Matthew 3:1-12 “John Baptizes”

The Scripture for this morning makes reference to the Prophet Isaiah and to a time in history when the Israelites decided that they were not going to walk around to get where they wanted to go. Matthew quotes the famous lines from the Hebrew Prophet Isaiah, saying “make straight a path through the wilderness.” The Israelites were being held captive by the Babylonians when along came the Persian King Cyrus (Also known in some bibles as Xerxes if you remember that question from Bible Tag two weeks ago) who defeated the Babylonians, released the Jews and said that they could go back to Israel.

To get back to Israel, the sane route would have been to go up and around along the Euphrates river and over the Syrian plain. I say that this was the better route because there would be food and water along the way. The problem with going that way was that there were a lot of other peoples going along that route as well. Many of those people were notoriously warlike..

The alternative was to risk a desert crossing, heading straight back from Babylon. Along this route you might have the problem of dying of thirst or hunger. There was no protection at all from the elements. However, you could get back to Israel much faster. So, to make this desert crossing very careful preparations would have to be made. The Israelites did make it across the desert and were able to restore the Temple that had been destroyed.

What does all this have to do with John the Baptist? Why is he called the one who prepares a way in the wilderness? And, what does that have to do with Jesus Christ? The answer is that you cannot establish a Kingdom if you are nowhere near it to begin with. That goes for the Kingdom of God, too. You cannot establish the Kingdom of God if you are a captive of another kingdom. You must first be released and brought to a new place where the Kingdom can be established.

Now with the coming of Christ, there is even a greater urgency than before. John the Baptist says right in verse two of our Scripture that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is not just coming straight, but it is the heavenly kingdom, and it is going to be here before you know it. The preparations that we need to make are not like the preparations needed for crossing a desert. The preparation that we need to perform is called “repentance.” It is an inner preparation for accepting the new King.

The word in Greek for this kind of “repentance” is μετανοια. It literally means a “turning.” In Hebrew the word is “shuv,” and this word means to turn AND to dance! I like to think that repentance is a kind of a dance before God actually. It is a turning to God once more.

When we turn to God, Christ wants to come straight in our lives. If that happens when you are not ready for it, you are going to be knocked flat by it—like so many people are. Way back when I was a volunteer firefighter I was told: “make sure your fire hose is straight from the pump to the fire.” And, I always thought in the back of my mind that it really could not matter that much if the hose was straight or not.

Of course, what happened was that the hose that I was holding had a crimp in it. I was not getting the full pressure from the truck. Then when the pressure built up enough behind the crimp in the hose, the crimp worked its way straight, and the pressure doubled at the nozzle that I was holding. Of course, I landed flat on my bottom in the soot and mud with a wild hose spraying everywhere but on the fire. I knew what had happened; my hose was not straight. But, you see, the hose will always want to go straight no matter what.

You make that path straight for Jesus to come into your life. You be ready for it. From the kingdom of heaven straight to your life, that is the way that you lay out the line. If it’s not straight, the Lord will try to make it straight. That might just knock you off your feet where you are standing. So, be ready. Prepare yourself for it.

Okay, so John is out on the River Jordan telling us that the Kingdom of God is near. That is John’s prophecy. But that is not the sum of his ministry! The other thing that he is doing is baptizing people. So, I need to talk a little bit about baptism as a sacrament of our faith in God:

Some people will equate baptism with ritualistic cleansing in other faiths, including Judaism and Islam. In order to enter the Temple in Jerusalem, a man would have to bathe in a ritual bath. Women would have to bathe in the Mikvah at home too. However, baptism is very different!

First, you do not have to make a sin offering to be baptized. When folks came to the temple, they would have to offer silver money (shekels) or an unblemished lamb, or turtle doves, and/or the like. You had to have money to have your sins relieved from you in this manner. The poor people never had a chance! Unless. . . .they were to head out to the River where another poor prophet wearing only camel hair would baptize for FREE! People were free to come to God! That was a religious breakthrough to be sure.

Second, the ritualistic cleansing to enter the Temple was something you would do to yourself. Guess what? You cannot baptize yourself.

This last week I heard the story of a married couple that had been married for over forty years. I asked them to share how it was that they came together. The wife said, “I was drowning, and he saved my life by swimming out and pulling me back to shore.” He literally saved her–not even metaphorically! Baptism is exactly that. It is not just going underwater and coming back up. It is the idea that someone else is pulling you back to life. It is an instance of salvation.

I recall once baptizing a young lady, a friend of the family that had flown in from the mainland. We were down at the beach here. We read this scripture, prayed, then I put her under the water backwards as she pinched her nose. Just then a rogue wave came, picked her up out of my hands and started to drag her out to sea. I clambered for her flailing arms and was able to grab one to pull her back up and out. Now that, was a real honest to God baptism. In that moment, the sea tried to take her, but she was brought back up, saved if you will.

Four weeks ago we read in 1 Peter 3:20 how baptism is similar to what God did in the Time of Noah–the flood that wiped out most of humanity except Noah’s family–eight persons. I said then, so I repeat myself, “When you are underwater being baptized, God can do what God wants with you!” A rogue wave might come to take you out. It depends on the person baptizing you, how strong they are. How grounded in the faith!

Third note on baptism: When Jesus came to be baptized, it changed his life. This is so different than just performing a ritualistic cleansing. We will go into this more next week with what happens with Jesus when his cousin John brings his head back up out of the Jordan River. It is simple to see that this is the start of Jesus’ ministry.

John and Jesus are cousins. They surely played together as children at times. I am most sure that they would have played in the water together. They probably went to the beach more than a dozen times. This was the start of something completely new for Jesus. John has been doing his ministry for a while, but this is when Jesus is first called to His incredible ministry. John knew all along that he was not worthy to carry Jesus’ sandals–yet, in this moment he even holds Jesus’ head underwater.

This act of baptizing Jesus is the straight path that is mentioned in Isaiah. Jesus goes into the water as “cousin Jesus.” Jesus comes out of the water as the great teacher healer, King of the Universe! Wherever Jesus thought his life was heading as a carpenter’s son, he now knows that his call is to minister God’s word and eventually go to the Cross for the salvation of the world.

So, what a great cue for us to remember back to our own baptisms, when our lives were straightened out and the Kingdom was made near for us. And, do you remember how chill you were? So, I swim every morning–except Sunday; the one great thing about this for sure is that no matter the what of the day, when I come out of the water, I be chill!

Amen.