The Career of John the Baptist
By Woodrow Kroll
John 1:1-29
Ever heard someone say, "It doesn't matter what you know, it matters who you know"? Well, who you know can make a difference, but in some things what you know is extremely important.
You and I live in a world filled with information, but not a world filled with knowledge. I know that's true because I have a computer. And when I get on the Internet or when I receive an e-mail, there's a lot of information out there, but it doesn't appear to me that there's a lot of knowledge out there. And people often do things--isn't it true--people often do things based on misinformation, false knowledge, or a lack of knowledge.
I don't know if this is true or not, I presume it is. I read that in Wilton, Washington, the state of Washington, Boston Curtis was placed on the ballot for the Republican Committeeman's position. And, I think Boston Curtis won. Now, the people of that town voted for Boston Curtis based on information--but not on knowledge. Because after Boston Curtis won, everyone found out that Boston Curtis was the mayor's mule! And I think he made a pretty good Republican Committeeman as fact! But you see, there's a good example of how people sometimes operate on the basis of information, but no knowledge.
I want you to look with me today at John, chapter 1. John, chapter 1, is the story of a man who had knowledge and information, and he knew what to do with it. Now, basically, John chapter 1 is the story of the Lord Jesus, but there is another person mentioned in John chapter 1. And that is this man, John the Baptist. I want us to think a bit today about the life and ministry of John the Baptist before we think about Jesus, the One he's going to introduce to the world.
Look at John 1:6, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." Now, let me stop there because there are two very interesting things in that verse. Number one, notice that John the Baptist was not a Baptist or a baptizer by chosen profession. John the Baptist was not there baptizing in the Jordan River because that was his job, that's the way he made his living. This is a man sent from God. People did not come up to John the Baptist and say, "By the way, John, how did you get a job like this?"
"Well, I went to Baptist University. I took Baptism 101. I majored in baptism when I was in the University." Now, John didn't do that at all! John was there because he was a man sent from God. He was simply doing what God told him to do.
And secondly, I notice in that verse that not only was he a man sent from God, but his name was John. And God sent his dear beloved John to do something very specific. Verse 7, "This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that through him all might believe. He was not the Light, but he was sent to bear witness of the Light."
Now, it's interesting that John here, clearly is not the Light of whom we're going to study this week--that's the Lord Jesus. But John's job was to bear witness to the Light. John's job was to be a torchbearer. John's job was to carry the Light to the world. John's job was to introduce the Light of the World, to the world who needed that Light. He's going to do that in this passage. He's going to say (vs. 29), "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" He will point out the Lord Jesus.
But in the process of getting ready to do his ministry, notice that God sends John, God knows John's name, and John clearly is not the Light himself. He's only a witness to the Light. Aren't you glad tonight you don't have to be God--because that's a big job, being God. It's a big job being fair and sovereign, it's a big job giving people the opportunity to respond, in drawing them. All these things are big; I'm not up to that task.
But fortunately, I don't have to be. I am not the Light; I only bear witness to the Light. And that's exactly what John the Baptist is doing. You and I have the responsibility and we have the great privilege of telling people about Jesus, but we don't have to be Jesus. In fact, we can't be Jesus. But we can be a light; we can be a witness. And the career of John the Baptist is a career that is based on the fact he was sent from God and God wanted him to bear witness to the Lord Jesus.
Now, there's a problem, however. Skip down to verse 19. In verse 19 of John, chapter 1, it says this, "Now this is the testimony of John," this is the record, the witness of John, "when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?'" Now, I think that's a legitimate question. John the Baptist was a pretty unique character. So the Jews, the religious establishment if you will, in Jerusalem sent a contingent of priests and Levites out to Jordan River to question John and find out what he was doing, what was he up to.
Now, look at John's response. I love this! "He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, 'I am not the Christ.'" Now, you're a good Bible student. A good Bible student looks at this passage and says, "That's not what they asked. They asked John 'Who are you?' John says, 'I want to tell you, I'm not the Christ.' Nobody accused him of being Christ. So, John, why do you respond to the question 'Who are you' this way?"
I'll tell you the reason. John knew exactly why they were there. He wanted to get to the heart of the matter in a hurry, not beat around the bush. He didn't want to give his own pedigree; he didn't want to talk about his own background. They were there to find out if he was the Christ, or if he thought he was the Christ. And immediately he says, "I want you to know I am not the Christ. I am not the Anointed One. I am not the Messiah of God. I know that's why you fellows are here, and I want you to know right off the bat, I am not He." That's a good place to be in, isn't it, to know who you are and also to know who you are not.
So, when they ask the question there, they're misidentifying him now, and they say, "Who are you?" And he says, "I want to tell you first of all, I am not the Christ." Secondly, "He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, 'I am not the Christ.' And they asked him, 'What then? Are you Elijah?'" Okay, we've crossed the Christ off our list; John is not the Christ. "Are you then Elijah the prophet?"
Now, you may ask yourself, Why would you even think that he might be Elijah? And the answer to that is the second to the last verse of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 4. The second to the last verse of the Old Testament tells us that before the great and terrible day of the Lord, God would send Elijah the prophet. And here these people take a look at John the Baptist, and they say, "Aha, if he is not the Messiah, he must be Elijah. This is Elijah come back in the flesh."
So they asked him, "Well, then, are you Elijah?" He says, "I am not." Strike two. He's not the Christ; he's not Elijah. That only leaves one other person they can ask about, and they ask, "Are you the Prophet?" Now, that's not a mistake in your Bible. It does not say, "Are you a prophet?" It says, "Are you the Prophet?" That's there. And it's there for a good reason. Because in Deuteronomy chapter 18, twice in that passage, in fact, God says that He will raise up a Prophet like unto Moses, and He's talking about the Great Prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, these people don't identify him as the Lord Jesus, but they want to know, "Are you that specific Prophet that God says He will raise up? Are you some kind of eschatological figure? Are you here because the end times are here?"
He says, "I want you to know, number one, I am not the Christ. I want you to know, number two, I am not Elijah the prophet. And I want you to know, number three, I am not the Prophet which God said He would raise up before the last days."
"Well, okay, you've now told us who you are not. Will you tell us who you are?" John the Baptist said, "I'd be happy to do that." Look at verse 23, "He said: 'I am "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make straight the way of the LORD,'" as the prophet Isaiah said.'"
You see, what John says is, "Look, who I am is not important. What I am is very important." Now I want you to think about that as we think about the life of John the Baptist today. My friend, who you are is not really important, but what you are is extremely important.
Now, what your name is, that doesn't matter to most people in the world; it matters to God, but it doesn't matter to us. What matters is, that we're a voice like one crying in the wilderness saying, "There is Someone in our midst who is worthy of your worship and praise, and it's not me. But I'm here to tell you about that Person." Now, that's my responsibility. My responsibility is not to be a prophet. My responsibility is not to be an Elijah. My responsibility is not to be a Messiah. My responsibility is to tell you that Jesus Christ is alive and to tell you that by faith in Jesus Christ, you can be eternally alive as well. And that's exactly what John the Baptist is doing.
But then there's this little caveat in verses 24 and 25, "Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees." Oh, don't you love them--the Pharisees! "And they asked him, saying, 'Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?'" Legitimate question when you remember that John the Baptist is the son of a priest.
John the Baptist obviously would know about ritual baths. He would know about the mikvos. He would know about the rights of purification. He would know as the son of a priest that a messianic act was to bring cleansing to God's people. That was the job of the Messiah. The Messiah would cleanse God's people from their sins (Ezekiel, chapter 36, and again in chapter 37).
And here John the Baptist is out there performing this rite of baptism and the priests and the Levites, the Pharisees specifically, say to him, "All right, if you are not the Messiah, and you are not the Prophet, and you are not Elijah, why then are you baptizing people?" Look what he says. "John answered them, saying, 'I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.'"
Now, John the Baptist says, "Look. The reason I'm here and the reason I'm baptizing people with water is that I want to introduce you to Someone who is the real thing. I want to introduce you to Someone whose sandal strap I am not even worthy to loose." But notice in verse 26, the key words for our study together this week, my friends, "but there stands One among you whom you do not know."
I want to explore with you during our times together what it means for people who do not know the Lord Jesus as Savior. And I want to explore with you what it means for those of us who do know Him as Savior. And I think it's important for us to begin with John the Baptist because John the Baptist says, "Look. I am not the Messiah. I am not Elijah. I am not the Prophet. All I am is one who is here to introduce to you the Messiah of the world."
Now, here's the clincher. He says, "And by the way, the One I want to introduce to you is standing in your midst right now."
You could have heard a pin drop in that crowd that day, because John says, "The One whose shoe laces I am not worthy to unloose is in your very midst, and you don't even know it."
Now, think about the world today. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and the world doesn't even know, doesn't have a clue what's going on, doesn't understand that Jesus died for them. And you and I are in the unique position to simply tell the world what we know about Jesus.
Now, is that a tough job or not? See, you don't have to be seminary trained to be John the Baptist. He obviously wasn't seminary trained. You don't have to be a snappy dresser to be John the Baptist. I mean, look at him, he wore a camel's hair coat and a belt; he's a pretty weird-looking guy. You don't have to eat at the finest restaurants to be a John the Baptist. Well, locusts and wild honey? Here's this funny dresser, with his beard and his honey stuck in his beard; he must have been quite a sight.
And everybody came out to him and they said, "John, what are you doing out here? Who are you?" He said, "I'm a nobody. But I want to tell you, I know Somebody. And the 'Somebody' I know is standing right in your midst right now. He is the Messiah; He is the Savior." And, my friends, that is what the basis of witnessing is all about--just telling people that the Savior is already in our midst and they can know Him if they simply open their eyes of faith and fall before Him and worship Him as Lord.
Now, is that your interest? Is that what drives you in your life today? Not how much you know, or who you are; but, do you in fact tell the world that He is already here and He is the Savior of the world?
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