After an interlude in Psalm 51, I now return to my journey through Matthew. It is like a place I have visited many times and am once again able to travel a familiar road to see things I have never noticed before, and to treasure the familiar sights and landmarks that have already come to mean so much to me.
This morning, I came to the first two verses of Matthew 3: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
What stood out was the stage John was given on which to herald the Christ to Israel and the world: “the wilderness”.
As I pondered this in prayer, trying to picture the kind of places this would have involved, I was curious why the wilderness would have been better than Jerusalem or any of the other locations that are familiar to us. What did the wilderness give that those would have taken away?
And then it hit me: the wilderness was the one place where everyone had to leave where they were, to go to where no one already lived, to hear a message that was exactly the same for all who heard it. The wilderness gave the most level-ground stage possible!
The fact that John came “preaching” in the wilderness meant that he was heralding a message of hope that everyone needed to hear. In one sense, that meant it wasn’t about him, but about the message he was given. In another sense, it was all about him at that time because he was the only messenger of this good news. Everyone had to come to John to get ready for what was about to happen that wasn’t about John!
On the level-ground of this empty stage, everyone heard two things that applied to them all. First, that everyone needed to “repent”. This spoke of a change-of-heart about sin. Everything we do comes out of our hearts. For God to change us from sinners to saints he must change the heart. We can’t live a new life out of an old heart, but must repent (change our minds about sin), so that we truly want to walk with God in the righteousness of faith.
Second, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” for everyone at that time in a way that no one had ever experienced. It was level ground because it was offered to all, and nobody already had it. Everyone was outside the kingdom of heaven. It was just as “at hand” for one person as another, and repentance was the key to get people ready to enter it.
Over the course of John’s ministry everyone would discover that prostitutes and tax collectors were repenting and entering the kingdom of heaven, while the religious elite only came as far as spectators of John’s ministry but had no concept that they were not in God’s kingdom or that God would require them to repent to come under his rule.
On one occasion, Jesus confronted the religious leaders about this.
“Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”[1]
For those who mistakenly think that Jesus hung out with prostitutes and sinners who were still living in their sins, the truth is that everywhere Jesus went he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom and many prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners of every kind, were going into the kingdom. In other words, the sinners who fellowshipped with Jesus were the ones who repented and entered God’s kingdom, not the ones who were still quite happy to continue living in their sin!
Because our attachment to God in his word should always deal with us first (how the branch is doing with the vine determines what kind of fruit it is able to bear), what does this have to say to someone who has believed in God for 58 years, has trusted in Jesus as my Lord and Savior for 52 years, and is now a senior who has many stories of getting to know God better every day of my life?
For starters, John’s wilderness stage seems like the ultimate in level ground. Nobody could make the mistake of thinking that they got bonus points just because John started preaching in their town instead of somewhere else (pride), and no one could think they were excluded because John didn’t begin in their community because other folks were more important (despair).
The wilderness was level ground. Everyone had to leave what they had and come hear the good news about something no one had. This would lead to the level ground at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ where everyone would have to admit they were a sinner, and that Jesus Christ alone was the Savior for the whole world.
Recently, I had my eyes opened to another place of level ground that continues to bless me personally as an old guy treasuring a new thought: every believer in Jesus Christ has level ground at the throne of God. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”[2] Every sinner must come to the level ground at the foot of the cross to be saved, and every saint (saved person) must come to the level ground at the “throne of grace” to “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” It is the same for everyone, and I need that at my age as much as you do at yours.
It is only a few weeks ago that God transformed my level-ground understanding from the cross to the throne. Today he takes me back to the beginnings of the gospel to show me that it has been level ground from the very beginning. The good news was introduced in the wilderness where everyone had to leave where they were and go to the same place to hear the same message of God’s kingdom.
And that still applies to everyone reading this. God doesn’t come into our lives to give us the impression we can add him to whatever we are already doing. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus wherever he leads.
Jesus gave a simile to help us appreciate what John was introducing and what Jesus would continue proclaiming. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”[3]
That’s what it looks like to come to the level ground of the wilderness and the cross. We all discover the same treasure in Christ and his gift of salvation. We all must give up everything we already have in ourselves and our own good works. And we all must buy the field. This is not suggesting we have money (good works) with which to do it, but that we must break ties with what we had in our lives of sin (repentance) and take possession of God’s gift of salvation by grace through faith.
Today, the empty stage of the wilderness gives everyone the
same standing before God as condemned sinners meeting God’s fullness of life. For
those who believe in Christ, we receive the same standing as saints set apart
unto God as his beloved children. Everyone must leave our self-made lives of
sin, and everyone must trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Those who do
this enter the kingdom of heaven just like everyone else who has received Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior.
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
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