Refocus on Christ

[Introduction]

This is an interesting time of year. It’s the one time of the year where people seem to be in a better mood. Obviously as Christians we have one main reason why we celebrate. But this time of year people also typically take some time off, spend more time with family, begin to reevaluate their life and what they want to change for the next year coming up, and most importantly we celebrate the birth of Christ. Life is often referred to as a race, and a year sort of has a feeling of finishing a lap of that race. And as we head into the next year it’s a fresh start, a fresh lap, a time to reset and refocus.

I know by now probably all of us have gone through the Christmas story multiple times. Sometimes when you hear a story so many times it’s easy to grow numb to certain parts. It takes time and meditation to really grasp and get a feel for the situation and what was taking place. My wife and I read through the Christmas story a few times on our own. Trying to really think about it, and maybe pick up on pieces that are easy to skip over. You gotta wonder if when Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem and found no room at any inn they were just like “C’mon God, this is your son, you can create life from a virgin but you didn’t want to line up a nice place for Him to be born? Is this really happening?” Sometimes my wife and I fall asleep in our living room, and that’s where our guinea pigs are at. In the night they get really wild and loud, and sometimes start fighting and we get really upset when they wake us up. So picturing Christ being born in a stable with all these animals and then placed in a manger, a feeding trough, it blows my mind, let a lone the fact that He is the Hope of the world and that’s how he’s brought into it. But God always has a way flipping the script on the way the world pictures things.

One Part that isn’t directly a part of the Christmas story but is being played out in that same timeframe is the birth of another very important person, John, who later became known as John the baptist. Not to be confused with John the apostle, who wrote the book of John and the letters, first, second, and third John. God wasn’t putting Christ into the world and counting on Him alone to convince the world he was the Messiah. God was working out someone else to start the movement of Christ. To point people to Christ, as the Messiah.

Luke 1:5–16 NLT

When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old. One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.

In the next few versus it is pointed out that this Angel of the Lord is Gabriel, the same Angel who went to Mary, six months later, to tell her that she will give birth to Jesus.

We read that in Luke 1:26

Luke 1:26 NLT

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,

The next few verses is where you read about the encounter of the Angel Gabriel and Mary where she’s told she will give birth to a son and he is to be named Jesus.

So there’s two miracle’s working out in this same timeline, one being Christ who must be born of a virgin, and the other John, who will be born of a couple who really wouldn’t be able to have kids without the assistance of the Lord.

And there’s prophecies about both of them. Obviously we know the one about Christ, but the one that usually doesn’t get as much attention is John’s. He is going to be the one who prepares the way for Christ. He will lead people to Christ. Not only does the Angel of the Lord make it clear that this is what John is going to do, but the prophet Isaiah also spoke about John.

We read this in Isaiah 40:3

Isaiah 40:3 NLT

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!

So we have the Angel of the Lord proclaiming that Zechariah and Elizabeth will have a son, named John, who will bring people to Christ, Isaiah talks about a voice coming from the wilderness, and then right after John is born, in Luke 1:67-79, Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and makes a prophecy. We’ll just read the last part of the prophecy in verses 76-79, which talks specifically about John.

Luke 1:76–79 NLT

“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

So what the angel of the Lord proclaimed to Zechariah, he is now making a prophecy about. And it’s very interesting when you think about this role and prophecy that John is to fulfill. The Jews have been living under the old covenant law, waiting for the Messiah to come, and the time is finally about here and John is the one who must help direct people and bridge that gap between the old covenant and the new covenant. Between following the law and now repenting and following Christ as their Savior. This was his purpose.

Now after Zechariah’s prophecy, the next and last verse of Luke chapter 1 jumps to when John is older, and gives a

Luke 1:80 NLT

John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.

So the stage is all set up for the prophecy to be fulfilled, he was strong in the Spirit and he lived in the wilderness.

All of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, talk about John the baptist. But let’s read through Mark about him in action and getting a little more detail about his Character.

Mark 1:1–8 NLT

This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written: “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’ ” This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

In all four gospels, it is pointed out that John is who the prophet Isaiah was speaking of. John preached the Good news, telling people to repent and follow God. Another interesting thing pointed out here though is his clothing and his diet. He wore coarse camel hair and ate locusts and wild honey. That sounds pretty strange. Yes things were different back in that day, but even that was only normal for the poorest people. John the baptist did not live at all to bring credit or glory to himself, he had a specific purpose, and he fulfilled it with everything he had. Even as far to say, what was in verse 7.

Mark 1:7 NLT

John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals.

He’s doing all this work so people will follow God’s son, Jesus, but he doesn’t consider himself his right hand man or top assistant. He claims he’s “not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals.” This is because he understood things spiritually, and what God’s son was capable of verses him or anyone else. He was all-in on his purpose.

One thing to notice here is up to this point John hasn’t identified Jesus as the Messiah. He says “Someone is coming”. The Messiah is made known to him when he baptizes Jesus in the Jordan River.

Mark 1:9–11 NLT

One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

That’s quite a picture to try and capture in your mind. The heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove. To actually read about John testifying that this experience is what confirmed to him that Jesus was the Messiah, we have to go to John 1:31-33

John see’s Jesus coming toward him and he says “ Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” he’s telling everyone, this is him, the one I’ve been talking about this whole time, and then in verses 31-33 we read

John 1:31–33 NLT

I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

So that encounter where he saw the Spirit descend like a dove on to Jesus after being baptized, that was his sign that Jesus was the Messiah.

Now as time went on, Jesus and John would both hold baptisms, and as Jesus’ popularity grew, eventually more people were going directly to Jesus instead of John. John’s disciples noticed this and bring it up to John. Some could look think this was them rejoicing, because John had pointed that Jesus is the Messiah, so this should be a good thing. But by John’s response it seems like his disciple’s attitude was a little more resentful and angry. And once again in John’s response, you see his commitment.

John 3:26–30 NLT

So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.” John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

John knows his place and purpose. The more people he brought to Jesus, the more popular Jesus becomes, and the more John fades into the background. John was the one to help transition people from the old covenant to the new covenant, found in Christ.

So to recap about John:

About 6 months older than Jesus

People believe Elizabeth to be a cousin of Mary, so Jesus and John can be identified as relatives

Lived in poor conditions, by what he wore and what he ate

Brought into the world to prepare the way for the coming Messiah, who he identified as Jesus later on

Now his death is one thing we didn’t really go over. We’ll just do a real quick overview. Basically he was imprisoned by King Herod Antipas, because his wife, Herodias really did not like John. Herodias, before married to King Herod, was married to his brother Philip, and to marry someones brother’s wife, even though divorced was against Jewish law. So John called them out on it, made Herodias upset and so Herod had him arrested more as a favor for Herodias. Some time Herod and Herodias were holding a festival, Herodias’ daughter dances before Herod and his guests, and he was well pleased. And promises to give her anything she wants. For her mother, she requests John’s head to be brought to them on a platter. And it was carried out that way. Very unfair. And Herod didn’t even want to do it, you can read that Herod actually liked John, he knew he was a Holy man, even though he didn’t always enjoy what he had to say, he respected him. But he made a promise in front of all of his guests, so he felt he had to do it.

John, being poor and dying in a very unfair way was no punishment to him, he served his purpose, and he did it very well and Jesus respected him greatly.

In the first part of Luke 7:28 we read “I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John”

I wanted to shared this today for a couple reasons. First of all, it is closely related to the Christmas story and John had an important role in what was to come, but yet it’s not something we usually read as we go through the Christmas story. And also I think we can relate in some ways to John. Not in terms of eating locusts, at least I hope not, but John had a very specific purpose in his timing of bringing the Good news. We as Christians, although long past the transition point between covenants, have a specific purpose in bringing the Good news to the world. Much of the world still hasn’t made the decision to follow Christ, there’s still plenty to be saved. And we are called to live like Christ and bring people to Him. So as we get ready for a new year and sort of “Reset”. Allow time to reshift our focus on God, knowing it’s not about the accomplishments of life that matter, what we wear, the car we drive, or what we eat, it’s about how we live for Christ.

The verse I want you to remember as we close and enter the new year is John 3:30, I’ll read the King James version.

John 3:30 KJV 1900

He must increase, but I must decrease.