There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
John the Apostle is quick to introduce John the Baptist in his Gospel. John the Baptist is a strange character who almost seems superfluous to the Gospel. What was John’s part of the Gospel story? What could he add to Jesus? Wasn’t he a sideshow or even a distraction?
John was a herald for Jesus. Remember the old Christmas song, “Hark, the herald angels sing”? (The ones that kids remember as “the Harold angels”? How would they know what a herald is?) A herald was a public announcer in the days before electrical amplification. He announced the arrival of Jesus.A voice cries:“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;make straight in the desert a highway for our God.Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level,and the rough places a plain.And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,and all flesh shall see it together,for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” – Isaiah 40.3-5
Jesus had a number of heralds. Luke speaks of a multitude of heavenly angels who heralded his arrival. The magi inadvertently heralded the coming of Jesus by spilling the beans to Herod. Herod, in a perverse way, heralded the arrival of Jesus to the people of Bethlehem by murdering the young boys of the region.
Why herald a king? Well, perhaps because this was customary in the days of kings. The arrival of a king who had been away would be announced to the people with great fanfare and heraldry. It would be an event for celebration. It would be a parade. Towards the end of Jesus’ ministry this idea played out through what is generally called “the triumphal entry” into Jerusalem.
But John nuances the heraldry concept and refers to John the Baptist as a “witness”. King Jesus did not look like a king. He did not act like a king. What kind of king would be born of peasants and raised in obscurity in backwater Nazareth? He did not dress in fine clothes; he did not ride at the head of a liberating army; he did not even come with a message of political liberation. This king was more identifiable as a teacher…and a healer. The healing part garnered some attention. Still, he didn’t fit the favored prophesies. No one was publishing him. People weren’t sure what to make of him.
Later in his ministry, when John was in prison (and was shortly thereafter to have his head removed), even he had his doubts about the identity of Jesus. John was probably not expecting to be on the receiving side of political repression. He sent a message to Jesus asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” – Matthew 11.3 Jesus response was, “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” – Matthew 11.5,6.
Jesus’ answer, as it often does, seems obscure and off point. He could have said, “Yes, John. Have no worries. I am the one.” But Jesus’s answer digs deeper. He says, “Don’t let your circumstances cloud your perception. I know your situation is bad but you need to look at the big picture. I may not be the figure you expected, but how do you suppose all these miracles are happening? Is it not clear that God is at work here? Open your eyes and be comforted, because the Kingdom is upon Israel, just as you have been proclaiming”.
There is no doubt that Jesus was referring to passages in Isaiah, as well, reminding John of the prophecies there. Isaiah 35 reads: Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. (vss.4-6)The chapter concludes with triumph: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (v.10).
Bearing witness is a key concept in the Gospels…and a key concept for godly living. The idea of bearing witness comes from the courtroom. Witnesses in U.S. courts today are asked to make the oath: “I swear that the evidence that I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” (These days a witness can solemnly affirm…but the witness is still legally bound to speak the full truth.) To Witness is relate what you have seen (or not seen), to share your experiences.
John’s Gospel, itself, is a witness to Jesus. It’s as if Jesus is on trial. In truth, he is, and much of the world has found him wanting. They have taken offense in him. For many he is too soft and doesn’t bring about justice with force, like a militant Muslim would, or a Black Lives Matter rioter would, or a January Sixther would. For some he is too brutal, having failed to disassociate himself from the violent Old Testament Jehovah. For many he is just not useful enough. “If Jesus truly loved me he would answer my prayers (and do what I tell him).” For many he is just not available enough. “If I can’t experience him with my senses (or with my highly sensitive machines), he can’t exist.” But for most it’s just a matter of control. “What? This is my life. I am responsible for myself. I’m not taking orders from anyone…at least, not any more than I absolutely have to.”
So people don’t want to hear about Jesus. They don’t want to hear the truth about Jesus. The truth of Jesus is highly disruptive to those who love their independence. “We’re Americans; this is the land of the free!” That’s hyperbole, of course. We are burdened with regulations every way we turn. And if regulations aren’t enough, there’s never a shortage of people eager to tell us how to think, what to say, how to say it, and what we ought to be doing. Perhaps we covet our freedom so much because we realize how hard it is to actually be free.
As people we are more isolated today than we have ever been in history. We have better communications tools than ever, but we use those tools as filters and as buffers to protect us from the social interactions that feel so much like invasions, or that feel parasitic, or that feel like assaults. Nevertheless, isolation doesn’t feel like freedom, either. Nearly 45,000 Americans committed suicide in 2020. Surprisingly, this is a drop from 2019, which was a drop from the high point of 2018. Maybe things are looking up. Maybe not. There were also 93,000 deaths by drug overdose in 2020—a phenomenon that has been rising for years. The Eagles were on to something when they wrote: freedom, oh, freedom;Well that’s just some people talking; Your prison is walking through this world all alone.
A person who submits to the Lordship of Jesus is freer than the person who insists on self-determination. This is true because, first of all, Jesus is a lot smarter than any person on earth. His direction is sure, leading to fullness of life. And it is true because Jesus has real power. In contrast, we humans can exercise only a little power and for only a little while. Adolph Hitler was a mighty powerful man but his power came crashing down around his ears (literally, as the allies bombed Germany into rubble). Independence of this sort always ends in death.
John the Baptist, among many others, bore witness to the fact that Jesus is the Light of the world. It’s important there were many witnesses because people don’t want to believe, but they need to believe. They need rescue. Sometimes we turn on a light and all we see is mess. We want to turn the light back off. Sometimes people “manage” their lives by leaving the light off. But the result is a stumbling around in the mess. John is saying, “You don’t have to stumble around in the mess. You can live in a clean house. It may take work, but work is not such a bad thing. And work is not so hard when there is light to work by. Jesus is that light.
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