Peace with God

Peace with God
Matthew 3: 1 – 12.


I. Introduction.

It is very hard to talk about Peace today. As citizens of the United States of America, we find ourselves under attack by a hidden enemy. We are not at war with Islam. However, there is a radical group of Islamic extremists, who want our nation and way of life destroyed. Most of this war is being fought outside of our national borders. But, we have imposed serious restrictions on American freedom to prevent them from bringing the war back into our country—as the terrorists did on September 11, 2001.

We have U.S. military deployed to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, we see reminders of the violence and warfare on the nightly news.

Just last month, we witnessed an escalation of conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea attacked and killed South Korean marines stationed on an island in South Korean waters. The U.S. military has begun training exercises in the region, and Japan has promised to send their troops in the future. On Monday, South Korean and Japanese diplomats will meet with U.S. diplomats in Washington to talk about forming a coalition.

How can we talk about Peace with all the conflict in the world today?

I think there are two answers to this question.

First, Peace is what the angels promised on the first Christmas. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there were shepherds in the fields, watching their flocks through the night. Angels appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of a new king.

Luke 2: 10 – 14, “But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."”

Second, the concept of Peace in the Bible is significantly different from our understanding of Peace. You and I think that Peace is the absence of conflict. If there is no war, then our nation is living at Peace. If there is no fight at home, then our family is living in Peace. If there is no division in the church, then there is unity and Peace in the Body of Christ. However, this is not what Peace meant in a biblical understanding.

The biblical concept of Peace comes from the Hebrew word “Shalom.” Shalom is most commonly translated as “Peace.” Yet, it is formed on the Hebrew root which means “whole” or “complete.” If we think of Peace as a state of wholeness, then we can understand what the Bible means when it promises Peace…And what the angels meant when they associated the birth of Jesus with Peace on earth.

Before Jesus was born, the world was missing something. Jesus is the unique, Only Begotten Son of God. When Jesus was born, God himself came to earth. There was no Peace on earth, because the earth was missing something. Peace is not the absence of conflict. Peace is not the absence of anything. Peace can only be found in the presence of God. If God is present in your life, you can live in Peace. If God is not present in your life, you are missing something. Your life is incomplete. Even if there is no conflict in your life, Peace is not possible.

The story we read from Scripture today is not a Christmas story. But, remember what I shared with you last week. We are not going to rush into Christmas. We are going to prepare for the coming of Christmas. Christmas is more than a break from work and school. Christmas is the coming of a Person…the birth of Jesus…God himself coming into our world. Therefore, we are not preparing for the coming of a holiday. We are preparing for the coming of a Person…the coming of Jesus…the coming of God himself.

The story we read today is the story of John the Baptist. God gave John one job to perform. He was to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus.


Read Matthew 3: 1 – 12.

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea
2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."(NIV)


One of the unique characteristics of the Jewish religion is the way it is based on the Word of God. In the story of Creation, all of heaven and earth came into being when God spoke. In Exodus 3, God called Moses to rescue God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses SAW a burning bush, but that bush was not God. Instead, God spoke to Moses from the bush. In Exodus 20, God gave his Ten Commandments to his people. In the first two commandments, God described WHO God is and HOW God’s people were to relate to him.

The first commandment says, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” The second commandment says, “You shall not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”

In the first commandment, God demands absolute loyalty of his people. God’s people are not to worship competing gods. They are to worship the One True God…the God who has rescued them from slavery…the God of their salvation…the ONLY God who saves.

In the second commandment, God demands that his people should never worship an image. We are not to worship an image of fish in the waters; we are not to worship images of animals or people on earth; we are not to worship an image of God in heaven. We are not to make an image of God, because until Jesus was born, God never revealed himself in an image. God revealed himself through his word…speaking at Creation, speaking to Moses, and eventually speaking to his prophets.

Most of the Old Testament prophets began their sermons with the words, “Thus says the LORD…” Or, as we might say today, “God told me to tell ya’ll…”

One day God’s prophets stopped speaking. God was no longer speaking to his prophets and was no longer speaking to his people. This silent period lasted 400 years. It ended when John the Baptist began preaching in the desert.


II. John’s Appearance.

Matthew tells us some unusual things about John the Baptist. He wore unusual clothes of camel hair and ate an unusual diet or locusts and wild honey. At least it sounds unusual to us. It probably wasn’t that unusual for a person who lived every day in the desert. He ate food that could be found in the desert. If he had lived in the city of Jerusalem, he would have eaten city food. He wore clothes that were appropriate for the desert. He didn’t dress like a man preaching in the Jerusalem Temple. The Temple preachers probably wore really nice suits. But, John was not a Temple preacher. John was a desert preacher. And just as his attire would not have been welcomed in the Jerusalem Temple, his message would not have been welcomed in the Jerusalem Temple.

In fact, I think Matthew is telling us something about the Jewish religion in his description of John. John didn’t preach in the Temple, because he would not have been welcomed in the Temple. But, the religious leaders of Jerusalem travelled out to the desert to hear John’s message.

It is also significant that John’s appearance reminds us of the way Elijah used to dress. Elijah was a prophet in the Old Testament. The prophets were silent for 400 years. Then, along came a man who dressed like Elijah, breaking the prophetic silence and preaching the Word of God in the desert. Why do you think Matthew wants us to think about Elijah? It’s probably because of the long held Jewish belief that Elijah would return before the Messiah would come.

In Matthew 1 – 2, Matthew goes to great lengths to quote the Old Testament prophesies about the Messiah and to show how the birth of Jesus fulfilled each of those prophesies. Then, in chapter 3, Matthew shows us how John the Baptist fulfills Old Testament prophesy. John fulfilled the role of Elijah. AND, John fulfilled the words of Isaiah: “A voice calling out in the desert…”

In Matthew’s understanding, Jesus is the Promised Messiah—the One to establish God’s Kingdom. John had a role to play in God’s plan. John came to prepare the way. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom.


III. John’s Baptism.

John got his name from the act of baptism. We know him as “John the Baptist,” but he could also be known as “John the Baptizer.” He got this name, because he practiced baptism and not because he invented baptism.

More than likely, baptism was something the Jews already knew about. It was something required of Gentile people who converted to the Jewish religion. These new converts would commit themselves to the teachings of the Old Testament, the Jewish dietary laws, the Jewish forms of worship and, then, they would be baptized. Baptism marked the end of their conversion and the beginning of their new life as a Jew. However, John was not baptizing Gentiles who wanted to become Jews. John was teaching something new by demanding that Jews needed to be baptized!

We can understand a little about what John’s baptism meant by looking at the ways Matthew describes it for us.

First, Matthew tells us in verses 5 – 6, “People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”

It was the Jewish people who were coming from Jerusalem and Judea to be baptized. And, they submitted to baptism after confessing their sins. The baptism was not intended to wash away their sins. Baptism came after confession of sin.

Second, Matthew quotes John in verse 11, “I baptize you with water for repentance.”

This is confusing. It sounds like baptism is necessary for repentance. It’s actually the other way around. Repentance is necessary for baptism. Baptism is an outward sign that a person has confessed their sins and repented.


IV. John’s Message.

Since John had a role to play in God’s plan, all of John’s preaching fit into that plan. He basically preached one message, “Get ready, because the Messiah is coming.”

On one hand, John told us what would happen when the Messiah came. John told us that the Messiah would have a similar ministry to his own. John preached and baptized. The Messiah would preach and baptize. The difference between John and the Messiah was in the way they baptized. John baptized with water. The Messiah would baptize with Holy Spirit and fire.

The two images of Spirit and fire are intended to remind us of God’s judgment. John was warning the Jews about the coming of God’s judgment. We might not like to talk about the judgment of God. We prefer to talk about the love of God. But you can’t have one without the other.

God is holy and righteous. He does not sin. He does not commit evil deeds. Human beings are not holy, not righteous, and we are plagued with sin. If God enters into a relationship with sinful human beings, something must be done about our sin problem. If God accepts us as sinners, then we have every right to question his holiness and righteousness.

This is where judgment becomes necessary. In order for God to maintain his character as holy and righteous, God must hate sin. God must do everything to eradicate sin from human beings with whom he has relationship.

John tells us that the judgment of God is an all-consuming fire. God’s judgment destroys sin. In this sense, we can think of God’s judgment as a purifying fire. It burns away all the sin and the evil in our lives. Yet, that is not true for those who do not repent. The unrepentant will be consumed—along with their sins—by the purifying fire of God’s judgment.

The crowds of people from Jerusalem and Judea came out to hear John preach about God’s judgment and our need for repentance. Matthew tells us that the crowds were not the only ones who came. The Pharisees and Sadducees came as well. The Pharisees were the group of men who had devoted their lives to the written Law and the oral interpretations of the Law. The Sadducees were the men who had devoted their lives to the priesthood and the integrity of Temple worship.

Interestingly, John told the Pharisees and the Sadducees that they needed to repent as well. No one in ancient Jerusalem thought the Pharisees and Sadducees needed to repent. They represented the very best that Judaism had to offer in the first century. They were devoted to the Law and the Temple… But, John told them that wasn’t enough.

John even told them not to appeal to their biological connection to Abraham. John said, “Sure. You really are children of Abraham. But if God wanted to turn these stones into children of Abraham, he could do that.”

If God can turn stones into children of Abraham, then God can turn Gentiles into children of Abraham. If God can cause stones to turn into the people of God, then none of us can tell God whom he can save and whom he cannot save. John understood that the work of the Messiah included the people of Israel, but was not limited to the people of Israel.


V. Conclusion.

John’s role was to preach about the coming Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord. John’s message was for all people to get ready. There is only one way to get ready. You must repent. Repentance means to turn around… Turn away from sin, and turn toward God and his purposes in the world.

John’s message continues to be true for us today. Yes, Jesus has already come into the world. We celebrate his birth at Christmas every year. But, Jesus is coming back. He will return and brings God’s final judgment on all the people of the world.

You may be more comfortable talking about the Love of God at Christmastime. And, that is true. God loved the world so much that he sent his Only Begotten Son, Jesus, to come into the world. God loved us and sent Jesus so that we would not have to face his judgment. God’s love is based on the reality of judgment. The people who receive God’s love are the people who repent. This is the only way to escape God’s judgment.

You may be like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They thought they were safe from God’s judgment, because they were devoted to the Bible. They thought they were safe from God’s judgment, because they gave their lives to work at the church. They thought they were safe from God’s judgment, because they were born into good families.

One of my seminary professors used to say it this way, “Just because you were born in the kitchen, doesn’t make you a biscuit.” Other people say, “God does not have any grandchildren.” The message is the same. You cannot depend on your parents or your upbringing to get you into heaven. The only people who go to heaven and escape the judgment of hell are the people who repent as a sign of receiving God’s gift of love.