12/8/24 - Matthew 3: Advent of Peace
The Essenes
Who they were
They were one of many Jewish sects
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Sacarii(Zealots), and the Essenes were the most well-known.
What they believed
They strictly adhered to the Mosaic law and were particular about purity and holiness. They believed that to live a holy life, they needed to separate themselves from the rest of society, so they did, and they lived in their own communities.
They believed in the appearance of a heavenly kingdom that would be brought to the here and now by two Messiah figures: one messiah restoring the throne of David and another messiah restoring the true priesthood.
They believed in the immortality of the soul and that divine punishment for sin would include purging the wicked from mankind and that the elect would be refined by a holy Spirit and would be purified from all wrongdoing by the immersion in the Spirit of Truth.
How they lived
They lived in proto-monastic communities in the desert or wilderness. They didn’t associate with larger society and didn’t get entangled in their affairs. They lived separate lives to focus on holy living and to await the Lord’s deliverance.
They believed that to be made pure involved ritual cleansing that had a couple of specific stipulations: one must be washed in water by total immersion, and that immersion must take place in running water because it was the “living” water that purified them.
They saw themselves as fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, being a voice in the wilderness preparing the way for the Messiah(s)
Repentance
John’s message
While there is no conclusive evidence, it is possible and by some deemed even likely that John was an Essene. While the Essene community believed in two Messiahs, John preached one.
John’s primary message was that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The Messiah was coming soon and possibly already on the scene. He exhorted all who listened to repent, to turn away from their sins, and to be made pure and ready for the kingdom by baptism.
There was this expectation that the kingdom of Heaven wasn’t available to those who were comfortable with their sin, and we see from John’s preaching that merely observing a purity ritual without addressing the condition of the heart didn’t fool God.
What is it?
One of the most powerful sermons on repentance comes from Peter right after Pentecost. He addresses the people of Israel and confronts them on the fact that it was their sin that put the Righteous Jesus to death. In the conclusion of his message, he declares, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)
Two words are being used in union with one another.
Metanoéo - Change of mind and heart
Epistrepho - Turn around
This language of repenting and turning to God is what we call conversion. You change your thinking and the way you feel about the wrong that you do. And at the same time, you commit to stop doing those things.
Often, we paint repentance in incomplete ways:
We’re sorry, but we give ourselves permission for various reasons to continue
We change our thinking and hope that, eventually, actions will follow
We merely change our actions while our minds and our hearts continue to desire what we’re abstaining from.
True repentance is a harmony of all of these: we abstain while also telling ourselves a different story about what we’re abstaining from and what we’re moving towards, and we’re training our desires to not want those things anymore as well as replacing it with a good desire, specifically the desire to walk with God.
The myth of inherited faith
John was preaching repentance, turning from sin, turning to God, and having a deep change of mind and heart. Those who confessed their sin and repented he baptized for cleansing, and then the Pharisees and Sadducees showed up, possibly intrigued by what was going on, possibly to try to put a stop to John, we don’t really know.
What we do know by the context of this story is that they thought they were fine. The Pharisees and the Sadducees had their own purity rituals. For the Pharisees, repentance was all abstinence and change of action but little regard for the change of mind and heart. The Sadducees didn’t believe in a physical resurrection (like the Pharisees) or an immortal soul(like the Essenes), so ritual cleansing was simply a dutiful observation of the Law (we do it because we were told to).
Above everything else, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, despite their differences, relied on their identity as God’s chosen people as security for God’s acceptance.
John preached about a day of judgment on all wrongdoing, warning people to flee from the wrath to come. It didn’t matter if you were Jewish. Salvation can’t be inherited.
A common phrase we hear today in our day is “We are all children of God.”
The scriptures write that when we are estranged from God and dead in our sins, we are children of the devil. Deceived and deceiving others.
Even Christians have a version of this. Just because we go to church or have parents who are Christians, this doesn’t make us right with God.
Peace with God has been made available to everyone through Jesus, but not everyone accepts it or wants it. And not all who claim to have it do. Jesus warned that not everyone who calls him Lord will inherit the kingdom, but those who do the will of the Father, which is to believe in the person and work of Christ, repent of sin, and live a new life marked by love in action.
The Baptism
Did Jesus repent?
John is shocked that Jesus is coming to be baptized, a baptism of repentance and cleansing. John recognizes someone greater than himself, someone holier, someone purer, and declares, “It is I who must be baptized by you.”
Jesus convinces John to allow it to be so that all righteousness may be fulfilled. What does He mean by that? Some of the early church fathers can shed some light on this:
Saint Maximus of Turin wrote, “Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched. For the consecration of Christ involves a more significant consecration of the water. For when the Savior is washed, all water for our baptism is made clean purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages. Christ is the first to be baptized, then, so that Christians will follow after him with confidence.”
Gregory of Nyssa wrote, “He is baptized by John that He might cleanse him who was defiled, that He might bring the Spirit from above, and exalt man to heaven, that he who had fallen might be raised up and he who had cast him down might be put to shame…Christ…assumes manhood in its fullness, saves man, and becomes the type and figure of us all to sanctify the first fruits of every action and leave to His servants no doubt in their zeal for the tradition. Baptism, then, is a purification from sins, a remission of trespasses, a cause of renovation and regeneration.”
The big idea here is that Jesus, by being baptized, opens the door for baptism to be effective for us. Paul says that when we are baptized by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are submerged in His death and raised into His life.
A greater baptism
So Christ is baptized, and the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends, and the voice of God declares, “This is my son, whom I love, with Him, I am well pleased.”
John must be ecstatic at this point. In John, we read that God had told John that the one who the Spirit would descend on like a dove was one bringing a greater baptism, a baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit.
Here he is! The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world! The Messiah, the one who brings the Kingdom of heaven in His wake, has appeared. The branch of Jesse, the inheritor of David’s throne, our high priest who brings us peace with God by His sacrifice, has come.
Baptism of repentance in water can only ever serve to cleanse and initiate. The baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit goes beyond any ability of ours.
Where we are to repent from dead works, this fire burns our dead works away. Where the baptism of water initiates us into faith, the baptism of the Holy Spirit seals us and preserves us for salvation. Where baptism in water is followed by the promise of man to follow Christ, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is followed by the promise of God to bring us to full completion on the day Christ returns.
What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Many point to the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descends like fire, and the Gospel is preached in the language of every nation represented in Jerusalem.
Most Pentecostal denominations claim that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is evidenced by the gift of tongues. Most Wesleyan denominations claim that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is evidenced by entire sanctification. Most fundamentalist denominations put it down to simply being saved.
Without going too deeply into this point, we tend to confuse two workings of grace for one.
Scripture and the early church seem to agree that baptism of the Holy Spirit happens in tandem with the confession of faith and baptism in water. By it, we are sealed for salvation, and the Spirit takes up residence in our hearts by faith.
The infilling of the Holy Spirit, which we often confuse with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is a second work of grace that is repeatedly received for the work of ministry. It is evidenced not in one way but in the varied means, gifts, and signs of grace. Especially to live out a godly life and to bring the lost to salvation.
Peace on earth, goodwill to men
Jesus is baptized, and God himself affirms Him as His Son
The scene is set, the journey has begun, and the plan of salvation has been initiated. Jesus has come to fulfill all righteousness and make us right with God, bringing peace in place of judgment.
John bore witness to this auspicious moment, today, we remember it, today, we praise God and give Him thanks for the peace that He has made available. That peace which the angels declared would be news of great joy for all mankind.