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HOUSMAIL HM056 28
April 2000 WHAT SHALL I CRY? (Isaiah 40:3-8) When
the Jews challenged John the Baptist to declare himself, (John 1:19) they had in mind
specific persons mentioned by the Old Testament prophets. THE
MESSIAH A
valid question indeed! Anyone with a little Jewish history, and some
elementary arithmetic, can do the calculations from the book of Daniel which
will arrive at that very year when John began to preach, as the time
prophesied for the appearance of the Messiah. (Daniel
9:24-27) But of course, as a member of the tribe of
Levi, John was not, and never could be, the Messiah. ELIJAH The
prophet Malachi had foretold the appearance of “Elijah the prophet”. (Malachi 4:5) The Jews were
expecting the prophet Elijah to appear in person. However, we have John’s
“birth record”, which makes it quite obvious that John was not Elijah, either
raised from the dead, or returned from Heaven. So, it was quite valid for him
to reject that identity for himself. In any case the Jews had misunderstood
the prophecy. The prophet spoken of by Malachi, was not to be Elijah in
person, but one who came in the same Spirit and Power as Elijah. (Luke 1:16-17) So, there is no
contradiction between John’s rejection, and the clear statement from Jesus
that John was the one to whom the prophecy referred. (Matthew 11:14) Note:
In passing, although
I cannot prove this, I speculate that John probably did know about that
prophecy from the lips of his own father, (Zechariah, in Luke 1:17) but was
carefully sidestepping the inevitable and quite pointless theological debate
about whether Malachi meant Elijah in person, or someone else in the same
spirit and power. After all, that question is still with us in this last year
of the 20th century! John had something much more important to say. THAT
PROPHET Moses
had foretold that God would raise up prophets through whom He would continue
to speak to Israel, after the death of Moses. (Deuteronomy
18:15-18) Down through the centuries, there had been
many such prophets. However, the Jews of John’s day, understood Moses to be
referring to a particular prophet of the “end times”, who they referred to as
“that prophet”. And John was not that prophet. A
VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS John
specifically rejected all claim to be any of those other three Biblical
personalities listed above. Instead, he claimed for himself the role
described in Isaiah 40:3-8. He
was, he said, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness”. (John 1:23) His
calling was to “make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said”. And his only “credentials” were a camel’s hair coat, a leather
belt, (2 Kings 1:8, Mark 1:6) and his repetition of the message found in Isaiah’s prophecy! But
what a message! The Messiah was about to appear on the scene. In order to be
ready for that, everyone needed to hear John’s preliminary call to
repentance, which would be repeated, and enlarged, and reinforced, by the
Messiah Himself, as a non-negotiable element of the Good News about the
Kingdom of God. However,
John only pointed us to Isaiah, without completing the quotation. For the
rest of the message, we shall have to read Isaiah for ourselves. That is as
it should be. Jesus also points us to the Old Testament to leave us with the
task of confirming His identity for ourselves. That is where we shall hear
for ourselves the words from God, by which the Father reveals to each of us
personally, just as he did to Peter, the meaning and truth of the identity of
Jesus as “Son of man”, “Messiah”, and “Son of God”. (Matthew 16:13-18) So,
what was this message designed to “prepare the way of the Lord”? And why was
it so especially suited for that purpose? “A voice says, "Cry!" And I said,
"What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like
the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath
of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withers, the
flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8) John’s
message comes to us from the perspective of the clear teaching of the Old
Testament Scriptures, that when men die, no part of the human consciousness
survives the death of the body. The dead are described as “asleep in the
dust of the earth”, (Daniel 12:2) and unconscious. (Psalm 6:5; Ecclesiastes 9:5) John’s
message prepares the way for Jesus, by giving us a powerful reminder of our
mortality! We are not immortal! We do not have “immortal souls”! The Bible
clearly states that immortality is not inherent in men, but CONDITIONAL, and granted only at
the Resurrection, to those who seek it by patient continuance in well doing. (Romans 8:6-10, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55) John’s
“cry from the wilderness” is that we are no different to the grass of the
field. We are here only for this short life of ours. Today is the day of
salvation. Beyond this mortal life, there will never be another opportunity
to prepare for eternal life. Now is the time to listen to the word of God,
believe it, and act on what we believe! If we do not repent now; if we do not
bring forth fruits that befit repentance; our end will be like that of
useless trees culled from an orchard and burned with fire. (Luke 3:8-9) And
if THAT happens
to us ..... then just like the grass, we will be gone for ever! A powerful
“incentive” indeed, to think long and hard, about our standing before God. THAT
is the message which John spoke to “prepare
the way of the Lord”! But
John was no mere “prophet of doom”, with no answers for the problem he
confronted us with. He did have an answer! There was another about to arrive
on the scene, far mightier than John, (Matthew 3:11) who John said he came to reveal to Israel. He announced Jesus
as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”; and as “the Son of
God”. (John 1:29-34) He
pointed Jesus out to two of his disciples, who left immediately to follow
Jesus, knowing that they had found “the Messiah”. (John 1:41) Those
three titles identify Jesus for who he is. They invest Him with authority to
speak for God. They establish His right to the throne over the Kingdom of
God. They point to His sacrificial death which has won Him authority to
pardon our sins. And they contain the Good News which has “abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 2:10) Peter
quotes from that same passage from Isaiah, which John the Baptist used to
prepare the way for Jesus. Peter
uses it to identify the “word of the Lord which abides for ever” as the Good News preached by Jesus. (1 Peter 1:23-25) When
we are able to join with Peter in saying to Jesus, “You have the
words of eternal life; and we have believed and have come to know that you
are the Holy One of God”, (John 6:68-69) we
have found the secret of immortality! And we are on the threshold of becoming
heirs of the Kingdom of God! Allon |