The Prophet in the Wilderness. John 1:19-34
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Introduction
Recently celebrated our 8th anniversary. After getting married we decided to start volunteering at the church together. God had called me to be a Pastor by that point so we figured we had better start doing something together.
Bree is a fantastic Sunday school teacher. When she left our last church the kids all got together and had a basket.
I was there cracking up because kids are hilarious. They’re just the funniest people. We once had a kid who was new tell us his dad died and was a soldier. He was crying in class and the kids were tearing up. Then his grandma picked him up and we told her how sorry we were for her loss and she said “his dad is at home”. We prayed for the kid!
So while watching my wife be a wonderful model of a minister, in the first few weeks of working with kids I would read the material and afterward make comments. I was a bible student of sorts at the time and I pointed out all of the errors.
One of the biggest errors was when the little books would say “Moses was a great man, he was humble and loved God. You should learn to be like Moses.”
I don’t want my son to be like Moses or like David. I want him to be like Jesus!
In our text today, the people of Israel would have been teaching their children the same thing. They revered the patriarchs and prophets and wanted nothing more than a righteous hero to come and save the day. They were looking for an old testament prophet of old to come and cause a revival.
Who they got was John the Baptist. As we’re going to learn, John had every qualifier, every characteristic needed to write the next book of scripture. Had Jesus not come, John would likely have been the next name after Malachi.
It had been 400 years since the last prophet in Israel. What was happening with John the Baptist wasn’t normal. 300 years ago our nation was founded. Just as for us it would be strange to have a Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson visit us with their powdered wigs, it was strange to have a Prophet in camels hair roaming the wilderness like Elijah. Yet, here he was- everything they had been hoping for.
And the one they were hoping for had a job they didn’t expect, he was to prepare the way for one even greater. One whose sandal strap he wasn’t worthy to untie.
Our Lord says about John:
Matthew 11:11 “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
John the Baptist, the greatest man to be born of women, prophet in the wilderness deserves his own book of the bible, yet when he shares the stage with Jesus, he is only a side character.
Lets look at his story in John 1:19-34...
Pray
1. The Prophet
1. The Prophet
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
Who was John, really?
19. It’s notable that we have two parties questioning who John the Baptist is, the Priests/Levites and later v24 the Pharisees.
20. John goes out of his way again “he confessed, did not deny, confessed” this is Hebrew emphasis to repeat John is not the Christ (anointed)
21. Are you Elijah, are you Moses? Where did they get this from?
Elijah: Part 1. 2nd Kings 2:11
And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Part 2. Malachi 4:5
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
Part 3. Matthew 11:14
and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
John the Baptist is not physically Elijah come back physically from heaven, but he is the Malachi 4:5 version- the man who takes the role of Elijah the one in the wilderness. Elijah wasn’t a palace prophet like Isaiah, since he prophesied against King Ahab, much like John with Herod.
Moses Deuteronomy 18:15
Deuteronomy 18:15 (ESV)
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
John the Baptist was a living embodiment of everything Israel was hoping for. His ministry felt like a sign that the promises of the prophets were finally coming to fruition.
Scores of people were repenting and being baptized. Priests and Levites were sent to investigate. Even Herod the Tetrarch thought Jesus’ fame must have meant he was actually John raised from the dead.
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John Symbolizes the Law and the Prophets
John wasn’t just anyone. He is the walking embodiment of the Old Testament:
One of the basic ways we can divide up the bible into four main periods:
The Patriarchs (the fathers) people like Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
Then we have the Judges: Moses, Joshua and Samuel
Then we have the Kings: Saul, David and Solomon
Then we have the prophets: Elijah and Isaiah
Luke 1:5–18 (ESV)
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly (Noah and Abraham, blameless in his generation Gen 6:9) in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. (Abraham and Sarah having Isaac the patriarch. Hannah having Samuel the judge)
Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink (reminding us , and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
Earlier they asked John if he was “the Prophet” that is, Moses.
We even see John later quote Isaiah, saying that Isaiah’s words are his! “I am the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness”
So far we have seen John’s life echo back to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Aaron, Moses, Samuel, Elijah and Isaiah.
Yet there is one category that is totally untouched: the age of Kings. For the Israelites, David is synonymous with the age of Kings.
David’s covenant with God was that he would always have a son on the throne- and John is omitted from that category, because that promise is fulfilled by only one person, Jesus.
2. The Herald
2. The Herald
So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
22-23 So who are you?
Something you have to remember is that people of this time were much more biblically fluent than you or I. The only media everyone really knew was scripture. No plays, no novels, no comic books, no pop songs. They really all just read or heard the same book.
So when we hear a quote in the New Testament, the speaker is implying much more than the single line he said.
It’s a lot like if i were to say “Don’t count your chickens…” I also mean the second half without having to say as much.
When John says he is the voice of the one crying in the wilderness, his audience would have thought of the entire passage from Isaiah 40, knowing that it pointed to a much bigger message of God’s coming redemption.
Isaiah 40:1–5 (ESV)
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
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What was John doing?
(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Johns Baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jewish people would have ritual washed (baptized) for cleansing after dead bodies, disease, atonement before entering the temple and conversion and brides would have washed before they were married.
It shouldn’t be lost that John’s baptism of repentance was also cleansing the bride before the arrival of the groom.
John was preparing the way- and the way you prepare for Jesus, our groom is not with fine clothing or jewelry, but by repenting of sins.
Apply
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The Arrival of Jesus
The Arrival of Jesus
John 1:29–34 (ESV)
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes (immerses) with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
We get the full story from other accounts:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus is baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. There was a new command from the prophet- repent and be baptized. So Jesus unable to repent is still baptized, thus fulfilling all the law and the prophets.
I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
John the Apostle wants us to be extremely clear- John the Baptist knew this was God.
So now we have a full story. John the baptist (greatest man, modern prophet etc…) was only here as a herald of the coming King.
Mark 1:15 “and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””
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What does John’s Life Teach Us?
What does John’s Life Teach Us?
Christians: You are not the main character! John should have been the next book after Malachi- yet in comparison with Jesus, nothings compares.
Christians: Your righteousness cannot accomplish it! When Jesus says greatest, I know he isn’t talking about a prophet who sinned greatly.
Christians: There is no better purpose than to do what John did. He looked crazy, but he was doing all that really mattered.
3. Non-believer: Everyone is looking for their purpose in life. And if you’ve looked around it seems most people don’t have a purpose. They go to school, get a job etc and retirement is a vacation in your 70’s. John Piper in his famous sermon says that kind of life is a wasted life; a tragedy. If you’re hearing this sermon today, we believe God has been clearing your path. We believe He has a life full of meaning for you. You are not just a collection of cells experiencing the universe- you are an image of God, and He has made you with a purpose.
What are your first steps? Like in our story today, it all starts with repentance. Jesus is coming, get ready, repent! As soon as you do, the Cross is yours. Your sins are paid for completely, cast away and now you have been truly cleansed. Behind me is a baptismal, a sign to the world that you have been made clean by the blood of Jesus.
It starts though with one simple step, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.
