From Out of the Wilderness: A Meditation on Matthew 3, for the 2nd Sunday in Advent

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying,

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair,

and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism,

he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the

wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

And think not to say within yourselves,

We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you,

That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees:

therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,

and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance:

but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not

worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor,

and gather his wheat into the garner;

but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

If you’re looking for a soft and squishy Jesus that will fit nicely into your holiday decorations, St. John the Baptist is not going to give that to you.  St. Matthew records this beginning of John’s ministry as the voice of one calling out from the wilderness to the people of God, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah over 500 years prior.  At this time when John began preaching, Jesus was already a fully grown man, but had not been publicly revealed to the nation as the Messiah He was.  As he made this proclamation, John’s voice came from the wilderness—from outside the traditional halls of either political or religious power—to announce a Savior and Judge who would also transcend those cultural, man-made barriers.

At this time in Israel’s history, there appear to have been several political, religious, and cultural camps into which the general population was divided, some described in Scripture, and others known from archeology or history.  The Pharisees and Sadducees represented the primary religious sects, and both had their problems.  The Pharisees were a legalistic sect with a great valuation for education, philosophy, and history.  The Sadducees were primarily concerned with duties around the Temple, and were a rationalistic sect which denied certain miraculous elements of the faith (such as the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world).  Both vied for power and influence over the religious lives of the people, as well as with the political institutions of the day—and both camps eventually unified in their persecution of Jesus.  In the political sphere, there were Zealots who were working for the overthrow of the Roman Empire, primarily concerned with re-establishing a physical Kingdom of Israel reminiscent of the one under Kings David and Solomon.  Among other sects and groups there was also a group known as the Essenes.  Thousands of these eccentric and apocalyptic folks lived in the desert caves outside Jerusalem, convinced of their need to remain separated from the corrupted religious and political machinations of Israel, and that God’s fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy was imminent.  To the socially acceptable sects of Israel, these wilderness dwellers were viewed as fanatics and lunatics, uncouth and disturbing.  From the writings which have been discovered in their caves over the last couple hundred years or so (sometimes called the Dead Sea Scrolls), that assessment isn’t too far from the truth; mixed in with scrolls of the Biblical Old Testament texts were an assortment of more and less strange spiritual writings, many with a very apocalyptic vision of the soon to be coming end of the world.  Many biblical scholars also suspect, that these Essenes represented a large number of the thousands of new converts to Christianity recorded in the early chapters of the Book of Acts.

Biblical scholars also speculate that it is very likely, given the Gospel’s description of John’s formation in the wilderness, the age of his parents at his birth probably leaving him orphaned at an early age, and the presence of the well established Essene community outside Israel, that John the Baptist began his prophetic ministry there.  Whether John the Baptist was an Essene or not, he brought the Word of God to the people of Israel from outside Israel’s normal and accepted channels of religious and political communication.  His austere clothing and diet, partnered with his fervent call to faith and repentance before the imminent Day of the Lord, certainly made him more familiar with the desert dwellers than those of education, rank, or prestige.  John was sent by God to prepare the people to receive His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who would be simultaneously the supreme Judge and Savior of the whole world.  In preparation for Jesus’ coming to His people, the Holy Spirit moved John the Baptist to preach a message of repentance and the forgiveness of sins, so that all the paths of all the hearts of all the people might be made ready to receive their King.

The parallels to our own day are striking.  Various religious and political sects vie for the loyalties of the people, and most of them have rejected the Word of God to greater or lesser degree.  We have the religious sects who love their learning, pomp, titles, and prestige, but turn themselves into petty dictators of a hypocritical legalism and enthusiasm that is often only skin deep.  We have other religious sects who also love their learning, pomp, titles, and prestige, but turn it into a liberalism which denies the miraculous works of God and turns His message into one of practical utilitarianism, or social justice utopianism.  We have our political parties which also divide people into various liberal or conservative camps.  And apart from these main stream, socially acceptable divisions of people, we also have our eccentric and odd communities which are not permitted in polite society.  These folks living in our cultural and physical deserts span a spectrum from mostly harmless to truly frightening, occasionally popping into the public consciousness when one of them gets sideways with the law.

But we must not be too quick to ignore or dismiss the desert dwellers, particularly as the Lord’s Second Coming looms so large on the horizon.  Somewhere among the whackos and the lunatics, the dirty and the unpolished, the dubiously educated and credentialed, is the wilderness from which the Lord so often calls His messengers to prepare the way before Him.  Out there on the fringe of pleasant society lie the ones who still believe the Word of God and strive to abide within it; those who believe that the God of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Joshua, Sampson, David, Solomon, and all the Prophets is the same God who was born of the blessed Virgin Mary, suffered and died on a Roman Cross, rose again the third day, and promised to come again at the end of time to judge the living and the dead; those who believe that this same God continues to abide among His people through His Word and Holy Spirit, enlivening and strengthening them in saving Faith and Repentance unto everlasting life; those who believe that they live by grace through faith in Christ alone, and who are raised up unto a new life marked by the divine gifts of faith, hope, and love.  Somewhere, out there, beyond all the political and religious trappings of human pride and avarice, the people of God gather in faith around Jesus in His Word and Sacraments, receiving His free gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation, as well as His victory over sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil.

From out of that desert wilderness, the Word of the Lord calls to you this day, as well.  It calls you to prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, both at this blessed Christmastide, and at the end of all things, through faith and repentance in His Word.  The voice of John the Baptist, together with all the Prophets and Apostles, saints and martyrs, and all the holy angels, call you to hear the One who spoke the universe into existence, thundered from Mount Sinai, preached from the Mount of Olives, and died for your sins upon Mount Calvary.  To you the Word of the Lord calls, though it may seem strange and austere to your culturally accommodated ears, and despised by the religious and political rulers of the world.  It is a simple Word which brings life and light, healing and restoration, to all who will turn to Him and believe.  It is a Living Word which calls to you from the womb of the Virgin, an humble manger in Bethlehem, a remote village in Galilee, and an empty tomb outside Jerusalem, declaring to you the love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, life, and peace of God which passes all understanding, piercing through all eternity to seek and save you.  Hear this Word of the Lord as it calls out to you this day.  Repent, believe, and live.  Amen.