Chapel 8/14 John the Baptizer
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Who is John
Who is John
Good morning, welcome to chapel
(I’m Tony Graffanino, blah blah blah)
During my baseball career in the big leagues, I knew who I was and what my role was.
I was a utility infielder, I could also play the outfield and catch, but for the most part, I played all 4 infield positions, with most of my playing time coming at 2nd base and third base
I had my routine if I wasn’t playing.
During BP I would take grounders and make throws and play balls off the bat from 2 of the 4 positions, the next day I would work at the other 2.
Unless I knew I was starting the next day, then I might do some extra work at that one.
I would also take throws at 2nd or first from the guys who were starting.
As for my hitting, not playing everyday and even playing only 1 to 2, or maybe 3 times a week is tough.
So, I simplified my approach, simplified my stance and stride, simplified my swing. My thought was to be direct, to stay inside the ball, make hard contact and try to hit line drives in the gaps.
Honestly hard contact was all I could hope for, it’s too hard to try and get hits, just hit it hard and hope it falls.
But sometimes I would go in the game as a pinch hitter or pinch runner, or a defensive replacement.
So, around the 4th inning, while the team was on the field, I would start to get ready.
Stretch one inning, hit off the tee the next, maybe do some sprints where there was room, hit off the machine, get my arm loose, all the things necessary to be ready to go in on a minutes notice.
I would watch the game and try to anticipate where I could possibly go in and what I would be asked to do.
Sometimes I was put in the game, late in the game to pinch run at first and was told, break up two by all means necessary.
Now I was an infielder, a middle infielder, so I would go in hard but clean, never dirty, but if I was being asked to break up two, then that is what I had to do.
I wanted to be a starter, but that never seemed to work out for me, maybe for brief stints I would play everyday, but for the most part, I was a utility infielder.
I knew my role, I knew my job, and I know I played a key role on the teams I was on.
I wouldn’t get the glory, but I knew I was helping our club win.
Well, the individual we are going to talk about today understood the same thing, and he was good with it too, and he did it well.
Let me pray, and we’ll talk about John the Baptizer
Pray.........
Ok, you can turn to or turn on and go to Luke chapter 1, verse 12
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, 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.”
Zechariah was a priest and he was in the temple offering the prays up to God with incense.
Gabriel, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him that he and his wife were going to have a son.
Miraculously because he and his wife were too old to have kids, but God would allow them to do it, to have a son.
Gabriel says that John, the son, will be great before the Lord, he must not drink wine or strong drink.
This is a vow, a Nazarite vow it’s called that set him apart for special use for the Lord
We are told that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit and turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, meaning that many have turned away.
He was to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for His coming.
Skipping to chapter 3, starting in verse 2
during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
John was living in the wilderness, removed from society and then he gets the call, it’s go time
So he travels about telling people to repent for the forgiveness of sins, and to be baptised, hence John the Baptizer
He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, he was the one crying out in the wilderness, prepare a way for the Lord.
Prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord, for all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
He put on blast the religious leaders who were hypocrites, and welcomed the pure and repentant, and baptized them.
But the really cool thing about John comes after
In John chapter 1, starting in verse 19
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.” 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.”
They ask him who are you? Why are you doing what you’re doing?
He freely admits, I am not the Christ or the Messiah, I’m not the Savior.
I’m also not Elijah, and expectation that he would return before Messiah came
I’m not the Prophet, the one Moses spoke about who would come
Then who are you they ask
I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord
Basically, this was a prophecy about the forerunner of the Messiah, the one who would come before Him and prepare the people for His arrival.
This is who John is, this is who he knows he is, which is equally if not more important.
What if John had delusions of grandeur? What if he had a higher estimation of himself?
What if he decided, you know what, I get it, this is the part that God has asked me to play, but I’m not down with that anymore.
I should be a starter, I should be the guy, I should be the one they are all coming to see, I should be the Savior.
How’s that going to work out for him? Not good, because he’s not the Savior, that’s not who he is.
No, he knew his role and he played his role, and did it well.
Of him, Jesus says that there was never one born of a woman greater than John.
Listen to this
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.’
and this
The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
How about this
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison).
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Ok, let’s wrap this up
you heard it in those last passages
John was always pointing to Jesus
He had his role, prepare the way and then point them to the Messiah, and then get out of the way
He must increase and I must decrease, John knew this wasn’t about him, but he did have a role to play
It’s Jesus who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
It’s Jesus who provides forgiveness of sins and salvation to the world, eternal life to the world,
It is upon Jesus one must believe and obey, must trust and follow in order to be saved, not John
John prepares the way and points to Jesus, go to Him.
That’s our job too
To help prepare the way for people to see and recognize Jesus
Then we point them to Jesus, go to Him, for only He can forgive your sins
Go to Him, for only He died for you
Go to Him, for only He can give you eternal life
It is in Him you must trust and obey, believe and follow.
I’m just a pointer, I get no glory, I know my role and I try to do it well.
The same goes for you.
If you don’t truly know Jesus yet, if you haven’t believed in Him, then I am just pointing you to Him, talk to Him, believe in Him, trust in Him, follow Him
If you have believed in Him, are a follower of His, then know your role.
Help prepare others to see Him, to recognize Him, then point others to Him so they can believe in Him and follow Him.
For salvation is of the Lord, is of Jesus, not you or me.
Let me pray
