John the Baptist Prepared the Way; 施洗約翰預備道路

12/4/11 Sermon by Minister Michael Johnson

John Baptist Prepared the Way

Mark 1: 1 - 8

Chinese translation by Ray Huang

This is the second Sunday in Advent. The second Sunday of Advent is when we celebrate God’s love. God’s love was demonstrated in this way: He sent His only begotten Son into the world, that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but will be saved and have everlasting life. Jesus didn’t just appear one day, a grown man preaching to the masses. Instead, he came into this world the same way we do: as a baby. We don’t pray to “Baby Jesus” because Jesus is no longer a baby! But we do acknowledge his coming into this world as a baby. He demonstrated just how humble He is, that as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, reigning over heaven and earth, He left all of that to come into this world as a baby. This whole season is about Christ’s coming into this world as a human to begin the work of ushering into our lives the Kingdom of God. So when we consider this week in advent, let’s remember that Jesus, and His coming, both then and again in the future, is the culmination of God’s love for us.

It is also important to remember the work of the Holy Spirit to prepare the way for Him. This is where we pick up as we read Mark 1:1-8. In this passage we see the beginning of Christ’s ministry, starting with John the Baptist prophesying His arrival. Of course John the Baptist was not the first one to prophesy the coming of Christ. As with all Scripture it is not built upon one instance of prophecy. All throughout the Old Testament we see Christ coming prophesied. The Holy Spirit filled many people to proclaim the coming of Christ. I would like to take this opportunity today to talk about how Scripture is consistent with proclaiming the coming of Christ and Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of those who spoke about His coming to earth. There are many Old Testament passages and prophets that proclaimed the coming of the Messiah and this morning we’re going to look at only a few of them.

Reading 2 Samuel 7:12-16 we find this passage,

When the time comes for you to die, I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent. I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings. But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will stand before me permanently; your dynasty will be permanent.

This is a prophesy that the One will come who takes away the sin of man. Christ Himself did not sin, but would take the sin of man upon Himself. Thus He was wounded by man and killed so that we would have salvation. His dynasty is permanent unlike the human rulers. This points to Christ as supreme over human rulers.

If we look at Jeremiah 23:5-6 we read, “I, the LORD, promise that a new time will certainly come when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, a descendant of David. He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding and will do what is just and right in the land. Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety and Israel will live in security. This is the name he will go by: ‘The LORD has provided us with justice.’ Christ always does what is right. He does not waiver and is never unfair. Christ came to bring justice. We know that in the end when Christ returns all will be accountable to their actions and justice, in its purest form, will be administered.

One prophet who is particularly known for his Messianic prophesies is Isaiah. In fact, the third verse is from Isaiah 40:3 which states, “A voice cries out, “In the wilderness clear a way for the LORD; construct in the desert a road for our God.” This is certainly what John the Baptist was doing, as well as the prophets of the Old Testament. Many do not think of the Old Testament as being filled with signs and prophesies pointing to Christ. Some people foolishly think of the Old Testament as a completely separate book that has no correlation to the New Testament. There is no Scriptural basis for that kind of thinking. There is time of God’s work before Christ and the time after Christ came. However, we need to remember the Israelites were waiting desperately for the Messiah. They were waiting for the one who would come to set them free from the oppression of other nations. Little did the Israelites know salvation through the Messiah would be extended to all people, not just to them. When the Holy Spirit spoke through the Israelite prophets He was prophesying not only salvation for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. The Lord was preparing a path for all nations to be saved. The Holy Spirit speaking through the prophets separates Christ from other religious figures of the time. The Lord spoke through the prophets as a way of making sure people knew Christ was The Messiah and is not just someone speaking random nonsense. Christ is telling the truth about Salvation and we have the word of the Holy Spirit through prophet after prophet to testify to the truth of Christ.

Seeing the Messianic path throughout the Old Testament demonstrates that Christ was not lying. He was speaking the truth about being the son of the Father. There were many religions of the time as there are now. Some claim to be the one true faith and some claim that all religions at true. However, no other faith beside faith in Christ is conducive to Scripture. Even when we look at religions such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness and Islam, who all claim to be derivations of Christianity, we see either “add” to Scripture, or they use portions of it and twist it and change its meaning to fit their preconceived ideas. They believe they have been illuminated beyond the Christian faith, but are not compatible with the Scripture. Other religions might have some components that we believe such as being kind, charitable, and caring for others, but they do not have any connection with or to salvation. When we look at Christianity we see over thousands of years the Message remains the same. Salvation in Christ and faith in the Triune God is the only path to salvation. Scripture does not ever deviate on this Truth.

So when we open the book of Mark and read the message of this person shouting in the wilderness we know his witness to Christ is true. He is speaking in line with the other prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. We can also separate John the Baptist from other men “shouting in the wilderness” because this is not the first time we have encountered John the Baptist in Scripture. To find the first instance of John the Baptist’s encounter with Christ we need to look in Scripture when Mary was still pregnant with Him. Please turn to Luke 1:39 and we will read a precursor to this days passage. It reads as follows,

“In those days Mary got up and went hurriedly into the hill country, to a town of Judah, and entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She exclaimed with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child in your womb! And who am I that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me? For the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

We see that John the Baptist already proclaimed the coming of Jesus before either was born. He leapt inside Elizabeth’s womb when he came close to Jesus. Now this raises two points. The first is that John leapt even though he had no way of “seeing” Jesus. In fact no one would consider him to have much of a sense of anything around him. So how could John know he was in the presence of Mary let alone Jesus who was still developing inside her? This is nothing but the Holy Spirit to let John know that Jesus was inside Mary. The other interesting thing here is that after John leaps inside Elizabeth knows there is something special about Mary’s baby. Anyone who has been pregnant knows that babies are prone to moving inside the womb. I am sure this was not the first time John had moved inside of Elizabeth. So John “leaping” would probably come as no surprise. The difference is that when John leapt Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She knew Mary was blessed not because John leapt, but because the Holy Spirit moved her to know Mary’s baby was someone special. This story again, in line with the prophets, demonstrates the continuity of Scripture. Elizabeth was not a prophet per se, but to work of the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth reinforces Christ is the Messiah. This story also lends truth that John the Baptist was not just someone preaching in the desert, but was meant to proclaim the coming of Christ even while in the womb.

John separated himself from the world as much as he could. He did not take the comforts of the world such as nice clothes or comfortable clothes for that matter.

He was sent as a messenger to proclaim the coming of Jesus. He was a prophet of Christ. He was sent to pave the way and was never intended to be Jesus in any way. In fact John is sure to let the people know someone greater than him would be coming. The man coming was so great that John states he is not even worthy to untie a strap on the sandal of Jesus. John made way for Christ by sharing a message of repentance. John offered to the people a baptism of repentance, but proclaimed when Christ came He would baptize in the Holy Spirit.

Picture with me if you will the scene of John the Baptist. He is at the Jordan River, which is a major body of water. We see here that people from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem traveled to hear him. But they weren’t just there to hear an inspiriting speech. No, they were moved to confess their sins. You would think people would want to avoid a scenario where they are uncomfortable with their sin. But these people were all drawn there. God in in His infinite wisdom, in taking mercy on them, drew them to hear His message through John the Baptist about the coming Messiah. They lined up to confess their sins and be baptized. All these people, as they came, were coming to get baptized. They wanted to receive the forgiveness that John was preaching. It is not as though ten or twenty people were coming to see him at a revival meeting. People were pouring out of every corner of the Judean area to see John, to hear him prophesy, to confess their sins and get baptized.

Mark’s explanation of the baptism is limited in comparison to both Luke and Matthew. Luke especially is very specific about the baptism scene. He demonstrates there were people of all walks of life at the baptism. There were Pharisees and Sadducees. There were tax collectors, soldiers, and all other people. John rebukes them all and calls them all to forgiveness. They ask what they should do and in effect John tells them to turn from wickedness. He didn’t gloss over their spiritual state. Luke quotes him in Luke 3:8-9 “You offspring of vipers! Who told you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance and don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones.” See? This does not sound like a message that would result in hundreds and hundreds of people flocking to hear it. But because it was truth and because it was Spirit-filled, people couldn’t resist the message. Not only did they hear it, they responded to it. John let them know that responding to it only through baptism was not enough. Their repentance would prove genuine by bearing fruit.

John baptized them with water and this was a sign of forgiveness and repentance. John tells the people there will be one who comes Who is greater than he is. The one who comes is so great that John says he is not even worthy to remove His sandal. Now, this is important because the task of removing the sandal of a master was the lowest task of a slave. It was a shameful task and demonstrated how low the slave was in comparison to the master. John is saying that he is not worthy to do even the most lowly task for the One who is coming, and that person is Jesus. John tells the people that the baptism Jesus will offer is greater than the Baptism John is offering. The baptism John offered was only one of water, but the one from Jesus is a better baptism, it is a baptism in Spirit and fire.

The difference between John’s baptism and Jesus’ is that Jesus’ is everlasting. It has an eschatological significance. This means the significance of the Baptism offered by Jesus lasts into eternity. John’s baptism called people to turn from their wicked ways, but baptism through Christ offers the ability to turn from sin. If you think of fire as a tool for purification then if fits here perfectly. It is not a fire of judgment like some might say, but rather a fire that burns away impurity. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to what is impure and gives us the ability to turn from sin. The Spirit and refining fire separate those with faith in Christ from those who do not have faith Christ. People can confess faith in Christ, but without the Holy Spirit it is not faith is not faith at all. It is only empty words.

The promise that Christ will give the gift of the Holy Spirit is further continuity of Scripture. The prophets and priests of the Old Testament did not offer sacrifices because the sacrifice itself had the power to forgive. They knew only the Father has the power to forgive. However, these sacrifices were offerings of forgiveness, but one day there would be a Messiah who would come to save and sacrifices would no longer be needed. John too knew that his baptism of forgiveness was not the same as the baptism that comes from Christ. John knew the baptism he was offering was not one of salvation, but that the One Greater than John would be able to offer salvation. In fact Christ would give us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture speaks to this in Acts 1:5-8. “For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He told them, ‘You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.’”

We no longer need a “John the Baptist” because he was prophesying the first coming of Christ, but now Christ has arrived. All the prophesies of Scripture have come true. Now we as followers of Christ are also given the power of the Holy Spirit. We preach the Gospel of Christ as the Spirit leads us to preach. We offer the salvation message to those around us. We demonstrate the necessity of seeking forgiveness of sins. We are baptized in the Spirit through Christ. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a sign of God’s love for us. The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Lord to guide us. When we feel the tug of the Holy Spirit we remember the Baptism that we are under. Not only the baptism we received by water into the family of Christ, but also the baptism of the Holy Spirit that comes from Christ.

This is the season we remember the birth of Christ, but also a season we remember the work of the Holy Spirit moving through His people to prepare the way for Jesus to come for our Salvation. From Abraham, to Moses, to the prophets of the Old Testament, to Mary, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist we see how God keeps His promises to us. God is Love. He fulfills His promises. We know Christ is the Messiah because He tells us He is and it is backed up by thousands of years of Scripture. We know Scripture is true because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that spoke to the writers of Scripture is speaking to us today. May we continue to grow in the knowledge of our faith. When you see a manger setting, and you see the Baby Jesus, think about how Christ humbled himself to come into the world as a baby. Think about how John leapt inside Elizabeth’s womb when she was next to Mary when Jesus was in her womb. Think about how John the Baptist prepared the way for Him, how our salvation comes from Him and how we are to walk in the repentance and grace that is ours in Christ Jesus.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mark 1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way,

Mark 1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make his paths straight.’”

Mark 1:4 ¶ In the wilderness John the baptizer began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 1:5 People from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem were going out to him, and he was baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Mark 1:6 John wore a garment made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

Mark 1:7 He proclaimed, “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals.

Mark 1:8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”