ENCOUNTERS WITH JESUS:
JOHN THE BAPTIST – WITNESS PAR EXCELLENCE
JOHN 3:22-30
John 3:22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
John 3:27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
INTRODUCTION
“If you change the way you are looking at things – the things you are looking at will change.”
That’s a rather powerful principle and it has great potential when we apply it to our lives.
Say it with me … “IF YOU WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU ARE LOOKING AT THINGS – THE THINGS YOU ARE LOOKING AT WILL CHANGE.”
I can think of so many applications for that, but I want to zero in on one today … one that is illustrated in the life of John the Baptist.
The New Testament tells us a lot of about John the Baptist:
➢ He was Jesus’ cousin – John’s mom and dad were Zechariah and Elizabeth, the aunt and uncle Mary stayed with during her pregnancy
➢ John lived a rugged austere life complete with unusual dress and diet
➢ John was not afraid to call out powerful people for their sin … it cost him his head.
But you know what … the Gospel of John does not tell us any of that.
The Apostle John does something peculiar with John the Baptist … he strips his of almost all details regarding his identity and actions, and reduces him to a flat character whose single role is to testify to Jesus. In John’s gospel he has one single role … a witness. But please understand this single trait is not a simple trait. We shall see that John is not a witness separate from his other roles; rather, he is a witness in these roles. John’s other roles of baptizer, herald and forerunner; teacher, best man and ‘lamp’ actually define his role as a witness. And let’s be even more clear – his role as a witness has one objective … its not to simply introduce people to Jesus … it is to elicit belief … that key word, that anticipated response, that we talked about last week which runs throughout John’s Gospel.
John 1:6-8 reads: “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
This gospel never mentions the content of John’s teaching, except that it appears to be the content of his testimony (1:15, 19-36; 3:27-30). It includes the following assertions:
(i) Jesus is more important than John (1:15, 27, 30)
(ii) John is not a major eschatological figure (1:19-21; 3:28)
(iii) He is a prophetic voice announcing the coming of the Messiah and new exodus (1:23; 3:28)
(iv) Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1:29, 36)
(v) Jesus is the Spirit-anointed Messiah (1:320)
(vi) Jesus is the Spirit-Baptizer while John merely baptizes with water (1:26. 33)
(vii) Jesus is the Son or Chosen One of God (1:34);
(viii) Jesus is the bridegroom while he is the best man (3:29)
(ix) Jesus must increase while he must decrease (3:30).
What I want you to understand today is that “witness” is an appropriate and common response that reveals genuine faith. Those characteristics not only describe John the Baptist, most of them should describe every Christ-follower.
Can you say that with me again? … “IF YOU WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU ARE LOOKING AT THINGS – THE THINGS YOU ARE LOOKING AT WILL CHANGE.”
You see, John looked at people differently. He looked at people as if they were lost – in need of a savior – and in need of a witness. As a result, John’s life had a purpose and that purpose was realized over and over as people followed Jesus Christ.
The Baptizer will be revisited on a couple of occasions throughout the book and each time he will be an effective witness and people will believe in Jesus because of his proclamation. The Baptizer points his own disciples to Jesus in 1:35-39 … even they start to follow Jesus and soon express their belief in him (2:11).
As I said, as you read this Gospel you will see that “witness” is not only an appropriate belief-response for John the Baptist, it is for others as well.
• Because of the Samaritan woman’s testimony, many of her fellow-villagers believe in Jesus (4:28-29, 39)
• The blind man says “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25)
• Later we will be told that the disciples’ future testimony is expected to elicit belief in those yet to come (17:20)
• And the Apostle John’s Gospel itself (as a written testimony) intends to produce a life-giving belief among its readers (19:35, 20:31)
And, eventually what we are supposed to have dawn on us is that not only is witness an appropriate belief response for John, the Samaritan woman, the blind man and others … it is for us too.
Witness is the natural fruit of belief that infuses life into your soul.
A LIGHT NAMED AL
On the morning of September 11, Jeannie Braca switched on the television to check the weather report, only to hear that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center.
Jeannie’s husband, Al, worked as a corporate bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. His office was on the 105th floor of Tower One.
Al had survived the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and had even helped a woman with asthma escape from the building.
Jeannie knew that Al would do the same thing this time, “I knew he would stop to help and minister to people,” she said, “but I never thought for a minute that he wouldn’t be coming home!”
A week later, like so many others who were in that building, Al’s body was found in the rubble. Al’s wife, Jeannie, and his son Christopher were devastated!
Then the reports began to trickle in from friends and acquaintances. Some people on the 105th floor had made a last call or sent a final e-mail to loved ones saying that a man was leading people in prayer.
A few referred to Al by name.
Al’s family learned that Al had indeed been ministering to people during the attack! When Al realized that they were all trapped in the building and would not be able to escape, he shared the gospel with a group of 50 co-workers and led them in prayer.
This news came as no surprise to Al’s wife, Jeannie.
For years, she and Al had been praying for the salvation of these men and women. According to Jeannie, Al hated his job and couldn’t stand the environment. It was a world so out of touch with his Christian values, but he wouldn’t quit.
Al was convinced that God wanted him to stay there, to be a light in the darkness … to be a witness in an environment that desperately needed one. Al shared his faith with his co-workers frequently enough that some of them nicknamed him “The Rev.”
Al was not ashamed of Christ and Christ’s words…and he paid the ultimate price for taking up his cross daily.
And on that fateful day…on September 11, in the midst of the chaos, Al’s co-workers looked to him—-and Al delivered!
At the same time, Al too tried to get a phone call through to his family. He asked an MCI operator to contact his family.
“Tell them that I love them,” he said.
It took the operator more than a month to reach the Bracas, but the message brought them much-needed comfort.
“The last thing my dad did involved the two things most important to him—God and his family,” his son Christopher told a writer for Focus on The Family.
“He loved to lead people to Christ. That takes away a lot of the hurt and the pain.”
{SOURCE: compiled by Kenneth Sauer from "A Light in the Darkness" by Christin Ditchfield. Focus on the Family Magazine, September 2002.}
Wrap-Up
In John 5:35 Jesus gives the Baptizer a title that I am envious of … that I aspire to. Listen to what Jesus says, “John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.”
Jesus characterizes John the Baptist as ‘a burning and shining lamp’ (5:35a). Now the word ‘light’ is never used to describe John since this is exclusively reserved for Jesus in this Gospel (1:4-5, 3:19-21; 8:12, 9:5; 11:9-10; 12:35-36, 46) and the Prologue had already indicated that John was simply a witness to the light (1:7-8).
I have to tell you friends – if God referred to me as a lamp that shines for the light that is Jesus I would feel my life’s work is done. I would feel a deep sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. If my eulogy described me as a lamp that illuminated people’s paths towards Jesus …. well … nothing greater could be said about me.
And in that sense John the Baptist functions as a model witness to be emulated. It is a belief-response that every one who has had an encounter with Jesus can express. Indeed, Jesus’ disciples, empowered by the Spirit of truth, are expected to witness to the truth and persuade others to believe(15: 27; 17:20).
Can you say that with me one more time? … “IF YOU WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU ARE LOOKING AT THINGS – THE THINGS YOU ARE LOOKING AT WILL CHANGE.”
How do you look at the world around you? How do you look at your neighbors? You co-workers? You family? Maybe we need to look at them through the eyes of John the Baptist.
The motive of The Baptist’s witness was that he experienced a saving belief in Jesus – the aim of his testimony was to elicit a saving belief in others (1:7) – and he was fruitful too (11:35-37; 10:41-42).
John is the witness par excellence, and in today’s world, where Jesus is still under scrutiny, we need more witnesses like John.
He Who Has Ears to Hear
Let Him Hear
+++++++++++++++++
** Special thanks for Cornelius Bennema (“Encountering Jesus: Character Studies in the Gospel of John”) and Susan E. Hylen (“Imperfect beleivers: Ambiguous Characters in the Gospel of John) for their respective works. They ares the inspiration behind this series of sermons.
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
First Church of the Nazarene
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
www.banazarene.org
