03.01 | Humility & Hope
Matthew 3:1-4:11
“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 3:1-2
Let’s face it: John the Baptist was a bit odd.
Strange place to live. Strange clothes. Strange diet. And a problematically confrontational style of communication.
And yet, crowds of people trekked out into the wilderness to find him.
John had gone viral.
Now we might understand this if it was a kind of morbid interest in the latest local lunatic. But that’s not why we’re told they went out.
They went out, Matthew says, to confess.
To speak honestly about their brokenness, their pain, their mistakes, their regrets. They went out to put words to their deepest shame, in the hope that by doing so they would move from the captivity of regret and bad habit into a new and fresh existence. They went out there because they had a feeling that by passing through the waters of the Jordan there may just be a land of promise on the other side.
They went out there to become free.
The Old Testament finishes with a prophecy. You can find it in the book of Malachi,1 just a few pages earlier in your Bible. The prophecy was that there was a coming Day that belonged to God — when He would come Himself and defeat the forces of darkness and pain and injustice, and bring the world and humankind into their intended beauty and joy and life. But Malachi said that someone would come before this, like a herald of its coming.
Elijah.
Bear with.
Elijah lived around 900 years earlier. He lived in the wilderness. Like John, he also wore clothing made of animal hair, and wore a leather belt around his waist.2 He spent his life confronting corrupt kings and queens with a message of integrity and a lifestyle of miraculous power. He prepared the way for God to come back into their world, but the kings and queens would not take it. They shut their ears to his teaching and thus shut their lives to the opportunity of truly living.
John the Baptist, Jesus later tells His disciples, fulfils this prophecy.3 Elijah has come.
The Day of the Lord is about to arrive. And John is there to help the people get ready. And their readiness looks like two things.
They are humble enough to know they are broken.
They are hopeful enough to resolutely maintain that life could be better.
Humility and hope. The ingredients of confession. And thus the ingredients of freedom.
Today’s reading finishes with the story of Jesus in the wilderness. Like John, walking the wilderness of the Jordan. Like John, stepping out of the comforts of the world, in order to step into the life of heaven. And like John, standing firm in the face of brutal opposition with unswerving integrity.
It may not seem like it, but it’s a story of an epic battle: good vs. evil. The archenemy of humanity vs. the Champion of humanity. The devil tries his best tricks to undermine Jesus with his ploys. He tries to get Jesus to live for the hedonistic pleasures of living for His appetites. He tried to get Jesus to require proof of God’s love before He will trust. He tries to get Jesus to bypass right worship before He receives His rightful authority. Jesus stands firm. His appetite is for God. He trusts without requiring proof. And He will not compromise His worship for a shortcut to power.
And thus He wins.
The Day of the Lord is breaking in.
Reflect:
Which is more challenging for me today? The humility to accept that I need God’s renewal? Or the hope to believe that He is able to restore me to holiness?
Pray:
Father,
I see my brokenness and mistakes,
At least in part.
I see what I could be,
At least just a glimmer.
You see the fullness of both of these.
I bring you my whole being today.
I confess that I have lived beneath what you made me for.
Take me through the waters again,
From my slavery, addictions, and my wounded feelings
Into the land of promise on the other side,
That my heart may scintillate with the life for which you made it.
And when I find myself in a wilderness
And the temptations are strong
Help me to walk like Jesus:
Hungry for you, trusting in you, committed to you,
Into victories abundant on the others side,
For I live in the Day of the Lord
My Lord,
Jesus.
In His name,
Amen.
Old Testament:
For those doing the whole Bible in a year, your additional readings are here:
Genesis 6:1-9:17 | Psalm 2
Malachi 4:5-6
2 Kings 1:8
Matthew 11:14