Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Mark, the first chapter:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Advent is more about just waiting for Christmas. We’ve talked about this. Advent isn’t just about pre-Christmas. It’s a time of repentance and absolution that prepares for the second coming of Christ. And while our time in Advent is relatively short, only four weeks, it’s there in this way to remind us that time is short, and that Christ is coming soon.
Really, Advent is modeled after the millennia this earth spent waiting for the first coming of Christ. He was promised after Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, when they plunged the entire future of the human race into the arms of sin, death, and the devil. And for, perhaps, somewhere around 4000 years, humanity awaited the promised Messiah from Genesis 3. You see, God did not leave humanity, He did not leave us in our sin, but promised that One would soon come to rescue us from the devil and all his works and all his ways, and would crush his head into the dust of the ground.
And so the world waited, with every Israelite and Jewish woman wondering if her firstborn son would be that long-awaited Messiah for those 4000 years. But, the Messiah would not come through ordinary means. He would come when the Spirit of God would overshadow a virgin and conceive a Son in her. This was promised in Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel,” that is, God with us.
The Messiah would not be only a man, but He would be divine, the Son of God, the Son of the virgin. Both God and man, miraculously joined together in the flesh of one person, in a way that hundreds have tried to describe, yet none is successful. But, this is the Messiah we have been looking for. This Immanuel is Jesus the Christ, son of Mary, adopted son of Joseph, and cousin to John the Baptizer.
And so, John, good John, son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, the cousin of the Christ, is featured here at the beginning of the Gospel according to Mark. But why? After Mark starts off his Gospel with the idea that it is not the Gospel of Mark, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only one in whom there is any Good News, why move right in to John?
Because Isaiah the prophet has told us, not only that the virgin would conceive and bear a son, a miraculous act, but also that there will be a forerunner of the Lord, a messenger to run out before the coming of the Lord to call the people to repentance and the forgiveness of sins. The idea of a forerunner, a messenger, bearing news of the Lord and King is not a unique concept in the ancient world. In fact, one of the most well-known stories is that of Pheidippides, the messenger who ran from Marathon to Athens to bear the news that the Greeks had conquered Persia. He ran the nearly 26 miles and cried out, “We have won!” And then he collapsed and died.
Pheidippides was the forerunner of the army, running back to tell the Greek people they needed not worry about reinforcements. The battle was won, the Greeks had won. And so we see John the Baptizer, appearing before Jesus publicly appeared in His ministry, preparing the way, calling people to repentance, even claiming that the war is over, the battle won, Christ has already conquered all for He is coming.
And really, the fact that Christ is coming is enough for the world. It may not seem like it, but Paul argues that we have been saved in Christ because of His grace before the ages even began, but now salvation is manifested, it appears, because Christ has appeared. Let me say this another way: we have been saved by Christ before the world ever began because Jesus was always plan A. God always knew that sin would reign in the hearts of us evil men, and so He had always planned to send Christ. But now, in these latter days, after seeing our Christ upon the cross for our sins, after hearing His Word, after receiving His Sacraments which deliver that cross to us, we may know that we are saved. We no longer need wonder, we only believe the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all of your sins,” and “Given and shed for you…”
We have been saved since before God spoke, yet that salvation comes to us today. And here is John the Baptizer proclaiming the same as it was prophesied in Isaiah. John appeared, just as Christ will appear, and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The baptism of John was not what our baptisms are, but only a symbol. The baptism of John could not save you, but only to show you that there was repentance, and like any good preacher, John forgave the sins of the people he washed. But it is John here doing the washing, and he only washes with the water.
But, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, there is washing, yes, with water like John. But there is the washing of the Holy Spirit. And that is not the work of my human hands, but the work of Christ’s God-man hands. Christ washes with water and the Spirit. This is what John promises. The baptism which we have is greater than the mere symbol that John the Baptizer had. John could only symbolize the washing that would come; Jesus gives us the washing we have today. John could forgive sins, but through the preached Word, as we do; Jesus forgives sins through Water, Bread, Wine, and the Word.
Yet, see what this means. The forerunner had something less that what we do, yet he is highly exalted among the men of faith in the Scriptures. There are few with greater faith that John the Baptizer. He is the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, since he is the last before the death of Christ, which brings about the New Testament. But what he was able to do was much less that what you have been given. The gifts of Christ we have are greater than anything John was able to do. Look at the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, and have confidence that, though we wait, though we cannot bodily see Christ, we have the greater gifts. We are better taken care of than we know, better taken care of than anyone before Christ could have imagined.
And that is because of the death of our Lord. John died before Christ, and while what he did and said and gave were from God Himself, John was limited, for he could not give to the people the benefit of the death of Christ in Word and Sacrament. While they were yet saved, that salvation had not appeared in the cross.
But it has for us. The death of Christ comes to us in Word and Sacrament, particularly each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, where we eat and drink together the crucified and risen Lord Jesus’ true body and blood. It is where, in Baptism, we are washed in the blood of the Lamb, having our robes made white.
For these Sacraments, John the Baptizer was waiting. And so he worked in an inferior baptism, and awaited the Christ who would come and take John’s baptism and make it greater. It was good, but Jesus would redeem even John’s baptism, putting there the work of the Holy Spirit who would bring to Christ’s people faith, life, and salvation in the place of sin, death, and the devil.
For us, the waiting for salvation is over. We have been saved, dear friends. This is the work of the waters of Baptism, not the waters only but the water with the Word. We are saved, as Peter says, because Baptism now saves you. But, Paul also continues to use the phrase, being saved, we are being saved. He says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” We are saved, we are being saved, and we await from the Lord the great and glorious day when we will no longer have to struggle here against our sin. We await from the Lord the day when He makes all things new. That’s what Advent is all about.
If Baptism is about saving us, then, too, the Lord’s Supper is about continually saving us, strengthening us in the one true faith unto life everlasting. We are saved in the waters of Baptism. But how are we even now being saved? Through Christ’s body and blood. John the Baptizer was certainly even awaiting that day, though he would not live to see it. John had to die first to receive the feast of the Lord in the heavenly places. In fact, all men must die before receiving the Lord’s Supper. That is why Baptism is necessary first before receiving the Supper of the Lord. We must be baptized into Christ’s death and so have the Old Adam die. And we must be raised in Christ’s resurrection, having the New Adam, who is Christ, made alive in us by faith. The Lord’s Supper makes us new, forgiving us our sins, and bringing us together in Christ.
All this is about waiting, believe it or not. For all the prophets longed to see what John would see, Christ coming onto the scene. And all of humanity has waited to see the Messiah’s death for all men, for the forgiveness of sins. And all of creation is awaiting with great groaning the great day of the Lord, when He makes all things new. We have been waiting, we will continue to wait until Christ returns. And we are being strengthened for that through His gifts.
You see, as Pheidippides said, as John said, the battle is won. The battle over sin, death, and the devil is won by Christ for you. Now we await. We wait to see the King returning in His conquering glory. But, while we wait, the king sends gifts for us to enjoy until He returns. We hear of His great and glorious battle and of all His goodness through His Word, the Holy Scriptures. We are made citizens of the King’s country, naturalized citizens through Holy Baptism. And we are given the King’s feast, He has swung open wide the doors of His pantry, and so we eat the Bread of Life and drink the Wine of Salvation in Christ’s true body and blood.
We await the King in this Advent, and through every season, until the King returns. But, until then, we receive His gifts with thanksgiving and praise. We need not await the gifts of Christ ever. They are here for you, bringing to you what John the Baptizer could only dream of seeing. Your very eyes, in faith, see what John had only prophesied. You see Christ coming to you, the one who appears as a Lamb who was slain, baptizing you, feeding you, and giving to you His holy Word. And He does this, all throughout your waiting. So await with patience, the King is coming soon. The messenger has said it. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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