Who was John the Baptist? [36]
Reading: Matthew 11: 1-19
The name “John” derives from a Hebrew term signifying “God is gracious.” He was known familiarly as “the Baptist” to differentiate him from other Johns in the New Testament. There are also a confusing number of people called James and Mary. John is a somewhat scary character in many ways. I don’t think he would have been the easiest house guest nor, I suggest, would you have easily addressed him as “Jack”.
The importance of John in the divine scheme of things probably is summed up best in the testimony of Jesus himself. “Among them that are born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist . . .” [37]
John was the son of elderly Jewish parents named Zacharias and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was related to Mary, the mother of Jesus. This devout couple lived in the “hill country” of Judea, somewhere around Hebron.
We know from Luke’s Gospel that John was about six months older than Jesus.[38] It was foretold that this child would be filled with the Spirit of God, even from birth, and that he would be reared under the strict code of the Nazirites [39] who were well known Jewish mystics and ascetics.
Any Jewish person familiar with his Old Testament could have expected the ministry of someone like John as a preliminary measure in the divine plan, paving the way for the appearance of the Messiah. Note the following.
Seven centuries before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah spoke of “the voice of one that cries ‘Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord’” and “Make level in the desert a highway for our God”.[40] With the coming of Jesus, these words spring to life again with deeper and fuller meaning. John, therefore, was a key figure in the preparation of the Messiah’s work.
In the last book of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi says: “Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the Messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold he comes, says the Lord.” Malachi later refers to this “messenger” as “Elijah the prophet”.[41] In the New Testament this “Elijah” to come was seen as none other than John.
The description of John is brief and stark. He was arrayed in a “camel’s hair” garment, secured by a leather belt, and his diet was locusts and wild honey.
John was somewhat reclusive. Jesus once said: “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon”.[42] “Eating and drinking” stood for socializing. The prophet was not a party-goer. His ascetic life-style appeared almost demonic, like the mentally ill people who apparently frequented the desolate areas. He did not seek out the multitudes; rather, somehow, he attracted them.
The citizens of Jerusalem and all Judea went out to him as he moved about in the Jordan Valley. After several centuries of silence, the voice of the prophet was, once again, heard in the land.
John’s mission can be summed up by one word, “preparer.” It was his great calling to prepare a people for the coming Messiah. Both Isaiah and Malachi had announced that he would “prepare” the way for the coming of the Lord
John provided excellent witness to the nature of Christ. As the prophet began to generate attention, certain Jews in Jerusalem dispatched to him a delegation of priests and Levites in order to ascertain his identity. John emphatically stated that he was not the promised Messiah, rather, he was the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy, the voice of preparation for the arrival of God in the flesh. The declaration of John that he was unworthy to unloose the thongs of his sandals [43] was stunning testimony indeed – with obvious implications. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist characterized Jesus as “the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”.[44]
We know what happened to John. Herod held him in prison – and yet was fascinated by him. On his birthday, Herod was beguiled into granting his daughter in law a wish after she danced a strip tease for him and his unsavoury crew. So, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. With his execution, obviously, John disappears from the scene.
Prophets are not just people who tell the future – they also tell it as it is now and what God wants of us now. People will never be pleased with prophets. Jesus himself said that a prophet has no honour in his own country.[45] Actually society in general does not like too much truth. Truth will make you free but first it may make you miserable.
People are fickle in matters of religion (and in most issues) and that has not changed. Some people complained about John because he found him a bit too much – just too extreme with his wild appearance and seemingly extravagant language about broods of vipers and the wrath to come. But the same people who complained about John also complained about Jesus. In contrast to John, Jesus seemed too liberal and was over fond of eating and drinking. We need to remember that the most important thing is to please God and not just other people.
People play their part in the bigger picture. We seldom live to see all that we might like to see. As I get older, like most people I have a few regrets. If only I had taken that opportunity. If only I hadn’t done that. Also, as we get older, there is the tendency to feel that we maybe haven’t had the influence or success we might have wished. Well look at John. It seemed as though his mission had been a failure. How could he be a success when he was dead? People living in this part of Scotland look with pride at the legacy of David Livingstone. He endured incredible hardship in his medical work, in his spreading of the Gospel and his battle for the abolition of slavery. Historians argue as to how many converts he actually had – was it one or none? The London Missionary Society actually withdrew their support from him at one stage because they thought he was not getting sufficient converts. In this respect, Livingstone died a disappointed man. Yet he did plant a real seed – and the church in Malawi to this day acknowledges its debt to Livingstone even though he has been in his grave for 140 years.