WHAT
WAS JOHN UPTO? (Matthew 3:1-12)
Lectio
Divina (Latin for "Divine Reading") is a traditional monastic
practice of scriptural reading, meditation, and prayer intended to promote
communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word.
Visio
Divina invites the viewer into "Divine Seeing." Visio Divina shares
roots with the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. Visio Divina invites one to
encounter the divine through images. For our time together, we are invited to
see what God is doing and saying in the scripture. What should be our response?
To start. Close your Bibles. Open your eyes. Open your ears. Open your
hearts. See and hear the word of the Lord.
3 Questions
1.
Ask: What do you see? (One line at a
time)
2.
Ask: What do you hear? (Words & Tones)
3.
Ask: Guess what happens next? (No peeking ahead!)
Vs. 1. “In those days,
John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message
was,
We don’t know much about
what happened from the time Jesus’ family went and lived in a town called
Nazareth and to the days of John the Baptist’s ministry. What do you see? What
do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what happens next?
John the Baptist was
preaching in the Judean wilderness. What was his message?
2. “Repent of your sins
and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
What do you see? What do
you hear? (words & tones) Guess what happens next?
He was appealing to
people to repent from their sins and turn to God because the Kingdom of Heaven
is near.
What is repentance? What
does sin do? What does it mean the Kingdom of Heaven is near?
3. The prophet Isaiah
was speaking about John when he said, Isaiah 40:3
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!”
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!”
Who was the prophet Isaiah speaking about? What was the mission of
John?
4. John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel
hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and
wild honey.
Who John the Baptist was compared to in the OT? Malachi 4:5 “Look,
I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the
Lord arrives.”
Elijah's work was
to reveal the true God to Israel in a time of growing national crisis. Elijah
prepared the way for Elisha, who had a double portion of Elijah's spirit and
did many more miracles. In this regard, Elijah was a type of John the Baptist
and Elisha, a type of Christ. God's
pattern is being established. He sends someone long before the real crisis
reaches its peak, while it is building.
Elijah said disturbing things, so did John the Baptist. Elijah’s life was threatened by one woman
named Jezebel. John the Baptist was
killed by the wishes of a woman named Herodias.
5. People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea
and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John.
What do you see? What do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what happens
next?
People came to see John and hear his message of repentance from in
and all-around Judean region
6. And when they confessed their sins, he
baptized them in the Jordan River.
What do you see? What do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what happens
next?
What kinds of
sins people were confessing? Where did John Baptized people? What is the
significance of the Jordan River?
Joshua led people through Jordan River before they entered the
promised land. (Joshua 3,4)
Jesus laid a pathway to our eternal promised land through His
baptism in the Jordan River
People were to purify themselves before they crossed the Jordan
River.
As soon as the
“Ark of the Covenant, (the Tabernacle) came up out of the riverbed, the parted
waters returned, and the river began to flow as usual. Similarly, as soon as Jesus, the living
tabernacle, came up out of the waters after his baptism, the heavens were
opened, and the communication between heaven and earth has been restored. (Matthew
3:14-16)
7. But when he saw many
Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood
of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? What do you see? What do you hear? (words &
tones) Guess what happens next? The tone of John was harsh. Why did he condemn the
Pharisees and Sadducees?
What does the brood of snakes (vipers) mean?
Brood of vipers: Many people in antiquity thought that vipers
were born by hatching inside their mother, then gnawing their way through their
mothers’ wombs — killing their mothers in the process. Comparing people to a
“brood of vipers,” then, was analogous to calling them “parent-murderers” — one
of the most reprehensible offenses conceivable.
Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees? The Pharisees were a
legalistic and separatist group that strictly kept the law of Moses and the
unwritten “tradition of the elders.”
The Sadducees were more politically minded and had theological
differences with the Pharisees, including denial of the resurrection, angels,
and spirits. Etc
8. Prove by the way you live that you have
repented of your sins and turned to God.
What do you see? What do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what
happens next?
How were the Pharisees and Sadducees to live after their Baptism?
How can we prove that we have repented of our sins, and we have
turned to God?
9. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe,
for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can
create children of Abraham from these very stones.
What do you see? What do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what
happens next?
What is the meaning of “Stones”?
Abraham as our
ancestor. Because God chose Israel in Abraham, many Jewish people believed that
Israel as a whole would be saved. Prophets, however, sometimes challenged
Israel’s dependence on their chosenness (Am 3.2; 9.7).
Stones. Sometimes in the OT stones were used to symbolize the 12 tribes
of Israel (Ex 28.21; Josh 4.8; 1 Kings 18.31). In Hebrew and Aramaic, “children”
and “stones” sound very similar; prophets often made wordplays
Romans 2:28-29, “For you are not a true Jew just because you were
born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of
circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God.
And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law;
instead, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a
changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”
Gal 3:7 “The real children
of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.”
10. Even now, the ax of God’s judgment is
poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not
produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.
What do you see? What do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what
happens next?
What does the Ax represent here?
An ax is lying at
the root of the trees. Cutting down or burning a tree could symbolize a
nation’s judgment. Jer 11.16, “I, the Lord, once called them a thriving olive
tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit. But now I have sent the fury of
their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken.”
Ezekiel 31:12,
God’s judgment on Egypt, “A foreign army—the terror of the nations—has cut it
down and left it fallen on the ground. Its branches are scattered across the
mountains and valleys and ravines of the land. All those who lived in its
shadow have gone away and left it lying there.”
11. “I baptize with water those who
repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater
than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry
his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
What do you see? What do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what
happens next?
What was the significance of the Baptism of
Water in the OT?
Many people, including Jewish people, had ritual
washings; some Jewish sects required ritual immersion to purify those entering
their group, and Gentiles converting to Judaism were immersed in water to cleanse
them of idolatry.
What does “carrying Jesus’ sandals imply here?
Handling sandals was the sort of a menial task
that only a servant would typically perform; the prophets often recognized
themselves as “servants of God” (2Ki 9:7; Jer 7:25; 26:5; 29:19; 35:15; 44:4),
but John considers himself unworthy even for this role. John envisions himself
as preparing for the coming of God himself (see notes on vv. 3,4).
Who can Baptize people with the Holy Spirit and
Fire? Biblically only God
could pour out his own Spirit, as he promised to do at the time of the subsequent
restoration (Joel 2:28).
In contrast to the Spirit, the “fire” here presumably signals
end-time judgment (see notes on vv. 10,12).
12. He is ready to separate the chaff from the
wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area,
gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending
fire.”
What do you see? What do you hear? (words & tones) Guess what
happens next?
What does the
chaff represent here? How is God going to deal with the chaff?
Gathering of wheat and burning up the chaff is a “harvest”
imagery. In ancient times, after harvest,
farmers used to separate the good wheat from the inedible chaff. They would
toss the grain into the air so that the wind could blow out the chaff, which
was lighter and used as firewood. In the scriptures, “chaff” is often used as
an image for the disobedient and the worthless that God would destroy in the
end time.
Mal 4:1,5, “The Lord of Heaven’s
Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that
day, the arrogant and the wicked will, be burned up like straw. They will be
consumed—roots, branches, and all. 5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and
dreadful day of the Lord arrives.
John the Baptist,
who came in the spirit of Elijah, was challenging the Pharisees, Sadducees and
all those who happened to be baptized about the final judgment, and how God is
going to throw all the unbelieving and disobedient into the lake of fire where
the fire can never be quenched.
What can we glean from this passage?
Repent of our sins, and be baptized, and turn to God.
Recognize that salvation doesn’t come by association but by
receiving Christ by faith
Live life following our repentance, to prove that His Grace indeed
saves us
Take up the position of a servant in the Kingdom of God and serve
God with humility.
Like John the Baptist, we too must warn people about the impending
Judgment of God. We must not shy away and not afraid when it comes to
confronting people who act unjustly.
