CW 316 - On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry
Long before there were tweets or viral videos, long before there were nightly newscasts and morning newspapers, people received their information from the town crier. The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dressed in fancy clothes, in a red and gold coat, white pants, black boots, and a three-cornered hat. In English-speaking countries, they carried a handbell to attract people’s attention. They shouted, “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!” before making their announcements. The word “Oyez” means “hear ye.”
John the Baptist was the wilderness crier. He gained people’s attention, not with fancy clothes, but with a camelhair suit. Rich and poor traveled from every direction out to the Judean desert along the banks of the Jordan River to hear John’s message. John preached, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2)! John fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. And everyone will see the salvation of God’” (Luke 3:4-6).
Our hymn for this week, “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” proclaims the message of John to us today.
Verse one: On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry announces that the Lord is nigh; come, then, and listen, for he brings good news about the King of kings.
The wilderness crier announces that the Lord is nigh. “Nigh” means that the Lord is near. Get excited in preparing for the Lord’s return. Dust away the cobwebs from your Bible. Open the Bible app on your phone. Listen to podcasts of Bible studies and hymn devotions. Brush up on what God’s Word says about your Savior. Because God’s Word is bringing you news. Not just regular news about an ordinary guy. But good news about Jesus Christ, the King of Kings!
Verse two: Then cleansed be ev’ry life from sin and furnished for a Guest within, and let us all our hearts prepare for Christ to come and enter there.
The wilderness crier announces that you are to cleanse your life from every sin. Discard the sin that clutters your life. Throw away the skeletons you’ve been hiding in your heart. Remove the ugly trash that keeps you from having guests come over. Because you have the most important Guest coming. This Guest is Jesus Christ, the Son of God and your Savior. Open the blinds on the windows of your mind so the warm light of God’s love can flood in. Open the door to your heart so Jesus Christ can enter and make himself welcome in your life.
Verse three: We hail you as our Savior, Lord, our refuge and our great reward; without your grace we waste away like flow’rs that wither and decay.
The wilderness crier announces that we are to praise our Savior and Lord. We join with the psalmist in why we praise our Lord. “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his
holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:1-3). Without God’s grace, we wither and decay. With God’s grace, we live now and forever.
Verse four: Stretch forth your hand, our health restore, and lift us up to fall no more; O make your face on us to shine, and fill the world with love divine.
The wilderness crier announces that Jesus brings health and healing with him. We pray to Jesus to heal our illnesses and our diseases. But more importantly, we pray to Jesus to heal us from our cancer of sin and the disease of death. We end our worship services with the threefold blessing of our God, “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you his peace.” What a wonderful blessing to have Jesus shine his face on you with warmth, gladness, and divine love.
Verse five: All praise to you, eternal Son, whose advent has our freedom won, whom with the Father we adore and Holy Spirit evermore.
We join the wilderness crier in a doxology of praise to our Triune God. We give all praise to Jesus Christ, whose advent – “advent” means “coming” – won freedom from sin, death, and the devil for us. We give praise to the Father who sent his Son into the world to be our Savior. And we give praise to the Holy Spirit who created faith in our hearts to believe in Jesus as our Savior.
Jesus has come with his birth into this world. Jesus comes to us today in Word and Sacraments. Jesus is coming again in the clouds on the Last Day. This is great news! Pay attention to the news of the wilderness crier.