John 1:6-8; 19-28; Advent 3, 2002: “Confessing Christ with John”

This message has drawn its inspiration from a sermon by Martin Luther: “The Witness and Confession of John the Baptist.”

Today we are going to have another look at John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. His mission was to prepare his people for the coming of the Christ so that they would properly recognize and receive their Lord. Friends, this is also my mission as your pastor. This is also your mission, as a relative, a friend, and a citizen of this world. It is our mission as those who are baptized into Christ to confess Christ to the world, even as John did to the children of Israel. At this point I can understand that some of you may think, “Speak to someone about Christ? Oh, I could never do that!” To you I would first say that there are many more ways you can confess Christ than by speaking words. Secondly, and this goes for all of us, confessing Christ is not an easy nor a comfortable task. It will not win us many friends in this world, although it will for eternity. Eternity--that is the perspective we must keep if we are to confess Christ.

To confess our Lord is also one of the greatest privileges we have in this life. Jesus said: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” You see, this is a great task that comes with a wonderful reward—that Christ will acknowledge us before his Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32). With these words of introduction, we shall now learn from John the Baptist how to properly confess our Lord before men.

First we note his two-fold confession. When asked who he was he said, “I am not the Christ. I am not Elijah. I am not the prophet.” The first part of his confession is actually in the form of a denial. In the second part of his confession, John says, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “I am a voice of one calling in the desert…” (1:23). The first part of his confession appears to contradict what the Scriptures and even Jesus have to say about him.

The angel who appeared to his aged father Zechariah predicted that John would “…go before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah…” (Luke 1:17). The words of the angel made it plain that John would fulfill the words spoken by the prophet Malachi, “See I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes” (4:5). Jesus also told his disciples plainly, “[Is John] a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. …he is the Elijah who was to come.” (Matthew 11:9, 14).

How can John’s confession about himself contradict what the Scriptures say about him? Allow me to illustrate this to you. Imagine that we are in a Bible study together studying this very passage and one of you asks about this contradiction. Now, even though I may be leading the Bible study, if we happen to have Dr. Dean Human, the New Testament professor at the Concordia Seminary visiting us, it would be prudent for me to defer the honour of answering the question to him. After all, he is the expert in the field and I am sure all of you would prefer to have the answer from the mouth of the professor than from mine. So, in effect, as long as the professor is among us, we may regard him with the honour as our most distinguished “teacher.” Likewise, John’s denial of being the promised Elijah or a prophet, are not meant as a denial of his divine mission. Rather, with this denial, he wishes to acknowledge the Prophet, the Messiah, “who stands among you” (John 1:26). Thus his denial of himself is part of his faithfully confessing the Christ who is coming and already there. Instead of seeking a title or an identity for himself, he defers all attention to the Lord. He is but a voice calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the Lord.” And when Jesus began to attract more followers, John also confessed, “he must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)

John has shown us an attitude of great humility. And yet, according to Jesus, John was the greatest among the prophets because he was the last of the prophets; he was the one assigned to introduce the Saviour of the world. That honour is his alone. But it is not easy because it means not receiving any honour or credit for himself. For a prophet rules and leads the people, and they adhere to him; but all John gets to do is direct them away from himself to Christ, the present Master. Instead of promoting himself, John knows that his mission is to promote Christ and he is to fade into the background. Now, that is difficult to do; to let someone else benefit from your achievements and profit from your reputation.

Well, to some degree, this is what actually happens in life; we basically pass our life’s achievements on to another generation. But instead of just passing on temporal material wealth, God is giving us the opportunity to pass on eternal spiritual wealth: the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us then examine our lives and ask: “Who am I promoting with my life? Am I promoting myself or am I promoting the Lord?” This is an important question to ask ourselves, especially before we begin any new project or venture in life.

Now, as we confess Christ, what message do we hope others will get when they see us? John’s message was, “Make straight paths for the Lord.” The prophet Isaiah described this work poetically, “Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low” (40:3). The first task involves the leveling of mountains and hills. Spiritually these mountains and hills represent barriers to faith in Christ. Before Christ can enter a person’s heart, the spiritual mountains need to be leveled. This sounds like an impossible task. But in order to do this job, we have received special tools: the Holy Spirit who works through the word of God and through prayer. Equipped with these, we can move spiritual mountains.

At first this work is not pleasant. It is the least pleasant for the just and righteous people. For those who think they are something in this world. Luke tells us that the religious leaders among the Jews, the Pharisees and experts in the Law, rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they refused to be baptized by John (7:30). Why? Because they thought that they were already on the way of the Lord. They felt no need to prepare, repent or be baptized for sins. These righteous people, whether in John’s day or in our day, will always regard the one who confesses Christ as their worst enemy. To them, we are like a doctor who, after examining the biopsy, must report the bad news to the patient that he has cancer and needs treatment. But the patient refuses the treatment, because he can’t accept the doctor’s diagnosis of cancer. I have heard that it happens quite often that a person will initially go through a period of denial, especially when he feels himself quite healthy or that he has not deserved his condition. This also happens with the spiritual cancer called sin, which eventually kills everyone unless they are treated by Christ. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But it is most difficult for those who feel spiritually healthy to accept the fact that they too, like the spiritually poor and the sinners, are going to share the same spiritual fate unless they receive Christ.

The first task, then, of the one who confesses Christ, involves the unpleasant work of preparing the way for the sinner to acknowledge his terminal condition and be willing to receive God’s forgiveness through faith in Christ. After the spiritual barriers and mountains have been thoroughly leveled we come to the second task of confessing Christ. This has to do with the raising up and filing in of the valleys. It has to do with giving comfort to those who recognize themselves to be spiritually poor and in need of God’s help. Here we see John directing sinners to Christ with the familiar words we sing as the Lord comes to us in Holy Communion: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” These are the sweetest words to a sinners ear. Being able to say this and to believe it makes the difficult journey of coming to recognize our true spiritual depravity all worth it. For here we receive healing for the wounded soul. But this is all just presumption unless we first come to say: “We are all sinners, and we are wanting in the way of the Lord.” When we believe this, then follows: “Listen and accept Christ, believe in him and he will free you of your sins.”

Allow me to conclude this section with the words of Luther: “Now, if you are able to believe that this voice of John speaks the truth, and if you are able to follow his finger and recognize the Lamb of God carrying your sin, then you have gained the victory, then you are a Christian, a master of sin, death, hell and all things. Then your conscience will rejoice and become heartily fond of the gentle Lamb of God. Then you will love, praise, and give thanks to our heavenly Father for this infinite wealth of his mercy, preached by John and given in Christ. And finally, you will become cheerful and willing to do his divine will, as best you can, with all your strength. For what lovelier and more comforting message can be heard than that our sins are not ours anymore, that they no longer lie on us, but on the Lamb of God? Behold what God our Father has given us in Christ!

This exceeding joy is our confession of Christ. It is mine. It is yours. Let us then take heed not to ruin this joyful confession of Christ by looking to ourselves and to our own works. But let us look to the one who works all things in and through us—to our Lord Jesus Christ alone. Now may God our Father according to his infinite mercy bestow upon us this knowledge of Christ, and may he use us to send the voice of John into the world. Yes, may the Lord be pleased to find hearts prepared to receive him. Amen!