Pentecost 17

September 20 - 26

Nehemiah, Malachi, 1 Timothy, Gospel of Matthew

People from all over have been flocking to the wilderness to hear from the new baptizing prophet. With fire in one hand and water in the other, he preaches repentance ahead of the coming Messiah, but applies baptism, a rite of cleansing and purification - and not just for Jews, but for all people.

It isn’t hard to imagine, then, John’s hesitance when Jesus asks to be baptized. How can the sinless Son of God be made clean? The Son should be baptizing him! Jesus answers: to fulfill all righteousness, submitting himself to the law in perfect obedience to his Father.

John’s ancestors knew something about disobedience and repentance. After the exile, in a reconstructed Jerusalem that was a shadow of its former greatness, the priests once again read the word of God to the people. They hung on the Word that had been so long neglected, and it cut them to the heart. In true repentantance, they sincerely confessed their sin and pledged themselves to serving the LORD with a sealed covenant. It would not last. Later generations would descend into idolatry yet again and abuse the LORD’s prophets.

It is into this world that our Savior arrives, proceeding innocently to the cross to bear the punishment for all sinners, including us. Full of the Spirit, Jesus’ work has cleansed us and made us his brothers and sisters. And he has done it perfectly. The Father is well pleased.

But for us, the kingdom is at hand. In due time, all things will be made new. So listen to his prophets. Let his holy Word peirce your heart. Bring your sin to him. Let his baptism make you holy before him. Then do his work and honor him.

“Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire as you heard and yet continued to live?....Know this today, and again take it to heart that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is no other.” These are the emphatic words Moses speaks to the Israelites, just before entering the promised land. It is not simply a plea to behave; it is a reminder to God’s people of who they are. He has set them apart for his special purpose. He wants them to follow him with whole hearts.

Moses’ piercing rhetorical question is affirmed in Jesus’ sermon on the mount: don’t place your hope where thieves steal and moths destroy. Like all the things of this world, those fading gods will let you down in the end. He tells us to consider what our real treasure is, because that is where our hearts will also be.

And where is that? So often, we pledge our hearts to wealth, anger, lust, and the many other things the self-serving flesh wants. In this condition, none of us should hear the voice of God and live.

But when Jesus speaks, he reminds us who we are. With his death and resurrection, he has bound us together in him as his own people. He has led us out from the bondage of sin and disciplined us on our journey. His fiery Word has burned away the impurities of the sinful heart and made it holy. What once bowed before wood, stone, and flesh now serves as salt and light to the world.

It won’t be long before we enter the land he has promised us, where sin, death, and evil are gone forever. But for now, Jesus himself is the treasure, the rock on which we build.