Identity and Inheritance

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Like the Israelites in Ezekiel 18, we want to pin our blame and guilt on others rather than acknowledge our own sin and failure. Instead, God points us toward Christ, who bears our sin for us on the cross and pours out undeserved forgiveness and life.

What have you inherited from your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents? Do you look like them? Do you carry any of their personality traits? Do you bear their name? Did you continue their livelihood? Did you inherit money or property from them? Perhaps you bear negative imprints of their effect on you that you’ve carried with you throughout your whole life.

Parents have a huge impact on their children. In Ezekiel 18, we heard a very strange proverb about parents and their children that was popular at the time. “The fathers have tasted sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” (Ez. 18:2) What does this proverb mean? At this time, Israel was in the throes of exile. They had been conquered by Babylon, taken out of their land by force, and their blessings were crumbling before their eyes. The temple was soon to be destroyed. Where was God’s presence? When was God coming to rescue them? Whose fault could this be?

This proverb was spoken to answer some of these questions in an unsettling and incorrect way. Whose fault could this be? Hmmmm…Aha! Our fathers! In one sense, this is very real - after all, we bear the sinful nature passed down onto us from Adam and Eve, our first parents. However, this does not erase personal accountability. The people Israel blamed the sins of their fathers for the suffering they were presently experiencing. They turned a blind eye to their own wickedness and instead pointed their fingers elsewhere.

The blame game! This is all too familiar for us. Pointing fingers at everyone else, but never glancing in the mirror. It’s much easier to find fault in others than to recognize our own shortcomings, failures, and mistakes.

Through the prophet Ezekiel, God responds to this parable clearly. Each person is personally accountable before God. In some ways, this could be a very freeing thing! Someone with wicked parents does not have to bear the guilt of their parents. We do not have to be chained by the sins of our ancestors or bear the punishment of their evil. Someone with parents who have failed in the office of parenthood is free to be righteous in parenting their own children.

So then why was Israel’s response a cry against the justice of this statement? This statement was not one of freedom for them. It meant that there was no one to blame except themselves. God brought down the law on them, pointing them to have a look at themselves and repent of their wickedness. That’s a harsh reality check right there.

Their cry against God’s justice echoes the question posed by the chief priests and the elders in Matthew 21. Jesus had just cleansed the temple in righteous anger - another sharp proclamation of God’s law. Both groups were confronted with God's judgment and authority, and both responded by questioning God's justice and authority rather than examining themselves. The chief priests and the elders approached Jesus and asked: “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” What gives you the right? Who do you think you are?

Jesus’ answer is so interesting. He points to the baptism of John and answers their question with a question. Where did the chief priests and the elders think that John’s baptism came from: heaven, or man?

The chief priests and the elders had to huddle up to answer this one. If they answered “from heaven”, then they would be acknowledging that they had rejected something that was from God. If they answered “from man”, then they might be mobbed by the crowd, since the crowd believed that the baptism of John was from God.

So they gave the cowardly answer: “We don’t know.”

Why would Jesus specifically point to the baptism of John? The baptism of John was a “baptism of repentance”, and Jesus himself was baptized by John (Mt. 3:13-17). John recognized the backwardness of Jesus being baptized. Jesus did not need to repent! He is and was perfect and sinless. And yet, Jesus was baptized “in order to fulfill all righteousness”. The Spirit descended like a dove upon Jesus, and the Father spoke, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

What is Jesus’ authority? Where does he get it from? How does he have authority to cleanse the temple, this Jesus who is neither a priest nor an elder?

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” This Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus then shared with them a parable (Mt. 21:28-32): “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

Which did what his father wanted? The chief priests and elders answered this question correctly: “The first.”

Jesus responded: “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”

Imagine hearing these words as someone who has studied God’s law your whole life. As someone who sees themself as righteous and holy, and sees prostitutes and tax collectors as the scummiest of all.

Christ was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Christ was baptized to consecrate the waters. Christ was baptized so that all who are baptized might be washed in Him and clothed with His righteousness. Christ was baptized so that all who are baptized might be cleansed of their sin and gifted with his righteousness.

What is the difference between the chief priests and elders and the tax collectors and prostitutes? The tax collectors and prostitutes heard about this baptism and rejoiced. They are the first son, whose mind was changed and went into the vineyard! They knew themselves to be sinners in need of this baptism of repentance. The chief priests and elders heard of this, but they did not repent. They knew Ezekiel 18 well. They knew they were accountable individually before God, and they believed that they had made themselves righteous.

And yet, here is Jesus having entered into the waters of baptism, only days away from crucifixion. Jesus bore the sin of the fathers. Jesus bore the sin of the sons. Jesus bore the punishment for the sin that was not his. He did not quote Ezekiel 18 to get out of it, but willingly took on the sin of the whole world, silently, the Lamb of God led to slaughter. We deserve the consequences of our own sin. Christ did not deserve the consequences of sin at all, and yet He willingly bears them.

The heart of the first son was changed. He repented. The Christian walk is a walk of daily, constant repentance. The Holy Spirit works in us to change our hearts, to draw us in again, to remind us of our Saviour.

God’s desire is even for the chief priests and elders to repent. Ezekiel 18:32: “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

Are you a sinner in need of a Saviour? Do you fall short each and every day? I know I do. Hear these words of life. Jesus Christ bore the punishment of your sin on the cross. You are so precious to God that He gave His only Son to die for you, and Jesus did it willingly. God daily works repentance in you, to turn you from your sin and towards the cross. You are made a new creature, a new creation, in Christ, sent out into the world to be His light in the world, to be poured out for others in love as Christ has been poured out for you (Phil. 2:14-18).

You do not bear your own sin. You do not need to find someone else on whom to pin the blame. Christ has borne your sin for you.

Let us hold fast to this word of life (Phil. 2:16a)! We have been welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven and sent out to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Go in the victory of Christ, you who have been freed from the chains of sin and death! Drink deeply of this living water and be refreshed by the eternal life won for you in Christ Jesus. You are sealed in the love of Christ. You are beloved by God the Father. You have the gift of the Holy Spirit within you, drawing you daily to repentance, making known to you the Father and the Son, interceding on your behalf.

What have you inherited from your parents? I don’t know exactly, but I’m sure it includes all kinds of good and bad things. What I do know is what you have inherited from your Heavenly Father, who has made you an heir and calls you His child. You have inherited Christ’s righteousness. You have inherited the forgiveness of all of your sins. You have inherited grace and mercy. You have inherited the Holy Spirit dwelling within your very self. And you have inherited life everlasting in the very person of Jesus Christ. Wow. Praise be to God! 

Amen.

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