“John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”Mark 1:4 ESV
Reflection: why did John the Baptist have to come before Jesus?
Have you ever sat around a camp fire, and even days later noticed how all your clothes, smell like the smoke from that fire? As if the smoke is baked in, somehow. Last week I had the unusual experience of walking through a house that had been hit by lightning. It was amazing to see that on the outside, everything looked normal. However, the inside was a different story. The lightening had started a massive fire in the attic, but had miraculously been snuffed out before entering into the living space. However, the whole house was severely damaged by the resulting smoke and soot. The question is, how deep did the smoke damage go? What portions of the structure has to be demolished and removed, before any rebuilding can begin? Perhaps the whole house structure has to come down first?
I have many times wondered about the connection between John the Baptist and Jesus, and why it was so important for John to come before Jesus. We read how Mark starts out, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”Mark 1:1 ESV. Mark starts the story of Jesus at a unique place, comparing to the three other gospels. So what is the “beginning”, according to Mark? Let’s read on. “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”” Mark 1:2-3 ESV, quoting from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. John was there to “prepare the way” for Jesus. How, you might wonder?
In our focus verses today, we read “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”Mark 1:4 ESV. If we draw a parallel to the house fire above, John was the demolition crew. His whole focus was to make the people aware that their “houses” were completely damaged on the inside, and needed to be taken down. They might appear “perfect” on the outside but not inside as Jesus said about the religious leaders at the time, ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:27-28 ESV. So how did John then prepare the way, doing the “demolition work”, before Jesus could start His new construction?
Let’s read Matthew’s account. ““Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” Matthew 3:2-6 ESV. The demolition was to make people first understand the level of internal damage that sin had caused. That it all had to come down before the new construction could begin. As John said, “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”” Mark 1:8 ESV. The water was the cleansing, before the new birth, the creation in Christ, could be done as a temple for the Holy Spirit.
Are you struggling with “smoke damage” in your house? As if you cannot get rid of the smell?
What John did to prepare the way for the gospel of Jesus is so relevant to us as well. Realizing the damage sin has done inside of us must be dealt with. Just like you cannot just put fresh paint on smoke damaged wood, and hope the smell will be gone. Might work for a little while, but eventually the odor from the smoke will reappear. Sin is just like that smoke, going deep into every part of our “house structure”. Preparing for Jesus is the repentance for the forgiveness of sins, or “demolition”, and is a critical step before the new can be built. John wrote “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10 ESV
