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.
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