December 5 2021

 









 

Advent 2 December 5th  2021

Old Testament: Malachi 3:1-7

Psalm: Psalm 66:1-12 (16-20)

Epistle: Philippians 1:2-11

Gospel: Luke 3:1-14 (15-20)  

Sermon Text: Luke 3:1-20

Sermon Title:

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Lord announced through the prophet, “He will prepare the way before Me”. (Malachi 3:1a) “He” is the last of the Old Testament prophets that God would send to help prepare the people for the coming of the Christ. Of course, “he” is (none other than) John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, whom we sang about in the hymns (# 346 and # 344) and who is the topic of two of our readings this morning.  

If you were here on Wednesday, you heard the introduction to Luke’s Gospel, where he says that his account is based on “eye witnesses (from) ministers of the Word, who delivered them to us … that you may have certainty regarding the things you have been taught”. (Luke 1:2b, 4b) In other words, his record of the events of Christ’s life are trustworthy and true.  

Notice how many names, he mentions; including Tiberius Ceasar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Phillip, and others, in the first two verses. Luke continually relates his account of Jesus’ life to known historical facts. These have been compared to contemporary, non-biblical sources and found to be thoroughly accurate. The Bible, the Word of God, is trustworthy and true.  

During the time that these men were ruling; “the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. (Luke 3:2b-3) The work of John is so important that, he (himself) is prophesied about not just briefly in Malachi, the Old Testament reading for today; but in some detail by another Old Testament prophet.

“As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness; prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God”. (Luke 3:4-6, Isaiah 40:3-5)  

John preached a “baptism of repentance”, saying to the “multitudes who came out to be baptized by him; You brood of vipers (sons of snakes)! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham (or Luther) as our Father; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. (Being born into a certain class or race of people does not benefit us spiritually.) Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”. (Luke 3:7-9)  

There are two groups that John is speaking to here. First are those who think they have already repented enough and second those who think they need no repentance. Luther called the first group false penitents and the second group false saints. (Smalcald Articles, III “Penitence”, par. 32) “This thunderbolt is the means by which God with one blow destroys open sinners and false saints”. (S. A., II “Penitence”, par. 2) John the Baptist says to both groups, and to all, “Repent”. Do you not remember the admonition of St. Paul to the Athenians, “the times of ignorance, God overlooked, but now He commands all men, everywhere, to repent” (Acts17:30b)  

The crowds were troubled by John’s preaching, and they “asked him, what must we do? And he answered them; He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, Teacher, what must we do. And John said to them, collect no more than is appointed to you”. (Luke 3:10-12) Even soldiers came to John and “asked him … and what shall we do? And he said to them, rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages”. (John 3:14)  

John offers very practical advice to those who came to him, regarding the daily repentance that all who trust in Christ are urged to do. Luther spoke of this in the Small Catechism (4th part of Baptism) saying, “the old Adam (sinful nature) in us, together will all sins and evil lusts, should be drowned by DAILY sorrow and repentance and be put to death”. “In the case of Christians, such repentance continues until (our) death, for all though our lives, it contends with the sins that remain in the flesh”. (Luther, Smalcald Articles, III “Penitence”, par. 40)  

Even though we are a new creation in Christ Jesus, we never fully lose our sinful nature in this life, so (again) as Christians we are called to daily repentance. In light of all this talk of repentance, maybe we define it more clearly. The Small Catechism asks several questions regarding this repentance including;  

\# 274 “Who are repentant believers? Repentant believers are those who are sorry for their sins AND believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin … secretly unrepentant sinners, that is those who are not sorry for their sins and do not believe in Jesus are not forgiven as long as they do not repent”.

\# 276 “What is the necessary result of repentance? Good works are bound to follow, which are the fruit of repentance”. As John preached in the text for today, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8a) and also Jesus’ words to the woman caught in adultery, “from now on, (go and) sin no more”. (John 8:11b)  

“As the people were in expectation (of the coming Messiah) and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the (long promised) Christ; John answered them all (and pointing to Jesus said) I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals, I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. (Luke 3:15-16) The Holy Spirit for those who repent and the fire of judgment for those who do not.

“Jesus baptized His disciples with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and continues to pour out His Spirit on believers (in our day) through word and sacrament”. (LSB, note, p. 1582) “His winnowing fork is in His hand, to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire”. (Luke 3:17) This is another reminder of the final day of judgment, when Jesus comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead.  

So, “with many other exhortations, John preached the good news to the people”. (Luke 3:18) This may not sound like “good news”, but remember the purpose of John’s preaching was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. (Luke 3:3b) It was “To turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God … to make ready for the Lord, a people prepared” (Luke 1:16, 17b) And it is good news that our salvation does not depend on the good works we do (good fruit that we bear) but rather on the perfect life, atoning death and bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

John the Baptist came to point people to the Christ, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. (John 1:29b) Jesus came into the world “in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17b), by His atoning death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. This forgiveness, He has accomplished for you, for me, and for all.  

Therefore, as forgiven (yet still poor miserable) sinners, but also as new creations in Christ, we are exhorted to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance”. (Luke 3:8a) By faith, we desire to “hear the Word and keep it”. (Luke 11:28b) Trusting in the grace and mercy of Christ alone, we too ask “what then shall we do”. (Luke 3:10b)  

Inclosing, we pray with the psalmist, “Search me, O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting”. (Psalm 139:23-24) The peace of God … Amen.

John said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30) and in the closing verses today, we hear of the beginning of the end of John’s ministry. “Herod … who had been reproved (corrected) by John, for Herodias, his brother’s wife and for all the evil things that he had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison”; (Luke 3:19-20) which we will hear more about in the Gospel for next week. Even from prison, John is pointing sinners, particularly his disciples, but in fact all of us, to Jesus.

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