I Am Not Worthy - a podcast by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on Luke 3:15-22 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 07/25/2021 in Novato, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







Today we have part two about the ministry of John the Baptist in preparing the way for Jesus Christ. Here we see John’s humble service to fulfill his God-given role and ministry. But it is a ministry, like our passage for today, that ultimately gives the focus and spotlight to the Son of God and Messiah in whom God the Father is well pleased. As we study this passage for today, we’ll see how John’s good news about the coming Jesus is still good news for us today.







Let us begin by looking at verses 15-16. There we find a comparison between how John’s baptizes and how Jesus would baptize. This comparison of baptisms is in the context of a question found in verse 15. There, we see that the people had begun to wonder if John was the long-awaited Messiah. John’s ministry had attracted a lot of attention in Israel. Even the non-Christian Jewish historian Josephus describes the popularity and great influence of John in his book the Antiquities of the Jews. Even long after John’s death, we find in the book of Acts there were some people who yet considered themselves his disciples (c.f. Acts 19). So then, we are not surprised to see here that some were hoping that John might be the Christ. It is a wonderful thing, in general, to see in verse 15 that the people were in eager expectation for the coming Messiah. And it is thus understandable that they might have thought someone like John, who lived such a notable life in the wilderness as a prophet and who spoke with such authority and who instituted such a new thing as a baptism even for Jews, that he might be the Christ.







But, John was adamant that he was not the Christ, verse 16. In no uncertain terms, he unequivocally denied that he was the coming Messiah. Notice how he humbles himself in comparison to the Messiah. In verse 16, he explains that he is so inferior to the Messiah that he is not even worthy to untie the strap of his sandal. Realize, that such would have been a servant’s job for an important person, and one of the lowliest servant’s job — this is not an armor-bearer or cup-bearer position, for example. But John says he’s not even worthy enough to be such a lowest of personal servants for the Messiah. Running with that analogy, you can imagine that a prestigious and powerful king doesn’t have just anyone be his servants. He has the best of the best as his servants. John’s saying that compared to the glory and honor of the coming Messiah, he in comparison isn’t worthy to serve such a king even in such lowliest of a position. That’s biblical humility in light of the great glory and worthiness of the Christ.







John further makes his point then by comparing his baptism versus the kind of baptism Jesus would bring. In verse 16, John says he baptizes with water. He compares that with how the Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Ultimately, John’s comparison brings out the external component of his baptism and its function as a sign, whereas he brings out the substantive component of how Jesus baptizes. Let me explain what I just said. Think of John’s baptism. He uses water. What is water effective for when used to baptize? Well, the only thing it intrinsically does is wash dirt off a body. But of course, we know that is not why John the Baptist baptized people. He didn’t baptize with water for the remission of dirt. No, he baptized people for the remission of sins. But ultimately, this baptism with water was as an expression of their repentance and seeking God to forgive them of their sins. It expressed their plea to God for mercy in an expression of turning from sin. But you see,

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