The Holy Spirit will purify you!
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| Dispute of Jesus and the Pharisees over tribute money (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
John Calvin looked to John the Baptist’s condemnation of the Pharisees and Sadducees as an example of how the church should deal with those especially
hard in heart. He comments on Matthew 3:7–10 that “those whose habits of uttering falsehood to God, and of deceiving themselves, lead them to hold out hypocrisy and pretension, instead of the reality, ought to be urged, with
greater sharpness than other men, to true repentance.” At times only strong confrontation will rescue the soul of a professing believer who has grown complacent and presumed upon the Lord’s grace (18:15–20; James 5:19–20).
Matthew 3:7–10 is clear that the Sadducees and Pharisees needed such
upbraiding. These Jewish leaders during the Lord’s earthly ministry were often
at odds because of their conflicting theological opinions. The party of the
Sadducees was a kind of priestly aristocracy not against conforming to Roman
customs and law. They also denied the bodily resurrection of God’s people, but
the idea that they accepted only the five books of Moses as Scripture is
probably mistaken. Like the Pharisees, they submitted to the entire Old
Testament. On the other hand, the Pharisees added the oral law — traditions
that people followed as a guide to the Torah, that is, the Scriptures. The
Pharisees were not priests but scholars who affirmed the resurrection and were
popular with the people. Despite their disagreements, both groups united
against John and later, Jesus. After all, “the enemy of my enemy is my
friend.” Both groups had seats on the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the
Jews, and many of them apparently felt that Abrahamic descent guaranteed them
a place in the kingdom (v. 9).
It is one thing to reject John the Baptist, but quite another to deny the One
whom he precedes. John promises in today’s passage that the Messiah will
baptize not just with water but with the Spirit and fire (v. 11), an image
with double meaning. The long awaited flame of the Holy Spirit will purify the
soul and eventually remove all corruption from those who submit to the Son of
David (Isa. 1:24–26). But those who continue in their rejection of this king
will find only a fiery destruction (Isa. 66:15–16; Matt. 3:12).
The purifying work of the Holy Spirit commences in the believer when he first
turns to Christ. Sometimes the Spirit works on us in the fire of adversity,
through which the Lord promises to take us for His good purposes (Isa.
43:1–7). When we face trials in our lives we have an opportunity to prove our
faith and reliance on God. If you face trouble
