Forerunner

Good morning. It’s great to be back home with you, celebrating Christmas together. Many thanks to those of you who prayed for me on my recent trip. Those prayers were answered in so many ways. It was amazing that we could take 21 flights on 10 different airlines to 9 different countries and not miss a single connection or lose our luggage even once! Even more of an answer was the blessing of hearing so many wonderful stories of how God is at work in the world: saving, redeeming, restoring, and growing his people.

This will be a sign for you. We talk a lot about signs around Christmastime, don’t we? There is the sign of the virgin conceiving and bearing a son, prophesied by Isaiah and fulfilled in Mary, as Carl talked about last week. The shepherds were given a sign by the angels: a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Signs confirm the truth of what God is saying and doing.

The Bible is full of signs. There are signs of God’s power and superiority. Aaron’s staff that budded is described as a sign. Miracles throughout the Bible, including those performed by Jesus, are intended to be this kind of sign. They show that God has power and authority over everything. Many signs mentioned in the Old Testament are signs of the covenant that God has with His people, reminders of what God has promised and the special relationship that He desires. God gave Noah the rainbow as a sign that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood. He gave Abraham the rite of circumcision as a sign of His covenant with him. The blood of the Passover lamb was applied to the doorposts of the houses of the Hebrews as a sign that God would “pass over” them in His judgment on Egypt. God is continually reminding people of what he has promised. Many signs symbolize something. The observation of the Sabbath is described as a sign because it symbolizes the way in which God rested after creating the world. And signs confirm the truth of prophecy, as I have already mentioned. The virgin birth was a sign that Jesus was actually the Messiah. Isaiah foretold it hundreds of years before, so that when it happened, people would realize who Jesus was.

The coming of Jesus had been predicted, almost from the very beginning, as Adam and Eve were leaving the Garden of Eden. He would be the one to crush the serpent’s head. In all the other prophecies of the Old Testament, people were looking forward. They didn’t know when their Messiah, their Deliverer, would come or what he would look like, but their faith looking forward is like our faith looking backward: to God’s redemptive work at the cross, where Jesus died to pay for the sins of the world. “When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son.” That’s one of the theme verses for this series. When the fullness of time came. We don’t know why God chose to send Jesus when He did, but we know that the timing was perfect. God sent Him at just the right moment in history – to stand at the center of it: BC before, AD afterward. The cross is at the center. Salvation has always been by faith in Jesus, even before people knew His name.

King David prophesied about Jesus without knowing it. More and more was revealed about the coming of the Messiah as time went on. Carl described how it was “foretold” in various ways. The prophets can be thought of as “forerunners,” announcing his coming, what he would be like and what he would do. Isaiah devotes Chapter 53 and several other passages to his prophecy of the “suffering servant,” whose life would be an offering for sin. The last of the forerunners was John the Baptist, and it is his birth story from Luke chapter 1 that we will read today. I am going to read it through, verses 5-25 and 57-80, without much commentary, since our time is short today:

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”—Luke 1:5-25

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.—Luke 1:57-80

Zechariah recognized that this special child would be “a prophet of the Most High” to prepare the way of the Lord, an echo of Isaiah 40, another wonderful prophecy of the Messiah. John’s ministry would “give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” And in Luke 3 we read that that is just what John did:

The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.—Luke 3:2-3

He told people that their lives needed to reflect what they said they believed. Repentance needed to be more than just feeling sorry for what they had done; it needed to include changing their behavior. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” was the way he put it, and he gave them very practical suggestions about how they needed to live differently: to be generous, to not cheat others, and so on. People were stirred by his message, and it says that they wondered if he might be the Messiah that they had been waiting for for so long. But he was clear in his response:

John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.—Luke 3:16-18

What was the good news? That Jesus was coming! Redemption was at hand. John knew that he was just a forerunner of someone much greater about to be revealed. The gospel of John in chapter 3 records his response when people suggested that Jesus might be competing with him:

They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.  He must become greater; I must become less.”—Luke 3:26-30

John the Baptist recognized his calling. He was not only the forerunner of Jesus; he was His friend and servant in bringing Him his bride. We know that the church, made up of everyone who believes in Jesus, is considered His bride. This is talked about in the book of Revelation. John’s followers were part of that bride that belongs to the bridegroom, and John recognized that. His joy was now complete as he handed over to Jesus what was rightfully his. “He must increase, I must decrease,” as the ESV puts it.

This is an amazing expression of faith and submission, one we should all take to heart. In all that we do, Jesus needs to be the focus and receive the glory, not us.

Nevertheless, as I have thought about the story of John the Baptist, I am struck by what a human story it is. In contrast to Mary’s faith, Zechariah doubted. An angel appeared to him and gave him some incredible good news. He and his barren wife would have a child. Zechariah’s response was, “How can I be sure of this?” Here was an angel standing in front of him! It was okay to be afraid, but not to doubt Gabriel’s words. As a result he was struck dumb until after John was born.

And in prison, John himself doubted. This faithful forerunner, who had said that his joy was complete in seeing Jesus take his rightful place, sends some of his followers to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else?” Jesus had not lived up to John’s expectations. Perhaps John was expecting a Messiah who would deliver the Jews from the oppression of the Romans. At least if Jesus was as great as He was supposed to be couldn’t He get me out of Herod’s prison?

Jesus does not answer John’s question directly. His response is recorded in Luke 7:

“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”—Luke 7:22-23

John was stumbling in a very human way. He was stuck in prison unjustly, only because he had confronted Herod about his adultery. Jesus was not getting him out nor establishing the Kingdom of God the way he had hoped. Jesus just encouraged him to keep his eyes on the big picture. Redemption was coming to Israel, good news was being proclaimed, people were being saved. These were indeed signs of the Kingdom. But signs have to be accepted by faith. We can never understand completely what God is doing, but we can trust him that it is good. Signs do not remove the need for faith. Angels are not always believed. Zechariah doubted. John doubted. People even doubted at the ascension of Jesus – surely one of the most dramatic signs imaginable. The disciples had seen the resurrected Lord; now he was about to go up into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. This is right at the end of Matthew 28:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”—Matthew 28:16-18

Last week Carl read the passage from Isaiah 64, “O that you would rend the heavens and come down…” Many people today say, “If I could just see God then I would believe.” But they don’t accept the signs that are there. People will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. You may recall Jesus stating that at the end of the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

In Mark 16, Jesus says that “signs will accompany those who believe.” People who don’t believe are going to miss them completely. In Philippians 1 Paul writes:

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.—Philippians 1:27-28

Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel, without fear – as a sign to those who are being destroyed. Did you know that you are a sign? We need to be signs for one another and for the world. In Isaiah 8 the prophet says:

Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.—Isaiah 8:18

He and his children were signs in Israel pointing towards the Lord Almighty. Despite his human limitations, John the Baptist was a clear sign pointing toward the Messiah. Are you a sign pointing toward Jesus? When people look at you do they see his work in your life? And when you speak, does it turn people toward him for the answers they seek? Let’s pray that we can be forerunners like John the Baptist, proclaiming the imminent arrival of Jesus. He is coming. We await his return in person, but he is right here right now, too! He stands at the door and knocks. He wants to come in and be a part of every situation. Will people recognize him when they see him? That is our responsibility as his followers, as these signposts pointing toward him. The signs of God’s kingdom are all around us. “This will be a sign for you.” Let’s ask God to open our eyes to these signs and to give us faith to accept and act on them.