Understanding John the Baptizer
Every time I read these passages in the Gospel stories about John
the Baptizer sending messengers to Jesus, I always have to beat back my
doubts. The first question that enters
my head every single time is, “Did not this man just baptize Jesus and tell
everyone that He was the one who would baptize people with the Holy Spirit?” And then I think, “How could John say ‘I’m
not worthy to untie His sandal’ and then later say, ‘Are you the one?’”
The reality is, we need to consider John the Baptizer’s
predicament. He was a man of the
wilderness, yet he was locked up in a palace jail. He was a man with a divine mandate to preach,
yet he found himself kept as Herod’s personal pet. He had been obedient to God’s will, but God
was acting slowly in bringing forth His kingdom. Face it; even on this one we are still
guilty. Oh, how many times have I heard
a modern Christian say, “I’m ready, Lord, whenever you are!” How many times have I been guilty of saying
that, too?
This is not a crisis of faith; this is a crisis of
experience. John isn’t seeing what he
was expecting to see by this point. He’s
fully human, of course, so this is understandable.
This is why Jesus replies in kind back to John. Notice that Jesus doesn’t chastise John the
Baptizer’s disciples. He gives them a
message of comfort. He says to John’s
disciples, “You go tell John all the good things that are happening. People are experienced God. Regardless of the circumstances people find
themselves in, anyone who is not offended by me is blessed.”
You see? There is no
criticism of John. There is
reassurance. John isn’t having a crisis
of faith by doubting. John is having a
crisis of circumstance. Things aren’t
playing out how he envisioned them. I’m
not going to fault him on that one!
What Did You Go To See?
In fact, once John’s disciples are gone Jesus begins to praise
John in the ears of the crowd around Him.
Jesus tells the crowd that John was no reed blown about by the
wind. He was no person growing soft in
the comforts of the world. He was the
one who prepared the way for the Son of God to come into His ministry. Jesus even implies that John’s witness is the
culmination of all the Law and the Prophets.
Yet, Jesus says that it is better to be in the Kingdom of God than
elsewhere. Let’s be careful here. Jesus isn’t saying John the Baptizer won’t be
saved. What Jesus is saying is that it
is better to live in a time when God’s grace is known to man than in a time
when God’s grace is still being anticipated.
Who hasn’t had that thought? How
many of us don’t honestly thank God that we were born after Jesus lived and
died rather than before? Isn’t it easier
to see God’s hand at work looking back on the cross than it would have been to
look forward to it? Indeed. Those in the Kingdom of God are highly
blessed.
Jesus’ Generation
However, Jesus doesn’t let the crowd off the hook. He tells them that while they are more blessed
than any generation to have come before them, they are missing the boat. They have the Son of God in their midst and
they are refusing to follow. They have
grace displayed in miracle and in teaching, yet they are refusing to see and
hear. They have everything explained to
them; yet it didn’t change their life.
It is one thing to be blessed.
But it is another thing to live in the age of blessing and not
respond. How lucky we are to live when
we do. How lucky we are to know about
the cross, forgiveness, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal life. Truly there is none blessed like us!
So why do we get caught up in the things of the world? Why do we pay so little attention to the one
who sends us His grace? Why do we focus
on so many things in this life except God?
He lavishes us with grace; what do we give Him in return?
So we come in this chapter to the woe given to the unrepentant
cities. What I find challenging is the
concluding statement. To those who live
in a time of grace yet cannot find a way to respond to God, things will be less
tolerable for them than for the people of Sodom. That will make you stop and think for sure.
Comfort
Having said all of these harsh critiques, Jesus then turns to
softness. He comforts those that He has
just put into doubt. He reminds them
that they don’t have to be a special person or an important person to follow
Christ. All they need to do is humble
themselves before God. They don’t have
to be strong and powerful; they just need to be like little children in the
presence of their dad. They just need to
accept that what Jesus said is true.
They are broken. The truth is
that they just don’t respond to Jesus as they should. Neither do we.
Do you remember when we were talking about the beginning of the
Sermon on the Mount and I spoke of πραΰς? It is the word that many Bible translators
interpret as meek. I interpreted it as
broken … submitted to God. Literally, in
verse 29, Jesus says, “For I am πραΰς (gentle).” Jesus Himself
acknowledges His submission before the Father.
There is where we find comfort.
We won’t find comfort trying to make ourselves deserve God’s love. We won’t find comfort when we rationalize our
behavior. We find comfort when we are πραΰς before the Lord.
This brings us full circle back to John in prison. Even though he was confused and not quite on
the same page as Jesus, he was still πραΰς. This is why even in his
crisis of circumstance Jesus treats him with a gentle hand and a compassionate
response. He’s not perfect. He’s πραΰς. That’s all God asks of
us, too.
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