscience. We often call this preaching the preaching of the law. It acts as a mirror. The prophet Nathan served up such a prophetic voice to King David when David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband, Uriah killed. It was an unpleasant message weaved in a story of a poor man with his one little ewe lamb that he loved. You may remember the story Nathan told. Nathan told David about a rich man who had a large herd of his own. A traveler came to stay with the rich man and so he thought he would make the traveler a meal. Rather than take from his own flock, he takes the poor man’s ewe lamb that was like a daughter to the poor man. The rich man kills the lamb and prepares it to eat. David was enraged and wanted to know who had done it, and Nathan says “you are that man!” Nathan proceeded to pronounce God’s punishment to David. This preaching was unpleasant to hear and brought to David’s mind his wretched state, but it brought forth repentance in David. David said, “I have sinned against the Lord,” and Nathan responded with holy absolution, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Nathan’s name in Hebrew means “gift.” Nathan, even his hard preaching, was a gift to David because God’s voice in the mouth of the prophet brought forgiveness and salvation to David. It is in this same way that we must regard even the harsh preaching of John the Baptist as a gift and a blessing from God. When John preaches in the desert and says such things as “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance”(St. Matthew 3:8) he is giving the Pharisees a chance to find the “gift” of salvation through his hard preaching of the law...with repentance comes the gift of the gospel. You, too, must consider your life. Do you bear fruit in keeping with repentance or do you go through the visible motions of faith and piety for all to see in order to make it look good to others? Does the fruit that you bear coincide with what you confess to be true? Are you going to leave church and grumble? Are you going to get in the car and gossip and complain and slay others to get what you want like David did? Are you going to cheat others and take advantage of others after you leave church? Or are you going to bear the fruit of repentance and live mindfully of Christ’s sacrifice for you? The law slays us in our own broken condition. But, a “gift” waits for you. John made ready the people to receive the gospel in flesh and blood--in Jesus Christ. This same gift knocks at your door. Jesus comes to bring you something--do you know how much you need the gift? Jesus comes to shine His everlasting light into a world that dims and darkens in spiritual turmoil. In a world where the voice of God is not easily discerned, you kneel at the Lord’s altar to hear His voice for you, “Take, eat, this is my body for the forgiveness of your sins...take, drink, the blood of Christ shed for the remission of your sins.” The fruit of repentance leads us to hear the good preaching, the soothing, calming, peaceful words of Christ’s love upon us. The voice of Jesus sounds forth from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”(St. Luke 23:34). “Comfort, comfort ye my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins”(Isaiah 40:1-2), says the prophet Isaiah. This is the good preaching that sets free....though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. You have received double for all your sins. As horrible as your sins may be...as hurtful as they may have been to you and to others, double the grace do you receive at the Lord’s hand. This is the mercy and love of Jesus for you. The worst of all things have been exchanged for the double the good of Christ’s love for you. The gift of forgiveness and salvation is bestowed through holy absolution and you stand as holy children whose lives are enveloped by God’s divine utterance in your lives. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
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