Continuing his series on prophecy, Edmund Heddle turns to the life and ministry of John the Baptist.
Great interest was excited throughout the land of Israel when after three hundred years of prophetic silence, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judah. He required the people to submit to a baptism of repentance in the River Jordan as the only right way to prepare for the imminent arrival of the Messiah (Luke 3:3).
This 'prophet of the Most High' (to use the description given him by his father Zechariah immediately after his birth and naming, see Luke 1:76) was to be the recipient of the highest accolade possible for a prophet to receive when, years later, Jesus declared "there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist" (Matt 11:11). Clearly, it is essential to include a consideration of John's prophetic ministry as we seek to understand 'What is a prophet?'
Contemporary Religious Outlook
The Jewish people, smarting under the Roman army of occupation, had been saved from complete despair by the messages of the great Hebrew prophets to which they listened in their synagogues Sabbath by Sabbath. Most of them wanted God's promise of deliverance to bring them a Messiah, a King of outstanding strength, who would rid them of their foreign overlords. However, there were a smaller number, sometimes styled the 'quiet in the land', who prayed continuously and looked expectantly for a righteous leader, a great prophet like Moses.
At a time when many nations are facing great political uncertainty with immorality, crime and violence apparently unstoppable; like Israel of old they need the prophetic warning that unless they repent disaster is inevitable, together with the persistent cry of the 'quiet' intercessors who prepare the Lord's way into their crisis situations.
At a time of such uncertainty, like Israel of old we need both prophetic warnings and the persistent cry of the 'quiet' intercessors who prepare God's way."
Similar Background
John and Jesus, who were cousins, both shared this latter background and were brought up among those who like Simeon "were waiting for the consolation of Israel" (Luke 2:25). There are intriguing parallels between the lives of these two. John and Jesus were born at nearly the same time, and in both cases their births were miraculous. They both had a long period of 'hidden years' before their public ministry, yet in total their lives were both short. At the commencement of their public ministry they knew tremendous popularity, but for both this later gave place to unmerciful hatred.
Finally both were killed by those who hated them and their righteousness. In each case only a handful of their disciples mourned their master's death and cared enough to carry their dead bodies away for burial. Today's prophets, like those of long ago, must be prepared to face rejection and suffering. Their demand for personal holiness and national righteousness is unlikely to improve their popularity rating.
Yet So Different
That there are striking similarities in the backgrounds and subsequent life experience of John and Jesus cannot be denied, and yet in other ways they were so different.
First, in their attitude to life. Jesus summed up their differences in his familiar words: "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners" (Matt 11:18-19).
Second, in their kind of ministry. Folk who were commending John's ministry nevertheless admitted "John never performed a miraculous sign" (John 10:41). Whereas, when John's disciples asked Jesus if he was the coming Messiah, he pointed to his miracles as evidence and told them to tell John: "The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised", and that he should cease doubting that Jesus was the Messiah, even though their ministries were so different.
There are intriguing parallels between the life of Jesus and that of John the Baptist, but they also differed greatly in their attitude to life, their ministry and witness."
Third, in the duration of their witness. Jesus showed that John was "a lamp that burned and gave light" (John 5:35) and for a while they had enjoyed his light. As a lamp attracts moths so for a while did John attract the crowds and even Herod himself (Mark 6:20). John was just a lamp which had to be lit and fed with oil. Jesus however is the self-perpetuating light to which John came to bear witness (John 1:8-9). Prophets may differ in their interpretation of Scripture and in the lifestyle they choose to adopt, but they need to be careful that their opinions and actions do not colour or conceal the pure light of Christ shining through them.
Fundamental Difference
The basic difference between John and Jesus was one that John was ever eager to point out. Jesus was 'the coming one', the one whose coming the prophets had foretold. John's coming was also foretold in Scripture but he was never more than a herald, a messenger sent to prepare the way of the Lord (Isa 40:3; Matt 11:10).
John stated that he was not fit to carry Jesus' sandals (Matt 3:11) for God had made it clear to him that when the dove came down and remained on Jesus after his baptism, this indicated that Jesus was nothing less than the Son of God (John 1:32-34). John is forever the servant of, and is inferior to, the Lord Jesus.
Jesus went even further when he said that "he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than [John]" (Matt 11:11). Those who are in the Kingdom are brought nearer to God, have a clearer knowledge of God and have higher privileges than the greatest that were before Christ. So the prophets who prepare the way for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus have a greater and more glorious message than John could have imagined.
John and the Earlier Prophets
Jesus regarded John as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets (Matt 11:11). In what ways was he like them and did he differ from them? John the Baptist did not reproduce all the aspects to be seen in the Old Testament prophets. We have already seen that he did not perform any miracles to confirm his spoken word, neither do we have any record of his making public intercession for the nation.
Jesus regarded John the Baptist as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. John may not have performed miracles, but he was given the privilege of introducing the Saviour of mankind onto the public stage."
However, we hear him making strong ethical demands of his hearers and he reiterates the earlier prophets' demand for repentance. Unlike those who preceded him he was able to announce that God's promised visitation of his people was imminent. He stands alone in his use of baptism as an act of prophetic symbolism and is unique in his being able physically to introduce the Saviour of mankind on to the stage of his public ministry.
Jesus' Admiration of John
On the occasion when the deputation of John's disciples were leaving, Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in king's palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written 'I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you'" (Matt 11:7-10).
John was not someone who would allow the winds of opposition to deter him from doing what he knew was right. Neither was he a pampered courtier fawning over the monarch. He was a man with a message and a man who had the courage to deliver that message. In fact this was how John came to spend the last part of his life in prison, because he had the courage to rebuke Herod the Tetrarch for taking his brother's wife (Matt 14:3-4).
John never allowed opposition to deter him from doing the right thing. He was a man with a message, the delivery of which required great courage and a strictly disciplined life."
Earlier John had given very clear and critical advice to tax collectors, soldiers and others who came to him seeking baptism (Luke 3:10-14). Even the religious leaders were made to face the need for a change of lifestyle before their professed repentance could be accepted. John likened them to the snakes that came scurrying out of their shelter in the grass and bushes when a desert fire broke out (Matt 3:7). It is a demanding role to declare what God requires of people both in secular and religious spheres of life, requiring not only considerable courage but also a strictly disciplined life.
Holy Violence
Jesus commended the single-minded determination he saw in John the Baptist and said that this was the attitude required of those who would seek to enter the kingdom. "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force" (Matt 11:12 RSV). The time had come to cast aside indifference and to maintain a holy resolution. Jesus' crusade for 'holy violence' was not a physical one, but a spiritual one: it required the death of formality in the quest for utter holiness.
John the Baptist's Problems
There were two temptations that John had to face. The first was when people began to turn away from John to join up with Jesus in considerable numbers, as their ministries proceeded side by side in Judea. One of John's lieutenants reported: "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan...well, he is baptising and everyone is going to him" (John 3:26). As happens so often, the truth was spiced up with a bit of exaggeration, but John refused the temptation as he replied: "A man can receive only what is given to him from heaven." He may have been tough, but he was certainly also gracious.
The greatest problem for John was being imprisoned by Herod. It must have been terrible for this man of the desert used to the wind blowing through his hair and able to freshen his sun-tanned face in the waters of the Jordan - he must have felt like a caged animal. In such circumstances John fell victim to doubt and depression (see Matt 11:2-6). Was this Jesus really the Messiah? Why wasn't he burning up the chaff? Why was he not demolishing all opposition to his kingdom? Jesus' reply warned him not to be offended at Jesus' very different approach (Matt 11:6).
It is important to remember that even John had doubts, and faced temptations. But his grasp of who Jesus was and what his ministry was about remained outstanding."
A Christ Centred Message
Apart from moments of self-questioning, John is outstanding for his grasp of who Jesus was and what his ministry was about. To John, Jesus is: the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Baptiser in Holy Spirit, the coming one who had arrived, the one who was before John and greater, the wielder of his winnowing fork, the axe-man aiming at the root of the tree, the one from above, the bridegroom, the one whose sandals John was unfit to untie or carry and supremely the one who comes from heaven and is 'above-all' (Matt 3:10-12; Mark 1:7; John 1:27-34; John 3:29-34)!
John the Baptist shows all today's prophets the right attitude to Jesus when he says: "He must become greater; I must become less!" (John 3:30).
First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 2 No 6, November/December 1986.
