Advent: John the Baptist and Me (Part 1)
John the Baptist looms large on the horizon during Advent. Why John? Isn’t this after the birth of Christ? Why would we read this before Christmas? John’s ministry was to prepare the way for Christ, and we are doing this during Advent. You may remember the beautiful story of the baby who leaped for joy…
(Note: To learn more about Advent and how to observe it at home with family and friends, read this book!)
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The infant John matured into a very odd man. He lives in a cave. He eats locusts dipped in honey (try that if you are on a “biblical” diet). He wore a scratchy goat’s hair shirt and preached in nowhere. He was unmarried (which may be explained by his eating, dressing, and housing habits).
John the Baptist is the guy who shouts, “WAKE UP!” He is the last prophet of the law. The law is anything that shows us that our world is distorted and fallen from what it was created to be. Why do we need to hear the law? Church Father Chrysostom says, “You don’t know to repent unless you know you are off the mark.” Kind of similar to how we sometimes aren’t aware we are sick until the doctor explains the test results. How did it go for John the Baptist preaching the Law and diagnosing souls? First, let’s look at his three groups of patients.
The Pharisees & Sadducees
The Pharisees came by. These were law-abiding, Bible-reading, and rigorously disciplined Israelites who attended temples and synagogues. They were a lot like many church-going folks today. The Pharisees, spiritual ancestors of today’s rabbis, valued both following Jewish law and Torah study but believed true devotion also required sincere intention. They saw study itself as worship and emphasized doing good deeds alongside knowledge and inner faith. However, some were believers like Joseph of Arimathea, who yearned for the Lord’s body after his passion (it is debated, however, whether he was a Sanhedrim or a Pharisee). Too often do we fall into that trap, thinking wrongly since we read the Bible, pray, have Bible studies, or take the sacraments, all just things that, by themselves, don’t justify us.
And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Mark 5:41, 42
Also at the banks of the Jordan were the Sadducees. They prioritized political power over faith. They didn’t believe in God’s direct intervention in the world, they didn’t believe in the Prophets, and they didn’t believe in an afterlife. The resurrection of the dead was a lead balloon. They didn’t believe in anything besides a general idea of God and the need for political, religious, and cultural compromise. Their agenda was set mostly by the culture around them. They were somewhat like liberal or esoteric “spiritual but not religious” groups today. Josephus, the Jewish historian, observes,
3. Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, and despise delicacies in diet; and they follow the conduct of reason; and what that prescribes to them as good for them they do; and they think they ought earnestly to strive to observe reason’s dictates for practice. … They also believe that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again; on account of which doctrines they are able greatly to persuade the body of the people; and whatsoever they do about Divine worship, prayers, and sacrifices, they perform them according to their direction; insomuch that the cities give great attestations to them on account of their entire virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their lives and their discourses also. 4. But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the bodies; nor do they regard the observation of anything besides what the law enjoins them; for they think it an instance of virtue to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent: but this doctrine is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity.
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, trans. William Whiston, in The Works of Josephus, (Christian Classics Ethereal Library, n.d.), 18.1.4, accessed February 18, 2025, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/josephus/works/files/ant-18.htm
The People (The Crowds)
Then a multitude gathered from throughout Judea and Jerusalem. These were the common Israelites, the majority who believed in Yahweh and saw themselves as part of God’s covenant community. They did not strictly adhere to the law, nor did they consistently steer clear of idolatry or immorality. Many were perplexed by the scriptures and uncertain about how to worship God.
They believed in Yahweh but were overwhelmed by the Pharisee’s demanding rules. They were under the rule of the Sadducees but rejected their unbelief. They were caught in the middle. These folks were like the vast majority of American Christians today, especially those who profess faith in Christ but are not connected to any church.
Before John came preaching in the wilderness, the people hadn’t repented because they didn’t know what to repent of, how to repent, or why to repent. The Pharisees hadn’t repented because they didn’t think they needed to. The Sadducees hadn’t repented because their belief in sin was primitive. However, Jesus excoriates them:
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. … “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”
Mattthew 22:23; Luke 11:42-44
Same Message as John Baptist: Repent
John’s message to all three groups was:
… The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
Mark 1:15
Few voices today are like John the Baptist’s. We hear many cries to “repent,” but they are often directed at the “other” groups rather than toward us.
If those liberals would just repent…
If those extreme fundamentalists would repent…
If those nominal Christians would just repent…
If those atheistic materialist secularists would just repent…
If those self-righteous evangelicals would just repent…
If those other people in my church would just repent…
What about me? We haven’t truly repented if we still wait for others to repent.
Most of “The People” went down into the water of John’s Baptism, confessing their sins. Few, if any, Pharisees and Sadducees repented. As John announced, there is one coming. He was about to step on the scene in John the Baptist’s day. He will step on the scene at the end of this age. John began calling the people to repent, to tell God the truth, and to change. Yet, this process was not over. John the Baptist was helping people realize that they need a Lamb from God to take away their sins with their guilt and shame. They needed Jesus, just as we do.
10 Ways to Preach the Advent Sunday Sermon
Here, I offer ten sermon prompts for the first Sunday of Advent, or Advent Sunday, which can also apply to the following three Sundays of Advent.
The Liturgical Home: The Nativity of John the Baptist
The Nativity of John the Baptist, celebrated on June 24th and also known as the Summer Christmas, Nativity of the Forerunner, or Johnmas (I love that one!), is the special day we commemorate John the Baptist’s birth. It was once a highly celebrated feast day, though it doesn’t receive the recognition it once did, which…
