The Baptizer is a prophet who has more of the Word of God in his pointer finger than most preachers have in their whole body!
Ah, Advent! It is the wonderful season of preparation for the arrival of our Savior. I do not know how long you can hold out on listening to Christmas music in your house, but I am one of those guys who cannot wait to break out the mistletoe and holly! Now, before you start judging me for this, I should let you know I have recently found myself really enjoying Michael Buble’s Christmas album, simply titled “Christmas.” I love me some Buble! I only mention this because I saw a video of the crooner a few years back singing on a social media video while his son played piano. He was overwhelmed with emotion by his son’s talent and said at the end of the video, “More talent in his little fingers than I have in my whole body.” Cool moment for a dad!
The second Sunday in Advent always introduces the preaching of John the Baptist. The Baptizer is a prophet who has more of the Word of God in his pointer finger than most preachers have in their whole body! I am convinced that John’s ministry is the model all pastors ought to follow. As Martin Luther says, “Not because of his austere life, not because of his phenomenal birth, but because of his blessed finger, because of his message and his office... No other man had such fingers as John’s with which he points to the Lamb of God and declares that He is the true Saviour who would redeem the world from sin.”[1] And later, “For he is the ultimate of all prophets and preachers; no more comforting word and finger will ever appear than John’s word and pointer.”[2]
Textual Analysis
In Matthew, John comes on the scene calling all to repent. Up to this point, Matthew has spent a good deal of time demonstrating how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel found in the Old Testament. John comes as the bridge between the Old Testament and the arrival of Christ. John is the Old Testament prophet, par excellence. His message of repentance summarizes the words of all the prophets given to sinful Israel. Matthew informs us Isaiah spoke of John’s ministry as he is the “voice of one crying in the wilderness; ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight” (Matthew 3:3). He even takes diet tips and fashion advice from Elijah! He is the walking and talking Old Testament, doing what the Old Testament always did, preparing God’s people for His arrival in the flesh of Jesus.
John’s baptism of repentance drew the repentant masses through the water into a new way of life. Convicted by the law John preached, they confessed and were taken through the waters, just like the Israelites who were freed from Egypt. But John’s message of repentance not only fell on crass sinners, but also on the most righteous of all people: The Pharisees and Sadducees. These were the religious elite of second temple Judaism. The culture would have seen them as religious influencers to follow. John saw them with the scrutiny of God’s Law as a lens. He calls them a brood of vipers and tells them to abandon faith in their heritage. Their heritage is good, but it is not God. “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). God’s judgment is coming. “The axe is at the root” (Matthew 3:10). He will “baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11-12). And you cannot stand before Him based on your ethnic heritage. It cannot save you from the judgment to come!
John’s baptism of repentance drew the repentant masses through the water into a new way of life.
John warns of God’s judgment which is bound to come upon anyone who does not repent, even the most religious among us. John, therefore, with his blessed finger, turns us away from our idols and our sins to the one whose baptism gives the Holy Spirit, whose blood takes away the sin of the world. It is John’s blessed finger, his preaching, which turns the sinner (repents the sinner!) away from sin to righteousness, from death to life, from idols to Christ.
Sermon Structure
This would be a wonderful Sunday to preach using the Multiple Focus Central Image structure.[3] I would recommend using the image of John the Baptist from Matthias Grunewald’s Isenheim altarpiece.[4] It is a stunning piece of art that adorns the place where Christ gives His body and blood to His dear Church. The image of the mangled Christ is stunning, but I would not bring that portion of the altar piece into you sermon quite yet. Begin zoomed in on the image of John with the lamb at his feet. Use the image to demonstrate John’s role as the summary of the Old Testament message. He holds a book and is dressed like Elijah. Fill in how the purpose of the Old Testament was to get us to Christ, and how John has the same job, as he points toward the bleeding lamb.
Then, if you have a screen, zoom in on his blessed finger. Talk about how the work of John’s finger was to produce repentance. That is, John came to turn people away from their idols and their sins and their pride and to turn them towards the Sacrifice for their sins. It would be good to spend the majority of your time speaking about repentance, not as a finger-wagging (!) morality lecture, rather as a turning away from sin produced by the Law and turning toward the Savior in faith produced by the Gospel. Then, do it! Call for repentance in your own congregation. Point out the idols that rage during the season of Advent: Greed, envy, self-indulgence, and the like. Point out how so many of these things distract us from God’s Word, repentance, and faith.
Then, come back to the image of John on the altarpiece. Shift focus from the finger to the lamb at his feet who is bleeding into a chalice. Proclaim the lamb who takes away the sins of the world and gives us His blood on this very altar, today, for forgiveness of sins. Here is where John would take us, to the Lamb who is slain for our sins. It is the blood shed on that cross that will be in the chalice this morning for the forgiveness of your sins (you may even want to show the image of the crucified Lord at this point).
This Sunday, preacher, you have been given John’s fingers. Your words are to echo John’s words, calling for repentance and faith in the One whose sandals John, as great a preacher as he was, was not worthy to carry (Matthew 3:11). Neither are we worthy. So, use that blessed pointer you inherited from John and point to the Lamb who turns you away from death by taking away the sins of the world, even yours!
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Matthew 3:1-12.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Matthew 3:1-12.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
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[1] Luther, Martin. The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther: Volume 7. ed. Eugene Klug. Baker Books, Grand Rapids: MI, 1983. 316.
[2] Luther. The Complete Sermons. 317.
[3] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/dynamic/imagistic-structures/central-image/
[4] St. John the Baptist (detail from the Annunciation from the Isenheim Altarpiece), c.1512 - c.1516 - Matthias Grünewald - WikiArt.org
