Hi again! Thanks for joining me once more so we can get stuck into the Bible and get to know Jesus together. Today’s passage is John 1:19-28, so let’s crack on!
After reading yesterday’s passage which is so expressive about who Jesus is, it’s quite strange to read about a simple man called John. He’s kicking up a fuss by preaching at the side of the river Jordan and baptising Jews. That was pretty unprecedented at the time because baptism was reserved for Gentiles who wished to join the family of Israel. John is implying that Israel herself is unclean and needs to wash up.
I love to have people over at my house, especially if I get to cook for them. But because I love cooking so much I sometimes don’t think too much about all the other things that need to be done before guests arrive. I’m most often caught out by tidying up and cleaning, which is especially important when you have a toddler on the loose. So with complete certainty I end up running around the house at the last minute trying to get everything shipshape before people turn up and realise I live in foot deep drifts of lego bricks and half-read picture books. Israel were perhaps a bit like me, because rather than diligently cleaning up with God every day they have left things to get into a bit of a state. Although they didn’t know it, the Christ was coming and it was time to get ready.
What’s interesting about John is that he really is quite the nobody. The religious leaders ask him if he is the Christ or Elijah and he says “no”. They ask him why he’s baptising and he says it’s because he’s nothing. Who is John? No-one but a signpost to someone. Why is he baptising? Because that someone is coming and it’s time to get ready. One of the reasons that John is called the greatest man who ever lived by Jesus is that he was so empty of self and pride, and so full of single-minded zeal for God. When you read today’s passage it sometimes seems like he’s answering different questions to the ones being asked. John’s answers relate only to the final coming answer of heaven.
It’s tempting to read about the brief ministry of John and think that perhaps we should be like him. Shouldn’t we all exert the same passion as John to follow Jesus? Wouldn’t it be better if we modeled ourselves after John’s love for God? Maybe we’d better eschew all worldly possessions, eat insects and wear rough clothes like him? Surely we should want to emulate the greatest man who ever lived? Somehow I think that John would be disappointed with us if we did that. Should we be passionate like John? Of course not, John is nothing compared to Jesus. Should we love God like John? Don’t be ridiculous, John’s love is peanuts compared to Jesus. Should we sacrifice like John? By no means, for John’s sacrifice is empty compared to Jesus. Should we emulate the greatest man who ever lived? Yes, but that isn’t John – John’s just a nobody who’s pointing us to someone far greater, Jesus.
So why is the writer of today’s passage talking about John at all? I think the answer is that John’s manifesto of utter humility in the face of God’s Son is the manifesto of this gospel too. As I said yesterday, the writer John is reflecting back after years of living all-out for Christ. What is his reflection? It is that Christ is all surpassing in worth. It is that Christ is all encompassing in significance. It is that Christ is the beginning and the end of every conversation, the answer to every question, the solution to every problem, and the direction of every footstep. The preeminence, the supremacy, and the centrality of Christ are the only foundation for true life in the fullest. John is just a man who has seen the glory of God that we spoke about yesterday and reacted accordingly. It’s not John that is special but Jesus.
That’s my challenge for today, if you will allow me. It’s not that we must buy a hair shirt, but that we must put Christ back in His rightful place in our faith, and that we must let that alter us. It can be easy to forget the searing power of Christ just-as-He-is and without dilution. It’s so tempting to reduce Christ to a cosmic pal, a community organiser, or the head of a particularly strange book club, but John is crying out to us today: “He is the greatest! Have nothing and no-one but Him! Don’t settle for me, but reach and strain for Him alone! Give nothing to me, but give all for Him! Don’t listen to me, but listen to Him!”. The Christ we know should compel us like He compelled John because He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The man that John spoke of, we should obsess over. We should dote on Him, adore Him, fawn over His words, gasp without His presence and blurt out His name. If we really and truly answer the question: “Who is this man?” with yesterday’s passage, then it’s time for us to put down the distractions and focus our attention, our lives, our souls on He who is everything, Jesus Christ.
Blog through the Bible 
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