Luke 3:16-17, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and whit fire. his winnowing fork is in His hand, to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
See the authority that John ascribes to the coming Jesus, to the man whose birth we’ve seen described just chapters earlier, to the man who is to be the salvation and glory of the Lord on display, who is to be a light for revelation to the gentiles and for glory to Israel.
First, Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Who but GOD can baptize another with the Spirit of God?
Second, the “threshing floor”—which represents the world in this parable—the threshing floor belongs to Jesus. It is His threshing floor. When Christ comes into the world, He comes to His own possession.
Third see that the “barn” is His. The barn represents heaven or paradise or—ultimately—the New Heavens and Earth, it is the place of the saints final joy in the presence of God, and John says that this “barn” belongs to Jesus. Not only is the earth His, but now we see that the eternal dwelling of the saints is His.
Fourth, see that He is the one who determines destinies. He gathers the wheat into His barn and He will burn the chaff with unquenchable flame. This man who is about to enter the scene—this man will judge every human soul and assign them their eternal dwellings.
And the winnowing fork by which He divides humanity—gathering some into the storehouses of God’s presence and scattering others into the fire of eternal exile—is His cross. Who we see there exposes us as wheat or chaff…is this crucified one our Lord and God and Savior?…or is He something else? The answer reveals our hearts and the trajectory of our eternity…
This is the authority of Jesus Christ….and what can we say? As we meet Him in the gospels, as we know His heart therein—and thus God’s heart—as we see Him give Himself up for God and Bride on the cross, can we not put our hands over our mouths and silence our questioning and confess simply that HE will do what is right. HE will do what is best. HE will bring about the final harmony of God’s beauty and our wills ought joyfully to bow to His own.
Hallowed be your name, Father, in the eschatological work of your Son.
