John the Baptist came preaching repentance and baptising those who knew they needed to get right with God.
He was unflinching, unbending and unyielding to the expectations of the Scribes and Pharisees.
He would rather live in a dungeon than mince around the Palace wearing a silk tie (Mark 6:14-20).
He was hardy, he was strong, and he called the people to repentance. Upfront, bold as a lion.
John called people, priest and kings to repent of their theft, envy and adultery; to turn away from their disobedience and prepare to meet their Maker.
He came out of the wilderness, a priests’ son, wearing camel hair clothes and eating flowers (locusts also being a plant).
His appearance and his message were bound to get him noticed. As a result, he grew very popular among the ordinary people. Everyone was asking, “who is this guy?”
The temptation for John to make himself “great”, to make himself, “somebody” would have been persistent. Men love a hero. But John’s fearlessness was matched by his humility.
As Jesus came on the scene John was happy to bow the knee. John was listening when God spoke at Jesus’ baptism and he encouraged others to do the same: “Hear Jesus. Look to Jesus. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:30).
That was John. Hardy, but also humble. John knew he couldn’t save anyone, not even himself.
Jesus describes John as the greatest Prophet who ever lived, yet John knew he had nothing apart from the grace that comes down from above. And He rejoiced (John 3:29)
And so John lost his followers, he lost his ministry and soon after, he lost his head. He lasted less than a year and then he was gone.
But he did not depart without leaving for us an example of what it means to have hardy and humble lives that point to Jesus.
As believers we often struggle with this balance. Either we will bow, often silently and reluctantly, before just about anything, or else we go about like a one-man spot it and stop at committee with a whip. We’ll barbecue the minister to a nutbrown roast for moving the church organ without approval, yet suck our thumbs in silence when our daughters shack up with some guy called Jim.
John was fearless because he knew and believed the truth. John was humble, and so he obeyed it and called others to do the same.
John had met Jesus. John had loved Jesus. And knowing and loving Jesus makes you fearless because that which you fear most – death and separation – has been abolished on account of Jesus.
In Jesus, you and I have passed from death to life and the life we now have is eternal, indestructible.
Knowing and loving Jesus also makes you humble. You know you cannot save anyone, not even yourself. You know that you are not worthy to be any man’s hero.
John was hardy toward the things of men, and humble toward the things of God. He knew when to bow, and he knew when to cry out.
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