“Self” is an enemy we
should never underestimate. To assume
that “right” will always win out over “evil” is to assume that “self” will be
subjugated to the will of God. And
“Self” is not inclined to be subjugated to anything. Sometimes we think all that is needed is to
“hear” the word of God, and that upon hearing it, we will be changed. There is a temptation of those in the clergy,
and of those in evangelism, that simply spreading the Word of God is what is
required to change our world, to bring people to salvation. And it is true that without hearing the Word,
it is hard to imagine anyone finding out where to seek change. But the “how” to seek change is another matter
entirely. Often the lives of those who
attempt to spread His Word are no paradigm of aspiration in “how” they live
their own lives. They look just like we
do. Sometimes they get caught doing
things worse than we do. So if the lives
of even the preachers and the evangelists are not much different than our own,
what Word exactly are they offering us?
It would appear the Word has not been able to subjugate “self” in their
own lives as yet.
Luke writes the story of one the world’s most powerful
evangelists ever known. A preacher whose
life matches his oral offerings. A
servant in whom “self” and “self interests” were fully subjugated to the will
of God. A servant that clean before God
is sure to have an easy life right?
Wouldn’t you expect the blessings and protections of our God to be upon
one of His clearly most righteous servants; particularly when there appear to
be no other alternatives to turn to, to continue preaching the message he was
inspired to give? But that is not the
happy story Luke was destined to offer, nor the truth of the life of even one
of the greatest evangelists this world would ever know. Instead to us, the outsiders, the story of
John the Baptist looks like a sad one, a persecuted one, that ends in losing
his life, and being restrained from offering his message. How did it get there? More importantly “why” did it get there.
You will recall Luke spent quite a bit of time at the
writing about the great joy of John the Baptist’s birth. John was a miracle baby. Announced by heaven itself, named by God
himself, messaged by the angel Gabriel himself.
John was born of parents way too old to have a child, and who had been
barren throughout their entire lives.
They were righteous, but not blessed with children of any kind, until
John. The song of Zacharias was just
offered a few short verses ago upon the birth of John. And the prophecy of the power of Elijah
predicted to follow his work. If ever
there were high expectations regarding the life of a child, they were set
here. Jesus was to be greater, but that
is because Jesus was God Himself in the form of the Son of God, shielded in the
cloak of humanity. John was only human. John broke with the tradition of following
his father into the formal priesthood in Jerusalem. Instead of being educated in the finest
religious schools, he was educated in solitude in the desert. He read.
He grew. He waited, until He was
finally called.
Luke tells his story in overview beginning in chapter three
of his letter of the gospel, picking up in verse 1 saying … “Now in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor
of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch
of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of
Abilene, [verse 2] Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God
came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. [verse 3] And he came
into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins;” The fish rots from
the head. The Roman empire does not
degrade over night, but it does degrade because it centralized its power in the
form of a single ruler who pushed down the power of the senate (of democracy),
and pushed up the power of a single dictator (autocracy). Sound familiar? How many presidents going back long before the
current one, have advocated policies, and made executive decisions by fiat that
in effect do the very same things. At
this point in the history of Rome it was now Tiberius Caesar in charge.
And in the land of Galilea or Judaea, things were no
better. Pilate was governor. Herod the great was dead. His three sons were put in charge of three
different sections of the Judean kingdom.
There were no kings exactly anymore, only the word tetrarchs. Three vicious children out to kill their
siblings and take over their section of the former kingdom, but restrained by
Rome in doing so. Corruption takes root,
feeding the animal of “self” who lusts for wealth and power. People who have been subjugated by the sword
offer plenty of both (whether they want to or not). So you would think in times of such political
turmoil and persecution, the people would turn to religion to offer them
relief, they would turn to God right?
But alas, Annas and Caiaphas have been installed by Rome to head the
priesthood as high priests. Without
Roman approval the priests would have been normally selected by God, but not
now. Since Rome was in charge, Rome
wanted leverage within the religion of these combative Jews to keep them in
line. Ergo Annas and Caiaphas, to keep
the lid on things under Roman scrutiny.
The fish rots from the head.
Rome disintegrates as power continues to be centralized into the corrupt
form of just one man, each lessor than his predecessor. The faith disintegrates as power is
centralized into puppets of Rome. The
countryside disintegrates as each of Herod’s sons thinks not of greatness and
great new construction projects, but instead of licentiousness and how they
could conspire to kill their siblings without being caught and punished by
Rome. The animal of “self” is taught
that quest for power and wealth are all that are important in Israel. All of its leaders mimic these attributes. And none of them are looking to be subjugated
to anyone or anything, even if it is a God doing the asking. And before we move on with their story – have
we adopted our own nation’s mantras and religious leader’s teachings that
appear very much like what Israel of old experienced? Today’s world praises fame, power, wealth,
and ease – and today’s world is less concerned about “how” you get there, only
how you might behave once you do. But
the journey to these goals is itself a journey into the dark abyss of
self-interest with no interest at all in subjugation of any kind. Hearing a message like that is bound to fall
on deaf ears if left to our own devices.
It is within this environment of enemies that the Word of
God falls upon John the Baptist while he is in isolation in the desert. His message is to be one of repentance for
the remission of sins. The symbol he
will utilize will be baptism in the Jordan river. Those who would hear and accept what John
will offer must wade into the waters of the Jordan, ignore the cold water, or
fear of not being able to swim, and be submerged under the waters completely,
trusting that John will not let them go or let them perish. They will in symbolic form die under those
waters, die to their former self. They
will be for a moment unable to even breath the air of their former sins. But through the power of God, they will be
reborn, resurrected into a new life, made free from the old by God alone. They will emerge spiritually new creatures
who must depend upon God alone to keep them from the former versions of
themselves. For if God does not do this
for us, who ever will. We will not. Our versions of “self” are all too happy to
take us over. It must be God who keeps
us from self, and focuses us on others.
In our subjugation to God, we find relief from the evil self must always
accompany, for self is the source of all evil.
It was so in Lucifer, who because of self, became Satan. It is so in us. Self must be eradicated, killed, in order
that who we become will never give rise to sin again in the eons of time we are
to live through.
Luke continues in verse 4 saying … “As it is written in the
book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. [verse 5]
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low;
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made
smooth; [verse 6] And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” The prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled with the
power of Elijah to all of Israel from one crying in the wilderness. John was not acting in his own self-interest. To do that might have been to keep silent and
let the fallen remain fallen. But John
was moved by the Holy Spirit to see the fallen redeemed, and so allowed himself
to be used of God regardless of what it might cost him personally. Imagine that.
Redemption so important to an evangelist he is willing to confront the
entire power of the world to see just you redeemed. Notice the message of John, and Jesus, was
not condemnation, it was redemption, that is “how” to think differently. How to divorce yourself from the fish rotting
from the head, and embrace a new way of thinking, a new way of loving, that
turns wicked men into righteous men, that is men who do rightly.
It is love for others that motivates right actions. It is ONLY love for others that can do
this. And it is ONLY Jesus who can
change your heart in order for you to see it firsthand in your own life. As you offer Jesus your will, it is your
heart that is changed first. The message
is no different today, or rather it should not be different. Repentance does not come because you will it
to be so. Repentance comes because as
you look at what you “could” have done for others, you begin to regret “not”
doing it for others, because of your love for them. While you are just fine, not doing for
others, you have not found repentance at all, you have found only words without
meaning. The leadership of the church in
the days of John fell into this category hard.
They knew all the words, all the texts, but little of the love for
anyone other than perhaps their own families.
They had no love for those who had none, or had little. As far as they were concerned, if you had
little, that was God making a statement about your level of sin. Poverty accompanied sinners, wealth accompanied
saints. When truth was far from this
thinking in any way. In fact, it might
well be the opposite entirely.
But there was a commotion in Israel. The power of the Holy Spirit could not be
denied (He too is God after all). And
the words of John rang in the ears of those who came to hear him as nothing
else and no one else had ever done before.
He spoke sermons in the wilderness you just could not shake or
forget. His words pierced your very
heart and made you want to change in a way you never felt before. For it was not just John opening the Word, it
was God through John, reaching into the hearts of men as only God can do. This power could not be denied. It was popular beyond all measure and all
reason. The leadership of the church
could not deny it either. They must come
bear witness of it, to see if John could be controlled. John was the son of a priest after all. Perhaps John could be made to see, how things
were done in Israel at this time.
Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “Then said he to the
multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [verse 8] Bring forth therefore
fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to
raise up children unto Abraham. [verse 9] And now also the axe is laid unto the
root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is
hewn down, and cast into the fire.” This
was NOT the reception men of breeding and refinement expected from this son of a
priest. This was a rebuke that stung for
a reason they could none of them explain.
For the weight of these words tugged hard at the hearts of hard men. The Holy Spirit broke through the carefully
erected barriers of selfish men, to tug directly at their hearts. They knew these sayings, just never expected
to have them applied to themselves. You
see “they” were supposed to be in charge of their own spiritual lives. And by their standard, they were doing very
well at it. Who was this hippy to cast
generations of traditions into the fire and call them out for their
corruption? They were part of the
rotting fish. And they did not want to
see themselves this way. But then, who
does?
They fled from that scene in haste. They had no words for John. Only recoil.
They sped back to the safety of their temple, to debate how to shut up
this man. But they lived in fear he was
right about them. The Holy Spirit is
nothing or no one to be trifled with.
That ache in them, was an ache no human could ever console. And it was at war with “self”. These men were the fish that rots. They were the self-imposed example for all of
Israel to aspire being. John had just
called them vipers. John had just
enumerated their sins. He had broken
down their defense as if any could be offered.
And now John was outlining their future if this road of self was the one
they chose to cling to, instead of the road God would offer in its place. The people witnessed this tearing down of the
beacons of their aspiration. And it left
the common people scratching their heads wondering, if these men who were
supposed to be holy were not good enough, what on earth could they ever do?
This is a well thought out question. Perhaps it is something we should be asking. This study will continue in part two …
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