Camel Hair & Locusts, Who Cares?

What exactly was John the Baptist doing?

Sometimes you have to wonder about John the Baptist. It’s not the clothing or diet or wilderness that makes me wonder. It’s the message. Often people seek to parallel John’s ministry with a revivalism of today, those evangelists who call for repentance from sinfulness. This revivalism usually wants to call out particular immoralities of human behavior.

But it seems that John the Baptist’s prophetic call was toward something that was not happening within Israel. He preached against a presumption that those listening knew what they were doing and who they were as God’s people.

It seems that if John’s ministry were to be replicated in persona and spirit - and this may not even be the goal! - it would have to be along the lines of a calling out of God’s people for misrepresentation and misplaced priorities.

Matthew 3

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:

The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
        “Prepare the way for the Lord;
        make his paths straight.”

John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.

People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire. I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.”

At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John would baptize him. John tried to stop him and said, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?”

Jesus answered, “Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.”

So John agreed to baptize Jesus. When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him. A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.”

Prayer

God,

Give me eyes for what I cannot see about myself. It’s not just me though, Lord. Show your Church the error of our presumption. I have no doubt you are at work. I have significant doubt it is in the ways we presume.

So move us, Lord, toward a righteousness that is characterized by Jesus. Make us feel weird on the path toward such a character. (And frankly, God, it’ll be hard to make us feel weird because there are all sorts of people clothed in today’s camel hairs and eating today’s locusts. It’s hard for me to imagine something that isn’t flaunted by someone somewhere.)

Maybe the weirdness we all need to feel, God, the unfamiliar things, are in that we lack a truly loving and peaceful and Christlike environment. Would we know Jesus if he was standing in front of us?

So help us, God. Help us to recognize true righteousness, which is the character of the guy from Nazareth.

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.