January 7, 2007

Everyday Disciples_The Gospel of John Encouragement Session

Preparing the Way of the Lord

John 1:19-23

Introduction: Who Is John?

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said" (John 1:19-23, ESV).

Why were the Jews interested in the identity of John? The fact is the Jewish community was actively looking for the Messiah. There had been some imposters, but they were continually looking for the one to deliver them from the occupation of the Romans. So when John comes along baptizing, they are suspicious of him. For Ezekiel had prophesied concerning the restoration of the Israel, which the Jews took to mean the time of the Messiah, that washing would inaugurate the final age: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you" (Ezek. 36:25).

With this suspicion, they ask him some important questions about his identity. First, they pointedly ask him if he was the Messiah, to which he replies in the negative. Second, if he's not the Messiah, then he could be one of the other two eschatological figures who would accompany the Messiah, i.e., Elijah or the Prophet. After all, through Malachi, the Lord had promised to send Elijah (Mal. 4:5-6), and Moses spoke of the Prophet to come who would be like him (Deut. 18:15-18). Was John either one of these figures? No he was not, at least, not according to John. Jesus would say that John was the fulfillment of the promise concerning Elijah, but John made no such claim for himself.

Then, who was this guy? "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." What did Isaiah say?

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).

Isaiah had spoken this after having predicted the exile of the Judah to Babylon. This was part of the words of comfort he spoke to console the people concerning the exile. He was telling them that the Lord would eventually come and rescue them from the exile. He would do so by making a straight road through the desert. In these days, kings would send a herald ahead of them to announce their coming. The king couldn't travel on the winding paths through the mountains and valleys of the wilderness, so they would prepare a better road for him. They would make it as straight and as level as possible. The Lord would take such a path, in a metaphorical sense, to rescue His people from the exile.

John says that He is the one preparing the way of the Lord. He is attempting to fill in the valleys and bring down the mountains that stand in the way of the people's reception of the Lord. How did he do this? According to John's gospel, he was baptizing people. Mark gives a rather concise statement of John's ministry: "John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (1:4).

While those of us who are Christians have repented and have been baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sins, we still must make sure that the way of the Lord into our lives—as we grow to walk as He walked—is straight. There are things that can come into our lives that will prevent being conformed to image of Christ. We must search the terrain of our hearts to discover crevices of disobedience, the high places of disloyalty, the uneven ground of distrust and the rough places of distraction in order to make sure that the way is straight. It's only when the way is appropriately prepared that we can allow the Lord to move into our lives more fully.

How do we do this? How was it done for the Jews in the exile? How was it done for the Jews in Jesus' day? It was accomplished by a voice. We need to continually hear the voice of God's inspired spokesmen to "make straight" the way of the Lord into our lives.

Let's spend the next few moments thinking about how we can heed the voice of God's spokesmen to prepare the way of the Lord.

Filling in the Crevices of Disobedience

It is important that we hear the voice of God's inspired spokesmen in Scripture daily. Hearing the voice reminds us of who we are and what we're called to be in Christ. Hearing the voice daily gives us the opportunity to overcome our disobedience. The Hebrew writer makes an important play on the word "today," to describe the opportunity afforded us. He says three times in the course of chapters 3 and 4: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts" (Heb. 3:7, 15; 4:7, ESV). Notice the emphasis on "today."

What leads to the hardening of our hearts? Our hearts are hardened by a failure to listen to His voice. Jesus said that the seed that fell on the rocky ground are those who have "no root in themselves," so that when tribulation or persecution comes, they aren't prepared to deal with it and they fall away. Why did they have no root? They stopped listening. So we must, as the Hebrew writer encourages, "exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of [us] may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (3:13).

Bringing Down the High Places of Disloyalty

The psalmist wrote, "Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart" (Ps. 119:2). There were those who weren't fully committed to God. A good example of this is Jehu, King of Israel. He executed Jezebel and the house of Ahab, and killed the prophets of Baal. The inspired historian said, "Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel" (2 Kings 10:28). Yet, he goes on to write:

But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel." But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord the God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin (vv. 29-31).

Another example of this was Amaziah, King of Judah. Of him it is written, "And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart" (2 Chron. 25:2). He eventually turned away from the Lord to idols.

It is necessary to have complete devotion to the Lord. We must continually examine ourselves, in light of the word of God, to determine whether or not we have surrendered every part of our lives to Him. "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

Leveling Out the Uneven Ground of Distrust

The psalmist has declared,

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple (119:7).

Later on in the same psalm, we witness the struggle of trusting in the sure word of the Lord:

My soul longs for your salvation;

I hope in your word.

My eyes long for your promise;

I ask, "When will you comfort me?"

For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,

yet I have not forgotten your statutes.

How long must your servant endure?

When will you judge those who persecute me?

The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;

they do not live according to your law.

All your commandments are sure;

they persecute me with falsehood; help me!

They have almost made an end of me on earth,

but I have not forsaken your precepts.

In your steadfast love give me life,

that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth (vv. 81-88).

We must continually be reminded of the examples of the Lord's word coming true, such as that of His promise to Abraham. The Hebrew writer says:

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (Heb. 6:13-18).

Smoothing Out the Rough Places of Distraction

Focus is big problem for us. We are too easily distracted by things of this world, and those distractions can prove detrimental to our spiritual lives. Jesus described the seed that fell among the thorns as those people who allow the word to be choked out of their lives by the "cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things" (Mark 4:19). We must, instead, be like the psalmist, who declared, "I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways" (Ps. 119:15).

Conclusion: Hearing the Voice is Essential to Preparing the Way

As was true in John's day, hearing the voice of God's inspired spokesmen is essential to preparing the way of the Lord more fully into our lives. There were those who scoffed at John's work. To them, John said:

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Mat. 3:7-10).

Perhaps our prayer can be, as we study the word of the Lord, like that of David: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24, KJV).