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Matityahu (matthew) 3:1-12
Have You Changed Your Mind?
By Johnny Tatum
PART 4: THE DEAD GIVE AWAY
Yochanan even seems to know what the P'rushim and Tz'dukim were thinking…
9
"and do not begin to think that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Avraham for our father'; for I say to you, that G_d is able from these stones to raise up children to Avraham."I think if we have a modern equivalent, he would have said
Do not even THINK about saying Avraham is our father. What he said freaked out the leaders because that was exactly what they were thinking!
A Popular Rabbinical Teaching:
Assurance of Eternity in Gan Eden
Jewish thought of the time pictured death as a long road. At one point in the road, there was a fork (branch) with one road leading to Gey-Hinnom (hell) and the other road leading to Gan Eden (paradise). According to the rabbis, Avraham sat at the fork in the road. Do you know why? To deliver any descendant of his who was on the road to Gey-Hinnom and get them on the road to Gan Eden. That was, supposedly, by just being a descendant of Avraham, a Jew was guaranteed eternal life in Gan Eden.
Further, the rabbis taught that 'the night' was only to the goyim of the world, but the 'morning' was to the nation of Israel because of the 'merits of the Fathers', in this case, of Avraham. Unfortunately, this common view was a message of false hope to the children of Avraham.
The P'rushim and Tz'dukim would not change their mind like those who were showing the fruit of repentance, because they thought that the road they were on was okay and it would lead to Gan Eden. It does not.
Here Is the Picture Again:
Yochanan the Immerser was saying that the King and the Kingdom is coming, and there is just one requirement to enter. It is NOT better behavior, it is NOT a promise to do better, but it is changing your mind (I used to think I was okay, now I know I am not. I used to think that the road I was on was going to lead me to heaven and now I know it does not.) At that point, the believer received the message of hope by trusting in Mashiach.
The P'rushim and Tz'dukim did not get the message of hope and Mashiach because they were not interested. Instead, they got the message of judgment…
10
"And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."The nation of Israel has long been looking for the Kingdom. These P'rushim were looking for the Kingdom too. Why? Because they thought they were going to be the leaders in the Kingdom.
It was not a shock to the Jews that the Kingdom included judgment, because they knew the Kingdom would be a combination of judgment and glory. But on whom did they think that judgment would fall? On the enemies of Israel and on the renegades of the world. The Jews, particularly the P'rushim, believed they would automatically receive glory and be in the Kingdom.
Yochanan the Immerser said
Yes the Kingdom is coming, and yes the Kingdom includes judgment. But Yochanan was preaching a message, which was against the thinking of the world. The thinking of the world then [like the thinking of the world today] is:You go to heaven unless
…Is that not what the world thinks today?
Analogy
:The Default Setting
The default setting for a human being is like the default setting on computer software.
What is the default setting? Once software is loaded on a computer, the computer will operate according to the settings and switches installed by the manufacturer. If a user does not change anything, then by default, the computer will work according to those settings.
The default setting for a human being is set to judgment
. If a person does not do anything, if he does not change the setting, then the default setting is Gey Hinnom (hell). It is NOT the case that you go to Gan Eden (paradise) unless you do something bad, but it IS the case that you go to Gey Hinnom unless you change your mind.
Immersion
I am wondering how many people say that they are believers, but they have never changed their mind. Today the concept of repentance is missing in both Catholic and Protestant theologies.
Many times when individuals talk about repentance they say
Turn over a new leaf or Be sorrowful for what you have done. But what about Change your mind? People say I was born in this church. I have always been close to G_d. Then ironically, IF you will get them to acknowledge that there is a certain point that was important, then they will bring up immersion. What an irony!They will miss the
Even Yochanan the Immerser knew it was just a symbol. In verse 11 he said:
As for me, I immerse you with water for repentance, but He will immerse you with Ruach HaKodesh and fire.
Obviously, there are two immersions: (1)
a symbolic one and (2) a real one.
Note:
My favorite illustration on immersion is when Sha'ul (Paul, the Apostle) said to the community of Jewish believers in Corinth:
For the Mashiach did not send me to immerse, but to preach the Good News. (1 Corinthians 1:17)
This week it struck me that Sha'ul was saying that immersion is NOT part of the Good News (the Gospel of Yeshua HaMashiach). The Mashiach did not send Sha'ul to immerse, but to preach the Good News!
Immersion is wonderful, but it is a symbol of what REALLY produces redemption, which is repentance. And I am going to say
Repentance alone. Having said that, does that not make you wonder? I thought we have always said Faith alone.
Illustration:
For eight years I was the director of an international ministry. When I took over, I inherited a doctrinal statement, which I scanned over and thought that it looked okay. For years I sent out this doctrinal statement in conjunction with another ministry.
Then one day someone wrote me a letter that said
I love your doctrinal statement. I especially love the way you emphasize that people are saved: not just by faith buy by repentance and faith. Can you imagine how fast I changed the doctrinal statement? The doctrinal statement implied there were two different things you have to do: first, you have to repent, and second, you have to believe Yeshua HaMashiach. Two things -- wrong!
Repent or Believe?
There is no doubt there is ONE requirement for salvation. But Yochanan the Immerser said
Repent and Yeshua says Believe. Are those two different things? Well, no.For Example:
If you are driving the wrong way and you turn the car around, you are simultaneously turning away from one direction and pointing toward the other, but you have made one move.Application:
Someone who turns to Yeshua HaMashiach is automatically turning away from the old. Again, it is not by changing your behavior; it is by changing your mind. And that is the fruit of repentance. Have you trusted in Mashiach? That is the fruit that you have changed your mind.
The P'rushim that came for immersion did not trust in Mashiach; therefore, they had no fruit of repentance. And what happens to a tree that does not produce fruit? It is cut down.
The ministry of Yochanan the Immerser was to show the bad news before the Good News. So we have the Good News of Matityahu, and it begins with a description of trees being cut down. This is Good News? Well, no it is not. But we cannot understand the Good News unless we understand the bad news.
That is why the Tanakh (the "Old") comes before the New Covenant. That is why Law comes before Grace; we cannot understand that we are released from the Law unless we first understand what the Law is. And we cannot understand that we are forgiven unless we understand that we need to be forgiven.
Illustration:
Once when I was asked to speak to a group of international students at a church, clearly I was told
You can talk about Yeshua, you can talk about being redeemed, and you can talk about Yeshua as their Redeemer. But you cannot talk about sin. I said That is impossible! How can you understand Yeshua as Redeemer unless you understand that He is a Redeemer from sin?You must have the bad news (all have sinned) before you get the Good News (Yeshua HaMashiach is the Redeemer). We cannot understand what it means to be redeemed unless we know from what we are redeemed.
Yochanan the Immerser was giving the knowledge of judgment that everybody is due
. The default setting for the human race is judgment, so people will know that redemption is available. That is why the Law comes first.Yeshua said something extremely fascinating:
The Law and Prophets were proclaimed until Yochanan; since then the Good News of the Kingdom of G_d is preached. (Luke 16:16)
There is a pretty strong argument here for dispensations. The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until Yochanan the Immerser. Ever since then, the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven has been preached.
That was how Yochanan the Immerser prepared the way for Mashiach.
Illustration:
I do not have any problem with the bumper sticker that says
Yeshua is the answer, but I wonder What is the question?Yeshua HaMashiach came and said I am the answer, and Yochanan the Immerser gave the question (the problem).
The Problem Is Sin
11
As for me, I immerse you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will immerse you with Ruach HaKodesh and fire."The word
and -- Ruach HaKodesh and fire -- in this context means Either-Or.
Mashiach is here is He is going to immerse every human being. I do not believe we think about immersion that way. But Mashiach will immerse EVERY person. The only issue is:
Will He immerse with Ruach HaKodesh or with fire?
And the default setting is fire!
Consider somebody who has never thought about his relationship with Mashiach. He is going to be immersed; he cannot avoid that. On what is his default setting?
Fire.On the other hand, somebody who says
I do not want to be immersed with fire, although I know I deserve it. I believe Yeshua HaMashiach is my Redeemer. What has he produced? The fruit of repentance. How is he immersed? With Ruach HaKodesh.
Again, for those who do not show the fruit of repentance, all that is left is judgment.
12
"And His winnowing fork is in His hand,The winnowing fork means, " a pitchfork".
And He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor;
That means, "take the pitchfork, go around the threshing floor, and throw up the wheat into the air".
And He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
You throw the wheat up into the air; the chaff blows off, and what is left is good.
Yochanan the Immerser was saying:
Yochanan the Immerser is a perfect illustration that the bad news comes before the Good News. Then it is
Either-Or:Everybody gets either G_d's judgment or G_d's grace -- 100 percent of one or the other
.
Application for the Redeemed:
The Kingdom of Heaven and the Tanakh
The application here is the sequence. Yochanan the Immerser was thoroughly Tanakh. In fact, as we will see in the book of Matityahu, even Yeshua's teaching in the beginning was Tanakh. Technically, the New Covenant began at the cross.
There are preachers on the radio that I enjoy listening to. However, something that always amazes me is that when preaching from the New Covenant they are just wonderful, but when preaching from the Tanakh they forget everything that they said before.
I listened to one preacher this week. He quoted Yesha'yahu (Isaiah):
Your sins have separated you from your G_d; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. (Yesha'yahu 59:2)
He said Now believer, if you have sin in your life then G_d will not hear your prayer. I thought What about the cross? Did he forget about the cross? Did he forget that the Tanakh is the bad news, before the Good News?
Then he quoted the book of Numbers:
And you may be sure that your sin will find out. (Numbers 32:23)
He said Brother; G_d will find you out. I thought That all ready happened at the cross. That was when our sin found us out.
Last, he quoted the book of Exodus:
Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished. (Exodus 34:7)
That is correct! When were we punished? At the cross.
But I know very well that if I went to this preacher and said You know I am very concerned about a verse I read in the Tanakh:
The soul who sins is the one who will die. (Ezekiel 18:4)
And I am concerned because I sinned today; I guess G_d is going to strike me dead. You know what he would say? Oh no! Yeshua HaMashiach took that for you. It has all ready been executed. That does not apply to you (to believers).
Why is it that many people take verses dealing with judgment in the Tanakh and [wrongly] think Uh oh. G_d is going to judge me. That is being a Parush (Pharisee).
That is NOT understanding the ministry of Yochanan the Immerser: to show what the bad news is so that we will say I do NOT want that. I want out. And then turn to Yeshua HaMashiach for redemption.
Abba [Father], thank You that You did not want anybody to miss Mashiach, so you sent a herald who pointed to the Lamb of God and who cleared the way for Mashiach. After my first look at this passage, I realized that I was not very interested in the herald's ministry because his message concerned judgment. However, I now know that it was through his voice calling in the wilderness that You revealed to ALL the bad news, which had to come before the Good News of Yeshua HaMashiach.
Thank You for those who found answers to their questions at the Yarden River. Thank You that they were able to articulate their change of mind, while being immersed, through confessing their sins. And most importantly, thank You for their response to Yochanan's private message
I trust in Mashiach as my Substitute, as my Redeemer. Through their example we too can know that we can be 100 percent forgiven and we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven by believing in Your Son, Yeshua HaMashiach (Messiah Jesus).Abba, I thank You for sending Your Son to die for my sins. I know that my sin separates me from You and I cannot do anything about my condition, but You have. From here on, I do not want my relationship with You to be defined by my having a position in my community or by my doing tzedacka (good deeds) that anybody can do. Instead, I want a relationship with You to be defined by who You are, the living G_d of hope, faith, and love.
Thank You that I have assurance that I will not be immersed with fire and that I will live in all eternity with You through Yeshua HaMashiach.
In His name I pray. Amen and Amen.
To:
Matthew 3:13-17, MESSIAH ARRIVES
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