If we were to go into downtown Lima and conduct one of our now famous hypothetical “man-on-the-street interviews,” asking the question, “What makes a person great?”  What do you suppose would be the most common responses?

What makes a person great in the world’s eyes is the question.  I think we would hear something along the lines of these responses:

Having famous parents or being born into a famous family (Kennedy, Rockefeller, Forbes, etc).

Having wealth – Gates, Warren Buffett, Sam Walton’s heirs, Oprah

Academic degrees, Nobel Peace Prizes

Your profession – politician, doctor, lawyer

Outstanding athletic ability

Artistic ability – music, art, poetry

I think it is obvious that the world does judge greatness for the most part by these types of standards.

How else do you explain the fact that thousands of people would pay hundreds of dollars for a single ticket to watch 60+ year old men play guitars and sing songs that are now 40+ years old?  (I’m talking the Rolling Stones for you youngsters)

By this kind of standard, Jesus Christ was a nobody.  And the central figure of our passage today – John the Baptist – was a greater nobody.

Was this Jesus’ perspective?  It was not.  Listen to what Jesus will say about John later in this book of Matthew:

“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”  (11:11)

Have you ever stopped to truly analyze what Jesus was saying in that statement?  He was saying in effect that John the Baptist was greater than:

• Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph.
• Greater than Moses, Elijah, David, or any other OT saint.
• Greater than any of the kings, emperors, philosophers, or military leaders the world has ever seen.

Jesus was saying a lot when He said John was greater than . . .

But John like Jesus was a nobody.  He came from a poor family, he had no formal education, he lived in the desert, and had no employable skills.

So what made John great in Jesus’ eyes?  I believe it was John’s calling.  John was important because of the call of God and his obedience to that calling.

And I believe that John understood his calling from a biblical perspective as well.  Consider these OT passages that John would have certainly been familiar with:

^”A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3).

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:1).

In the gospel of Luke we read:

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS; To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel” (1:76-80).

What is interesting to me about this passage from Luke is that these words were spoken by John’s father Zacharias when he presented his 8 day old infant son for circumcision.  The passage tells us that Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied this calling upon John’s life.

But this was not something that was a surprise to Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth.  You may recall that when John was conceived an angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias as he went about his duties in the temple.

• Reference Luke 1:5-17

With that as background let’s see what the text has to say to us this morning.

Chapter 3:1-4

Now let me clear up a common misunderstanding.  When verse 1 refers to John as “the Baptist” it is not saying that John was a Southern Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Primitive Baptist, American Baptist, or Independent Baptist as much as those groups would like to think that J

This merely points out John’s calling – to baptize people.

We read that John “came preaching.”  The Greek for “came” can be translated “arrived.” The sense of the verse means that John arrived to preach.  John came to fulfill his prophetically announced purpose.

Look where he ‘arrived” though – in the wilderness.

There is a saying in the real estate profession that captures a primary factor in the sale of a home – “location, location, location.”  That means that people are looking for an appealing location to live.  Whether it’s a scenic view of mountains, lakes, city skylines, or even forests, location is a prime driver for buying a house.

How difficult do you think it would be to sell a house that sits next to a landfill?  Or a toxic waste site?  Or a junk yard?  Or a house that looks like the neighbor thinks he runs a junk yard?

Yet John arrived to preach in the wilderness.  This tells me several things.  First, John was not concerned about location.  Wherever God wanted him to preach was fine with him.  Second, he was not concerned with the “creature comforts” that occupy our minds too often.  Think about what preaching in the wilderness meant folks.

John traveled from place to place in the wilderness areas of Judea.  This means the sparsely populated areas.  John preached to the shepherds, to the nomads, to the farmers, to the travelers passing by on the caravan trails.

He could have gone straight to Jerusalem and preached on the steps of the temple to thousands of people everyday.

Third, John preached a very simple message – repent.  He didn’t try and make the unbelieving Jews “comfortable” by telling stories, using drama, or talking about their need to find their purpose in life.

Not very “seeker sensitive” was he?

We need to understand clearly what the Bible is saying here folks.  John told the people they needed to repent.  We need to be teaching the same truth.

Many churches have no concept of what it means to repent because they don’t teach salvation as an “event.”  They teach salvation as a process.

What do I mean by that?

Let’s start by understanding what the Bible says on this subject.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian (2 Cor 7:8-11) believers:

“For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it–for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while. I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong!” (2 Corinthians 7:8-11)

Jesus said in Mark 1:14-15,

“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

After His resurrection Jesus appeared too many of His disciples and spoke these words.

“Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

“You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:44-48).

Biblically speaking repentance is a complete change of mind, a change of course in your thinking concerning sin.  This will inevitably lead to change in your behavior, in your speech, and in your thought life.

A “Peanuts” cartoon illustrates this point very well.  The first frame of the cartoon shows Charlie Brown telling Lucy to hold the football so he can run and kick it.  Lucy agrees to do that.  When Charlie Brown ran to kick the ball Lucy moved it and Charlie got nothing but air.  Lucy apologized and said she wouldn’t do it again.

Third frame Charlie is running to kick the ball again and once again Lucy moves the ball and Charlie gets nothing but air.  When Charlie asks Lucy why she keeps moving the ball Lucy says, “Recognizing your faults and actually changing your ways are 2 different things Charlie Brown.”

Someone once described repentance as turning around 180 degrees and heading in the exact opposite direction from where you were headed before.

The idea is a total conversion or “make-over” to become something you were not before.  Now, that true repentance leads to salvation is obvious from the Scriptures.

The brokenness you experience over your sin is always understood within a context of God’s goodness and His holiness.

I said earlier that salvation is an event not a process.  What I mean by that is that biblically educated people who have never experienced true repentance, confession, and have not been born-again are not saved.

It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been in church, how many committees they serve on, how long they’ve taught Sunday School, or any other “work” they have done.

You are not saved or “right with God” because you are a member of a church or you’ve been “confirmed” or you were baptized when you were a baby.  Salvation does not come by these processes.

Salvation comes by being born-again when a person places their faith in Jesus Christ as the only means of reconciliation to God the Father.

Repentance was John’s message.  The prophets had been silent for 400 years until John came on the scene and he told the Jews to “get ready because God’s kingdom is coming.”  John’s calling was to prepare the way for the message of salvation in Christ.

John was zeroed in on this message to the degree that he was not concerned about dressing for success.

I love it when people say, “well you should wear suits and dresses to church because God expects our best.”  I simply say “Matthew 3:4.”  They say “what?”  So I repeat it and then they say what does that say?  And I tell them that it says John preached wearing camel-hair and leather.

Look at this folks.  When you are zeroed in on the important things then God will work through that obedience – verse 5

Isn’t that amazing?  John didn’t have location, a fancy building, witty messages, or seeker/purpose driven/blab-it grab-it content and yet the people came to him.

They came to him with the right understanding of what he was talking about too – verse 6.

Like I said, true repentance leads to confession and salvation.  We need to understand the significance of what the Jews submitted themselves to when we read that John baptized them.

The Jews understood baptism well. They understood far better than many today the symbolic meaning of baptism. You see, when a Gentile wanted to become a Jewish proselyte, he had to do three things.  He had to be circumcised, he had to offer a sacrifice, and he had to be baptized.

For the Jew baptism symbolized the washing away of the past and the beginning of a new life. It was the symbol of a new birth if you will.  Under Jewish law, the Gentile who did these 3 things was considered a Jew.

So for a Jew in John’s day to submit to baptism was essentially to say, “I confess that I am as far away from God as a Gentile and I need to get right with Him.”  This was a real work of the Holy Spirit.

Now let me clear about this folks.  John baptized people as they recognized they were sinners and repented of their sins.  He was preparing them to receive the gospel message of salvation in Christ Jesus.  That’s what it means for him to be the forerunner of Jesus.

That helps make sense out of what we next – verses 7-8.

John basically told the religious leaders that he wasn’t going to play their games.  He saw them and knew they were coming for baptism because it was the popular thing to do.

In effect John was saying “if you are here because you are truly broken over your sin then demonstrate the truthfulness of your heart change in your behavior.”

John somehow knew that the Pharisee’s were there to purchase some ‘fire insurance.’  I think that’s what he meant by asking them “who warned you to flee the wrath to come?”

What I sense in this exchange is that deep down in their hearts the Pharisees knew they were not right with God.  And if they were not right with God then they knew that the coming of His kingdom was not a good thing for them.

I don’t know if John’s scathing rebuke shocked the Pharisees but apparently a look of smugness came over their faces.  A look of “who do you think you’re talking to.  We’re from the finest Jewish families in Jerusalem.  Why our fathers (you fill in the blank).”

John seems to be reading their minds – verse 9.

John says whatever “thing” you are placing your hope in for salvation is a dead-end.  God could if He wanted too – create Jewish believers from these rocks.

Put yourself in that scene folks.  John is standing in the Jordan River baptizing his Jewish brethren.  I imagine there was crying and praising and shouting and joy.  Remember this is a baptism of people who are repenting and confessing.

Here come the Pharisees marching as a group to the river’s edge, heads held high, smiling approvingly at the people as if to say yes, yes, continue you sinners.  Even then they tried to maintain their sense of superiority.

But John calls them out.  I don’t know at what point it happened but I think that before John finished rebuking the Pharisees the crowd was silent.  All eyes were watching John and the Pharisees as John pointed to the rocks strewn on the river’s bank and proclaimed that their ancestry would not save them.

Then these startling words – verse 10.  Notice that this is really a re-statement of verse 8 but meant not just for the Pharisees as before.  This was a proclamation once again that the kingdom of God was at hand and God was ready to move forward with His plan of salvation and He was calling everyone to repentance and confession.

Paul would later say this exact thing in Athens, Greece:

“Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:29-31).

Judgment is coming.  That judgment will be through Jesus Christ.  John introduces Him next.

Verses 11-12

John is saying “I am here to prepare for the coming of Messiah.  What I do can not be compared to what He will do.  He will fill you with God’s Spirit and the fire of His holiness will cleanse you of all your sin.”

This is exactly what God had spoken to His people many years before through the prophet Ezekiel:

“I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'” (37:14)

But not all will believe Him when He comes.  This is the meaning behind Jesus separating the chaff from the wheat.  If all believed there would be no need to separate anyone.

Sadly, some will choose to ignore Christ and the salvation He offers.  They will choose their own paths.  They will choose the things of this world and reject God’s eternity.

So let me ask you, where are you today?

• Can you hear the message of John calling to you?
• Are you burdened by sin, keenly aware of your own inadequacy?
• Do you sense the need to truly repent? To turn away from the life you’re now living to a life God wants you to live?
• Is it your desire to get down to business with God and be honest before him?
• Is God calling you to be a spokesperson for Him?

John’s message is as relevant today as it was then. Repentance is still the door through which we must walk to find God.

Do you need to receive God’s forgiveness? There are basically two reasons why people fail to receive forgiveness. The first is that they fail to repent. But the second is that they fail to forgive. Jesus was very explicit about this in Matthew 6:14 and 15. He says, “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

Is there someone you need to forgive today? Do not let what others have done to you keep you from God.  We can’t be forgiven unless we forgive.

John’s message calls us to confront and confess our sins in every form; to turn away from them in sincere repentance; to receive God’s forgiveness; and most importantly, to look to Jesus.

God will meet you at the point of repentance and confession. He will forgive you. He will restore you.  He will keep you as His son or daughter.  Draw close to Him today, and He will draw close to you.

Perhaps you need to look to Jesus today. Perhaps you have a need to draw closer to him.