A Voice in the Wilderness

Introduction

Illustration: I would like to set the scene for you, if you don’t mind. It’s somewhere around the beginning of what we would now call the first century. You’re a Jewish person living under the oppressive thumb of the tyrannical Roman government. They exact large taxes from you and your fellow countrymen constantly and set up and tear down rulers over your country like puppets, all in exchange for “the Roman Peace,” meaning they won’t kill you with their swords. All your life you’ve been read the promises of your scriptures, that one day Yahweh would send His chosen Messiah to come and rescue Israel and set up an eternal throne in Jerusalem. Maybe by this point you’re getting cynical, since several men have come forward pretending to be this Messiah, but failing and being proven false. Maybe you’ve lost hope that Messiah was coming, even though the prophecies of Daniel make it seem as though the time is coming very soon.

Then John shows up. A man wearing sackloth and eating locust and wild honey in the desert calling people to the river Jordan to repent, and calling Jewish people to be baptized as if they’re foreigners who wish to convert to the worship of Yahweh. Perhaps you’re reminded of the stories of Elijah in the Hebrew Scriptures, how he dressed and acted the same, and those promises in Malachi 4:5-6

Malachi 4:5–6 CSB

Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Is this strange man in the desert Elijah returned? Or maybe even the Messiah Himself? All this backdrop is perhaps why the Jewish leaders felt it necessary to send messengers to ask this John guy a few important questions.

In some ways our situation is very different from the situation that the Israelites were in at this point. We aren’t a conquered people living under the rule of a vast empire for example. We aren’t waiting and wondering who the Messiah will be. We know that Jesus came and fulfilled those prophecies. Yet we do have a few things in common with them. We read the Bible and the promises that God has for us about the present and the future and maybe sometimes wonder how true they are. We see people come and claim to speak for God and wonder if they’re the real deal. We try to guess what future prophecy means and how it effects us in the present.

That being the case I think this short passage about John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus has a lot to teach all of us this morning. I’m very glad to be here in Burtts Corner this morning, and glad to share with you this part 2 in our latest sermon series going slowly through the Gospel of John. I’m calling it “Believe and Live: the Gospel According to John,” because in John 20:31 John says,

John 20:31 CSB

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

If you’re curious at all about what I talked about in part one feel free to check it out on YouTube.

So, now that we know we’re facing a lot of the same questions these folks had at the time John the Baptist showed up, lets take a look at the story of his testimony as we find it in the Gospel According to John. Turn with me to

John 1:19–34 CSB

This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

When I read about John the Baptist in the New Testament I’ll tell you one of my strongest feelings about him is “this is what we should be like.” Obviously we should be trying to be like Jesus, but the thing is we’re not Jesus. So there’s some things Jesus does that we shouldn’t do. Like call ourselves God for example. Probably shouldn’t do that. But in other ways He has the authority to act in certain ways and say certain things that don’t necessarily apply to us, but John is just a normal dude called on by God to play an extraordinary role in history. We should be like John. And at least from the perspective of John the Evangelist I think one of the primary things that John the Baptist teaches us is about identity.

So as we take a look at this scripture I think we can see three big lessons about who we are. We can see from John’s example just how small and unworthy we are in the face of Jesus. How our role isn’t to be the main characters in our own story, but to point others to the story of Jesus. We can see from John’s example just how great and glorious Jesus is. How easy it is to magnify Him because of who He is and what He has done for all of us. Finally in light of the greatness of God and the proper humility we should have we should realize that we probably don’t have it all figured out, learning from the mistakes of the Pharisees and the ones that they sent. Or in other words, stated positively and concisely you should,

Know Who You Are

Know Who Jesus is

Know What You Don’t Know

Know Who You Are

Illustration: It’s healthy every now and then to take a little time for introspection, some self-reflection into who you are and how your mind, heart and soul work. To take time to explore what strengths God has given to you as an individual, and what weaknesses might trip you up. How you best receive love from others and the default way you show it to others that might be misinterpreted by them.

These are good things, I think, but we should be cautious in a sense about a little too much self reflection. I mean don’t we all know someone a little too obsessed with personality quizzes. The danger is that if we spend too much time and effort obsessing over who we are, we start to make everything about who we are. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of the bigger picture. To remind ourselves how small that we are.

John is firmly aware that he is not the centre of the universe. He reflects the kind of view that we need to have of ourselves in the first section of this passage this morning. Let’s take another look at

John 1:19–27 CSB

This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”

In literature at the time John wrote his gospel there was a lot of importance placed on the first words out of a persons mouth in narratives, be they fictional or historical. Writers tried to make an important point with the first words they put in the mouths of the people they are writing about. Perhaps John the Evangelist was intentional in placing the words, “I am not the Messiah” as the first words of John the Baptist. The first things we learn about him are all about what he isn’t.

At this point John had already amassed a significant following. It would have to be to call down the attention he seems to have attracted from Jewish leadership. There was some precedent for men amassing a following and then declaring themselves to be Messiah. John wants to make it very clear that he is not one of those men. You see John wasn’t preaching out in the desert for fun. It probably was incredibly difficult, not exactly a vacation, you know? He was sent on a mission. For the sake of that mission it was very important that his ego not get in the way. Because he was sent on the scene just before Jesus any glory John takes for himself is glory he could give to Jesus. So he turns down all the glory people are ready to give him. Jesus is both the Messiah that the Hebrew Scriptures predicted and the Prophet like Moses that the men from the Pharisees ask about in their third question for John.

It’s interesting that John turns down the title of Elijah. Some of you may have noticed before that while John rejects this title, it’s one that Jesus gives to him in the other gospels. In Matthew 11:13-14

Matthew 11:13–14 CSB

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.

So is he Elijah, or isn’t he? Why does he deny it here? Well there’s a few explanations. It’s possible that John just didn’t realize that he was the one who was fulfilling that prophecy. John is just a regular guy after all, who received a particular mission and message from God. It’s also possible that he knew they were asking if he was literally Elijah, but he was a different person sent in the spirit or likeness of Elijah. But another possibility is simply that John just didn’t want a fancy title at all. He doesn’t care about impressing them or showing them his credentials. All he cares about is giving glory to the one who was coming. Just how humble was John? He claims that he isn’t even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. Here’s an interesting quote from the Faithlife Study Bible,

“Jewish tradition taught that a disciple must serve his teacher in every task that a slave would perform except for removing his shoe—a task deemed too menial for a disciple.” John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Jn 1:27.

So John is saying he isn’t even worthy to be a disciple of Jesus. Instead the title that he prefers is simply “a voice calling out in the wilderness.” Where Jesus is the Word of God John is simply a voice.

The thing is, we should be like John. We should realize that we too are not worthy to even remove the strap of Jesus’ sandals. That’s right, you heard me. We aren’t worthy of being Jesus’ disciples. It’s true. We don’t deserve it. We could never earn it. Without the grace of God we are all hopeless sinners doomed to die. And when we realize just who we are that’s when we can truly serve God the way that we should.

I think that when we truly understand who we are it inspires in us a deep abiding thankfulness for the gospel that is unparalleled in its motivation to get us out and sharing it with others. To think if Jesus would save even someone like me, who wouldn’t He save? How good must He be?

Yet it’s not enough just to know how small we are, we also need to know just who Jesus really is.

Know Who Jesus Is

Illustration: I love my wife. What would you think if I told you that, but then when you asked me what my wife is like I wasn’t able to tell you a thing about her. What she looks like, what her interests are, what she values. You may question my statement. How can you truly love someone that you don’t know?

The Bible calls us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus is Himself God, and we know God through Him. So we are called to love Him with everything that we have. If we want to truly love Jesus the way that we should, than we have to be sure we know who He is. Also, the more we know about Him the more it reinforces what we talked about in the last point about knowing who we are. The bigger Jesus is to you, the smaller you become to yourself.

Once again, John the Baptist shows us in these passages his sure knowledge of who Jesus is. Let’s zoom in on

John 1:29–34 CSB

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

John’s first words in reaction to seeing the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus are just full to the brim with significance. The whole sermon could be about the words “look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” I really need to put effort in to maintain a good pace through this gospel. Easily could spend half a dozen years at least doing a series through John. Probably won’t go that long though.

In any case, the title “The Lamb of God” brings to mind several passages from the Hebrew Bible, all of which I think form part of what John the Baptist is trying to communicate here. Consider this passage in Genesis 22, where God calls Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. We know that this was a test of Abraham’s faith, and that God never wanted him to actually kill his own son, but that it serves as an image of Jesus’ sacrifice in the old testament. Isaac asks his dad a question in Genesis 22:7-8

Genesis 22:7–8 CSB

Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.” And he replied, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

So here in the Hebrew scriptures the question echoes out through the ages, where is the lamb? Notice there isn’t a lamb provided in this story, but instead it’s a ram. As if to say, “this isn’t the lamb we’re referring to.” Especially when you consider the future tense that Abraham uses after the Ram is provided and God tells him not to kill his son in Genesis 22:14

Genesis 22:14 CSB

And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain.”

So then Jesus is that lamb that we’ve been waiting for, that will be the one to truly take our place and die for our sins.

Yet that isn’t the only significant lamb in the Hebrew Scriptures. Consider also the passover lamb. When the Israelites were escaping from slavery in Egypt God used signs and wonders to show Pharoah who was boss, culminating in the angel of death being sent to kill the firstborn of every household. God tells the Israelites to kill a lamb for each household and says in Exodus 12:12-13

Exodus 12:12–13 CSB

“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

So Jesus is also the lamb whose blood saves us from the angel of death. In other words He gives us the way to eternal life, since His sacrifice is greater than that of the passover lamb.

But wait, there’s more. These were images of Jesus, but there’s a prophecy about Jesus that also calls Him a lamb found in Isaiah 53:7

Isaiah 53:7 CSB

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.

Why did he go to them silently like a lamb led to slaughter? So that he could be pierced because of our rebellion and crushed for our inquites, so that the punishment for our peace would be on him and we would be healed by His wounds.

All this is wrapped up together in the word picture John the Baptist gives us by saying, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the world. No wonder we are unworthy of being His disciples.

So what does knowing all this about Jesus change? It changes everything. For one it shows just why all the glory should go to Him. We didn’t earn even one small part of the salvation that God has given freely to all of us. Jesus earned it. He’s the greatest and most loving person there’s ever been who is Himself God and suffered and died on our behalf so that we could be reconciled to God.

We also know that while John baptized with water, Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Remember that the word we translate as the fancy Christian term “baptize” means to immerse. That means what John is basically saying is, “hey, all I can do is immerse you in water. Jesus can immerse you in the Holy Spirit.” Knowing this changes the very way that we do ministry. Since we are so unworthy to be His disciples and the best we can do for new believers is immerse them in water, we need to rely on Jesus to be the more that we are bringing people to. He’s the only one who can immerse people in the Holy Spirit.

Know What You Don’t Know

Illustration: I wonder if any of you are like me, and you’ve gotten in over your head trying to be a handyman/DIY person. You see something that’s broken or that you want to change and think to yourself, “how hard can it be?” So you do a little bit of research, start the project and get it to the point of no return before you realize that you know nothing and you are overwhelmed.

Human kind has gotten to pretty amazing heights by diversifying into different specialties. There’s so much to know that no one person can know everything. I’m sure there’s smarter people out there than me who could hold more information than me in their heads, but we are small and we are limited. So why is it that sometimes we act like we completely understand God?

You see if God is who we really believe He is, and we are who we are, than it should be impossible for our small mortal minds to truly comprehend Him. And in fact most of what we know about God we only know because of what He revealed to us, yet even that confuses us at times. Understandably so. Should we expect ourselves to ever fully comprehend what it means that God is a trinity? That the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God but that the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Spirit and yet there is only one God? It makes your head hurt when you think about it. Or how about even trying to understand how the two natures of Jesus, God and Man, relate to each other? Or how God can say on the one hand that salvation is available for every man and then also say that those who are saved have been chosen since before the foundation of the earth?

As much as I think there are fundamental all important things that we need to understand in Scripture, I think there’s a lot of things that we need to be comfortable saying that we don’t understand. We need to have the humility of understanding that we don’t know everything, especially when it comes to interpreting prophecy about the future. Let’s learn from the negative example of the Pharisees in this passage.

John 1:19–21 CSB

This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said. “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered.

You see the Israelites had a lot of interesting ideas about who the Messiah would be. Almost everyone believed He would appear and immediately conquer the world in the name of Israel. Some believed that because there were prophecies about suffering and death, but others about His eternal throne and Kingdom there must actually be two Messiahs, Messiah son of David and Messiah son of Joseph. Some believed that those were actually prophecies about two possible futures, one where Israel accepts their Messiah and another where they reject Him and are punished for it. There was no end to the speculation about what would happen when Messiah appeared.

The crazy thing is, they were all wrong. No one who intepreted the prophecies about Messiah said that God Himself would become a man, suffer and die for our sins and be resurrected and then ascend to heaven and send us out to save Jews and Gentiles alike from their own sins.

Why do I say all this? Because I see and hear an awful lot about what will happen when Jesus returns. About how this thing and that thing must be the mark of the beast. That this war signifies that the end is coming, or this peace treaty will lead to this and that other thing. That this many years will pass before this happens, that Jesus will do such and such thing and so on. What makes us think we’re any more right than the Israelites were?

You see prophecy isn’t written so that we’ll know before hand exactly what is going to happen, but so that when things do happen we will look back at the prophecy and give God the glory for His amazing works and plans. There have been churches that have split over their differing opinions about what the timeline of the tribulation is exactly going to look like. I think that’s foolishness. The point is to relax and realize that God’s got a plan, and the victory is already won, and to want to be on the side of the Lamb of God when the end comes, which could be at any moment.

Conclusion

So what have we learned from John the Baptist this morning about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus? Well we have learned that like John we are just a voice testifying to who Jesus is and pointing people to Him. Not even worthy to be His disciples, but blessed by the grace of God that we can be them anyway. We learn that Jesus is the Lamb of God who died so that He could pay the penalty for our sins and give us eternal life, and so has earned our praise and eternal glory. And we have learned that in light of those two things we should be humble in how we approach the mysteries of Scripture and the prophecies about the future.

So my friends let us endeavor to spend every day in full awareness of who we are, and more importantly who Jesus is and what He has done for us. And may we burn anew with the passion to share Jesus with others for that reason.

Let us pray.