# Der Junge Lutheraner_Frankfurt am Main_September 1950_S34
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Page 34                                    September 1950                                    Number 9

Our Bible Study

Matthew 3:7—12

"I am a voice of one preaching in the wilderness." Thus John the Baptist had characterized his mission, appealing to the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah we read how the preacher in the wilderness asks: "What shall I preach?" and then receives from the LORD himself the content of his preaching as well, Isaiah 40:6—8. Our text passage shows us how this too was fulfilled by John, and what he preached according to the LORD's instruction.

The theme of his preaching

is already named in verse 2 of this chapter, and the two main thoughts of his preaching already emerge clearly in it. When you listen to a sermon, do you always pay attention to the theme and its parts, and do you follow devoutly and attentively how the theme is treated and carried through in the various parts of the sermon?

John's preaching contains 1. a call to repentance and 2. the announcement of the approaching kingdom of heaven, and here both Law and Gospel, sin and grace, are proclaimed very clearly... The LORD Jesus, too, shortly afterward began his preaching ministry with the same words (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:14–15). Likewise he also charged his apostles, and thereby the Church for all time, with this message: Matthew 10:7; Luke 24:47. Every true sermon should therefore also urge that we do repentance, and grant us the certainty that the kingdom of heaven has come to us.

The Hearers

Verse 7a. A comparison with Luke 3:7 shows us that John preached the same sermon to all the people who came to him. That the Pharisees and Sadducees are named here in particular has its special significance. These men were regarded among the people as a model of blameless piety, enjoyed the highest esteem in church circles, would let themselves be instructed by no one, and were — in short — the people to whom the word of Job 12:2 applied. What we are to think of the Pharisees we read in Matthew 23:2—7 and Luke 18:9—12. And how we are to judge the Sadducees, to whose sect the high priests of that time belonged, is taught us by Matthew 22:23—29; Acts 4:1–2; Acts 23:1—9. There are such people also today and at all times. The apostle Paul characterizes them briefly and aptly: 2 Timothy 3:5. It seems as though the call to repentance in God's word were not meant for them at all. But the attitude that John the Baptist took toward the Pharisees and Sadducees in his preaching teaches us otherwise and reminds us of the statement: Romans 2:11.

But we must not think that John the Baptist's preaching applied only to the Pharisees and Sadducees; rather, the fact that according to Luke 3:7 he said the same thing to all the people who came to him compels all of us to humble self-examination and submission under the verdict: Romans 3:23. Therefore, with this call to repentance by the Baptist, as with every sermon we hear in which sin is rebuked, let us take to heart the word of Nathan to David: 2 Samuel 12:7.

The Call to Repentance

Verse 7b. Why does John call his hearers "brood of vipers"? Compare Matthew 23:33 and Genesis 3:15. By "brood of vipers" and "seed of the serpent," then, children of the devil are meant, as the LORD Jesus also clearly tells the Jews in John 8:44. This applies to all who are unbelieving and therefore not children of God. We too must let it be said of us that we were this by nature before we came to faith (Ephesians 2:1—3). If we now stand in faith, let us not become proud of it, but rather take to heart Romans 11:20—22 and 2:4. As believing Christians we can only humbly join in the thanksgiving that is laid upon our hearts in Colossians 1:12–13.

What does John want to warn his hearers against with the question: "Who has warned you...?" If they had wanted to answer this question, they could appeal to no one; for they only imagined it themselves in their incredible self-righteousness. They appealed in this to the works of their outward piety. Many will still attempt this on the day of the coming wrath, according to Christ's announcement: Matthew 7:22 and Luke 13:26. We too stand in this danger of self-deception, and if we fall into it, we have nothing else to expect than the verdict of rejection: Matthew 7:23 and Luke 13:27. Therefore the warning contained in the Baptist's question applies to us as well, and the apostle Paul puts it in these words: 1 Corinthians 10:12. It will be terrible if a person cannot escape the wrath of God on the day of judgment. Read Hebrews 10:27, 31; Luke 23:30.

Verse 8 raises for us the question of what fruit of repentance we must produce. And for this we must recognize what true repentance is. Let us seek to understand rightly the meaning of the image used here, and for this purpose compare what the LORD Jesus says about good and bad fruit: Matthew 7:17—19. What, accordingly, is the precondition for a tree to bear good fruit? The same applies to us human beings. Psalm 1:2–3; Jeremiah 17:7–8. What, then, must we first become before we can bear good fruit?

Now we also understand the following warning: Verse 9. The Jews trusted in their bodily descent from Abraham and confidently appealed to it themselves: John 8:33 and 39. Do not we too tend to rely on the fact that we descend from pious parents and are outwardly members of an orthodox church? The words: "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" are, as they were then for the Jews, so also today for us a serious warning, which — only in other words — is repeated and made true in Acts 13:46. If we, to whom today above others the word of God is proclaimed pure and clear, despise the preaching of the Gospel while still supposing ourselves to be good members of the church, then we stand in danger of receiving the grace of God in vain, and the Gospel could one day very quickly be taken from us. The signs point ever more seriously to the fact that — perhaps already in a short time — the free proclamation of the Gospel will no longer be possible among us either, and thereby the judgment of God will come upon us that is announced in Amos 8:11—13. Therefore the threat in verse 10 is very timely. The axe at the root of the tree is the image of the judgments of God that already pass over us here in time. Compare Luke 13:6—9 and note the connection with verses 1—5. Let us apply this to our own time. What we hear today about persecutions of the Church should move us less to indignant railing against the "godless and church-hostile" rulers of the world, as is customary today in church circles, but rather should drive us to repentance. In the measures of godless rulers of power against the Church, let us in repentance recognize the axe of God that is being laid at our root, and let us fear the threatening judgment spoken of in 1 Peter 4:17.

The Purpose of the Repentance Sermon

What purpose, then, does such a call to repentance as John directed to the people serve? Verse 11 gives us information. Here begins the second part of the sermon, to which the first part was meant to lead. Here John now proclaims that and how the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. And for this the call to repentance was meant to prepare people, to make them ready for the kingdom of God. Let us call to mind once more the purpose of John's mission (verse 3). He was to prepare the way for the LORD Christ into people's hearts. Therefore he speaks here once more briefly of his task (verse 11a): "...unto repentance." We now recognize clearly what he was driving at with his admonitions and warnings. His hearers were to be terrified at themselves and their perverted disposition and to recognize: We must become of another mind; we must change from the ground up, we must become good trees, if the axe of God is not to strike us down. The literal translation of the word "repentance" in the New Testament means: "change of mind." See Matthew 12:41 and read Jonah 3:4—10 afterward. The people of Nineveh recognized their evil ways and believed in God. In this faith they also hoped for God's grace and mercy. The same is taught us by the example of the repentant tax collector (Luke 19:13) and of the thief on the cross (Luke 23:40—42). True repentance is accordingly a remorseful recognition of sin and believing trust in the forgiving grace of God.

Through such repentance the way into hearts is prepared for the Savior. The LORD himself thereby works the change of mind and cleanses hearts through faith in his grace (Acts 15:9). Thus John also lets there follow upon his call to repentance

the preaching of Christ.

The preaching of the Law leads to the preaching of the Gospel; for the Law is only the schoolmaster unto Christ (Galatians 3:24). But the preaching of the Gospel is the word of life, through which we become children of God.

"But he... is mightier than I..." What power does John mean here, since he compares the coming Savior with himself? In the passages John 1:6—9; 3:27—31; and 5:33—36 the comparison between the two is likewise drawn, and from this we learn why and in what respect Jesus Christ is mightier than John the Baptist. The prophet had the power of the word, but was in himself only a sinful and weak human being. Jesus Christ, however, the eternal and true God, is the true and saving light of the world. John could only rebuke sin and warn against its ruin. But of Christ he could say: John 1:29. John could only pass on what he himself had previously received. But of Christ it holds true: John 1:16, and to him we owe what is said in John 1:12–13 about the children of God.

To this work of the Savior the Baptist also points with the announcement: verse 11b. The fulfillment of this promise becomes especially clear in the Pentecost story, and every one of us has experienced it personally in our conversion to faith. Since we stand in faith, we may indeed confess of ourselves: 2 Corinthians 4:6 and Romans 8:15–16.

The Goal of the Sermon

Verse 12 brings the conclusion of John's sermon and names the final and highest goal of all preaching of the Gospel. The way into our hearts is to be prepared for the Savior precisely because he is at the same time the highest Judge of the world. Compare the conclusion of the second article [of the Creed] with that of the third article. Has the correspondence already struck you? Compare also what John the Baptist says of Christ in John 3:35–36 with what Christ himself says of himself in John 5:20—24. All preaching of the Gospel aims at this: to prepare us for this judgment, that we may be gathered as good wheat into the heavenly barns. (Parable of the weeds among the wheat, Matthew 13:24—30 and 37—43).

But let us examine ourselves, whether we now also let the preaching of the word serve us and prepare us rightly for the day of the great judgment. The Gospel is not a good system of morality for this earthly life, nor a recipe for how life here on earth can be made peaceful and worth living — though indeed it is today falsified and misused by many for this purpose — but rather "it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16), and this blessedness of eternal life we too wish to seek in every sermon we hear, and to take away from it in believing certainty: 2 Timothy 1:12b and 4:18.                    Heinrich Hübener