John and Judgment (Lk. 3:15-18)

The Messiah would have a two-fold mission of deliverance and vengeance. The coming Messiah’s vengeance was celebrated as a blessing, alongside healing for the blind, deaf and lame. But John’s preaching turned their world inside out. (Luke 3:7-17)

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Greetings my friends. Today I am in Tirana, Albania. We were evacuated because of the geo-political threat facing Ukraine. We were evacuated by the school where Paula teaches.

And we had a choice of Tbilisi, Georgia or Tirana. And we chose Tirana because we have a church here. And as it turned out, our Air B-B is only a few minutes walk to the church. And the church even picked us up at the airport in the church van. Ellen Walker who has been a missionary here for over twenty-five years. And Ayaree, who works with the congregation. So, what a blessing.  

Before we left Andrey at the Vinogradar congregation asked me if I would continue the podcast while we are away. And, why not? This technology is amazing. You can pack up your recording equipment and take it with you in your carry on luggage. So, that is what I did. And so we continue. 

We are looking at John’s preaching in Luke chapter three. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. John demanding repentance: a change of heart. Make straight paths for the Lord! Show your repentance by your works: be merciful to your fellow man. Be generous.

Repentance is the Lord’s highway.

Who is John? [2:21]

John was so powerful in his preaching that people were wondering who he was. Who is this man? He has got to be someone special in God’s plan. But who is he? The people are curious. Luke says the people were wondering if John was the Messiah. And the Gospel of John tells us that some people thought John might be the prophet. Some thought he might be Elijah. And some thought he might be the Messiah. (John 1:19-21)

That is an amazing question coming from Jews. John was not from the tribe of Judah. He was not a descendent of David. He was not born in Bethlehem. He did not do miracles. But his preaching was so powerful that people thought he might be the Messiah. Even the priests and leaders of the Jews came from Jerusalem with this question for John: Are you the Messiah? (John 1:19) 

Moses told the Jews that the Lord would raise up a prophet like himself. The Lord would raise up another prophet like Moses. A lawgiver like Moses. (Deut. 18:15) Is John the prophet? 

And in Malachi, in the very last prophecies of the Old Testament, it was said that the Lord would send Elijah the prophet. Not really Elijah, but a prophet like Elijah. Is John Elijah? 

Who is John?

Is John the prophet who Moses said would come? 
Is John Elijah who Malachi said  would come?
Is John the Messiah who the prophets said would come? 
The people want to know.

And John answered. I am not the prophet. I am not Elijah. I am not  the Messiah.

Look for someone else. Look for the one who will come after me. The Messiah will do things that I cannot do. (Lk. 3:16)

Holy Spirit Poured Out [5:23] 

What would the Messiah do that John could not do? He will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and fire. (Lk. 3:16) 

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the apostles and the believers with powerful sights and sounds. The sound of a rushing wind and the apostles preaching the gospel in the languages of the people. Languages the apostles did not know! 

And the sight of something that looked like fire on the heads of the believers. And after that the Holy Spirit was given to all who were baptized into Jesus—but without the sights and sounds. What will the Messiah do? He will give you the Holy Spirit!  

The Ax at the Root  [6:31]

And he will immerse you in fire. Fire is a familiar symbol of God’s judgment. Fire and brimstone fell down upon Sodom and Gomorrah and turned the city and its people to ashes. And Peter prophesied about the day of the judgment day. That day will come like a thief. It will be unexpected. The heavens will disappear. The elements will be destroyed by fire. The heavens will be destroyed by fire. And because of that we should live holy and godly lives. (2 Pet. 3:10-12) 

How many different ways could a preacher illustrate judgment? There are a lot of different ways. John’s language is very vivid! It is graphic. The ax is already hacking at the root of the tree. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down. And then they will be thrown into the fire. (Lk. 3:9) 

The ax is already at the root of the tree. It was common for Jews to plant a fig tree in their vineyard. And if the fig tree did not bear figs, they would try to help it along. Maybe prune back some of the branches. Maybe do other things. 

But if it would not bear fruit, then the tree needed to be cut down. When you see the vine keeper hacking at the root, you know it is over. This is not cutting back a few branches so the tree will bear figs. This is not trying to help the tree bear fruit. This is cutting away the root. The tree is worthless. It will be burned in the fire. 

The Winnowing Fork [9:13]

And when John uses the imagery of a farmer separating the chaff from the wheat, you know how that works. The farmer would put the stalks of wheat on the threshing floor. And an ox would drag a large piece of wood over the stalks. He would walk around and around. And the the chaff and the wheat would be separated from the stalk. Now, you have a big pile of chaff and wheat. And it has to be separated

So, the farmer takes a pitchfork, a shovel, and he tosses the chaff and the wheat into the air. The wind blows the chaff away because the chaff is very light. And the wheat falls straight back down to the ground because the wheat is heavy. Then the farmer burns the chaff. And carries to the grain to his barn. 

Two Works of Messiah [10:39]

It was believed that when the Messiah came he would bring judgment. Isaiah 61 is a passage  that you may recognize. You may recognize it from the Jesus’ first sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth. I will paraphrase. The Holy Spirit will be on the Messiah. He will preach the good news to the poor. Comfort those who are brokenhearted. Set captives free and release prisoners. The Messiah will proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This passage really lays out the themes of the Gospel of Luke. Luke took that passage and used it as a framework for his gospel. 

But listen closely to the very next verse. And—proclaim the day of God’s vengeance. (Isa. 61:1-2). It would also be a day of vengeance. 

So the Jews were expecting a lot of wonderful blessings from the Messiah. The lame will walk. The blind will see. The deaf will hear. And he will bring judgement! They saw that as a very positive thing. Judgment! 

The prophets gave two sides of the work of the Messiah. He would bring deliverance. And  and he would bring judgment. The last chapter of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter four, gives both sides. It will be like a burning furnace. People who are proud and do evil will be like stubble. And they will be set on fire. (Mal. 4:1, 2) 

But for those who honored the Messiah, he would be like the rising sun, with healing in its rays. 

Two sides of the Messiah’s work. The day will be like a burning furnace, and it will be like the glorious rising of the sun. 

And Simeon held Jesus in his arms as a baby in the temple. Simeon knew the two sides of Jesus’ coming. His destiny is to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. (Lk. 2:34) Deliverance and judgment. Wheat and chaff. The barn and the fire. 

A Complete Separation [14:01]

The Lord will separate the chaff. And John says he will clear his threshing floor. (Lk. 3:17).  The Greek is a little more precise. The Greek says “thoroughly clear” (diakathairo) the threshing floor. He will separate the chaff from the grain to the last little bit. Not a single piece of chaff will be gathered into the barn. 

It would be difficult for a farmer to absolutely separate the chaff from the grain. For the farmer some small piece of chaff will surely be overlooked. Somehow. 

I know a little bit about that. When I was a student I worked during the harvest season for Goldkist.  Several hours a day. The farmers would bring their trucks loaded with soybeans. My job was to climb up into the back of the truck and take samples. The samples would then be analyzed to see how much was pure seed. The higher the score, the more the farmer got for his soybeans. Some got higher scores than others. But it was impossible to have 100% soybeans. There was always tiny bits of weeds or other seeds. Stuff like that.  

Several years later I was in a different place and now going to graduate school at David Lipscomb University in Nashville. I was working at a farmer’s warehouse in Lavergne, TN. My job was to load trucks with seed. Every kind of seed you could imagine.  

And every bag of seed had a tag. And the tag gave the details of everything that was mixed in with the good seed in that bag. One was the percentage of poisonous weeds mixed in with the good seed. It wouldn’t be much. It would be a very small percentage. But it wasn’t pure seed. And other things. 

That was a serious piece of information for the farmer buying  the seeds. He didn’t want to be planting a lot of poisonous weeds in his field. Or other seeds.  So, he would look at the tag to see what he was buying. And every bag was different! 

Men cannot thoroughly separate the good from the bad. The wheat from the chaff. But the Lord will be thorough. Not even one bit of chaff, not matter how small and insignificant, will be gathered into the barn. 

John expressed it in this way in the book of Revelation. The New Jerusalem came down from heaven. She was prepared like a bride who has been dressed for her husband. (Rev. 21:2)  

The victorious will enter the city. But the other will be thrown into the lake of fire. The cowards and the unbelieving. Murderers. The sexually immoral. Idolaters and liars. People who practice magic. (Rev. 21:8)  

The farmer gathers up the grain into his barn. But the gathering place for the Lord and his people will be the New Jerusalem. 

The grain and the chaff. No one will enter the heavenly city by mistake.

The Jews Surprised [19:12]

It was no surprise that John was preaching judgment. The Jews were expecting the Messiah to bring judgment. And they considered that to be a blessing. A good thing! 

Yes, the blind will see! The deaf will hear! The lame will walk! And he will bring judgment! That is good news! They considered it to be a blessing because they were only thinking of judgment upon the gentiles. They were not surprised that John was preaching judgment. 

And they were familiar with those kinds of images of judgement. Fire. The ax at the root. The winnowing fork. The separation of the chaff from the wheat.

The surprise, the shock, was that this is John’s message for the Jews! They thought the gentiles would be the chaff and the Jews would be the grain.The separation would be between the godless gentiles and us Jews. 

But John is not preaching to gentiles. John is not demanding that the gentiles repent and change their hearts. He is preaching to Jews. And only to Jews! 

Some of them will be chaff. Some of them will be grain. Some to the fire. Some to the barn. This is not just about gentiles. This is about  Jews! And, it does not help that Abraham is your father. 

You do know of course, that we have only a very small overview of what John preached. Luke says that John had much more to say. I sure would like to know what that was. 

The day of deliverance. And the day of judgement. The day has come and John is preaching both. 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness.