Even as I sit down on the first day of a new year to write this final devotion for the “John the Baptist” series, I noticed something that helped me put this in perspective. I watched some television this morning after sleeping in and all the commercials were dominated by one of two things on this first day of 2009. Either they were about some form of weight loss or exercise centers trying to help you make a new start in the new year, or they were about the need for funeral preplanning and insurance policy to pay for one’s funeral (maybe I was watching the AARP channel and didn’t realize it?). It seemed like an odd combination to me until I thought about the contrast of endings and beginnings and how in the circle of life, they somehow meet. Such is the case as I pen my final reflections (at least for a while) in regards to the life of the one known as “The Baptizer.”
When we came up with the least of readings for Advent and Christmas, we debated about what reading to use for the final one in the series. We settled in on Matthew 3:13-17, Jesus coming to be baptized by John. We thought this section of scripture was a telling one about John. Of course if you’ve read these few verses, you know that John had some major objections to Jesus’ request. That is a detail we shouldn’t quickly pass over in our haste to get the dramatic rending of the sky. It speaks volumes about the character and faith of John. Simply put, its says John “got it.” All this talk about “preparing the way of the Lord” wasn’t a sales pitch. It wasn’t just pre-Super Bowl hype. John meant it when he said: “The one who comes after me, was before me.” Now as Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan, John was dumbfounded by Jesus’ request. This was all backwards. This made no sense to John. This is a Emeril flying in from New Orleans to ask me how to make a good grilled ham and cheese sandwich. This is John Grisham stopping by to ask for my input on his next novel. This was the sinless Son of the holy God coming and asking to be baptized by the far from sinless son of Zechariah and Elizabeth.
It is this moment that we discover that key word to associate with the desert preacher named John. Even more than being “John the Baptist,” he is firstly “John the Follower.” It says that after stating his case and knowing that from any human standpoint, he won the argument. When Jesus said, “Let it be so now,” even though it didn’t make a lick of sense to John, he followed and he obeyed. And with that baptism, the heavens opened, the Spirit descended and the Father’s voice called down to affirm His Son.
It’s strange when you think about it. John’s public ministry didn’t last long. He was there to be the forerunner, but then this seeming frontrunner was quite content to find his place in the race somewhere behind the One who “for the prize set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Father” – as the Victor. John was a Follower at heart. He followed God’s lead and began to “prepare” the track on which the Savior would run. He followed with humility when his disciples wanted him to challenge Jesus for the lead. He followed his conviction when expedience said, “Back off. Speaking so boldly about Herod and Herodias is going to get you into jail load of trouble. It not worth the headache (sorry I couldn’t resist that one)” He followed with his eyes fixed on Jesus, the one who came after him, yet was before him; the one who baptized with fire; the one who was the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world. John was a follower.
The problem is that no one admires a follower in our day and time. We all want to believe that we live above the trends and expectations – that we set out on our own journeys – blazing our own trails. We simply ignore the fact that we are all followers of the patterns of this age. But not John - he was a follower of Jesus and he didn’t care about what others said about him. Even though his clothing made him stand out to the city folk, and even though his food wasn’t served on the tables of the finest homes in Jerusalem, that didn’t matter to him. What did matter was that he was faithful to the One who “took on flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
What would our New Year look like if we quit trying to manufacture some set of resolutions that rely on our own wills, and strove instead to be followers of Christ. I guess that’s what really draws me to John. He points me to Jesus and when I listen, I end up following behind “the Lamb of God,” only to have Jesus turn and invite me (as he did to the disciples of John long ago) to “come and see” where He will lead – today, tomorrow, 2009, forever. It’s not all that far from the endings and the new beginnings, but the real question is: “Are we ready to be FOLLOWERS?”
When we came up with the least of readings for Advent and Christmas, we debated about what reading to use for the final one in the series. We settled in on Matthew 3:13-17, Jesus coming to be baptized by John. We thought this section of scripture was a telling one about John. Of course if you’ve read these few verses, you know that John had some major objections to Jesus’ request. That is a detail we shouldn’t quickly pass over in our haste to get the dramatic rending of the sky. It speaks volumes about the character and faith of John. Simply put, its says John “got it.” All this talk about “preparing the way of the Lord” wasn’t a sales pitch. It wasn’t just pre-Super Bowl hype. John meant it when he said: “The one who comes after me, was before me.” Now as Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan, John was dumbfounded by Jesus’ request. This was all backwards. This made no sense to John. This is a Emeril flying in from New Orleans to ask me how to make a good grilled ham and cheese sandwich. This is John Grisham stopping by to ask for my input on his next novel. This was the sinless Son of the holy God coming and asking to be baptized by the far from sinless son of Zechariah and Elizabeth.
It is this moment that we discover that key word to associate with the desert preacher named John. Even more than being “John the Baptist,” he is firstly “John the Follower.” It says that after stating his case and knowing that from any human standpoint, he won the argument. When Jesus said, “Let it be so now,” even though it didn’t make a lick of sense to John, he followed and he obeyed. And with that baptism, the heavens opened, the Spirit descended and the Father’s voice called down to affirm His Son.
It’s strange when you think about it. John’s public ministry didn’t last long. He was there to be the forerunner, but then this seeming frontrunner was quite content to find his place in the race somewhere behind the One who “for the prize set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Father” – as the Victor. John was a Follower at heart. He followed God’s lead and began to “prepare” the track on which the Savior would run. He followed with humility when his disciples wanted him to challenge Jesus for the lead. He followed his conviction when expedience said, “Back off. Speaking so boldly about Herod and Herodias is going to get you into jail load of trouble. It not worth the headache (sorry I couldn’t resist that one)” He followed with his eyes fixed on Jesus, the one who came after him, yet was before him; the one who baptized with fire; the one who was the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world. John was a follower.
The problem is that no one admires a follower in our day and time. We all want to believe that we live above the trends and expectations – that we set out on our own journeys – blazing our own trails. We simply ignore the fact that we are all followers of the patterns of this age. But not John - he was a follower of Jesus and he didn’t care about what others said about him. Even though his clothing made him stand out to the city folk, and even though his food wasn’t served on the tables of the finest homes in Jerusalem, that didn’t matter to him. What did matter was that he was faithful to the One who “took on flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
What would our New Year look like if we quit trying to manufacture some set of resolutions that rely on our own wills, and strove instead to be followers of Christ. I guess that’s what really draws me to John. He points me to Jesus and when I listen, I end up following behind “the Lamb of God,” only to have Jesus turn and invite me (as he did to the disciples of John long ago) to “come and see” where He will lead – today, tomorrow, 2009, forever. It’s not all that far from the endings and the new beginnings, but the real question is: “Are we ready to be FOLLOWERS?”
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