The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness

 

The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness


I have mentioned John the Baptist several times in these writings, because he is of significance for many reasons, one of which is the kind of service that he provided for God and man.

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.’”

The voice was that of John the Baptist, and his role was to prepare (make straight) the way for the coming of Jesus. How did he accomplish this task, and why was he even needed in the first place? The answer is that he helped to solve a basic problem that was inherent in Jesus's fundamental message: “Repent; the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

The first part, “repent” exhorts his listeners to change their way of thinking. The second part is the hard part, because it explains that the kingdom of heaven is already present. That revelation requires the listeners to accept that Christ, the Messiah, is present, as is his kingdom; but that he is not an earthly king and his kingdom is not of this world, but of spirit. Jesus will then go on to explain that they have nothing to fear from this revelation, because God is not a harsh, punishing God, but one Who is pure Love, who requires mercy and not sacrifice, and who is infinitely forgiving because He does not judge.

This part was hard for the theologians (Pharisees, Sadducees) to accept because it would imply that their teachings were wrong. It was hard for the non-theologian to accept because he had relied on the teachings of the theologians, and probably because it didn't seem reasonable that there could be sin without punishment. However, the list of laws had multiplied to the point that it was humanly impossible to live without breaking them, and therefore punishment was inevitable. However, they did believe in the magic of rituals, and John offered hope through the simple ritual of immersing the body in water, which would magically cleanse the soul of guilt. Free of guilt the soul could overcome its fear of God and be better prepared to accept the gospel of a loving forgiving God that Jesus was to teach.

Anyone who accepted this teaching had taken that all-important first step toward escaping the bonds of the Old Testament law: he had repented, i.e., he had opened his mind. His mind was now better prepared to accept more new teachings, and in this way, John had prepared his mind for the gospel of Jesus, and so had made straight the way of the Lord.

The image of the wilderness suggests a vast area without order – one in which one can easily get lost, because there are no paths that offer a way out. The gospel is “the way”, and John points to it, and wants to make it straight; to remove the meaningless wandering. This wilderness is the environment of the mind that is occupied solely with the things of this world in which it finds itself. It may hold on to a kind of faith, or even trust, that when it departs this world, nothing bad will happen to it. But deep within, it sees no real reason or meaning in going through this kind of life. This thought may be suppressed day by day, minute by minute, but it cannot be fully extinguished. The soul cries out for meaning, but more than likely it is crying into a wilderness of scientific or humanistic materialism and empty intellectual philosophies and theologies.

Our theme in this series of posts is finding biblical examples of souls that serve God on a spiritual. The previous paragraphs constitute a strong argument that John the Baptist was such an example, but in a somewhat different way from that of the blind man described in the previous chapter. Jesus indicated that the blind man's role at that time was to demonstrate the glory of God., without any further discussion. But when discussing John the Baptist, he says, (Matt.11:10,11) For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Verily I say unto you, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist”.

In Matt.11:2,3 he says: “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come”. Later in Matt. 17:10-130 he elaborates on the subject even further, and seems to imply that Elijah comes periodically, as needed.

All of this demonstrates that John the Baptist (AKA Elijah) was an agent of the Holy Spirit, appearing in the natural world as needed.

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