Countercultural John
As it is written in the Prophets:
"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.' "
John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. Mark 1:2-6, NKJV.
Not an average person, this John the Baptist. The very description of him portrays him as a person in protest of the status quo. Avoiding the luxury of the city for the brutal desert near the Dead Sea, he had given up fine clothes and ate a diet of locusts and wild honey. We are not exactly sure what the locusts were, since the Greek word has two possible meanings. It was either a grasshopper-like insect that Leviticus 11:22, 23 declared clean or it could have been a kind of bean (carob) meaning, Scripture introduces John the Baptist as a countercultural revolutionary.
In spite of his oddness, or perhaps because of it, he could draw a crowd to hear his message of repentance, confession, the arrival of the kingdom, and the need to be baptized. Mark tells us that "all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him." "All," of course, does not mean every last person. But it does signify that this rugged man from the desert has a major impact on not only the people but also the Jewish leadership. First-century Jewish historian Josephus tells us that John's influence was even felt by Herod, "who feared lest the great influence to raise a rebellion" (Antiquities 18.5.2).
The prophet, however, was not after Herod's throne. He desired his soul. No one could see or hear John the Baptist and view him as anything but countercultural. He not only looked the part but he had a countercultural message--one just as needed in the twenty-first century as in the first.
Before exploring that message, we should note that Mark introduces this powerful preacher who hails the new age of the kingdom of God with an Old Testament quotation, thereby signaling that Christianity is not a new religion but a development from within Judaism. Jesus and His message are not an afterthought of a failed plan for the Jewish nation, but they are the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. He is the Messiah predicted from the earliest pages of Scripture. God's plan has moved orderly in the past. And it will do so in the future.
As it is written in the Prophets:
"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.' "
John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. Mark 1:2-6, NKJV.
Not an average person, this John the Baptist. The very description of him portrays him as a person in protest of the status quo. Avoiding the luxury of the city for the brutal desert near the Dead Sea, he had given up fine clothes and ate a diet of locusts and wild honey. We are not exactly sure what the locusts were, since the Greek word has two possible meanings. It was either a grasshopper-like insect that Leviticus 11:22, 23 declared clean or it could have been a kind of bean (carob) meaning, Scripture introduces John the Baptist as a countercultural revolutionary.
In spite of his oddness, or perhaps because of it, he could draw a crowd to hear his message of repentance, confession, the arrival of the kingdom, and the need to be baptized. Mark tells us that "all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him." "All," of course, does not mean every last person. But it does signify that this rugged man from the desert has a major impact on not only the people but also the Jewish leadership. First-century Jewish historian Josephus tells us that John's influence was even felt by Herod, "who feared lest the great influence to raise a rebellion" (Antiquities 18.5.2).
The prophet, however, was not after Herod's throne. He desired his soul. No one could see or hear John the Baptist and view him as anything but countercultural. He not only looked the part but he had a countercultural message--one just as needed in the twenty-first century as in the first.
Before exploring that message, we should note that Mark introduces this powerful preacher who hails the new age of the kingdom of God with an Old Testament quotation, thereby signaling that Christianity is not a new religion but a development from within Judaism. Jesus and His message are not an afterthought of a failed plan for the Jewish nation, but they are the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. He is the Messiah predicted from the earliest pages of Scripture. God's plan has moved orderly in the past. And it will do so in the future.
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