John the Baptist
- Dave Rodriguez
- Dec 13, 2009
- Series: The Divine Disruption
What words would you use to describe the effect Jesus has on people?
Some would emphasize his love and grace – forgiveness
Some would emphasize the clarity and direction for living
Some would describe the hope for the future and eternity.
I’ll bet very few would describe Jesus as a trouble maker. Would you?
It may be an overstatement to describe him that way but I think that was what Isaiah was getting at…
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall." (Isaiah)
- Jesus will trip you up. He will stagger you. He will disrupt your life.
- He is the change agent of God. He is the divine disruption.
Last week we began to examine the ways that Jesus disrupts our lives.
By examining Herod we saw that Jesus challenges our notions of power and control
Oh you can keep the power, control and destiny of your life if you want. You can be the master of your own fate.
...But you can’t do that AND follow Jesus.
This week we turn to another real person from the Christmas story – to see how his life was disrupted by Jesus
- We’ll see what changed in him and then how that change can be true of us as well.
This person was known as John. You know him as John the Baptist.
John the Baptist:
Delivered as John is in prison…last few hours/days of life after he has received the message Jesus sent to John through his disciples
In terms of human relationships, He was my cousin…but in reality this human relationship was pretty meaningless, we both had far greater roles in our lives than Cousins…His role the greatest of all.
The First impact Jesus had on me was one I don’t remember…It was while still in my mother’s womb. I am told that when Mary came to my mother to announce she was pregnant I “leapt” inside of her womb. Honestly, I never really believed that when they told me as a young boy…but I believed it later, I knew it was true because of the response in my heart when I saw Jesus at the River.
All though we were “cousins” we did not see each other, or play together, we both had much greater roles to fill…His far greater than mine.
I was set apart for God at an early age. I took a Nazarene Vow which means that I set my life apart completely for the call God on my life…that call???…it sounds, and is heavy. I am a prophet of God, over the centuries there have been many prophets God used to speak to his people…to call them back to Himself, forgive the way this sounds… but my role was different. I am the LAST prophet. I am the last prophet because what I proclaimed… what I announced changes everything…and because what I prophesied has now come to be…there will never be a need for Prophet like me again…it is all FINISHED!
What is my proclamation?
Well…it started out to be simple…REPENT!
From the historical writings it was know that before Messiah would come that Elijah would first have to return to announce the Messiah’s arrival ELIJAH would not literally come back to life… the scriptures meant that Just as ELIJAH the great prophet of old called God’s people back to God…another ELIJAH would come to call God’s people back to HIM before the Savior would come.
I AM that ELIJAH…
My Dad told me that when I was I was born this is what the angel said to him about me…
"You will have a son”
“He will turn many back to the Lord their God”
“He will be the forerunner to the Messiah”
Like I said…pretty heavy!
And that is what I did with my life. I preached to all people…it is time to Repent…to turn back to God.
And you know what….thousands did. Hundreds at a time they would come to the river to hear me preach. It got to the point that although the religious leaders did not like my message, they were to afraid of the people to do anything to me…even when I faced off with them and publicly revealed their false teaching and their Hypocrisy.
My message grew stronger, my disciples grew in numbers and more and more people were turning and being baptized in repentence.
My message was reflective of all of the prophets and true to all of the warnings of God that had in our history and through our scriptures and God was blessing the message with the peoples response…but the message was about to be changed…not changed, because it was wrong, it was about to be added to, about to made COMPLETE and for that it took more than I prophet of God…it took God Himself.
I knew another was coming, I had tried to make sure I said it when I preached…” I baptized you with water, one is coming who will baptize you in the Spirit”
One day I was baptizing as usual, preaching as usual but something changed. I felt a presence, a strength, a power I had never felt in all of my life, I looked up and there he was…Jesus was standing before me, THAT’s when I knew that what they had told me about jumping in the womb was true because my heart leapt when I saw him before me I had to yell so all could hear…
“Behold the Lamb of God”…”This is the Son of God”
Jesus asked me to baptize him. At first I protested, it did not seem right, but with his assurance I baptized the Son of God…and that is when everything began to change for me…
The crowds left me and followed Jesus, even some of my own disciples felt called to go with Jesus, they had my blessing and they went. The one’s that stayed with me struggled with what they saw…”It is not fair” they said, you came first and now everyone is going after Jesus.
I knew what needed to happen, I knew the call, I knew the truth, and I knew it was right…”He needed in increase and it as my time to decrease” and I did.
You heard from Herod, he is crazed. He now fears me and his wife more than he fears the people so here I sit, it will not be long now. I know now there will be no stopping this, Herod will have his way…I will die, it will not be long now.
I want, no I need to tell you two things about my encounters with Jesus before I die, two ways things that changed dramatically because of my encounter with the Christ. Yes, it is true that there was a great change in my status after he came, he interrupted my life in terms of my popularity and my influence but to tell you the truth, that felt so “right” that I did not struggle with that much, of coarse…when God comes…you step to the side a little, not out of fear, but out of reverence…it just is so obvious and so right.
But let me tell you about what just happened and what I have understood…maybe for the first time.
Being here in this prison is awful and I am scared…I know what is coming. I know what I have preached, and I know that it is true, but facing death does change things, I cannot tell you it is easy. I needed assurance so I sent my disciples to Jesus to ask him a question for me. Like I said I am confident of what I preached so I did not ask Jesus WHY? Why is this happening?...I did not even ask him to stop it, or to save me, though I am confident he could…instead I needed to feel one more time what I felt in the womb…and at the River, I needed my heart to leap again so I asked him one more time…”You are the ONE right”. You see I knew if just felt that assurance one more time…then I can do this, I can die well.
My disciples just a few moments ago returned from Jesus with his message to me. and Jesus gave me just what I needed, just what He knew I needed…this is the message He sent back to me.
"Go and report to John what you hear and see:
5 the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT
The Lame Walk
Leapers are Cleansed
The deaf hear
The Gospel is being preached to the poor.
Let me assure you how loving and merciful this message is. Jesus could have simply said…”tell John…YES, I AM the one.”
He could have even scolded me for asking…”after all you know John… I can’t believe your asking me this question.”
But instead he answered MY question in MY language…I am a prophet and he answered me from the Prophets! All my brothers over the century prophesied that when Messiah come, signs and wonders would come as well…the Blind would see, the Lame would walk, the outcasts would be cleansed…
Jesus in Love and Mercy and Grace confirmed my need in MY language.
Then, then He went one step further…he gave me a personal encouragement and affirmation. I just got a personal encouragement from God Himself.
6 "And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."
I know what He means, I know what He is saying to me…”John, you have done well, you have made it this far…you are almost home…Don’t stumble now”
The biggest and BEST interruption Jesus gave me was to the way I thought about God. Don’t get me wrong, what I preached out there…repentance…it was right and it is what I was called to preach, but Jesus added to that message, he made it complete. The coming of Jesus added Mercy and Grace on top of the Repentance…The Savior completed the Gospel….the Good News. He completed the step of repentance with the love of Mercy and Grace…that was a Divine interruption.
HE is the ONE! His coming changed everything in my life…in many ways my life has turned out differently than I planned it, differently than how I thought it would end but I know this…What I did…giving my life for Him…it was right! And even now, even now my heart leaps…and I know, if I had it to do all over again…I would give Him my life again.
John the Baptist was indeed one intense dude:
- An odd and powerful presence in his day
- People would flock to the dessert to hear this man who lived off the land eating bugs – rough looking and tough talking
- When I picture him I don’t picture Steve but rather Rupert or Hagrid
John was intense and direct...an uncompromising prophet
And the God John represented was equally intense:
If you formed your understanding of God solely on John’s preaching you would arrive at the conclusion that God is...
- Fiercely holy
- God of justice
- God of law and order
- A God who has had enough with
- A God about to unleash judgment
John’s message about God then was simple – repent or face the coming judgment of the Holy God!
That was John’s God. Now tell me...who is your God? What is your theology?
- what kind of God do you believe in?
- who is God to you?
Some would shrug their shoulders and feel uncomfortable with the question. Hadn’t ever really thought about it. Don’t worry you are not alone. But you do realize the question is VERY important – right?
Some would reach back into their memory and spout off something you heard growing up...church...parents...Your God is essentially the one you were taught to believe in. God is the God of your heritage.
And then there are some of you who are like a lot of Americans who have cobbled together your own personal beliefs about God.
Sort of like Build Your Own Bear.
Some people have built Their Own God that fits with their sensibilities and lifestyle. A God they can be comfortable with.
Conversations about God start like this...“Well my God”...
Fascinating study just out on Thursday - Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
The study found that Americans' mix and match religious beliefs often combine aspects of major religions such as Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation and astrology.
For example, 25 percent of about those surveyed believe in reincarnation, the rebirth of the soul in another body. Among Christians, the number drops only slightly, to 22 percent.
25 percent attend services of a faith that isn’t their own.
“The way we personalize our iphones, we also personalize our religion”
Now, here’s where it might get a little uncomfortable. Jesus will have none of that. Jesus will disrupt your notions and beliefs about God.
This is precisely what he came to earth to do. To complete all the incomplete pictures of God and interrupt all the false notions about God.
“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”
Jesus speaking to Philip
He is literally the divine interruption – he will interrupt – he will butt in – he will challenge everything you think you know about God.
This is exactly what happened to John the Baptist...
John never had a false picture of God – but it was incomplete. He understood the God of the OT but when he met Jesus...all the blanks were filled in.
You can hear him wrestling with this in some of the things he said about Jesus:
On one hand he said...
The one who comes from heaven is above all... He testifies to what he has seen and heard...For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God...
John the Baptist
My cousin, Jesus, the Messiah has lived in heaven...has seen and heard God...and has been sent to tell us all we need to know about God.
But then later as he prepared to be executed – in a moment of doubt he asked
Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?
John the Baptist
Jesus had thoroughly disrupted John’s paradigm and he will yours. Jesus will interrupt all your carefully crafted concepts of God and blow you away with the truth.
He will reshape your understanding of God.
Study his life and words and your faulty notions of God will be corrected
Take the time to get to know him and he will fill in the gaps in your theology.
The only real, true theology is one that is based on the life and teaching of Jesus himself.
You want to know God - study Jesus
You want to recognize God – take a long look at Jesus
You want to experience God - follow Jesus
And here’s why...
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. From John 1
John the Baptist met the Word...touched the word...baptized the word....and through the word his John’s notion of God was completed.
I believed John died satisfied...questions answered...confusion lifted
You too can have your theological confusion lifted...your questions answered or at least tackled...through Jesus you need not wonder about God anymore.
