December 17, 2023 Sermon
Sermon title: “More of John the Baptist”
Scripture: John 1:6-8 and 19-28
(Other lectionary choices include Isaiah 61:1-4 and 8-11, Psalm 126, and I Thessalonians 5:16-24.)
John 1:6-8 and 19-28
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ “ as the prophet Isaiah said. 24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
If you were here last week, you may recall that I said all 4 Gospels contain a mention of John the Baptist. Today we heard the Gospel of John's version. John's account doesn't say anything new; it simply emphasizes what we heard before. Maybe there's a little more tension between John and the Pharisees, and maybe that's because by the time John's Gospel was written, there WAS more tension, because by now, there really was a Christian community, and earlier, say, when Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written, the difference between a Jewish person who followed Jesus and a Jewish person who was NOT a follower was not that big a thing. Now, however, when John's account was written, perhaps near the end of the first century, there really was a difference between those who followed Jesus and those who did not. In fact, in John's Gospel we see the term “the Jews” and I don't think we see that term in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So, by this time, there really was a difference between a Jew and a Christian, and there was a good deal of tension between the two groups: those who followed Jesus and thought of him as the Messiah, and those who did not follow him because they thought he was NOT the Messiah.
When the Pharisees come to check out John, we may wonder why. They were sort of self-appointed “religious police,” and if anything was happening out of the ordinary, they wanted to know about it. The Pharisees knew Hebrew scripture, and there wasn't anything in those writings that said anything about a prophet who would baptize people! So why was John doing it, they wanted to know. All John knew is that he felt called by God to be the voice calling people to repent, to change, to go in a different direction. For John, the master was coming, and the way must be prepared.
One of the things I do to get new ideas and/or new perspectives for my sermons is subscribe to a journal or two. What I'm about to say comes from a Lutheran publication called “Concordia Pulpit Resources,” written by a Concordia seminary professor named Dr. Ely Prieto, and the seminary is located in St. Louis. He points out that these “temple functionaries,” as he calls them, who came out to see John the Baptist probably ALREADY KNEW him! And that makes sense! John the Baptist's father, as you may recall, was named Zechariah, and he was a temple priest! (Remember how John the Baptist's birth was announced? Zechariah was serving in the temple when he saw a vision - or an angel visited him - and told him his wife Elizabeth would conceive and bear a son. Since they were both so old, he questioned it or flat out scoffed at the idea......and the angel struck him MUTE until his son John was born.) So OF COURSE those associated with the temple would know that John the Baptist was the son of Zechariah the priest. And it also makes sense that they would go see this strange son of a priest and ask him what he was doing! Can you imagine the conversation? “What are you DOING out here, John? You are the son of a PRIEST! Why aren't you proclaiming your message from the temple?” So good points from Lutheran professor Prieto.
And I just had a thought! (Write it down! Pastor Skip had a thought!) The work of Jesus happened AWAY from the temple. And you may recall that Jesus irritated a few temple people when he later on overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple! So, it all fits that John delivers his message in the wilderness, AWAY from the temple.
A little trivia for you: we are in Advent, and it was officially established by Pope Gregory the Great in the late 6th century. That's a long time ago, although still roughly 600 years AFTER the birth of Jesus. I thank Professor Prieto for that little tidbit. See how some of our traditions came about? Some of us may assume that they have been with us since the beginning. But NO! Some guy who happens to be pope proclaims it, and we have it! I'm not complaining. It's just that some things that we have “always” done had a beginning......and maybe AFTER the fact of the happening!
Okay. That's enough Lutheran stuff for today! But I do enjoy seeing other perspectives from time to time.
The British scholar N. T. Wright points out how humble John was. He was NOT the Messiah, and he knew it. Also, he didn't mind playing “second fiddle.” In one of CBS newsman Dan Rather's books, he said that in the news business, sometimes you get to carry the ball, and other times you block for the guy carrying the ball! John was NEVER going to get to carry the ball, and he knew that, and he was fine with it. Those guys from the temple who came out to see him probably couldn't understand how humble John was., and they probably had a hard time believing that John was serious when he said he was unworthy to untie the strap of the sandal of the one who was to come. Have you ever been resentful when YOU have been asked to play a minor role when you really wanted the leading role? God does that sometimes, asks us to play a minor part rather than a major one. It is sometimes hard to accept humility gracefully. But John did. And Jesus complimented him, too....sort of! Jesus said there was no greater person on earth than John the Baptist, but the lowliest person in the kingdom of Heaven was greater than John. I guess that's a compliment. It's sort of like what we call a “left-handed compliment.” John was humble and he was faithful. Perhaps his faithfulness was because of his humility.
Says N. T. Wright, “John the Baptist occupies a position like this in all the gospels, and indeed within the early Christian proclamation as a whole. The movement looked back to John as its launch pad. At the same time, there were groups of John's followers who, for whatever reason, never made the transition to following Jesus. It's possible that the writer {The author of the Gospel of John}, aware of such groups, is wanting to emphasize that John the Baptist insisted that people should follow Jesus, not himself. And he really meant it.”
Wright goes on to say that ministers, people like yours truly, need to keep John the Baptist in mind when we preach. “We don't preach ourselves, as Paul said, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as servants for his sake.” That's from II Corinthians 4:5. “Or, as John put it, ‘I'm only a voice’. There is his humility, and his true greatness.” Amen.
Pastor Skip
