Matthew 3: The Trailblazer (4)

Pray Psalm 126.1-3.
When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.

Sing contemplatively Psalm 126.1-3.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
When God restored our fortunes all,
we were like those who sweetly dream.
Our mouths with joy and laughter filled,
made Him our constant song and theme.

Then the astonished nations said,
“The Lord has done great things for them!”
Indeed, great things our God has done,
Whose Name we praise, Amen, Amen!

Read Matthew 3.1-12; meditate on verses 11, 12.

Prepare.
1. What would Jesus do differently than John?

2. What was Jesus coming to do?

Meditate.
John used what would have been a very familiar image to describe for his hearers the ministry of the coming One. In those days, grain was harvested by breaking off the heads and gathering them in piles. The piles were then flailed and winnowed, a process that involved repeatedly throwing the kernels up in the air with a kind of sieve, to separate the chaff from the grain. Some of the chaff would fall through the sieve to the threshing floor, and some would blow away in the wind. The grain settled onto the sieve – the “winnowing fan” – and was secured for use. Then the threshing floor would have been swept clean, and the chaff that did not blow away in the wind would have been gathered and burned.

This is what Jesus was coming to do. Those who received John’s baptism indicated a readiness to receive the coming Kingdom. They testified before God and men that they repented of their sins, were washed of them, and were made ready vessels for the Lord’s purposes. John’s baptism was merely preparatory and symbolic, however. The baptism of Jesus was of a totally different kind.

The Spirit is the Wind of God to separate the chaff of sin from our souls, and the chaff of sinners from the congregation of the righteous. The “winnowing fan” Jesus bears is the proclamation of the Kingdom. How people respond to the announcement that the Kingdom and righteousness of God have come in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ determines whether they are precious kernels to be saved and gathered to the Lord, or vile chaff to be swept away and burned in “unquenchable fire.” Jesus will “thoroughly” clean His threshing floor; not a chosen kernel will be lost, and not a condemned bit of chaff will remain.

No wonder John considered himself unworthy even to carry the sandals of the Lord. We don’t carry His sandals. But others will know, by the way we deal with the chaff of sin, and how we use the winnowing fan of the Gospel, whether we carry His Name.

Reflect.
1. How does the idea of a winnowing fan apply to your life in Christ?

2. Jesus came to separate and gather. How does this apply to our lives as His followers?

3. How does the Holy Spirit remove the chaff of sin from our lives? What is our role in this?

The function of the fan is to separate the fruitful from the unfruitful. That the decision lies in God’s hands is indicated by his splendid wheat, the ripened fruit of believers, to be stored in barns. But the chaff indicates the futility of the unprofitable and unfruitful who are fit for the fire of burning judgment. Hilary of Poitiers (315-367), On Matthew 2.4

Winnow my soul, Holy Spirit, and send me forth today to…

Pray Psalm 126.4-6.
Weep for your sins, and ask Jesus to winnow them out of your life, and break you free from captivity to sin. Then seek His grace and leading as you go forth to sow in your Personal Mission Field.

Sing Psalm 126.4-6.
Psalm 126.4, 5 (Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
Restore our fortunes, Lord our King!
Let grace like flowing streams prevail.
All they with tears of joy shall sing
who sow while yet they weep and wail.

They who in tears of sorrow sow
and cast their seed on every hand,
with joy shall reach their heav’nly home,
and bring the harvest of their land.

T. M. Moore

The Gospel of Matthew will help us grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Two companion books can supplement our study of Matthew. To Know Him examines what it means to belong to Jesus and to love and serve Him (click here), while Be Thou My Vision enables us to gain an even larger perspective on Jesus (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).