I just love the picture of John the Baptist in this chapter. Between the camel’s hair garment, leather belt, and “livin’ off the land” this guy was a regular mountain man! Yet God uses such unconventional ways to introduce His Son into the world. John the Baptist is not the typical publicist who would handle the public relations. Rather he is the “advance team” shaking things up in ancient Israel. And he didn’t need to go to the people – the people were coming to him (vv. 5-6).
If John the Baptist is displaying the same temperament that Christ is going to in subsequent chapters this chapter is very telling. We can see the disdain that Christ has for the poster children of legalism during this time – the Pharisees and Sadducees. At this point in the text we don’t see how Christ interacts with the average person. Except for the humility that Christ displays in verse fifteen when John tries to avoid baptizing Christ.
Verse ten also stands out to me with regard to bearing fruit. Having dealt with years of spiritual lethargy in my own life this verse is a friendly reminder. While God is in the business of growing His children we have some responsibility in the picture for maintaining our spiritual health via reading of Scripture, prayer, and other disciplines. This verse also reminds me of the teaching that Pastor Geoff just gave this evening from Hebrews. The first covenant proved to be ineffective and unfruitful due to the superficiality of its application. The second covenant, through Christ Jesus, has proven to be fruitful over and over again. People are spiritually liberated. Their families mended. Years of waste redeemed for His service.
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I’ve heard verse 10 used as a reason for believers to be concerned about losing their salvation. I don’t believe that - but would like to be able to counter it. Looking at the context (which I guess I really hadn’t pieced it together before) - John the Baptist is talking to the Pharisees!
Is that John’s only audience for these verses? I can imagine John baptizing others in the Jordan before the Pharisees show up, so that when they do appear, there is a mixed crowd. Is John talking to the other Jews as well?
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