3:11
John’s mission was important, but he knew that he was preparing the way for someone far greater. This is a point emphasised again and again in the gospels. In Acts 19:1-3 we see that a legend of sorts had built up around John the Baptist, so the gospel writers were making sure that people knew what John was actually about, and it was certainly not about drawing attention to himself. As preachers we need to make sure that our role is to draw attention to Jesus, not to ourselves. One of the marks of Jesus being greater is that He would baptise with the Spirit and with fire. Jesus’ message and ministry is a ministry of judgement. It is also a ministry of forgiveness and of new birth.
3:12
In this verse it is the judgement side that is stressed. This is an aspect that is either overlooked or ignored by most. When sin-affirming churches prattle about the love of Jesus they usually have no idea what they are talking about. They have no idea what the love of God is, nor of the true depths of that love. We have all rebelled against God in many and various ways, and so are deserving of judgement, and are suffering the consequences. Our sin and rebellion goes deep, but God’s forgiveness and healing goes even deeper.
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