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We are the Voice Calling in the Wilderness
John 1:6-8, 19-23
Mari Ikeda
Last time we heard in the very first part of John’s Gospel that God is the Word, and Jesus is the word of God. Today I’d like to say that we are the “voice.” Let’s start from the passage we skipped last time, 1:6-8.
A. Who was John? (6-8)
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
1. He was sent by God ahead of Jesus
There are four Gospels in the New Testament. All of them, including this Gospel, John, record about John the Baptist, who appeared ahead of Jesus. (Note that there are many different persons named John in the New Testament. John, the writer of this Gospel, is a different person from John the Baptist.) Among the four, John’s Gospel seems to have a special attention from its beginning to who John the Baptist was, along with its attention to who Jesus was.
John the Baptist, born half a year ahead of Jesus, started his ministry just before Jesus started his own. It is said that he lived in the wilderness, and “(His) 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) He called on people to repent from sin. Seeing that he lived an ascetic life in the desolate wilderness, many people were drawn to him and came to beg for his teaching.
V.6-8 says that John was “a man sent from God.” And “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light.” As we read last time, the light refers to Jesus. Accordingly, John was a man sent by God to testify about Jesus. Perhaps “to testify” is a bit difficult to understand, but it can be paraphrased as “to teach.” Namely, John came to teach people that Jesus was the light for all people.
However, the more important is v.8. It says, “He himself was not the light.” While John’s ministry drew people’s attention, people should have paid attention to Jesus, whom John was testifying about. John was sent by God, but he was not God himself. He came to testify about the light, but he was not the light.
2. He is someone to emulate
I have personally always wondered why John the Baptist ever needed to appear. Given that he needed to be forgotten soon in order for Jesus to be remembered, what was the point John appeared just a little before Jesus and had to bear all the troubles he would have to go through?
In search for answer, I guess John’s presence is meaningful in that he became an example for us all. Just as John was sent by God as a witness to testify about Jesus ahead of Jesus, we are being sent by God to those who don’t know about Jesus. Moreover, while God is the Word, it is our part to make the Word the voice that people’s ears can hear. Although our own words have no power, God’s word has. Although God’s voice is not audible to our ears, our voices are. The point of John’s existence is that he can teach us about this. He has been teaching us all for more than two thousand years after his death what it means to go ahead of Jesus and turn God’s word into the voice that can reach people.
Now, let’s learn from him more specifically what we are not and what we are. Let’s move on to v.19-21.
B. What we are not (19-21)
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”
1. We are not the Messiah
“Messiah” is a Hebrew word, originally meaning “the one anointed with oil,” which came to refer to kings and priests and became equivalent to the Savior. It’s translated as “Christ” in Greek.
John was not a king or a priest, not a Savior. Neither are we. No matter how much we may draw people’s attention or gain people’s respect, no matter what truth we may speak or what miracle we can perform, we are only human. It is only Jesus Christ, who is the true Savior, who can save people.
2. We are not Elijah (Malachi 3:23)
Now, Elijah was one of the prophets in the Old Testament. In the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, Elijah is said to appear in the end time, which made people wonder if John the Baptist was Elijah. It gets confusing to us because while John himself denies here that he was Elijah, in other Gospels Jesus says John was indeed Elijah. This confusion can be solved if we consider that on the one hand John was not Elijah because he was not Elijah’s actual reincarnation, but on the other hand he was indeed Elijah in that he performed a role of Elijah that was prophesied.
Similarly, while none of us is a reincarnation of a great prophet in the past either, we do bear the role of prophets as Elijah and John the Baptist had. We will learn from John later on from v.22 about what is the role of prophets.
3. We are not “the Prophet” (Deuteronomy 18:15)
Before that, John’s last denial here is found in his saying, he was not “the Prophet.” “The Prophet” is considered to be the one whom Moses speaks about in Deuteronomy 18:15. Let’s read it.
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
Moses was a leader and a prophet who saved the Israelite people from their bondage in Egypt and led them to the promised rich land. People who came to believe in Jesus, after Jesus’ death, came to interpret that Jesus was the Prophet, whom Moses prophesied.
Because it is only Jesus who can release all of us from the bondage of sin and lead us to a rich and fruitful life. That’s why John said it was not him whom Moses prophesied, but it was Jesus. All people must listen to Jesus, not John, not us.
Now, what is the role given to John and us? Let’s read v.22-23.
C. We are the voice calling in the wilderness (22-23, Isaiah 40:3-8)
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
Here John is quoting from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 40. Let’s read Isaiah 40:3-8.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
In order to make a road in a wilderness, we need to first get rid of obstacles like rocks and stones, and level the rough ground. That is our task, according to John. It is to let people remember God and get rid of various obstacles in their hearts that inhibit them from remembering God. Those obstacles are perhaps empty pleasures, or pains caused by someone, or a sheer loss of hope for this world. It is not in our power to wipe out all of them from people’s hearts like a magic. However, it is possible for us to help people by letting them know that those obstacles are just obstacles and they are by no means all about this world. We know that there is something that never changes and endures forever. That is “the Word of God.”
Isaiah asks God, “What shall I cry?” And God answers, “The grass withers and the flowers fall. All people passes like grass. But My word endures forever.” This was what John called on people in the wilderness. This is what we also should let people know about. The word of God is never cancelled, but is always fulfilled. It is His good will, and never fails to lead us to the right path. Moreover, as we read last time, the word of God is Jesus Himself. The never-changing love of God that was taught by Jesus on the cross is the light that shines for all of us. That love Jesus taught us through His death on the cross will teach us that we are in the wilderness, but at the same time give us the strength to make a highway even in the wilderness.
I suppose John called on people in literally the wilderness in order to teach us that we sometimes need to put ourselves in solitude and that there is something we can know only after we know the emptiness of this world. In many times it is in our loneliness and emptiness that we understand the real magnitude of Jesus’ love. It is often in the midst of futile competition with others that we understand the value of never-changing love of God. That becomes our voice to reach for others.
In this way, we are the voice calling in the wilderness just as John was. We have no love or hope in ourselves that endures forever. There are times we get drained and fall. But the cross of Jesus has all of it. We at least got known about it and made our decision to believe. Whenever we fall, God gives us a new strength so that we can become the voice speaking of the word of God, and sends us to those who need it. Let’s continue to deliver the word of God, instead of our own words, by the power of God, not by our own strength.
（Prayer） Dear God, who created this world, you know better than we do that we are weak and fallible. Yet, you always encourage us and use us for your good purpose. Teach us your unchanging love in the midst of our loneliness and emptiness. Help us keep walking by lifting our eyes up to you. Dear our Lord Jesus, we pray this in your name, Amen
Summary
John came before Jesus and showed people that there is a different way to live if they believe in God. His work was to introduce people to the possibility of a life with God that is not characterized by emptiness, loneliness, and barrenness. We are given the same role as John. We are not God, but we have been sent by God, we are not the light but we bear witness to the light, and we continue to call out in the wilderness.
For Discussion
- What is something we can only do in the wilderness?
- What can we do despite being in the wilderness?
- What can we do if we grow tired of calling in the wilderness?