Sermon Cloud

Intro/Opening: A recent article in the LA Times was recently titled: “New England surpasses West Coast as least religious region in America.” The article notes, 

“On the West Coast, 20% of residents identified with no religion last year, compared with 22% of New Englanders.Whereas Pacific states have long been called the "unchurched belt," the irreligious population over the last two decades grew more in New England -- where it nearly tripled -- than in any other region.”

Part of what makes this such a shocking and significant statement is the rich spiritual heritage that this region of the county had. However, it also bears striking testimony to what happens to a nation and a people when the church looses her commitment to Jesus Christ and His Word. When the church substitutes the glory and greatness of Jesus Christ, for the worship of the creature rather than the Creator. 

Jesus Christ is Lord of all and the Head of the church; He is her source and life; her hope; her single testimony. And when the fear and worship of Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in His word, is lost the church longer the “salt and light” of the world and the influence she was meant to be

We are now entering into the final section of Matthew’s summary of the preaching ministry of John the Baptist. And here, beginning in verse 11, Matthew is making the transition from John the Baptist to the Person and ministry of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

John is making the transition from his ministry to the Messiah by showing that in every way Jesus in His Person and ministry is far superior in greatness to him. This is the heart of a true servant. And the point is to make clear that Jesus Christ alone is to be the center piece of our worship.

So, in our text this morning, Matthew 3:11-12, we will note: 

5 Proofs of the Superior Greatness of Jesus Christ so that we would increase in our worship of Him. 

Jesus Christ is: 

(1) Greater in His Person

(2) Greater in His Baptism

(3) Greater in His Discernment

(4) Greater in His Salvation

(5) Greater in His Judgment 

READ: Matthew 3:1-12. 

(1) Jesus Christ is Greater in His Person. 

Luke 3:15 records the occasion of this statement: because of the great presence and impact of his ministry many were wondering if John himself was the Messiah. He wanted no self-glory, but all honor to go to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s look to his response. 

“I myself baptize you in water to repentance” - a simple summary statement of the ministry of John. It reveals John’s self-awareness of his role and the nature of his ministry.  

John’s ministry was as a forerunner to Jesus Christ; it was to prepare for the ministry of Jesus Christ, by preparing the hearts of the people through repentance the whole hearted turning back to God in repentance and confession of sin - then witnessed by the symbolic act of water baptism. 

This show great humility on the part of John. John clearly has a proper understanding of his role and he did not seek out for himself more that what God had assigned to him Most men would have been puffed up and felt a tinge of pride in their heart. However, it was just the opposite for John who had such a deep sense of the glory of the Messiah that the thought doesn’t seem to have entered his mind.

“He who is coming after me is mightier than me, whose sandal I am not worthy to carry” (this is an incredible and arresting statement)! This is John the Baptist saying this; the one who is given his own birth narrative next to Jesus Christ, who was filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mothers womb, who was chosen in eternity past call a whole nation to repentance, and personally introduce the Son of God to His people! Who was so great in his ministry that he actually had to deflect glory from himself and convince people that he himself was not the Messiah! We are not talking about some run of the mill prophet here! And yet he says, he is not even worthy to carry His sandals! Incredible statement! 

 He is recognizing the inherent and essential superiority of Jesus Christ in His very Person. It is not just that Jesus is greater in what He will accomplish, but He is greater because of who He is! The statement “He is mightier than me” is not just saying Jesus is stronger (like a bully who is simply bigger), but by His very nature, His very Being, He is greater. He is the Holy One of God, He is God. John is standing before His Creator and he is filled with an overwhelming sense of his own littleness (John 3:22-36).

Indirect testimony to the Deity of Jesus Christ. In John 1:15, he will be more direct and simply say, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” He recognized Jesus Christ as the eternally Self-existing, uncreated, infinite, and Holy God clothed with human flesh (“God with us”). 

So, look at his reaction, “I am not worthy to carry His sandals.” - Luke 3:16 fills out John’s response by noting he was not even “worthy to untie” His sandals. In other words, John is saying that he is not even worthy to perform the most menial task of a slave for his master!

Commenting on the use of this term one scholar notes, 

“Here the [the statement] is designed to measure John by Christ and His greatness, and to show that his authority is only that of service to Christ. The office which John discharges is comparable with that of a slave who takes hi aster’s shoes, or unties his shoelaces … and who thereby shows that he is a slave. Thus the Baptist is neither the independent precursor of Christ, nor His fellow, nor Christ in person, but the servant of Christ who simply does what he is under obligation to do” 

Many in today’s church, with their self-exalting ministries, would gladly have received such praise and high commendation. But, unlike false teachers who routinely seek their own glory (John 5:44; 2 Cor. 10:12), the true and faithful servant deflects, from the heart, all glory to Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy (John 3:30). This is the truest expression of genuine faith, genuine service, genuine love for Christ, genuine understanding of the gospel (cf. Phil. 1:21; 2 Cor. 9-10).

This attitude is desperately needed in the church today, both in the pastors and leaders and every Christian. This gets rid (obliterates) of the “Jesus is my buddy” (or, “my big brother upstairs”) mentality. Jesus Christ is Lord, Creator, eternal, infinite, majestic in nature. John recognizes this and is struck with a sense of his own smallness and inferior nature. 

You and I need to have the attitude toward Christ that fundamentally recognizes, “I am unworthy to be called Your slave or Your friend. I stand humbled. I stand in unbelievable grace!” - Do you have this sense of the majesty of Christ and, or have you made Him far too tame and approachable. We have so exalted ourselves that we think ourselves worthy to be in relationship with Him. Where this is not the case and we need to recapture the awe and humility of John before the Lord of all, Jesus Christ. Do you have this kind of humility? In as much as you and I have failed to have this attitude, we need to confess our sin, seek God’s forgiveness, and grace to change.

Oh, how often we want to be treated almost as Christ’s equal and worthy of honor (like the disciples [20:20-28]), rather than an unworthy slave is not worthy even to perform the function of a slave by removing His sandals and washing His feet! We want to be put on a pedestal for our Christian service, rather than seeing ourselves as even unworthy to perform the service in His Name. Rather than simply gratitude that we should be given the privilege of serving Him at all, regardless of the task. 

If you are a Christian, you area a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have no inherent value in and of yourself, but all your value is in your identification with Jesus Christ the Lord, the Creator of the universe, Holy, infinite, Almighty God. As long as we compare ourselves with ourselves or others we will be living in self-delusion. You and I must see ourselves in relation to God, only then will we have a proper perspective by which to understand our role. We are slaves; He is the master. We are unworthy; He is worthy (Luke 17:7-10).

Next, the church and each of us in her must recognize not only the greatness of Christ Person, but also His 4-fold ministry.  

(2) Greater in His Baptism. 

     (A) With the Holy Spirit. 

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” - Baptism as the basic idea, or meaning of being immersed. In Scripture it is used in both a literal and a metaphorical sense (Rom. 6:3; Mk. 10:38-39; *Lk. 12:50) . John, as the forerunner began the ministry of literal water baptism, which was meant to be an outward symbol of an internal reality of faith and repentance. This water baptism would continue even into the era of the NC. However, the baptism of Jesus Christ is here is seen not in the outward act - which can be either sincere expression of faith, or a hypocritical act - but in its true sense of being spiritually identified with the Person and work of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 

Now, it is not likely that John fully understood the full significance of what he was saying. He clearly would have understood the association of the Holy Spirit in relation to the work of the NC from such passages as Ezek. 36:26-27, a reality that the Lord holds Nicodemus responsible for not knowing (John 3:3-5). 

“He will baptize” - Jesus Christ Himself never did the actual baptizing (John 4:2) with water, though baptism was a part of His ministry while here on earth. However, John is not referring to the symbolic act of baptism, but the internal baptism that is the result of genuine repentant faith. 

The coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell His people is a key feature of the NC, and was a direct result of the completed ministry of atonement by the Lord Jesus. It was not until Christ completed the work of substituinary atonement on the cross, was buried, and raised on the third day, and then ascended back to the right hand of the Father that He would send the Holy Spirit (John 14:26 [sent by Father in Christ’s Name] 16:7 [sent by Christ].

The book of Acts help flesh this out. 

 Acts 1:4,5,7; *2:32-35, *38-39 [41]).

Acts 2:38 connects the Holy Spirit with baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, forgiveness of sin, and the reception of the Holy Spirit. 

Here it is water baptism into the Name of Jesus Christ; that is, it is testimony of repentant faith in Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, the Lamb of God, the Holy One of Israel looked forward to by the prophets. When in faith (11:15-18 - faith was validated [even among Gentiles!] by the presence of the Holy Spirit), the blessings of the NC are received (3:19-21). 

Certainly, this group of Jews would have understood the existence of the Holy Spirit and that He had a role in God’s work of redemption (John 3:1ff), if not in the fully developed NT sense. 

This means that genuine repentant faith is evidenced by the presence of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 5:17). 

No longer are God’s people identified by race, or nationality - external measures - but by the spiritual reality of the new birth (John 3:1ff) and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 8:9-11 - “Spirit of Christ” [cf. John 14:16-18]; 2 Cor. 3:17-18).

God still has promises to national Israel that He will fulfill, but even those are going to dependent upon truly becoming His people by their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Messiah. 

(B) With Fire. 

Now there is some discussion as to what John means by this statement. (1) Is he referring to the purifying ministry of the Holy Spirit? Or, (2) Is he referring to a ministry of judgement?

The statement is best understood as referring to judgment. The term “fire” is used 3x in these three verses and in both 10 & 12 it is a clear reference to judgment and so should retain its same meaning here. Also,  verse 12 is not joined by a conjunction but is a further explanation of this final statement “and fire.” This is also supported by Acts, where there are at least 3 references to this statement by John and in each case the baptism of the Holy Spirit is mentioned by itself and in relation to His NC ministry. 

So, the reference is that future baptism of judgment that will be executed by the Lord Jesus Christ on all the unrepentant - referred to in 3:8, 10, 12). 

Both the coming of the Holy Spirit and judgment were clearly associated with the coming ministry of the Messiah and His forerunner: Joel 2:28-31 [Acts 2:17-21]; *Mal. 4:1-2, which the people would have most easily associated with the ministry of John the Baptist. 

Luke 12:49 - the Lord Himself speaks of His desire for the day of His wrath. Luke 12:49 brings out this other sense, when the Lord says, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!” The Lord’s words must be seen as a desire for judgment. 

It seems that the picture of the winnowing fork is taking the thought of fire and applying it to Christ’s ministry of discernment for the purpose of judgment verse 12. 

The Superior Greatness of Jesus Christ is shown by (1) His Person, (2) His [ministry of] Baptism, and now 

(3) His Discernment [in judgement].

“His winnowing fork is in His hand and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor” - 

This is a common picture: Harvesters would go out into the fields and pull up the stalks of wheat and cut them at the bottom (or sometimes at the top) with a sickle (Joel 3:13; Jer. 50:16) at which point they would be bundled into bushels and taken to a threshing floor and spread out. At this point a pair of oxen, usually pulling a weighted wooden sled with stone on the bottom for breaking up and separating the husks from the wheat. 

Once this was accomplished a person would then take a  wooden winnowing fork, consisting of 5-7 prongs, scoop up the piles of crushed wheat, husks, and stalks on the threshing floor and throw them into the air on a windy day. As it was thrown the wind would blow away the chaff (straw) and the heavier grain would fall to the ground. Once this initial work was done then they would uses a winnowing shovel for the smaller remaining portions. Once separated the wheat is gathered - after checking for and separating any possible tares -  and put into storage containers and kept in a barn (for larger quantities), while the left over chaff was burned

So, here He is, the Messiah holding His “winnowing fork is in His hand” - “His winnowing fork” “His hand” - He (!) is the Judge. He (!) is holding the “winnowing fork.” Jesus is the One holding it and who is poised to execute His discerning judgment. The earlier illustration of the axe (10) looked to the final execution of judgment, the winnowing fork, however, was for the purpose of separating the good wheat from the useless chaff. 

This presents another picture of the imminency of Christ’s judgment. The winnowing fork is already “in His hand.” He is not searching for it, or waiting to pick it up. He is holding it merely waiting for the appointed time at which “He will clear His threshing floor” and remove the wicked and the hypocrite; and how impatient and eager He is as He sees His threshing floor so polluted with tares (Matt. 18 - “stumbling blocks”). 

A hypocrite may fly under the radar screen and hide from the scrutiny of men for a long time - even his whole life, but he is never not under the watchful and discerning eye of Jesus Christ whose eyes that are like flames of fire are ever testing the hearts, thoughts, and intentions of men and holding them up to the light of truth and holiness.

“He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor” - no one will be left out; no one will escape His notice; no one will sneak past. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 illustrates this with the separation of the wheat from the tares.  

The threshing floor is primarily those attached to the kingdom of God, but ultimately would include all of the earth (2 Pet. 3:7; Is. 13:6-16).

Some say with the old comedian, “there is always a loop hole and I am going to find it.” This is - and I use this word cautiously and only because God’s prophets use it and this reality needs to be startling - it is(Jer. 10:8-21 “They are all together stupid and foolish, in their discipline of delusion - their idol is wood … Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge … For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the LORD”) it is the height of foolishness and senselessness. None will escape His judgment. There are many now under His judgment who entertained such ridiculous ideas here on earth and felt secure because His judgment was mercifully delayed as long as it was.

Jesus Christ is the Judge (John 5:21-22, 27; Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Thes. 1:8; Rev. 6:16-17 [Mk. 3:5]) of all men. For those who repent, He is Lord and Savior. For those who do not, He is Lord and Judge. And is to be feared by all men. He is to be spoken of and taught with reverence and awe. 

(4) Greater in Salvation. 

“He will gather His wheat into His barn”  - True believers, those who have committed their lives to Christ and bear the “fruit of repentance,” and are now protected from the wrath of God (1 Thess. 1:10); once the work of separating the wheat and the chaff (& tares) has been accomplished He will then assign them to their proper place. The good wheat will be gathered and put into His barn. This speaks of those who truly belong to the King and therefore in the kingdom of God, who will be gathered and brought into the joys and resting place of their salvation. 

Matthew 24:31 “He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect form the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” 

The grain is those for whom the Lord is presently preparing a dwelling place (John 14:1-3), that will forever be with the Lord and in His presence forever (Rev. 21), knowing the lavish riches of His grace (Phil. 2). It is restored and redeemed humanity forever united with God, through Jesus Christ, for eternal joy and fellowship in His presence.  

This is heaven. *Rev. 21.

(5) Greater in Judgment. 

“He burn the chaff with unquenchable fire” - the final act of His cleansing to utterly remove the unworthy from the threshing floor and burn them with fire. Not just any fire, however, but “unquenchable fire.” 

“unquenchable fire” - could be “fire that cannot be put out” - unending punishment (Is. 34:8-10; 66:24; cf. Deut. 32:22). 

“He will burn” - used both figuratively (1 Cor. 3:15) and literally (Acts 19:19). This is what fire does, it burns; this term speaks of the actual process that fire causes; they go hand in hand. Usually, however, once fire has consumed the material off which it feeds it goes out, but the picture here is of a fire that never runs out of fuel and therefore a burning that never ceases. 

The opposite of the gathered grain, these are those who have loved this world, rejected righteousness in favor of sin and the passing pleasures of this world, who have been deceived. These are those who will forever be excluded from the presence and life of God, and live under torment, judgment, and accusing conscience for eternity, forever aware of their guilt, and feeling remorse and anxiety at having lived and chosen so foolishly when salvation was right before their eyes. 

This is hell. *Rev. 20.

Conclusion: 

We have created a Jesus that is far to tame, a far cry from the Lord who is Creator and Judge of all men presented to us on the pages of Scripture. No wonder we and the world have so little fear of Him that we make Him into Someone far less glorious, frightening, and holy than He truly is. 

Jesus Christ is the “Lion of Judah,” but He is not a tame Lion - to borrow the words of a character in C.S. Lewis series The Chronicles of Narnia. 

Jesus Christ is Lord & Creator of heaven & earth, as well as the broken, pierced, suffering, rejected, spotless Lamb of God who bore God’s wrath for sinners and gave up His life on the cross in dark mystery known and understood only by the Holy Trinity. 

He is the Lamb of indescribable grace, and terrifying wrath. He is Savior, He is Judge, He is the Lord Jesus Christ., the One with whom all men have to do. 

We as the modern church have presented a far to little, weak, and unbiblical Christ - men don’t fear Him and worship Him because they have never  truly been presented with a biblical portrait of who He really is!

John strips away any superficiality and presents Jesus in all His glory - and the rest of Matthew’s gospel will flesh this out. 

What is your view of Jesus Christ? Do you know Him? Is He the One you have been humbled before as His slave? Do you long to worship Him in both fear and love?