Four Lessons From John The Baptist

John the Baptist led a life worth emulating. I love studying who he was and the role he played in his mission to lead people to know Jesus.  He did not allow a superficial title or pride to get in the way of his mission. John spent years in the desert living out his calling till the day he was beheaded. Let’s glean a little further on how he prepared the way.

In Isaiah 40:3-5,  the prophet Isaiah prophesied, a voice of one calling in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God….” We later confirmed in the gospels the ‘one’ which Isaiah prophesied about is the same ‘messenger’ Jesus referred to when he told his disciples as recorded in Matthew 3:3 and Mark 1:1-3. The same is true when the angel Gabriel prophesied to John’s parents before John was even conceived.

John was a miracle baby. John’s father Zechariah was a priest and his mother Elizabeth a descendant of Aaron and a close relative of Mary. Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful, committed and praying parents, but Elizabeth was barren until she became very old.  One day, an angel appeared to Zechariah while he was praying alone in the temple, bearing good news that his wife Elizabeth will bear a son whom they will call John. The angel prophesied about who this yet to be conceived child would become. 

He will be a joy and delight to you. 

Many will rejoice because of his birth. 

He will be great in the sight of the Lord. 

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 

He will bring back many of the people of Israel, to the Lord their God.

He will go on before the Lord in the spirit of Elijah, to turn hearts of the parents to their children, and their disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 

Wow! What a prophecy and a prayer to pray over our yet to be conceived children and of course our very own lives…add Psalm 139 to know what God says about you.

Anywho, father Zechariah is also a New Yorker and he had a ‘this is too good to be true” moment. This was evident when he responded with “how can I be sure of this, I am old, and my wife is well along in years.” I mean quite frankly, I would be freaking out in disbelief if I was 90 and pregnant. Lord, help my unbelief! We serve a God who causes the sun to rise and set at the whisper of his voice and the wind and waves obey his commands.

Of course, sure enough, sister Elizabeth became pregnant and John leaped in the womb for the first time when Elizabeth announced her pregnancy to Mary. Mary blessed the fruit her womb. The child grew and became strong in spirit and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel — Luke 1:80.

PARTICIPATE IN YOUR LIFE — BECOME WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE

Thank God for John’s praying and obedient parents who named him as the angel foretold, but that was half the battle. If you have/had praying, Godly parents, count yourself blessed and highly favored. John knew the other half of the battle had to be his choice so he took it upon himself to follow the Nazarite vow (Numbers 6).John stayed away from wine and he lived in the desert for many years seeking, dwelling, meditating and delighting in the things of God.  It seems like John spent day and night seeking God’s face without distraction. Matthew 3 tells us that his clothes were made of camel’s hair and his food was locusts and honey. The coolest part is people came from near and far to meet with John to confess their sins and be baptized. To the naked eyes, one might say that John’s appearance was not attractive, yet he was attracting multitudes. I believe if we seek after things and people we might miss God in the midst, but if we seek after God we won’t miss a thing. John was seeking after God, people were seeking after John and John pointed them to Jesus.

YOU ARE A CONDUIT — POINT PEOPLE TO JESUS

John the baptist had a number of followers and were baptizing people, until Jesus came along and he was also baptizing people on the other side of the Jordan. John’s followers tried to create confusion between John and Jesus because everyone was going to Jesus to be baptized. However, John was a wise man, spirit led, mission and purpose driven. In John 3, John the Baptist followers said to him, “look, he (Jesus) is baptizing and everyone is going to him,” to which John responded, “a man can receive only what is given to him from heaven”

Every good thing we have received is a gift from God. In the midst of our leadership opportunities, success, influence, rise to fame and popularity, display an attitude of gratitude, not entitlement and let’s keep things in perspective. John also had to remind his followers by saying “I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.” We should know our proper place. We should not think too highly of ourselves (we are not Christ) and we should not think too low of ourselves (we are still called to partner with God. He will equip us!)Let’s remind ourselves what our role is. We are Jesus’ hands and feet. Let’s remind ourselves about the why. To prepare the way for others to meet Jesus and that means getting out of our own way and avoiding confusion and distractions.

BE JOYFUL — YOU ARE A FRIEND OF THE BRIDE

John the baptist shared an example of the role of the bride to the bridegroom — “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend  who attends to the bridegroom is full of joy and waits and listens for him. If your life is dedicated to reaching people, then I’d assumed you are  saved, seasoned, called and equipped. I’ll also assume you are a friend of the bridegroom. This mission — the accolades, prestige, position and ego that comes with it could easily take away our attention and create a distraction. John is trying to remind his disciples that this is not about us. As friends of the bridegroom, our job is to help out in arranging the details of the wedding. We make sure every ‘I’ is dotted and every ’T’ is crossed before during and after the bride meets her groom.  What would our lives look like if we applied this in our daily walk with Jesus.  Especially in the areas we serve. Do we serve our bridegroom with joy, and does that solely make you feel complete? What a great example to follow!

HE MUST INCREASE — BUT I MUST DECREASE

Jesus and John had different ministries, but same calling! They were both baptizing people, but Jesus’ influence was growing at a much faster pace than John. In the age social media, we would say that John lost his ‘followers.’ However, John was unbothered and full of joy because people were meeting Jesus — The Messiah! 

John, whose name means the Lord has shown great favor, knew he was part of something bigger because his entire life was a mission to herald the arrival of the Messiah. Instead of growing jealous and competitive, John became reverent. John was popular, he had the following of the crowd and he always pointed them to Jesus. Each of us have a ‘following’ whether we’re on social media or not, how are we pointing them to Jesus?  I wonder how different the story would have been if he listened to his followers instead of being led by the spirit?