I have been looking forward for a long time to this passage of scripture that we are looking at today, the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist. I identify with John the Baptist probably more than any other figure in the Bible. And perhaps that is because that in many ways I see some parallels in my ministry and John’s ministry.
John described himself in John chapter one, as a “voice crying out in the wilderness.” He gave this description in response to questioning by his critics as to who he was, and where he got his credentials. They said, “are you the Messiah?” And John said “no, I am not.” “Are you Elijah?” And John said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And John said “I am not.” “Who are you then? Where are you from? What are your credentials? Who gave you the authority to speak as you do?” And John said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.”
I can identify with that. Recently I was criticized by a few people concerning whether or not I was pastorly enough, or if I had the proper credentials to be a preacher of the gospel. And my answer is “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.” That’s it. That’s my credentials in a nutshell. To declare the gospel of the Kingdom: Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Now though I identify with John the Baptist, I do not in the least bit claim to be of the same caliber of a preacher as John was. Jesus said of John, of all the men born of women, there is none greater than John the Baptist. John had a unique ministry that began with the announcement of the angel Gabriel before he was even conceived. He was a miracle baby, born to parents that were “stricken in years.” They were well beyond the point of childbirth. John was announced by an angel. He was in dwelled by the Holy Spirit while he was still in the womb. He had the supreme privilege of being the forerunner to Jesus Christ, to seeing Jesus Christ, of baptizing Jesus and being martyred for Jesus. All of those things are unique to John.
So it is not self effacing in the least for me to say concerning John the Baptist, that I am not even worthy to untie his shoelaces. However, that being said, his ministry is something that I think is worthy of emulation. If he received that kind of praise from Christ, then doesn’t it make sense that I should try to emulate his ministry? I think so.
So today I want to take this opening passage about John and present some things that I think make his ministry special in the eyes of God. That’s what is important, isn’t it? That’s what the angel Gabriel had to say about him, remember in Luke 1:15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord.” Not necessarily great in the eyes of men. Not necessarily great in the size of his church building or the size of his congregation, not necessarily great in the eyes of the NY Times best seller list, but great in the sight of the Lord. And that is my goal, to be great in the sight of God. And so we’re going to look at four things about John’s ministry that sets him apart and makes him great in the eyes of the Lord. John had a divine authority, a divine calling, a divine message, and a divine illustration.
First off, let’s look at how Luke opens up this passage. We know Luke is giving us an historical background to establish the time period when these things happened. It was in the time of Tiberius Caesar, of Pontius Pilate, and Philip and so forth were governors of their respective provinces. And the reader would have known that as clearly as we would know today if someone mentioned that something happened when Lincoln was president of the United States. We would know that they were speaking of something that happened during the time period of the Civil War.
But I think there is another purpose that is established here. He lists for us the civil authorities, and then the religious authorities. He says it was in the time of the high priests Annas and Caiaphas. Now much could be said about all of these men, both government authorities and religious authorities, about how corrupt they were. But again I’m not sure that is the point. I think the point of this list comes in verse 2, when it says, after listing all these authority figures, “the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.”
I don’t know about you, but that makes me smile. Here are all the most powerful, most important figures in the whole country, if not the whole Roman Empire, and yet God picks a no body from no where, to give His word to. John, the son of Zacharias. Zacharias had been an old priest who had probably been dead for 25 years already. His mother Elizabeth probably hadn’t lived too long after his birth either. She was already old when she had him. And so we can speculate that John lived among some tribal group out in the desert, like the Essenes, who may have raised him until he was old enough to go out on his own into the desert.
You know, when God calls a man, He often finds him in a desert, doesn’t He? I think of Moses out in the desert tending sheep when he saw the burning bush. I think of Abraham being called to leave Ur and go into the wilderness where God met him and spoke to Him his promises. I think of David out in the wilderness tending his sheep. Elijah out in the wilderness, and so many more. When churches or denominations call a pastor, they tend to call them from a seminary, they tend to select them according to their credentials, their degrees, their denominational affiliation, but as when God called David to be king, He told Samuel, men look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. And he warned Samuel against looking at the outward appearance, and so he found young David tending sheep out in the desert, who was a man after God’s own heart.
The word of God came to John and John went preaching, in verse 3. This is where John received his divine calling. It didn’t come from an ordination ceremony. It didn’t come from laying on of hands from a particular denominational board. It came from receiving the word of God. And ladies and gentlemen, my authority and calling as a preacher comes from the word of God. Long before I was ordained, or even before some preachers laid hands on me, God laid hold of me in a desert expereince. He made me trust in the word of God. He made me learn the word of God. He made me appreciate the word of God. And He let me know that there is no substitute for the word of God. And I searched around for a church that was preaching the unadulterated word of God with authority, and I found it lacking. And so I finally responded to the call of God which had come to me years before and said, Ok, I’ll go. Here I am. Send me. Speak through me.
My authority, my only authority is by the word of God. I’m not called by a congregation, but I’m called by the God of heaven. I am qualified to speak the word of God because God called me to preach the word of God. Not my words, but His words. I have nothing to offer you of any value other than the word of God. I have no inherent wisdom. I’m not some academic intellectual. I haven’t played professional sports. I haven’t been a rock star. I haven’t been the CEO of a national company. I have no training in self improvement or motivational speaking. I have no credentials worth claiming or speaking about. I have no cute stories. I can not tell a joke. I am only enabled by the Spirit of God to preach the word of God. Period.
My credentials as a preacher of the word are found in 1Cor. 1:26 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”
Look at verse 3: “And he went into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Another reason I identify so easily with John is that he didn’t have a church building. I’ve never stood on the beach on a Sunday morning in the last seven years that I haven’t looked at that desolate, deserted stretch of sand at 7:30 in the morning and thought of John standing in the desert preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
Listen, the size of a church building does not qualify a pastor to be a preacher. The message of God qualifies a pastor to be a preacher. Jesus said in John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” It’s the word of God that is recognized by the sheep of God. In the same message Jesus says, “"He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.” I am not a hired hand. God called me to preach the word of God to protect the sheep, with or without a building.
Then we see that John had a divine message. Verse 3, “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Now I know that was an unpopular message then, because I know it’s an unpopular message today. The number one criticism I get is that I preach too much about sin and the need to repent of it. It’s unpopular because it is uncomfortable. But you know what? God designed it to be uncomfortable. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The word of God is supposed to lay open the heart of man like a scalpel, exposing the cancer of sin, and cutting it away so that new life may grow there.
John the Baptist’s message was unique because he was a dying man preaching to a dying people an urgent message because they were in a dire situation. It’s like the man that was screaming at people to get out of a burning building and one man answered the door and said, “I don’t like your tone.” He didn’t understand the urgency of his situation. I am not going to try to make dying people feel better. I have a cure for death, and it is called repentance. I have just one piece of advice, no matter what problem I am asked to deal with; it’s called repentance. Get right with God. It’s the answer for broken marriages, it’s the answer for alcohol or drug problems, it’s the answer for job problems, or financial problems. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt. 6:33.
Listen folks, don’t be deceived. There is no salvation without repentance. Repentance is not just being sorry for your sins, sorry you got caught, but turning away from your sins. Making a 180 and going the other direction. Repentance is developing a holy abhorrence of sin, a holy fear of God, and a holy commitment to turn away from sin by the grace of God.
Notice it says a baptism of repentance. Some people misinterpret that to mean that one has to be baptized to be saved. That’s not what it means. What it is talking about is in the old covenant, under the Jewish law, there was the provision for a Gentile to become converted. It was called becoming a proselyte. And for that to happen, one of the ceremonies required that the Gentile was to become baptized, symbolizing the washing away of his sins, turning away from the pagan practices and worshipping the one true God of Israel.
So what John was proclaiming in his message was really about as unpopular as it could be. Not only was he saying that you needed to repent, but that your religion was worthless. Your Jewish heritage had done nothing but condemn you because of your rebellion against God. You knew the law of God and yet you told yourself you were righteous and stiffened your neck in pride and arrogance and took refuge in your religion and your national heritage and your heart was unbroken and unrepentant. And so he says the Jews are no better off than the Gentiles. He says a Jew needed to be baptized in repentance just like a Gentile had to be baptized to be converted to Judaism. See, a Jew didn’t need to be baptized, but a Gentile did. However, John equates the Jews with the Gentiles in their need of repentance.
And finally, John is going to illustrate that for us with a divine illustration. And he takes this illustration fittingly enough from the scriptures, specifically Isaiah chapter 40. “as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT. 'EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH; AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.'"
I read something interesting the other day as I was studying for this message. Isaiah has 66 chapters. And as you probably know, the Bible has 66 books. The first 39 books are what we call the Old Testament, and the New Testament has 27 books. And in a way, Isaiah parallels the scriptures in that the first 39 chapters are basically an indictment of judgment against Israel, and starting in chapter 40 and on through the rest of the 27 chapters, we see a different message, predominately a message of reconciliation, a message of salvation.
So it is really interesting to me that John picks this 40th chapter to identify with, and Luke also presents John’s message as from this 40th chapter, the beginning of the new covenant of the gospel of the kingdom. John is the first NT preacher of the gospel. The reconciliation of the world to God by Jesus Christ. And that is evidenced in 40 verse one where God says, “Comfort O comfort my people.” The tone of the whole book changes dramatically from that of condemnation to that of reconciliation. It goes on to say that her iniquity has been removed.
And so this is the context of John’s message as he prepares the way of the Lord, as he calls for repentance before the coming of the One who will take away the iniquity of the world. Luke is quoting from 40:3 and metaphorically Isaiah is speaking of the need for men’s hearts to be cleansed from sin by the illustration of preparing a roadway for the coming King.
What he's talking about here is heart preparation. Before there can be any national reception of the Messiah, there has to be an individual reception of the Messiah in men’s hearts. So he says in verse 5, "Every ravine shall be filled up, every mountain and hill shall be brought low. The crooked shall become straight. The rough roads smooth. Then you'll see the salvation of God." If you want to experience the salvation of God, you must then make the path ready. And spiritually the pathway is through the wilderness of the heart. "Every ravine shall be filled up," that refers to the low things, the base things, the dark things of the heart. They have to be brought up, as it were to light. And then every mountain and hill is brought low...the high things of the heart, self-exaltation, self-will, self-fulfillment, all the pride has to be brought down. And then he talks about the crooked being made straight, anything perverse, twisted, deceitful, devious, lying, manipulating. All those matters straightened out. And then the rough road smooth, any kind of hindrance, any kind of rebellion, anything that clutters a clear and smooth path, anything that obstructs the Lord's entrance into the heart.
Listen, the kingdom of heaven is a spiritual kingdom. It is a kingdom of your heart. Who rules your heart? Who is on the throne of your heart? Your heart is best understood as a metaphor for your soul, your mind and your will, the seat of your emotions. It is the second part of your being; we were created spirit, soul and body. And even when we are born again in the Spirit, there remains a war in the mind between the flesh and the Spirit. God said in Genesis 6:3, “my Spirit will not strive with man forever.” Our heart, our soul must be brought under subjection to the Spirit of God. If we are not walking in the Spirit, then we are not children of God.
Romans 8:3 “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Well, that is about all we have time for today. Next week we will look at the rest of John’s message. Many would say that John’s message seems a bit harsh. His bedside manner didn’t seem quite befitting a pastor. He was a little too rough around the edges for a lot of people. We get the idea from looking at John that many people were initially attracted by the novelty of John, and they were astonished at the authority of John, but eventually they ended up turning away from the message of John.
I’ve often been discouraged to see so many people come and then eventually fall away from the message of the kingdom and the need for repentance. There is plenty of interest still today in religion. There is still plenty of allegiance today to a national heritage of so called Christian values. But there are not a lot of people either in John’s day or in our day who respond to the message of the need for repentance from sin. That your religion and national heritage are useless if your heart is prideful and stubborn towards the truth. After John’s ministry and after Jesus’ ministry, there were only about a 120 people in the upper room. That is all that were left when the loaves and fishes stopped being passed out and they started handing out crosses. So as much as I would like to identify with John, I shouldn’t be expecting much better results than he had.
But John had this to say about the purpose of his ministry and the exaltation of Christ; He said He must increase but I must decrease. The goal of this church is to exalt Jesus Christ. It’s not about exalting me, or any of you. It’s about being faithful to our calling, faithful to the word of God, and faithful to the full message of the gospel. By God’s grace let us be found faithful until Christ comes back.
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