John the Baptist Part 2: His Life
John the Baptist is the one I point to when I want people to understand that living the Christian life isn't all church and Bible and love and rainbows. It also means hardship, isolation, heartbreak, and, often, an untimely or brutal death.
Sorry if that bursts your bubble. But for as much as Scripture talks about the love and peace and guidance of Jesus, it also talks about the difficulty you'll face because of Him, as well.
We talked last week that John knew his calling. (If you didn't read it, you can here.) His identity was found in the calling that began hundreds of years before his birth in the Old Testament prophets, carried through the voice of Gabriel to his father Zechariah:
Prepare people for the Messiah.
Sounds like a good gig. A nice assignment. Blow a few trumpets, preach a few sermons, and tell them to get ready: the big guy is on his way. And that's just what he did:
"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins," (Mark 1:4, NIV).
A preacher. A prophet. An evangelist. And, man, was his message effective:
"The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River," (Mark 1:5).
Oh, this was huge! Baptism, at this point in time, was something that a non-Jew did to convert to Judaism. But John's baptism was for even the Jews; not so that they could become Jewish but so that they could show the world that they had repented (whole-heartedly turned away) from their sins. The baptism was an outward expression of an inner decision. John was making people aware of their sinfulness! They had softened hearts! They were confessing their sins! They were seeking God's will! Way to go, pastor John!!!
You might picture an effective speaker like him to have the "preacher hair," expertly styled, a nice suit, perfect teeth, looking just like the leader everyone expected him to be. But just the opposite was true:
"John wore clothing made of camel's hair, wore a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey."
Wait, what?
John wasn't making a fashion statement; he was living his calling. You see, Elijah wore clothes made out of camel's hair and a belt (see 2 Kings 1:8).
And the food was considered to be counter-cultural, as well; it was not typical food, by any means, but it was simple and acceptable to God and a statement against the extravagant living of the day. Like a New Testament dumpster diver, he lived off what he could find, trusting God to provide.
[Now some people, like my husband, love this about John. He was a dumpster diver back in the day. And I know he'd do it again in a heartbeat.]
But most of you would have the same reaction to John that I had:
WEIRD.O.
Weird clothes. Weird food.
And you can only imagine that weird hair and teeth and shoes go with it. Right?
(Now, don't forget that we are also called to be a weirdo. Read this if you don't remember why.)
Not only did he dress and eat like a total weirdo, but he didn't get along with the "religious" types of his day:
"...when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance...'" (Matthew 3:7-8).
This would have been like the traveling revival preacher yelling at the pastors of your local church when they came to see what was going on. And his message to them was the same one he had for everyone else: Repent.
It was the same message Isaiah had. And Jeremiah. And Ezekiel. And Hosea, Joel, Zephaniah, and Zechariah. It's what the prophets spoke to the people.
It's the same message John would have for us today:
Repent. TURN AWAY FROM YOUR SIN. Not just mentally, but with your life.
I'm going to be very honest and open here. When I sat down to write today, this post was going to go a totally different way at the end. I was going to follow John to the point where he found himself in prison because of his message. (It happens at the end of Luke 3. We'll get there next time.)
But when the word repent hit my fingers, I thought of you. I know that you heard my teaching, many of you for years. I know you watched how I live and the fact that Jesus is everything to me. His Word, His Presence, and His voice are my focus and my true identity.
I was your John the Baptist. Your weirdo. Your prophet.
And I know you heard it. (I mean, come on; I'm REALLY LOUD.)
But you didn't believe me.
And now your life has no Jesus. You have decided you don't want him in your life. Your faith is fruitless.
And you're perfectly fine with that.
But I'm not.
I'm going to continue to be the voice calling from the desert: Repent. Stop. You're walking down a path of sin and pain and heartache and trouble.
You're not stuck on that path.
You can always take the road back to Jesus. It's always right there beside you. He's calling to you and He loves you and He wants you to come back and follow Him. Not just with your words. Not just with your mind.
WITH YOUR LIFE.
When John was preaching some would ask, "What should we do then?" (Luke 3:10). His answer: LIVE YOUR REPENTANCE.
Share. Be honest. Love.
Decide that today is the day you will be the weirdo you were made to be. And pursue Him through His Word like nothing else in your life.
Maybe start here, with the first blog post I ever wrote. It was almost exactly what I taught last April, just before you graduated in May.
You believed me then. Can you believe me now, too?
I promise to get back to John the Baptizer soon.
I love you. I am praying for you. Know that I am here always.
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
And HEY! Welcome to my new followers from the LifeWay Girls Conference last weekend! Great to have you!!!
Sorry if that bursts your bubble. But for as much as Scripture talks about the love and peace and guidance of Jesus, it also talks about the difficulty you'll face because of Him, as well.
We talked last week that John knew his calling. (If you didn't read it, you can here.) His identity was found in the calling that began hundreds of years before his birth in the Old Testament prophets, carried through the voice of Gabriel to his father Zechariah:
Prepare people for the Messiah.
Sounds like a good gig. A nice assignment. Blow a few trumpets, preach a few sermons, and tell them to get ready: the big guy is on his way. And that's just what he did:
"And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins," (Mark 1:4, NIV).
A preacher. A prophet. An evangelist. And, man, was his message effective:
"The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River," (Mark 1:5).
Oh, this was huge! Baptism, at this point in time, was something that a non-Jew did to convert to Judaism. But John's baptism was for even the Jews; not so that they could become Jewish but so that they could show the world that they had repented (whole-heartedly turned away) from their sins. The baptism was an outward expression of an inner decision. John was making people aware of their sinfulness! They had softened hearts! They were confessing their sins! They were seeking God's will! Way to go, pastor John!!!
You might picture an effective speaker like him to have the "preacher hair," expertly styled, a nice suit, perfect teeth, looking just like the leader everyone expected him to be. But just the opposite was true:
"John wore clothing made of camel's hair, wore a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey."
Wait, what?
John wasn't making a fashion statement; he was living his calling. You see, Elijah wore clothes made out of camel's hair and a belt (see 2 Kings 1:8).
And the food was considered to be counter-cultural, as well; it was not typical food, by any means, but it was simple and acceptable to God and a statement against the extravagant living of the day. Like a New Testament dumpster diver, he lived off what he could find, trusting God to provide.
[Now some people, like my husband, love this about John. He was a dumpster diver back in the day. And I know he'd do it again in a heartbeat.]
But most of you would have the same reaction to John that I had:
WEIRD.O.
Weird clothes. Weird food.
And you can only imagine that weird hair and teeth and shoes go with it. Right?
(Now, don't forget that we are also called to be a weirdo. Read this if you don't remember why.)
Not only did he dress and eat like a total weirdo, but he didn't get along with the "religious" types of his day:
"...when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance...'" (Matthew 3:7-8).
This would have been like the traveling revival preacher yelling at the pastors of your local church when they came to see what was going on. And his message to them was the same one he had for everyone else: Repent.
It was the same message Isaiah had. And Jeremiah. And Ezekiel. And Hosea, Joel, Zephaniah, and Zechariah. It's what the prophets spoke to the people.
It's the same message John would have for us today:
Repent. TURN AWAY FROM YOUR SIN. Not just mentally, but with your life.
I'm going to be very honest and open here. When I sat down to write today, this post was going to go a totally different way at the end. I was going to follow John to the point where he found himself in prison because of his message. (It happens at the end of Luke 3. We'll get there next time.)
But when the word repent hit my fingers, I thought of you. I know that you heard my teaching, many of you for years. I know you watched how I live and the fact that Jesus is everything to me. His Word, His Presence, and His voice are my focus and my true identity.
I was your John the Baptist. Your weirdo. Your prophet.
And I know you heard it. (I mean, come on; I'm REALLY LOUD.)
But you didn't believe me.
And now your life has no Jesus. You have decided you don't want him in your life. Your faith is fruitless.
And you're perfectly fine with that.
But I'm not.
I'm going to continue to be the voice calling from the desert: Repent. Stop. You're walking down a path of sin and pain and heartache and trouble.
You're not stuck on that path.
You can always take the road back to Jesus. It's always right there beside you. He's calling to you and He loves you and He wants you to come back and follow Him. Not just with your words. Not just with your mind.
WITH YOUR LIFE.
When John was preaching some would ask, "What should we do then?" (Luke 3:10). His answer: LIVE YOUR REPENTANCE.
Share. Be honest. Love.
Decide that today is the day you will be the weirdo you were made to be. And pursue Him through His Word like nothing else in your life.
Maybe start here, with the first blog post I ever wrote. It was almost exactly what I taught last April, just before you graduated in May.
You believed me then. Can you believe me now, too?
I promise to get back to John the Baptizer soon.
I love you. I am praying for you. Know that I am here always.
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
And HEY! Welcome to my new followers from the LifeWay Girls Conference last weekend! Great to have you!!!
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