The Message and the Messenger (2)

As the baptizer, John is the one who made people fully wet by immersing them in the Jordan. There is no indication that God gave him this designation. It more likely came from the people. There is no evidence that Jesus ever called John “the baptist.” Preaching precedes baptism. So why wasn’t he called “John the Preacher?” Or, “John the Voice?”  And, another thing, was Jesus taking notes on how to preach so as to draw a crowd? When Jesus heard his cousin crying out the message of the kingdom, was He moved?  John’s message included “a baptism for repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Since this was a part of John’s introduction of Jesus, then how did these three concepts reveal the mind of Christ?

The focus of baptism for John was repentance and forgiveness. Repentance happens in the heart of a man. Forgiveness happens in the mind of God. Later John will demand some “fruit of repentance” from the Jewish teachers. Baptism without true repentance is a sham. The conviction of one’s heart toward his offence toward God was essential to receiving God’s forgiveness. God cannot forgive someone who does not want to be forgiven. You can’t pardon someone who does not want to be pardoned. The work of repentance is the knocking down of hills and the raising up of valleys in one’s life. This unobstructed pathway allows Jesus to enter a person’s life and provide the forgiveness they so desperately need. As in the Day of Atonement when Jesus comes into a person’s life, behind their veil (see 2 Cor.3), bringing out the sins and laying them on the scapegoat, the person goes away humbled by the experience. Forgiveness is the focus of the kingdom message. Jesus rules over forgiven people. Jesus rules over repentant people. Jesus rules over baptized people.

This kingdom is referred to in several ways in the New Testament: 1) Kingdom of God (Matt.6:33); 2) His kingdom (Matt.13:41); 3) The kingdom of our Father David (Mk.11:10); 4) The kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph.5:5); 5) The kingdom of Jesus Christ (Rev.1:9); 6) The heavenly kingdom (2 Tim.4:18); 7) The kingdom (Matt.8:12). Jesus’ thinking about the kingdom was fundamentally different than the average person of his day. It wasn’t that they did not think about the kingdom; it was that they had a completely distorted view of it. This is why repentance and forgiveness is critical to creating a new kingdom mindset. It personalizes the kingdom, Kingdom is no longer national. It is about my sin and my need. It is about the heart and not politics. It is “at hand” for each person, a kingdom that is near.

So what did John’s attire have to do with this kingdom message? Remember Jesus asks later in Matt.11:7-8, “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken in the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s palaces.”  John’s very attire spoke to a different kind of kingdom from what most expected. The expensive and soft clothing of royalty in the Roman and Jewish world stands in sharp contrast to John’s camel hair suit and leather belt, and Jesus’ severely limited wardrobe. Kings ate sumptuously and slept on beds of ivory. John ate locust and wild honey, and Jesus did not have a place to lay his head. The very food, clothing and sleeping arrangements of Jesus and John spoke to the nature of this new kingdom.

Did anyone who came to John for baptism remember Naaman during the days of Elisha (2 Kings 5) who had to humble himself in order to be dipped seven times in this same muddy Jordan River? Naaman’s need was a cure for leprosy. Our need is a cure for sin. There is no more fitting opening act than John in the desert baptizing people for repentance and forgiveness to usher in a new understanding of the kingdom of God.

The Message and the Messenger (1)

The synoptic gospels record some interesting facts about the eccentric John the Baptist (Matt.3:1-6; Mark 1:2-6; Luke 3:3-6). These facts can be broken down into four parts: 1) Isaiah’s prophecy; 2) John’s basic message; 3) John’s baptism in the Jordan; 4) John’s food and clothing. John figured prominently in the ministry of Jesus and our understanding of the mind of Christ.

Isaiah’s prophecy (40:3-5) is included differently in each of the gospel accounts. Mark has verse 3, Matthew has verse 3, and Luke has verses 3-5a. However, Mark also adds a line from Malachi 3:1 though Mark also adds a phrase to Malachi’s text, i.e. “before your face.”  Why does Mark add this phrase? Perhaps it is his commentary on Isaiah 40:5 which speaks of the glory of the Lord being revealed and all flesh seeing it. And Malachi also mentions “the Lord who you seek will suddenly come to his temple” which reminds me of Psa.27:4 where God who is being sought in his temple is associated with seeking His face. So what is the purpose of quoting Isaiah and Malachi?

It was first to confirm that the promised “messenger” was in fact among first century Israel. Just as the angels announced the birth of Christ, so John, a human angel, announces the ministry of Christ. When important people speak before large crowds it is honor to be chosen to introduce the speaker. Later God Himself will make His own introduction from heaven. Of course, the bridegroom must be announced. It is fitting. For John this was part of the preparation, making ready or forming the way for Jesus. Every building needs to be formed before walls, roofs, and floors can be added. The 2/4’s come out, the footers are dug, and the trusses are put into place. This was John’s work. He was grading the road that Jesus would pave. I can’t help but wonder if Jesus and John had discussed this ahead of time. Did they spread out the house plans or the road construction plans, and plot out the job together? Did they discuss timing, and locations, and wordings? Was their ministries coordinated?

John was the VOICE. He was the spokesman for Jesus. He was his press secretary. He had authority to speak for Jesus. Twice more “voice” is mentioned, i.e. Rachel, the voice of Ramah, weeping for her children, and God Himself who spoke from heaven. These are the three voices in the life of Jesus: a voice of announcement, a voice of travail over the effects of sin, and the Voice of affirmation to the identity and purpose of Jesus. John’s voice was in the wilderness just as Isaiah said it would be. Perhaps God staged the announcement there so as to separate it from the noisy voices of the crowds in Jerusalem. In the desert John’s voice would stand out. There would be no competition from would-be messiahs. It is also fitting that John was in the very desert where the scapegoat was released on the Day of Atonement, the goat that takes away the sins of the people. The first two voices “cried” out. There is urgency. The third Voice answered.

John’s job was to make straight paths for the Lord. The word is euthus, a metaphor for right, upright, and true. This is the only path Jesus can follow. He is not crooked. Luke tells us the process involves filling in ravines and bringing mountains and hills low. John was a road-grader, and, if you have ever lived on a dirt road, you understand. Two words describe the road John must repair, crooked from skolia, from which we get scoliosis, and trachus which means rough, with a goal of making the road smooth. The word smooth is a word from which we get lego-"to lay, arrange, to-gather” or to otherwise put something in order. John and Jesus entered a world that was “out of order” and had to be straightened out. Jesus saw the world as messy, cluttered, disordered, chaotic, much like the world before creation, i.e. formless and void with darkness over the deep. Then, He spoke words of LIGHT into darkness, and He will do the same in His day.

Luke continues the Isaiah quote to include “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Jesus came in the flesh (John 1:14) to save all flesh, an important theological point according to 1 John 4. In Acts 2:17, another prophecy announces the pouring out of the Spirit on “all flesh.”  Luke’s quotation from Isaiah is the first mention of the mystery (See Eph.3) that salvation is for all, Jew and Gentile alike. It is going to take some significant actions by Jesus and the Father to get the early church to understand and apply this in practice. Jesus’ mind was firmly set on offering salvation to all men. The two people He commended for having great faith were both Gentiles. Though He trained the apostles on reaching the “lost sheep of the house of Israel,” He personally ministered to everyone in His path, including the Samaritans (John 4).

This salvation is deliverance. Deliverance means to take a person from a state of danger and destruction and bring them into a state of prosperity and happiness, or from slavery to freedom. Jesus came to be a blessing (Gen.12:3). He would prove to be so to men, body, soul and spirit.