Advent 2: John the Baptist and the Repentant Remnant
cONTENT
Introduction
Good morning friends. It is wonderful to be here with you on this second Sunday of Advent. Today we hear about the ministry of John the Baptist. He is the forerunner, whose icon we keep on the Old Covenant side of the altar. He had a clear sense that his life and ministry were to call people to follow Jesus as the Messiah. He provided the foundation and base for the ministry of Jesus to be launched. John the Baptist invites us to prepare the way of the Lord in Advent by calling us to look beyond what we see right now, look around us and notice the ways things are broken, and look to the one to come who can and will deliver us. As we look at Isaiah and our Gospel text, let me pray for us:
“In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen.”
Look beyond: John the Baptist is calling people into the new age Isaiah prophesied about
First we need look beyond what we can presently see. We read Isaiah 11 this morning, which was meant to be a corrective and exposition on what the Messianic reign would look like. Some were tempted to think before Israel’s exile that there was be an unbroken line in the reign of the house of David until the reign of a Messiah, but Isaiah 7 and the encounter with King Ahaz would destroy that hope. As God would cut down the mighty tree of Assyria, he would also destroy the mighty tree of the proud and corrupt house of David.
While it looked like there was no hope for the house of David, there would be a branch of Jesse, that a remnant would follow. Ahaz wouldn’t be the last Davidic monarch to ruin Israel’s hope. It would happen again as Israel went into exile, then hope was kindled again with Zerubbabel who began the rebuilding process. The Maccabeans may have ruled like little kings, but they were not of David’s line and ultimately became corrupt. The Idumeans, who were Edomites, were forcibly converted by the Maccabees. This would come to bite them later as the Idumeans, who were pro-Roman and Jewish-adjacent, produced the Herodian dynasty who was ruling Judea in the time of John the Baptist. Everyone is still waiting and looking for the branch of Jesse because it cannot be located in the Herodians.
Isaiah paints a glorious picture of the rule and reign of this Davidic King. It is a new future where the nations are streaming to the mountain of God, as we read about last week. One writer says, “What Isaiah envisioned was...the sovereign execution of a new act of creation in which the righteous will of God is embraced and the whole earth now reflects a reverent devotion “as the waters cover the sea.””[1] John the Baptist shows up in this period as a prophetic figure who joins the prophetic voice of Isaiah 40 calling for people to go to the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. There is an anticipation of the Davidic ruler coming. To be part of the movement, John is calling people into this new age that Isaiah prophesied about.
His presence is a critique on the current leadership. Do not trust the Herodians, do not trust the corrupted temple system. Prepare the way because the Davidic branch is coming. Prepare through works of repentance. Josephus, the 1st century Jewish historian, actually writes more about John than about Jesus. This is probably indicative of how great John’s influence was and why he was seen as such a political threat to Herod Antipas. He says about John’s baptism, “...For immersion in water, it was clear to him, could not be used for the forgiveness of sins, but as a sanctification of the body, and only if the soul was already thoroughly purified by right actions.”[2] He is asking them to look beyond the current rulers and authorities to live under the authority of the Messianic king in the midst of a corrupt and broken world. It’s still true of us as an Advent reminder that we are called to navigate living under the authority of Jesus in a world bound to sin. We are citizens of the Kingdom where Jesus is king and we’re navigating the welfare of others as people in exile.
Look around: John calls them to register themselves among the remnant
John was calling people look around at the brokenness and to enroll themselves into this sacred remnant. His baptism has a surprising element to it. In verse 6 people are coming to him at the river as religious pilgrims looking for hope. They want something more than Jerusalem has to offer. John’s baptism is closer associated with what you would find in Gentile converts. But these aren’t Gentiles. The very fact that Jews are coming to a prophetic voice in the wilderness to prepare for the Messianic kingdom is a revival movement that draws the attention of both the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses as interpreters who are helping people live out the law in a decentralized way. The Sadducees hold power over the temple, priesthood, and cultic life in Jerusalem. They’re frenemies who send a delegation to investigate what is happening. John has quite the greeting: “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He isn’t diplomatic, but he sure is clear. The idea is that they’re like snakes lurking in the shadows, who are alerted to a coming fire, and flee the scene. When the Messiah comes there will be judgment. Do they think they’re really safe? They need to amend their lives, note the corruption and injustice they’ve caused, and bear fruits worthy of that repentance. He says that the axe is laid at the root of the tree, which again brings us back to the felling of the tree imagery, and the house of Judah, which we saw in Isaiah 11.
This attack on peoples’ fragile strongholds of confidence is instructive for Advent. It invites us to examine what we cling to for validation and comfort. The delegation from the Pharisees and Sadducees relied on their status and familial ties, they prioritized comfort before renewal. We are all prone to this. While I am a huge fan of religious ritual and rhythm, there is also something good about momentary, holy, disruptions. For example, each week we have sacramental confession as part of the liturgy. But to make a good and right confession, we need to prepare for it throughout the week. This is why I encourage people to come to confession outside of Sundays on occasion. It is out of these times of confession that I like to work with people on the spiritual rhythms they have. It is available to all of you, some of you should probably do it, but of course, none must do it. You can still prepare for confession each day before morning and evening prayer as well. Even if you don’t come for private confession, perhaps there is an opportunity each week to make a habit of writing our sins down in preparation for Sunday. Are we able to name patterns or wrath, overreactions, over-indulgences, workaholism or other addictions, places where we continually deny how broken things are? Making space for this kind of preparation is the holy unsettling we need to prepare the way of the Lord.
Look at the One to Come
John the Baptist calls the people to look beyond the current circumstances they’re in. He calls them to look around them at the world in its brokenness, and enroll themselves in the remnant that is going to experience the salvation of the one who is to come. Finally, he calls the people to look at the one who is coming. The most surprising thing to me about the prophetic ministry of John the baptist is that someone with such a large following and impact could have such a clear vision that his ultimate goal was to lead people to deliverance under the Kingship of the Lord’s anointed one. How many leaders in human history would have taken their large following as an indicator that they themselves are a messianic figure?!
John knew the scope of his ministry. He was preparing disciples to prepare the way for the Lord’s king. This Sunday of Advent invites us into this ministry of preparation as well. We prepare ourselves for the kingdom of God to prepare others to see Jesus as well.
We have things in our calendar that are routine maintenance to keep things healthy: flushing water heaters, opening and closing water valves, oil changes, weeding, waterproofing fences, brushing teeth, etc. We understand routine maintenance in the physical world, but preparing well for the king who is coming involves spiritual routine maintenance. Where have we allowed seedlings of resentment to sprout up? What addictions have kept us from naming harm done to us honestly? What routines have developed that keep us from connection and friendship with others or from regular silence and solitude with God? Giving attention to these spaces is the work of preparing the way for the king who is coming to free us from bondage to sin and death. And the good news is that while he is coming to do this ultimately, he actually does this now in his death and resurrection, by the power of the Holy Spirit who is his presence in and among us. Preparing to meet the Lord gives proper scope to all the areas of our lives.
Conclusion
On this second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist invites us turn from the works of darkness to bear fruits worthy of repentance as preparation for the return of the Lord. We need to look beyond what we see right now to what God is doing in our souls through the situations we encounter. We need to look around us and notice the ways things are broken and how we long for God’s kingdom to come. This is our invitation to enroll in the remnant that Jesus is reigning over as king. We need to look to the one to come who can and will deliver us. Just like in Isaiah 11, it might seem hopeless when we feel the discontinuity between God’s plan and the reality we are experiencing, but in the purification of God’s people, Jesus is still reigning over all. The work of God in the repentant heart is a small glimmer of hope that Jesus, the branch of Jesse, will not fail. His kingdom is sprouting and growing even when we wonder where hope is or when it feels like the tree has been chopped down. How are we preparing to meet him? The small glimmers of hope in Christ’s work are the promise of the realities of the good things to come for the people of God who follow Jesus as their Lord and King.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent, boldly rebuke vice, patiently suffer for the sake of truth, and proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] Brevard Childs, Isaiah: A Commentary
[2] Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2, 116-119.
