Anchor My Faith

John, Who Are You?

Scripture: Luke 3:15-18

In our previous lesson, those who heard John asked what they should do; how should they respond to the message? In this lesson there was a different question that began to surface. That question related to who John might be; “Was he the Christ?” The question wasn’t actually asked, but John sensed it was in their hearts: “As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ” (Luke 3:15 ESV). To satisfy their questioning hearts, “John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16 ESV). Using the word “he” twice, John points to another as the one, who we know, from previous lessons, to be Jesus, the Son of God, the expected Messiah.

John first points out that one who is mightier than he is coming. In fact, he is so great that John says he is not worthy to even untie the strap on his sandals, or as Matthew said, “whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” (Matthew 3:11 ESV). Jesus, who is coming, is the Son of God and is so much mightier than John who is a man. Jesus, the creator of the universe, stands so much above John.

The second point that John makes concerns their baptism. John baptizes with water, while Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This took place at Pentecost in Acts 2. How this baptism of Jesus will affect a person depends on the response of that person to belief in Jesus Christ. Those who believe will be baptized into the body of Christ while those who do not believe will be baptized into the eternal fire of hell.

This fire is emphasized next by John: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:17 ESV). A winnowing fork is a wooden pitch fork used to throw grain and chaff into the air so a breeze can blow the chaff away, thus separating the two. As the wheat and its chaff is separated, the wheat is gathered up for use as food while the chaff is gathered up and burned as possible fuel. The mention of “unquenchable fire” suggest that the chaff is the unsaved who will face the horrible nature of eternal judgment.

The narrative for this section ends with: “So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people” (Luke 3:18 ESV). This “good news” is the gospel message, which sets John apart from Old Testament prophets. He is the first preacher to deliver the message of the kingdom of God that is to be ushered in by Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Father, John is pointing to one who is mightier than all who will impact all humanity. He is pointing to your Son who came to earth, that he created, through the virgin birth, to take on the flesh of man, to walk with us and teach us about God and the way of salvation. The message that lies ahead of us on our journey along the gospel path will either be embraced, leading to eternal life, or it will be rejected, leading to eternal damnation. Each one of us must make that choice. It is Jesus who divides humanity into two groups. No one else has that ability! What is your choice?