John the Baptist:
Master of the Unusual

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Dr. Richard L. Strauss
March 23, 1980

 

Most of us shy away from peculiar people. They make us feel uncomfortable. We don't know what to say to them; we don't know how to act around them; we don't know how to take them. They embarrass us. We just shy back from them. I want to talk to you about a man who by the world standards was peculiar. And yet strange as it may seem, people were attracted to him in droves. Maybe peculiar isn't the right word to use about him. Maybe unusual would be a better word.

John the Baptist was the master of the unusual. This man, though very young in years in his ministry, demanded the attention of the entire nation of Israel. Though his ministry only lasted approximately six months from all we can gather in the Scripture, yet he gained nationwide recognition. God used him to influence profoundly men of all walks of life. Hypocritical religious leaders were shaken to the very roots of their being. Powerful secular rulers trembled on their thrones when John the Baptist spoke. Ruthless soldiers, selfish tax collectors, had their lives absolutely transformed through the power of God in his ministry. And God-fearing Jews were encouraged even more to set their hearts and minds and eyes toward the coming of their Messiah and Savior. When the Savior came, He testified that among all those born among women, none was greater than John the Baptist.

I would imagine a man who gets a testimony like that is worthy of our consideration. I would presume that there are principles from his life that we could learn and apply to our lives that would make us more effective in our service for Jesus Christ.

That's exactly what we hope to do in this brief four-message series. Let's talk about the master of the unusual tonight. The next time we're going talk about John the Baptist, who was the prince of preachers. And then we want to talk about him in his humility: John the Baptist, lowest of the low. Finally, I want to speak about the meaning of John's baptism—a subject so very much misunderstood, I think, in Christian circles today. On that night, God willing, we're going to have another baptismal service when we conclude this series and speak about the meaning of John's baptism.

Let's talk about the unusual nature of this man's birth and the unusual nature of his training, and then the unusual nature of his ministry.

1. The Unusual Nature of this John the Baptist's Birth

"In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron" (Luke 1:5).

The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that there were settled in Judea approximately 20,000 priests in this particular time. Many of them lived in Jericho, which was the Palm Springs of Palestine. It was a resort town probably 1200 feet below sea level. It was warm and balmy in the winter time. And these priests had entered into a lifestyle that was rather luxurious and comfortable—and maybe even lazy. The priesthood had become corrupted. There were so many of them, they only needed to serve in Jerusalem on infrequent occasions. They would make the walk up the hill to Jerusalem a couple times a year and that would be the extent of their ministry as priests. Corruption had permeated the priestly family but the Word of God tells us that there were some exceptions to the rule.

"Both of them [Zechariah and Elizabeth] were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly" (Luke 1:6).

While most of the priestly family were faithless, Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful to God. While much of the priestly family had fallen into materialistic and mercenary ways, Zechariah and Elizabeth lived for the glory of God. They wanted to honor Him and do His will. They were righteous before God and walked in all His ways, and their testimony was blameless. They were among the faithful few. They were the unusual people of the day.

This unusual story starts in an unusual home when so many people in Israel had become corrupt and their religion itself had become hypocritical and formalistic and ritualistic, without any meaning nor warmth nor relationship with a living God. These people loved God and walked with Him, and desired to obey Him. And God's going to use their family to accomplish wonderful things in Israel.

God uses faithful people, even though they be in the minority, to do great things and that's really where the story begins: in the home of two faithful people named Zechariah and Elizabeth. Even though they were faithful to God. There was a blight on their home.

"But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old" (Luke 1:7).

We've talked on several occasions before this about the disgrace in the Israelite economy of having no children. Among most people it was viewed as an evidence of divine displeasure: God was unhappy with these people. At least that's what folks thought. And I'm sure they grieved over the fact—that their family name would be discontinued. And I'm also sure they were sorrowful over the fact that the Messiah could never be born into their family. For every Jewish parent nurtured in his soul the hope that maybe, maybe through him, Messiah would come. But there was no possibility of that for Zechariah and Elizabeth. But worse still, it says they were well advanced in years.

I don't like how the King James translates that, saying they were "stricken in years." It sounds like growing old is some sort of terrible disease, doesn't it? Well it really isn't. I want to talk about that when I finish the Attributes of God series. Let's talk about growing old gracefully. Nothing wrong with being old; nothing wrong at all. It's a great blessing from God and elderly people can be used of God to bring great blessing to others.

Now these people didn't have a disease but they weren't getting up in years, and it was well past the time when they could have children by any natural means. Faithful to God and yet they lived under this stigma and adversity was a part of their home and their daily experience. Faithfulness to God in the face of adversity is a rare virtue. We have to say it's an unusual thing. Many people who profess to know Jesus Christ in the face of trials and afflictions begin to drift away from the Lord and ask that perennial question: "Why God? Why did you let this happen to me?" And they turn their backs on God. Maybe that's why God doesn't use them with greater power, but in this case Zechariah and Elizabeth are unusual by the norm and the standard of most people of their day. We can look for some great things to happen through them because great things often happen in the lives of unusual people.

Well, Zechariah has had his day. It didn't come very often, but it was there: his day to minister in the temple in Jerusalem. I'm sure even though he was old in years, he still longed to have a son and it would seem that even at this late hour in his life he's still asking God to give him a child. I would imagine even as he ministered before the Lord in the temple, he was still praying for God to give him a son. At least that would seem to be what was happening because an angel appeared to him in the temple and said to him:

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John" (Luke 1:13).

He was still praying. The name Zechariah means "the Lord remembers" and that's exactly what He did for old Zechariah. He hadn't forgotten. He remembered him in his need, in his longing, and his adversity. The name Elizabeth means the oath of God and you put the two names together and it means "God remembers His oath." God says to this dear old couple, "You're going to have a son and you're going to be able to call him John, which means "the gift of God" or "God's grace." That's exactly what John would be: a special gift from God. As we might imagine, Zechariah had trouble believing the angel's message and expressed some doubt about it.

"Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years'" (Luke 1:18).

The angel told him that God was going to do it and because of his lack of faith God was going to give him a sign.

"And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time" (Luke 1:20).

I don't think Zechariah minded that one single bit because that inability to speak for those months was evidence that God is the God of His word and just as He fulfilled His word and kept Zechariah from being able to talk, He would fulfill His word and give Zechariah and Elizabeth a son. And I would imagine the last days of his ministry in Jerusalem dragged by as he longed to get to his home in the hill country of Judea and share with his wife Elizabeth the great news that God had delivered to him: that they would have a son.

God did keep His word and that promise was fulfilled.

"When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy" (Luke 1:57-58).

It was at that great occasion that Zechariah's tongue was set free and fear came on all the neighbors. People all around them were talking about this, that throughout round about them (Luke 1:65). Zechariah prophesied, and I'd like to read his entire prophecy.

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
   because He has come to His people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
   in the house of His servant David
(as He said through His holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
   and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our ancestors
   and to remember His holy covenant,
   the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
   and to enable us to serve Him without fear
   in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
 
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
   for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,
to give His people the knowledge of salvation
   through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
   by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
   and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."
(Luke 1:68-79)

"And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel" (Luke 1:80).

Now, I have to say to you, friends, that's an unusual story. The whole ministry of John the Baptist from the day of his birth—from nine months before his birth, even—is an unusual story. God is about to do an unusual work in Israel.

2. The Unusual Nature of John the Baptist's Training

Every Jewish child was subjected to instruction in religious matters and instruction in the Scriptures. But unfortunately because of the coldness of the spiritual life of that day, that instruction was often rather empty and rote, ritualistic and meaningless—rather than a heartwarming spiritual experience. But I'm convinced—I can't prove this, but I believe—that the conditions in John's home were different from the average. It was an unusual home. Zechariah was a man who not only knew the Scriptures but knew how they related to him, and knew how they would relate to his son. He even revealed that in his prophecy that we just read.

I have no doubt in my mind but that as the days passed and the child grew, Zechariah took his son aside and showed him great Old Testament prophecies. Like the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 40, for instance.

"A voice of one calling: 'In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken'"(Isaiah 40:3-5).

I have no doubt in my mind that old Zechariah said, "John, that prophecy refers to you. You're that voice in the wilderness that will prepare the way for the Lord. That's you, John."

And then he turned over to Malachi, the last revelation from God before 400 years of silence.

"'I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,' says the Lord Almighty" (Malachi 3:1).

"John, that messenger who prepares the way for the coming of the Lord—that's you, John. Your life needs to be ready to do the job God has for you to do. I would imagine as young John grew, he was a cut above the average young person of his day. For him, the Scripture was really alive. He knew it related to him and he found himself in its pages. I have no doubt but Zechariah repeated to John many times over what Zechariah himself prophesied:

"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him" (Luke 1:76).

I have the feeling that young John grew with a sense of the presence and power of God upon his life and with a sense of divine calling. He likely had a very early consciousness that the hand of God was upon him and that God wanted to use him—that God had separated him apart for His own glory and His own use.

That was an unusual home in that day in Israel, and John the Baptist experienced an unusual training. Many Bible teachers believe that Luke 1:15 indicates that John the Baptist was a Nazarite from his birth.

"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born" (Luke 1:15).

Most of you are familiar with the Nazarite vow. Sometimes it was taken temporarily. Other times it was taken for life. Either way, it was taken by a man who wanted to give himself unreservedly to the service of Jesus Christ, who would separate himself apart to the Lord. The symbols of his separation were threefold as revealed in Numbers 6:

Now that was different; that was unusual. There weren't many Nazarites in John's day and if he indeed had taken a Nazarite vow, or his parents took it for him for his early years and he reaffirmed it as he grew, that would certainly set him apart from the other boys of his day. They would look on John as rather different, peculiar maybe. Certainly unusual. While others were drinking wine, he didn't touch it. While other boys would pick up a bone left by a dog or pick up a little bird that fell from the skies, John would not touch those things. And his long hair certainly would set him apart from other boys.

He was different. He was unusual. He was set apart under the Lord. It wasn't that any of those things were wrong. It simply would be that they pictured separation to the Lord and willingness to suffer reproach and yes, even hardship for the cause of God. I'm certain in his earlier years it was something his parents taught him, but as he became older it was no longer a concession to his parents' wishes but rather a deep-seated conviction that the hand of God was upon him and that God was going to use him. I would imagine he fulfilled that Nazarite vow throughout his lifetime. He was separated under the Lord. That was unusual in that day. And, friend, it's unusual today as well.

Separation is something we don't talk a great deal about anymore. Separation is not something that's taught in very many Christian homes. The by-word and tenor of our age is conformity to the world, not separation from the world. We buy more and more of the world's values and more and more of the world's philosophies, rather than separating ourselves from the world.

I'm not talking about the kind of separation that says, "No you can't go here, no you can't go there, no we don't do that, and our church teaches that we don't go there." That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a separation that's reflected in the totality of our lifestyle.

If you were here for the film earlier this afternoon I'm talking about what Dr. Dobson was saying: the kind of thing that's caught by our children rather than taught. It isn't "no you can't do this and no you must do that." It's "watch my life, see how I live, see the expression of my values in the way I live and what I spend my time on, and the television programs I watch or don't watch and the kind of books I read. How I give to the Lord and what I put in in places of priority in my life." It's setting an example before others, particularly our children. That's the kind of separation that makes an impact on the lives of our kids. That's the kind of separation that will have an effect on them as they grow and establish their own values and decide what they want to live for in life. It won't be "you do what I say don't watch what I do." It will be "watch my life." You don't need to say it in words, just live the life before them. The values are communicated as they can be in no other way. As Dr. Dobson so ably pointed out tonight, that takes time. You don't share values in the 37 seconds a day which the average middle-class man spends in interaction with his young children. You don't communicate values like that. It takes time. Listening time. Just being with them, establishing the kind of rapport that gains respect so that they're open to the values of the Word of God they see reflected in our lives. That is unusual.

There weren't many homes in John's day where separation unto the Lord was something that a premium was placed upon. But that's not the only unusual thing about his training.

"And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel" (Luke 1:80).

That is, with character traits that were like God: strong in spirit.

And he was in the deserts or the wilderness until the day of his public appearance. That's a strange place to grow up. Why was he in the wilderness? Well, maybe his parents died early; I don't know. Since they were so elderly it's entirely possible. Maybe he had to shift for himself. Maybe decided to carve out a living for himself in the desert. Maybe he was part of one of the Essene communities that were so prevalent in the wilderness surrounding the Dead Sea. On our trips to Israel we visit Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. That's an Essene community. The Essenes were a group of dedicated Jewish people who lived to honor God and to obey His Word. They separated themselves from the normal life of Israel in order to give their attention to serving their God. Maybe John spent some time at Qumran. As I walk those stones that comes to my mind. John the Baptist in all probability was there, probably fellowshipping with those Godly men. Maybe ministered to, maybe got some of his training down there in that community.

I know life wasn't soft in an Essene community by the wilderness near the Dead Sea. He didn't learn comfort and luxury and affluence there. He wasn't softened up by the materialism of his day. He wasn't dragged down to the level of his peers. He wasn't affected by the covetousness and the greed and the corruption that had invaded the religious system of his day. He was a man whose training included time spent alone with God—time interacting with his Lord. And he became strong in spirit. I would imagine strong and powerful in body as well. Physically strong and spiritually powerful, prepared for the brief ministry that God had planned for him.

3. The Unusual Nature of John the Baptist's Ministry

Rome was in control of the world of that day and it was ripe for the ministry of a man like John the Baptist. Rome ruled Palestine with an iron hand and the soldiers that governed became ruthless and oppressive. Discontent and unrest permeated Jewish society. There was constant talk of insurrection and revolt. In fact, there were bands of insurrectionists that hid out in the hills and periodically stirred up trouble for the Roman armies. There were likewise bands of robbers that lived in those hills and took advantage of the political and civil situation to make their living. There were others who took advantage of the political situation to get rich. They began to play politics, and graft and bribery and corruption were a daily part of life in Israel in that day. Some were informing on their friends to the Roman superiors in order to get money. Others collaborated with the enemy and became tax collectors and bled their friends and neighbors dry in order to make money for themselves. Even the religious establishment was not exempt from that corruption because the religious leaders of the day cared more about comfort and affluence and materialism and wealth and power than they cared about building spiritual principles into the lives of their people. That's why religion became so cold, and hypocrisy and pretension permeated what they did in their religious activities.<

Into that very scene this man steps. An unusual man with an unusual training, prepared of God for an unusual ministry that would have unusual results.

He wore unusual clothing and ate strange food.

"John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey." (Matthew 3:4).

I could take the honey, folks, but I don't know about the locusts! I'm not even sure I could eat them if they were chocolate-covered or deep-fat fried. But John ate them. Locusts and wild honey: an unusual diet.

He ministered in an unusual place.

"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea" (Matthew 3:1).

Friend, if you want an audience down there in the desert, next to the Dead Sea is the last place in the world you'd want to go to find people. But that's where John began his ministry.

It was an unusual message. It was a message the nation Israel had not heard for hundreds of years.

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2).

Repent. Change your mind. Change your way of living. Change your life. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

I don't know how John's ministry ever got off the ground, frankly. Maybe some caravan was on its way through the trade routes next to the Dead Sea and they stopped to rest, and this unusual-looking man stepped out from behind a rock and began to preach the message. I don't know how it happened. Maybe their hearts were stirred and moved and so they went all up in Jerusalem and they spread the word: "There's a fellow down there saying some unusual things that you need to hear." Others began to trickle down to the wilderness to hear it. Their hearts were stirred and moved and they got right with God, and they went back to their towns and villages and began to tell their friends about the ministry of John the Baptist down there in the wilderness. And finally, thousands of people began to flood out of the towns and villages all over Israel to hear this unusual man preach this unusual message. And their hearts were moved and lives were transformed by God's power.

We're going to talk about John's message the next time we have a lesson on John the Baptist and talk about John as the prince of the preachers, but if there's one thing I want you to understand tonight—and I'm sure that you've gotten this message—that is, this story is unusual from beginning to end. Everything about it is just a little bit different.

I'm of the opinion that doing God's work successfully in our day and age might demand some unusual people with an unusual commitment to Jesus Christ, who are willing to do some unusual things. God can use them in unusual ways. It's a day of conformity. We want to live like everybody else. We'll live in houses like everybody lives in, and want to drive cars like everybody else drives. We want to wear clothes like everybody else, and if they get too much out of style we run down to buy the latest fashions because we don't want to be different. Everybody wants to be usual. Everybody wants to conform.

If this church is doing it a certain way everybody else better do it that way because that's the way God must be blessing in this day and age. Maybe we just need to wait upon God and see what He wants us to do. Maybe we'll be different from everybody else.

But God's ready to use people who are willing to be different, particularly when that difference is a difference in a commitment level to the will of God, and desire to do His will. There aren't a whole lot of people running around today that are willing to do the will of God if it takes any kind of sacrifice, if it costs anything to speak of. When God finds some people who are willing to lay their lives on the line and be different, then God's ready to use them. People who are willing to put Jesus Christ first, then begin to arrange their priorities as the word of God arranges them, particularly building the things of God into their children and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, putting those things high on their priority list rather than just being the norm, you know, living your life six days and doing the things all the usual people do then going to church on Sunday because that's the usual thing. Forty percent of the American population does it with some degree of regularity and so maybe we ought to do it. It's the normal thing to do, but it never really grabs hold of our lives and transforms us, and makes us different. After all, we don't want to get too fanatical about this thing. Let's just keep it all in control.

Maybe God wants us to get a little fanatical and maybe some lessons from the life of John the Baptist would be the thing that could help us be different, and be used of God to make an impact on our world for the glory of Jesus Christ.

 

Continue to JB-2: Prince of the Preachers