LIFE LESSONS
JOHN THE BAPTIST
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 1:13-17, JOHN 1:6-9
APRIL 3, 2005
Five years ago in the year 2000, a cave was discovered in Israel. That cave is now called the Suba Cave. It was found 2-1/2 miles from En Kerem, the traditional home of John the Baptist and his parents Zechariah and Elizabeth. In the recent years, in the last couple of years, an archeological dig has taken place at the Suba Cave. The cave had been lost for centuries and had been covered with dirt and debris and overgrowth. But now an archeological dig has been taking place conducted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. They have discovered that in the 1st century in the time of Christ, this Suba Cave had been used for ritualistic washings and it had been used perhaps for Christian baptism. They found etchings along the wall of the cave, and they believe that some of those etchings are meant to portray John the Baptist. Some archeologists believe this Suba Cave was actually one of the centers of the cult of John the Baptist and indeed that perhaps John himself baptized in the cave before going to the Jordan.
Concerning the Suba Cave and that archeological dig, a book has been written called “The Cave of John the Baptist.” The cave and the archeological dig has also been made into a 2-hour special on the history channel. I saw that 2-hour special and I’ve read this book. The authors come to some controversial conclusions. In fact they come to some crazy conclusions regarding the person of John and even regarding the person of Jesus. These are conclusions that are not supported biblically, parabiblically, or even archeologically. That’s why much of scholarship has really renounced this book, but what this book has done is brought attention to John the Baptist and even to Jesus. Concerning John the Baptist, many more people today are now saying, “Who was this guy? Who was he anyway?” There is no doubt John the Baptist was huge in his time. In the 1st century he was a major player on the Jewish scene. Multitudes flocked to him and even the authorities took notice of him both Roman and Jewish.
Today we look at the life of John the Baptist and as we look at his life, we have two life lessons. The first life lesson is this. If you would please God, you must bear witness to the light. In our passage of scripture for today, it is said, “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came for testimony to bear witness to the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to bear witness to the light. The true light which enlightens every man was coming into the world. John bore witness to the Light. It is the will of God that all of us who believe in Christ would also bear witness to the Light; that is bear witness to Christ.
Now, in this month’s issue of Biblical Archeological Review there is an article on Yale University and on the Yale insignia and its history. The Yale insignia consists of Hebrew words and Latin words inscribed on top of an open Bible. The folks at Biblical Archeological Review have the perspective that most of the students at Yale might understand the meaning of the Latin but they do not understand the meaning of the Hebrew and they haven’t a clue as to the meaning of their own insignia and indeed its history.
In the beginning when this insignia was established and we had these Hebrew and Latin words inscribed on the Bible, there was an intended meaning that reflected the purpose of Yale University. The Hebrew words are Urim and Thummim and the Latin words are Loose et Veritas. Those Hebrew words, Urim and Thummim are of course found in the Bible. They are found in the Old Testament and those were the names, Urim and Thummim of the divine oracles, the divine stones, the sacred stones used by the High Priest and kept within the breastplate of righteousness. These stones were used to divine the will of God. The word Urim means, “light,” and the word Thummim in Hebrew means, “light and truth.” That’s exactly the same meaning as the Latin, “Lux et Veritas,” “light and truth,” and so the insignia of Yale has light and truth etched over an open Bible.
In the beginning their meaning was that Jesus Christ is the Word and Yale University exists to witness to His Light and His Truth. Isn’t that amazing? That’s why Yale University was established, to witness to Jesus Christ as the Word, the Light and the Truth. Of course, today this is no longer true. Many of the professors at Yale no longer believe that Jesus is the Light or the Truth. Many of the students at Yale no longer believe that Jesus is the light and the truth. And the institution in fact has gone through this strange flip-flop. Like many secular institutions of higher learning today, the Institution of Yale and similar universities now believe that they are the light, they are the truth and indeed they are the word.
You see this across America today with countless colleges and universities once Christian and now secular. They no longer believe Jesus is the light. They actually believe that academia is the light and all of this goes back to the Enlightenment, to the so-called Age of Reason, to the time of Voltaire, to the time of Locke, Rousseau, Descartes, the enlightenment philosophers who believed that God was not the light but the faculty of human reason is the light. Human reason is the truth and indeed man began to worship himself. That’s what’s going on in a lot of the academic world today, a world where man worships himself. It can’t be true of you. If you’re a Christian, if you take the name of Jesus Christ, you can’t have that worldview. You must bear witness to Jesus Christ as the Light and you must believe He is the Light, He is the Truth and He is the Word.
John understood this in a very unique way. John was a prophet but he was not an ordinary prophet. John was Elijah redivivus, Latin words that refer to Malachi, chapter 3 in the Bible and also to Talmudic traditions because it was believed, as recorded in Malachi and in the Talmud, that when the Messiah would come, before the Messiah would appear on the earth, one would arise in the spirit and in the power of Elisha to prepare the way for the Messiah and to herald the Messiah’s coming. This was John the Baptist. He was Elijah redivivus. He was the one who had come in the spirit and in the power of Elisha and he had come to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah and to herald or announce the Messiah’s coming.
Oftentimes the word Messiah is not understood. Last week at Coors Amphitheater on Easter Sunday, our choir sang Handel’s Messiah. They sang the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, written by George Frideric Handel and first performed on April 13, 1742. That beautiful Messiah describes the person of Jesus Christ. Of course, the word Messiah comes from the Hebrew and it means, “The Anointed One.” It’s the exact equivalent of the Greek word Christos or Christ which also means, “The Anointed One.”
To understand the title, we need to understand that in Israel and in Judaism there were three anointed offices—the office of King was anointed, the office of Priest was anointed, and the office of Prophet was anointed. The Messiah was the Anointed One. He would fulfill all three of these offices. He would be the very fulfillment of the kingly office, the priestly office and the office of prophet. And so, He did fulfill the kingly office. That’s why even David, King of Israel, looking through the portals of time called The Messiah, “My Lord,” Psalms 110:1. Jesus is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the fulfillment of the kingly office. He was also the fulfillment of the priestly office and so He died in sacrificial or substitutionary atonement, bringing to an end the sacrificial system. He is the one intermediary between God and man, a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus fulfills the prophetic office as well. Of course, the word “prophetes,” the Greek word for prophet. The Hebrew word is “nabi.” These words mean, “to speak for” or “to speak forth” and a prophet was one who spoke for God or who spoke for the Word of God. Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophetic office because He not only spoke forth the Word of God. He was and He IS the Word of God. He is the Word of God come into the world, so John was brought into the world to herald the coming of the Messiah. John was Elijah redivivus, no normal prophet, and he did not live at a normal time. He lived in the time of the Messiah Himself and he spoke forth the Word of God because the Word of God was coming into the world. John lived to bear witness to the Word, to the Light, to the Truth, to Christ.
This must be true of us. It’s not an easy call. It’s the will of God that you would bear witness to His Son, that you would herald the Messiah, that you would prepare the hearts of people and share the person of Jesus Christ by the power and the grace and the mercy of the Holy Spirit in you. This is the will of God for you. It’s not an easy thing.
I think some of you have heard of Andrew Sullivan. Andrew Sullivan writes for Time Magazine. He is one of their consistent writers who writes regularly in each issue. I really don’t know Andrew Sullivan’s politics. I don’t know whether he’s a Democrat. I don’t know whether he’s a Republican but he wrote a wonderful essay. It’s on the last page of last week’s issue of Time Magazine. It’s an essay called “When Grace Arrives Unannounced.” The subtitle is “Tied Up By A Violent Fugitive, Ashley Smith Found A Way To Let The Light In.”
Andrew Sullivan tells the story of Ashley Smith. I think you all know what happened. Ashley Smith is the woman in Atlanta, Georgia who, at 2:00 AM going on an errand, was apprehended by a man named Brian Nichols, a desperate man, a wanted man, a man guilty of rape, a man guilty of murder. Brian Nichols had murdered a woman and three men and now he apprehended Ashley Smith and bound her. She surely feared for her life but she had recently read Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” and she had committed her life and her heart to Jesus Christ and she had a composure in the midst of her captivity that is hard to explain apart from the grace of God. She began to talk to Brian Nichols, this rapist and murderer. She began to talk to him and share with him her story and she showed interest in him. She told him about “The Purpose Driven Life.” She told him about Jesus Christ. She told him that maybe God had a purpose even in prison for him and that purpose might be to share the Light of Christ.
Andrew Sullivan tells this story so beautifully. He explains how the grace of Jesus Christ sometimes show up in the most unexpected ways and in the most unexpected places. He explains that Ashley Smith, at 2:00 AM, was really on her way to purchase cigarettes to fuel her nicotine addiction but even there, Christ went with her, and the grace of Christ was there, and her life was spared. Even for Brian Nichols, this tragic man, this violent man guilty of horrible crimes, somehow even for him there was, inexplicably, divine grace in this moment.
In the context of the article, Andrew Sullivan confessed that he himself is a Christian and a believer and he explains the principals of “The Purpose Driven Life” and he marvels at the powerful grace of Jesus Christ. What an incredible article. Again, I don’t know Andrew Sullivan but I know that he’s taking a risk. What he’s writing here is not PC. This is not politically correct stuff. He’s taking a risk that he might bear witness to the light, that he might bear witness to Christ. He could get in trouble with the leadership of Time. I don’t know. He doesn’t know. But he’s doing what Christians are called to do and that is bear witness to Christ in any way we can. That’s what you’re called to do. That’s what I’m called to do. We’re called to do this in our neighborhoods. We’re called to do this in our workplaces. We’re called to do this wherever God places us to bear witness to the Light if you would please God.
A second life lesson from John and a final one is this: If you would please God, you must be separate from the world. If you would please God, you must bear witness to the Light, and if you would please God you must be separate from the world.
I’m reminded of the passage in the little book of 1 John where the Bible says, “Do not love the world or the things that are in the world for if anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in Him, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world and the world passes away and the desires of it but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
Most Bible scholars believe that John the Baptist was a Nazarite from the Hebrew word “nazir,” which means, “to separate.” He had taken a vow of separation from the world. We read about this in the Old Testament in the Book of Numbers. In the 6th chapter we read that the Nazarite vow was 3-fold and through this 3-fold vow, the Nazarite expressed his separation to God and separation from the world.
The first vow of the Nazarite was a vow to eat or drink nothing from the fruit of the vine. They could not have grapes. They could not have grape juice. They could not have wine and they could not have enhanced wine or strong drink. This was a hardship in biblical times because there was very little fresh water, and most water, particularly in the cities, was highly polluted. The drinking of fermented beverages was normative. Therefore, most Nazarites left the city in accordance with their vows. They left the city because they couldn’t find fresh water, clean water, in the city. They would go to live in the wilderness. They would go to live near springs and tributaries and rivers and places where they might find fresh water. This is what John the Baptist did.
He took a second vow, and the second vow of the Nazarites was a vow not to cut your hair for the length of the vow, however long the vow was. If the vow was for a lifetime, you could not cut your hair ever in your entire life. The third vow was a vow not to defile yourself by touching the dead, even a loved one who had passed away. If you defiled yourself, or if you drank of the fruit of the vine, you had to shave your head and begin all over again. This was the life of the Nazarite.
Of course, most Bible scholars believe that in the Old Testament, the best example of the Nazarite was Samuel. And Samson also was a Nazarite, although not a perfect one. He not only touched dead bodies, but he created them. In the New Testament most Bible scholars believe that John the Baptist was a Nazarite. It is very clear, based on Acts, chapter 18, verse 18, the Apostle Paul, for a period of time, was a Nazir, or a Nazarite. But it’s really about separation to God and separation from the world. The three vows were really not that important.
Jesus wasn’t a Nazarite. He had not taken these three vows. He ate and drank of the fruit of the vine, and He drank wine. He was not a Nazarite. Of course, Jesus cut His hair—at least we have no reason to believe he didn’t—and furthermore Jesus touched the dead. He not only touched the dead but in touching the dead he raised them. He was not a Nazarite. And yet He also was separated from the world. The three vows were simply tokens of the higher call that, as the people of God, we would be separated from the world and the ways of the world. This if the call of God upon us as Christians, that we would be separated from the ways of the world.
Pope John Paul II passed away yesterday, and you’re all aware of that. I think by any rational reckoning, John Paul II was amongst the greatest of the Popes. He certainly was a great moral leader in a time when Judeo-Christian values are eroding. Pope John Paul II had a great love for Christ and a great love for people. Now, it bothers some Protestants that the Pope is traditionally called “The Holy Father.” It bothers Protestants because they think the word holy means “sinless.” No one is sinless save God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But you see the word holy does not necessarily mean, “sinless.” The word in the Greek is “hagios.” This word simply means, “set apart.” It can mean sinless. On rare occasions it does mean sinless. It means, “set apart from sin.” But normally hagios, the word “holy,” means “set apart for God” or “set apart from the ways of the world.” In this sense, all Christians are called saints in the Bible. All Christians are called holy because if you’ve given your life to Jesus Christ and if you’ve made that commitment to Him as Lord, then you’ve been set apart for Him and set apart from the world, holy, and certainly the Pope is holy in this same sense. It has to do with the call of God’s people to be separate from the ways of the world.
I want you to see a little clip from a movie called “Closer to Jesus.” In this clip you see Mary Magdalene and a Roman officer watching John as he baptizes people in the Jordan.
Soldier: “Do you know him?”
Mary: “No, but I’ve heard about him.”
Soldier: “What is he doing?”
Mary: “He’s preaching.”
Soldier: “He’s a rebel.”
Mary: “No, he’s telling them to search their souls.”
Soldier: “Who? Those peasants? Ha! Ha!”
John the Baptist: “Change your ways.”
Soldier: “What on earth is he doing now?”
Mary: “He is baptizing them.”
Soldier: “What do you know about these things, Mary?”
Mary: “I am a Jew too.”
The Romans had no understanding of baptism because they had no practice of ritualistic washing. The Jews such as Mary Magdalene did have an understanding of baptism and in Judaism for virtually every sin there was a ritualistic washing that was required. But John brought new meaning to baptism and with John, baptism became a commitment, a moment of consecration, an acknowledgement of sin, an expression of desire that all sin might be forgiven at one moment and that your life might be committed, consecrated to God and you’re making a vow of separation to God and separation from the world.
And so John’s baptism became a kind of prototype of the baptism that Jesus brings as Christian baptism. In Christian baptism, we come and we are baptized with water and it expresses our longing that we might be forgiven of our sin by the blood of Christ and it expresses that promise of cleansing and washing. It also expresses our initiation into the family of God as children of God and it expresses our commitment, our consecration to be separated to God and separated from the world. Even infant baptism and infant dedication is really a commitment on the part of the parents to rear their children as separated unto God, separated from the ways of the world, to rear children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.
This is so important for us as Christians every day to wake up and realize that we are separated to God and we are separated from the world. It’s important to understand the meaning of this. It’s a very difficult call because we’re to be separated from the ways of the world but still engaged with the world for the sake of ministry. I think some Christians historically have misunderstood this call. For instance, in 1690 Jacob Aman broke away from the Mennonites in Switzerland and he established a whole new group, really a whole new religion and named them after himself. They were called the Amish and of course in the year 1727 they came to the United States, what was then Colonial America. Today the Amish are in 23 states of the United States and also in the region of Ontario in Canada.
The Amish people take the Ordnung, which is their vow. The Ordnung is a vow that they would be separated to God and separated from the world, and it is a vow that they would live an agrarian life, that they would work the land. It is a vow that they would use no electricity, not even telephones; that they would not use motorized vehicles, that they would walk or they would travel on horseback or in a buggy or a carriage pulled by a horse. It is a vow that they would never serve in the military or in any public office. It is a vow of isolation, and the Amish people live in isolation from the world.
That’s really a misunderstanding of the Gospel. Really it’s a misunderstanding of the call of Christ, because we’re to be separated from the ways of the world, not separated from the people of the world. We need to engage the world for the sake of ministry that we might bear witness to the Light and that we might love people as God loves people and be very much involved in the lives of people. It’s a difficult call I think for those of us who are Christians to live in this world and be separated from the fallen ways of the culture and yet seeking to actively minister to people around us.
We really want to help you in that call. For this reason, we have a conference coming up and this conference that’s coming up is a conference that’s called Impact America. The Impact America Conference is going to be an awesome deal. It’s just two weeks from now. It’s going to be on April 15th and 16th, Friday night and Saturday. We have information in the lobby. I want to encourage you to go out and check this out. This is going to be a great deal. It has to do with our call as Christians to be separate from the world and yet engaged with it. We’re bringing in a diversity of people to speak from different callings and different careers and different professions. We have a nationally syndicated columnist, Cal Thomas, and we have a Hollywood actress, Jennifer O’Neill. We have a variety of people we’re bringing in. It should be an incredible experience for all of you. This isn’t some vast rightwing conspiracy. We understand that this is a diverse congregation. Some of you are Democrats. Some of you are Republicans. Hopefully we’re all believers, we’re all Christians and we’re concerned about America. We’re concerned about what’s happening in the media. We’re concerned about what’s happening in the world of education. We’re concerned about what’s happening in the world of entertainment. We’re concerned about all these various arenas of life and we want to know how we can make an impact, how we can be salt and light.
I was discussing with Gene Kissinger some time ago our missiology, our missions and outreach strategy. We were discussing the fact that sometimes it’s very difficult to convey the Gospel to our culture. You might recall that in Matthew’s Gospel, the 13th chapter, in Mark, chapter 4 and Luke, chapter 8, Jesus tells the Parable of the Soils, sometimes called the Parable of the Sower. Jesus explains that the Gospel goes forth in the world like seed. The seed falls on the soil of the world, on the soil of people’s lives. There are different kinds of soil out there. Jesus said, “There’s hard soil, soil that resists the seed of the Gospel. There’s rocky soil, soil that just has a little bit of topsoil but then it’s all rocky so that the seed of the Gospel can’t really take root.” Jesus described thorn-infested soil, soil where the Gospel takes root but it really can’t grow because it’s choked by the thorns, the cares, the desires of the world. Of course, Jesus tells us there’s good soil where the Gospel grows.
As Gene and I were talking about this, we not only want to take the Gospel to the nations and to our nation but we want to till the soil if possible. The soil in America is hard. It is rocky. It is thorn-infested. We need to till the soil. This conference, Impact America, is all about what we can do to till the soil, what we can do in the arena of education, what we can do in the entertainment world, what we can do with regard to the media, how we can till the soil so our nation might have greater receptivity to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is dangerous stuff. It really is dangerous. John the Baptist understood how dangerous it is to be separated from the ways of the world and how dangerous it is to bear witness to the light. Of course, you will recall that John spoke out regarding the immorality of political leaders. In John’s time, Herod Antipas had committed adultery with Herodias, the wife of his own brother Philip and then ultimately married Herodias. John the Baptist spoke out. He spoke to multitudes about this sexual immorality and the tragedy of it. He called Herod Antipas to repentance. Of course, you know what happened. The wrath of the government came down upon John the Baptist. Ultimately, he was beheaded at the demand of Herodias and her daughter Salome. Herod Antipas had arrested John, convicted John, beheaded John, and put his head on a plate.
That could happen to you figuratively speaking. That could happen to any of us as we take this stand to bear witness to the Light. It’s not an easy call but it’s the call that God has given us. We see it in John the Baptist. If you would please God, you must bear witness to the Light and if you would please God, you must separate yourself from the world while being engaged with the world for the sake of ministry. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.