Who was Jesus? But firstly, who was John the Baptist?
The man known as John the Baptist came before Jesus. His life and ministry overlapped with the life and ministry of Jesus. Their mothers were cousins. In the first chapter of Luke, Mary goes to visit Elizabeth when they are both still pregnant. And John’s birth is unusual too for his parents are both old and past the time when she would be expected to be able to conceive.
John was the forerunner to Jesus. He prepared the way.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. Matthew 3:2
He baptised people in the river Jordan as a sign that they were ready to turn away from their old lives and embrace a new way of life. And then Jesus came to him to be baptised and John recognised that Jesus was the one who was greater than he, the one he’d been telling everyone about.
I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me? Matthew 3:14
This crossover between the teaching and ministry of Jesus and John causes confusion at times. There’s a time recorded in John 3 where Jesus is baptising and John is baptising somewhere else – and John’s followers are not impressed!
Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptising, and everyone is going to him. John 3:26
However popular John becomes, he has to remember that he is just a man. He is always there to point the way to someone greater than him. It’s never going to be all about him. Some of our spiritual leaders today would do well to remember that!
A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. John 3:27-30
He must become greater; I must become less.
He must become greater; I must become less.
In fact, we would all do well to remember that. It’s never going to be about us, however seductive success and celebrity and popularity and reputation are. The only purpose of what we say and do is to point others to the one who is greater than us, Jesus himself.
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. John 3:34-36
And this is John’s testimony. Jesus is the one whom God has sent. Jesus is the one who speaks the words of God. Jesus is the one filled with the Spirit without limit. Jesus is the Son whom God loves. Jesus is the one who God has trusted with everything. Jesus is the way to eternal life, a life lived to the full, a life brimming with light and love.
However, move on a short while and John is less sure. He’s suffered personal hardship. He’s in prison for his subversive teaching about this new kingdom, this new way of life. And he’s been hearing what Jesus is up to and has started to wonder. He has his doubts. He needs to make sure he’s going through all this for the right guy.
When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Matthew 11:2-6
Is it you? Is it really you? Are you really who you say you are?
Just look at how I’m transforming lives.
Jesus may not be doing it the way John expected the Messiah to bring in his kingdom, but he’s changing the world, one life at a time. It’s the same now. We may not understand how and why Jesus is doing what he’s doing, but we just have to look around us to see how he is transforming individual lives.
And who does Jesus go on to say that John the Baptist is?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet…Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Matthew 11:9,11
This isn’t about putting anyone on a pedestal. Jesus makes that clear. This is an upside down kingdom, after all. Let’s never forget that. But John has had a key role to play in preparing the way for Jesus.
The same account appears in Luke 7 but there’s an interesting bit in brackets inserted there.
(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptised by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptised by John.) Luke 7:29-30
Not all who see will get it.
Not all who hear will understand.
Those who had been baptised by John had already taken the first step towards admitting that their lives weren’t working. That there had to be a better way. They were ready for something new, ready to follow a new way. It was nothing to do with their reputation or background or anything that had gone before. It was all about their attitude of heart. They were ready to embrace the realisation that God’s way was right, that God’s way was best. And so for all their knowledge and experience, the Pharisees and experts in the law – the spiritual leaders of the day – were missing out. They like their way. It was the way they’d always done it. Why would they change now? But notice the words – when they rejected Jesus, they were rejecting God’s purpose for their lives: who God created them to be and always intended them to be.
John is a good place to start. He makes us think about our lives as they are now.
He prepares the way for what is to come: the promise of a life lived in God’s best way.
I’m in.
