Matthew 3:1-12
Prepare the way of the Lord
3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,
3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"
3:4 Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him,
3:6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
3:8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance,
3:9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
3:10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!Prepare the way of the Lord
3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming,
3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"
3:4 Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him,
3:6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
3:8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance,
3:9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
3:10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Everything here goes backwards. John stays in the wilderness, and people come to him. Isaiah’s “voice crying out in the wilderness” is about reversal as the preparation for God’s justice. Valleys are raised, mountains lowered, so that the journey of the Lord down the straight highway will be readily visible to all the earth.
I don’t mean Isaiah is being literal, any more than John means there’s an actual threshing floor and an actual winnowing fork, and that whole thing is about a grain harvest. Indeed, Matthew is taking the prophet metaphorically. John doesn’t show up as a road builder. The path he is making straight is conceptual. It’s a path to God through the fruits worthy of repentance. Actions, not words.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees think they’re on the right path. They’re reformers, for one thing, trying to move Israel beyond Temple worship. Yes, they are children of Abraham, but they want to guide those children forward towards God through the law. Paul was a Pharisee, after all. But John is telling them that’s not the story anymore. John tells them God could raise up children of Abraham from the stones. John means us. He means the Gentiles. We are not children of Abraham. But God could treat us as if we were. Here begins the distinction between the nascent Christians and the Hebrews, who are still not yet Jews (that comes a bit later). John is throwing the door open, in harmony with Isaiah’s holy mountain where the nations come to learn Israel’s peace and prosperity.
But yeah: we’re the stones in that metaphor. Feel special yet?
And it is actions, not words, that matter:
Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
More metaphor. I’m emphasizing that because the general impression still is that all of this is supposed to be taken literally. So: there is no fire, no chaff, no winnowing fork, no axe, no trees, no real fruit. John is not condemning, John is explaining. He’s givin’ ‘em that ol’ time religion, the stuff the prophets gave Israel, that God gave Israel.
For the Lord has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with olive oil.
7 Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 Daughter Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
9 Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.
Isaiah 1:2-9. I think John sounds tame by comparison. And Jeremiah is harsher:
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
Would not such a land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
says the Lord.
2 Look up to the bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been lain with?
By the waysides you have sat waiting for lovers,
like a nomad in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your whoring and wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have the forehead of a whore,
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now called to me,
‘My Father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 will he be angry for ever,
will he be indignant to the end?’
This is how you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.
Jeremiah 3:1-5
And since I’m on a roll, Hosea eclipses them both:
4 And the Lord said to him, ‘Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.’
6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. 7 But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.’
8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Then the Lord said, ‘Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.’
Hosea 1:2-9
John suddenly sounds kinda calm and good natured, doesn’t he? And you can see how Isaiah and Jeremiah and Hosea address the children of Abraham, and how John includes…us.
Now do you feel special? You should. John is not scolding you, or threatening you, or berating you. John is telling you the truth, just like the three prophets I quoted, did. And just like them, he offers an out, a hope. After all, he’s just doing the work of Advent, which is…to prepare the way of the Lord.
“Therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Easy, right?
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