John the Baptist was an interesting person. From his birth, he was appointed to be a special tool in God’s hands. Luke 1:15-17 says that John will be the product of an impossible union of elderly parents (v.18) which is the first indication of sovereign purpose for John. Jesus was also miraculously conceived, but His was supernaturally achieved by God the Holy Spirit. John was miraculously conceived by two human parents. Thus, John is not sinless, but Jesus is. Further, this John (Luke 1:59-63) will not be under the influence of alcohol but rather the Holy Spirit (cf. Ephesians 5:18) from before birth. His mission: “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” His was the job of preparing people for the arrival of the promised Messiah. How were they to be ready? By repentance and faith. That is why in Luke 3:8 the writer lets us in on a conversation John had with the Pharisees one day when he told them that they were only there for show and had no interest in true repentance. This repentance that John preached (Luke 1:10-13) would produce fruit, which is the visible, outward indication of righteousness in the heart through faith. The Pharisees had no interest in that and John knew it. They had their own righteousness and they were content with that (cf. Romans 10:3). The preparation for the Lord’s arrival was the preparation of a people whose hearts have been cleansed by faith (Acts 15:8-9) and have demonstrated that faith by righteousness in their lives. These justified sinners would come to John to be baptized as a signification of their allegiance to this ministry of John’s.
Now, the Apostle John tells us something more of the inner-workings of John the Baptist in reference to God’s plan for redemption. In John 1:6-8, it is written that John was sent from God in order to be “a witness, to testify about the Light”. That is interesting. The entire ministry of John was that of a testimony or a witnessabout the Light (whom we know from the context to be the Son of God, Jesus Christ). Further, it is said that John the Baptist would come in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). That is, John would have the same “spirit” as Elijah and the same “power” as Elijah. I do not believe that this is talking of the Holy Spirit or the miraculous works that Elijah accomplished since it is not recorded in the gospels that John performed any. John was a preacher, in the strictest sense of the term. He was a public proclaimer, an announcer in a public format, of the soon arrival of the Messiah. Elijah was also a preacher. He was a prophet whose main task was the announcement of God’s righteousness to the kings of Israel. So, in this common thread I understand John and Elijah to have the same “spirit”, that is the same tenacity and conviction, and thus, the same “power” behind their message. Elijah represents the whole writings of the prophets in the OT (this would be the reasoning behind having Moses, the Law, and Elijah, the prophets, appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-4; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-33). He was a chief figure in the time of the kings (you can see the prominence when Elijah met Obadiah, Ahab’s personal prophet, in the woods one day-1 Kings 18). Interestingly, John the Baptist also had dealings with a king in Israel-Herod (see Matthew 14:1-12). So, John and Elijah were sent by God both to announce God’s righteousness to the nation.
However, as it pertains to the Gospel of John, why does John include him here? Or, why does any of the gospel writers include the ministry of John at all? Why, under the superintending work of the Spirit of God, do the writers spend so much time explaining John and His ministry? There really is only one reason. John was just one more demonstration of giving witness to the arrival of Messiah so that there would be no question as to His appearance. Thus, all of Israel would be sure of His arrival and thus would have opportunity to accept Him! With the promise of the Elijah-like figure promised in Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6, which they all were aware of (Luke 3:15a), surely they would see John in that light and when John announced that the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world was here, they would all bow to Him and accept Him as Messiah, right? Even the testimony, or witness, of God the Father Himself speaking from heaven audibly of the truth of the Son identified Him (see Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). But, in the end, even with all this witness and testimony and fulfillment of the written Word of God, which was a kind of public record of what needs to happen in order to recognize the Messiah when He came, the nation of Israel rejected Him and murdered Him, turning their back upon all this witness. The case is stacked against them. They are without excuse. They are guilty of the blood of the Son of God (Acts 2:22-23; cf. Matthew 27:25). Yet, there is grace! Their guilt will not go unforgiven, as previewed on the Day of Pentecost when God opened their hearts to repent and turn to His Son. In the future, there will be a national repentance and turning to the “[One] whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10-13:1)”. The depth of their sin, the gravity of their wickedness, will be met by the unfathomable grace of God and His praise by those who have been forgiven so much will reach to the heavens for all eternity because His grace is far greater than all our sin (Romans 5:11-21).
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