You Can Be Like John the Baptist
Luke 1:67-80
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant —
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old —
71 Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES,
And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;
72 To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
This narrative is Zacharias' prophecy about what his son was going to do when he grew up. Biblical tradition tells us that when a husband and/or wife prayed to the Lord for a child, that child would be a male and would serve God. John the Baptist serve the Lord by being the forerunner of Jesus. He announced to the world that God had sent the Messiah into the world. He was also the one who identified Jesus so that the world would know him.
In Jewish tradition, it was believed that the prophet Elijah would return to announce the Messiah. Many of the common people did not understand that it was not Elijah in the flesh that was going to return, nor in the spirit, but a person who was like Elijah would come to make the announcement. God would select the person who he wanted to make the announcement about the Messiah because that soul had the same attitudes and beliefs that the prophet Elijah had. This is part of what’s misunderstood about John the Baptist. He was not Elijah the prophet and we learn that later in Luke’s gospel. However, he acted just like Elijah the prophet in thought and in deed. John the Baptist's spiritual connection to God was equivalent to Elijah’s connection to God.
The author of Luke's gospel considered it important to discuss in some detail the person who would announce to the world that God's Messiah had arrived. In Luke’s gospel, we also learn that not only was John the Baptist the person who was going to announce Jesus to the world, but he also had to be born before Jesus. So, John the Baptist was older than Jesus. This would’ve been important for people who were following the different messianic traditions of the day. How could the person who is going to announce the Messiah to the world be younger than the Messiah himself? That is the question that Luke’s gospel is answering here. Clearly, John the Baptist was older than Jesus, even though it might’ve only been six months to maybe a year at the most.
Verse 69 is one that is misunderstood by many commentators and preachers today. The horns of salvation being raised is a cultural reference to what happened when an army returns home. The horns of rams and oxen were turned into musical instruments. In Jesus' day, there were no metal instruments. People learned how to blow into the horns of Rams and oxen in order to make music. When an army returned home, and the Army was triumphant, the musicians would hold their horns up high toward the heavens and play joyful music. However, when the army returned home defeated, they would lower the horns towards the ground and play a melancholy song.
The horn of salvation is a cultural reference that God’s triumph was about to occur. This does not mean that Zacharias had a horn and played it. Rather, it is a metaphor saying the triumph of the gospel will occur. Considering the history of Christianity, the Gospels, especially Luke’s, were triumphant in spreading the word of Jesus Christ, which is love, grace, and peace throughout the world. Yes, we could look at today’s world and realize the gospel still has a long way to go.
So, the burden actually falls upon us to go out and tell the world about the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are so many people in the world that are looking for grace and love and peace and have not yet found it. I believe every person on this planet is looking for that. Unfortunately, we have evil people in the world, and we have to deal with them. If we follow the ways of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is possible to bring peace to the world. It is not a simple task, and Jesus knew that. Later on in Luke’s gospel in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus offered a prayer for his disciples because he knew that bringing peace and love into a hateful and evil world would not be an easy task.
It is a hard task for us today. Even if we concentrate on just the town we live in, we find there are many roadblocks that want to divert us from bringing the gospel message to people. John the Baptist lived in the desert and eight locusts. He did not have a simple, luxurious life, but a rough life. Let me also note to you that in the Near East a desert is not just an arid place of sand but also is a place where nobody lived. John the Baptist lived in the desert almost all his life. He dedicated himself to God’s work, which was to preach forgiveness of sin and to baptize people in the Jordan River as a sign of that forgiveness.
We also know that John the Baptist died because he told the truth to Herod the king, and with all prophets, the king did not like what he heard and had him killed. And that should not deter us from our task, which is to go out into the world and tell the world about Jesus Christ. But let’s start in our own towns, or maybe we should just start on the block we live on. Do the people who live around you know you believe and follower of Jesus Christ?
How do you tell your neighbors that you follow the gospel of Jesus? How do you introduce Jesus to your neighbors? These are all difficult questions to answer however many evangelists throughout the centuries have provided us the means and ways to do this. In years past I held a course for laypeople, and I titled it “how to talk about Jesus without freaking out.” This title came from a book with that title. I will admit to you that evangelism was not my strong suit when I started my ministry journey. However, over the years I learned how to talk about Jesus without freaking out.
If you are unsure about your part in evangelism, or are just scared, don’t feel bad about it because I was there, too. I highly recommend that you get this book and read it, and I believe it will ease your fears. You know if we, the church, do not go out and tell the people about the loving grace of Jesus Christ, then who else will? If the church does not talk about Jesus over the course of time, there won’t be a church anymore.
The biggest shock to a community is when the last church closes. It is a sad day when any church has to close, it is even sadder to find out that the church closed because no one would talk about Jesus.
So go out and talk about Jesus Christ with your family, friends, and neighbors. Spread the light of love and truth that Jesus gave to us. Become like John the Baptist, or should I say become like the prophet Elijah, who followed the ways of the Lord and told people that the Lord was with them and to help them through life. May the spirit of Elijah come upon you and may you go out and proclaim Christ’s love to all humanity.
