John would have loved Saskatchewan. His theme verse, Isaiah 40:4, was to fill in the valleys and to flatten the mountains to make way for the Messiah. If he had been born in Saskatchewan this would have already been done for him. But truth be told, this is a metaphor for John’s mission. He was called to prepare people to receive the Messiah. Just as ancient kings would sent whole work crews ahead of them so make sure the roads were in good repair and the people were ready, so to John was preparing the people to meet their long-awaited Messiah.
But John is not the guy who you would naturally pick as your PR/Marketing guy. He lives in the desert, wears animal skins, and eats bugs and honey. Oh and he is continually yelling at people that they are terrible and need to change. One thing we miss by being born 2000 years later is that John was acting and appearing just like a classic Old Testament prophet and is particularly similar to the Hall of Fame Prophet Elijah! This explains why people didn’t simply dismiss him as a crazy guy in the desert.
His title is a bit strange too as he is not associated with the Baptist church which would form many centuries later. A better title would be John the Baptizer. In the Dutch Bible he is called Johannes de Doper, literally John the Dipper.[1]
John’s message at its core was simply get ready for the Messiah, repent and be baptized. Baptism was not completely uncommon in that day as there were a couple of ceremonial washings required in Judaism, especially for Gentile converts. By telling them to get baptized, John is basically telling the people that their standing in heaven will not be based on their Jewishness but on their repentance. Baptism is then an outward and public symbol of a decision that they have made in their hearts.
John gets real practical in his push for repentance. This isn’t a simple stop doing bad things but move quickly to doing the right things. “Got more money than you need? Then give to those who don’t have enough! Got a chance to rip people off? Don’t you dare! Thinking about lying to get ahead? Not a good plan! Be content with where you are.” Here John gives real practical action steps for repentance and isn’t afraid to make them commit to it publicly.
Questions for Reflection
• Are there areas in your life that require “real practical action steps of repentance”?
• How would you have responded to John’s in your face, right here, right now approach?
• Do you think like the Jews that because you were born into a good family God will accept you?
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