PROPHETIC  or  A  PUFF  OF  WIND!

In this article I want to look at some comments that Jesus made concerning John the Baptist, for they are wise words demanding further investigation.  John was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, sent to bring the people to repentance and turn their eyes to the Coming Messiah (who had not yet begun His earthly ministry at this point).

John the Baptist was in prison for his faith so he sent two of his disciples into the city to enquire of Jesus if He was the Promised Messiah.  After they had departed Jesus said to the crowds of people who had previously flocked to the wilderness to hear what this man John had to say . . . “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed (plant, stalk of grass) shaken by the wind?” (Matthew 11:7). If we look at Ephesians 4:14 we can come to a greater understanding of what Jesus really meant:  “That we no longer act like children, being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery and craftiness (clever strategies) of men whose aim is to lead us astray.”  Jesus was asking them, “Did your curiosity get the better of you?  Did you think you were going to observe a man who is being blown about by some new wind of doctrine?”

Then Jesus said, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A man dressed in fine clothing?  People who dress like that live in kings’ houses” (verse 8).  Jesus was referring to one who wore such clothing as someone who carried authority, as in a king, or a priest.  But John was neither of these yet he carried the authority of Someone far greater than either of these - the authority of the Living God, for John was sent by God (see John 1:6).  How appropriate then that John’s clothing was of the simplest form – a garment made from the hair of a camel and a leather belt (Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6).  John was not a king but a prophet therefore he did not have to identify himself with anything of earthly authority.  His pulpit was in the wilderness and his baptismal font was in the river!

Then Jesus “dug” below the superficial and gave them the real reason why this man John was so significant . . . “But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, and even more than that for this is the one of whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending My messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way ahead of you” (verses 9-10).

When we really consider these scriptures we can see that Jesus was clearly telling them that their real answers to life couldn’t be found in some doctrine that was so “flip-flop” that it caused one to be blown here and there by its lack of power, truth and certainty: He was telling them that the way John had come to prepare was not bound up in or dependent upon its leaders wearing religious garments that “looked the part” but actually bore no connection to repentance and salvation.  Jesus clearly turned their focus to the fact that this man John was a prophet and that his teachings were prophetic and divinely inspired of God.  In fact Jesus said John was even more than a prophet.  The people’s understanding of a prophet was solely based on Old Testament characters: prophets who had seen Christ’s coming from a distance.  But here was a man who surpassed those who had gone before him because he lived in the very days of fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies; he “saw the day dawn.”  He prophesied to an even greater depth that the Promised Messiah was now about to enter the scene.  John was the chosen vessel to “introduce” Jesus to the world, even having the wonderful privilege of baptising Him in the Jordan River.  His duties in fact were far greater than those of his predecessors and therefore Jesus said of him “he is more than a prophet.”

John experienced and taught about God in a new way.  It was the way of repentance and salvation.  It was the way of taking heed to the prophetic.  It was the “Jesus way” and not the Old Testament way of sacrificing animals for the forgiveness of sins.  But his earthly ministry was so short, just six months, before he was beheaded for his doctrine that allowed no room for wavering or compromise.  John certainly was not “a reed shaken by the wind!”

John never lived to see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost but today we have the privilege of not only receiving salvation and forgiveness of sins, but also of being baptised in the Spirit and being prophetic people, just as John was.  Jesus commended John because he was a prophet.  We may not all be called to be prophets but we can, through the power of the Holy Spirit, all be prophetic people carrying a word from the Lord that brings hope, life and direction in a very troubled world.

~ Joan Emery