Who was John the Baptist?

The first Sunday in the season of Epiphany is January 12, the celebration of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

Who was John the Baptist?

He seems a little different, to say the least. To begin with, he lived in the wilderness.  And he dressed…well, like a weirdo.  John wore “camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist.”  Sounds itchy.  He had a strange diet, too: locusts (yuck!) and wild honey.  (Maybe the honey helped him choke down the bugs.)

So who was this weird guy? All four gospels–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John–use the same verse from the Old Testament to tell us who John was: Isaiah 40:3.  

Let’s take a look:  A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight a highway for our God.”

Who was John?  He was the voice crying in the wilderness.  Just as the prophets had been saying, Christ the Lord was coming, and John was sent to prepare the way.  But how would John prepare the way for Christ?  

He would do what prophets do: preach.  The crazy thing, though, was what John preached:

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. (Mark 1:4)

John's clothing, diet, actions, and preaching were all very strange and unexpected.  But then, something even more shocking happened–Jesus came to John to be baptized!  What was that all about?  

And that would be the most shocking thing of them all: Jesus was baptized for you, for the forgiveness of your sin!

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that immediately after He was baptized, Jesus was driven into the wilderness to be tempted.  In other words, as soon as God’s promise was given to Jesus in Baptism, it was attacked.  This is comforting for us, who discover that the promise we’ve been given in Baptism is also constantly under attack.  But God shows us here what kind of a promise this is, that it cannot be broken or undone.  

Happy Epiphany!

Pastor Raleigh