Baptism (part 1) - John the Baptist and the Gospel
Introduction. As the fulness of time dawned, God sent Gabriel to the priest Zacharias as he offered incense in the temple. After revealing Elizabeth would have a son, Gabriel spoke of the role this son would be given in God’s eternal purpose. He had been chosen to “turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,” “go as a forerunner before Him,” “turn ... the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous” and “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” He would do all this “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” (Lk. 1:5-23; Mal. 4:5-6). After John was born, rumors were being circulated and “all these things were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea” and “all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be?” (Lk. 1:57-66).
Thirty years later when John began His work (Lk. 3:23), many were still watching. Mark revealed that the moment John the Baptist began preaching, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is written the prophets.” (Mk. 1:2-3) had arrived. Hence, the gospel age dawned with John the Baptist and his preaching to prepare the people as the prophecies and Gabriel foretold.
All four historians of the gospel record these things for us. While Mark and Gabriel quote Malachi, John, Matthew, Luke and John the Baptist all quote Isaiah. Isaiah had revealed that when: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” was heard, it would all begin. There is no doubt that John the Baptist was this voice for when asked “Who are you?”, John responded “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Jn. 1:22-23). God chose John to fulfill everything Isaiah had revealed in His prophesy.
“A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’” (Isa 40:3-5 - NASB)
God was using a “parable” in Isaiah. He compared John the Baptist to a road builder who would “make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.” God had given him the tools necessary to change the hearts of His people in exactly the same way a road builder does to the terrain when building a highway. John the Baptist was to break down the pride of the arrogant and give comfort to lowly and broken hearted. He was to straighten those who had become crooked, bent and twisted by sin. All this would be accomplished by softening the hearts as the road builder does the rock. This is what Isaiah had promised would happen when this “voice crying in the wilderness” was heard: “Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth” (Lk. 3:4-6).
While the tools used by those building roads in the mountains are simple to understand, the tools given to John the Baptist were more complex, being spiritual and not material. Shovels, picks, and hammers along with later implements like bulldozers and tractors would easily bring down mountains and fill in valleys and straighten the curves. But what tools did God give to John the Baptist to prepare the people for the Messiah? Mark told us he came with two things: (1) A new command and (2) a new promise:
These two things were brand new and never revealed before. Luke also summed up John’s road building tools with the same words, but then added a very important application: “He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet.” (Lk 3:3-4) As John was “preaching a “baptism of repentance” and “the remission of sins”, it was “as it is written in Isaiah.” When John preached, it was “like as, even as, according as, in the same manner as” Isaiah had said it would be.
Thus John was commissioned by God and marked out by Gabriel as the forerunner and road builder for the Messiah using “a baptism of repentance for remission of sins.” This was both the beginning of the gospel and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that John would build a highway for our God.
While we now have controversies over baptism, there were no controversies then. John’s baptism was immersion in water. First, it is the definition of the term and was always used by Greek speaking people of a burial or immersion. Why choose a word that means immersion and then change it to sprinkle or pour? It makes no sense. Second, John chose his location for preaching, because “there was much water there.” (Jn. 3:21). He would not need much water to sprinkle or pour a little water on them, but would need it to immerse. Finally, when Jesus was baptized He went into the water and came out of the water. (Mt. 3:16; Mk. 1:9-10). Why would Jesus go into the water if it was only necessary to have it sprinkled or poured on Him? No one goes to the river or has a baptistry today unless they practice immersion. So it would have been then.
God also made it clear that this baptism had the ability to give remission of sins. This was the most startling and most powerful aspect of John’s preaching about baptism. When “all the country of Judea and all they of Jerusalem” heard him “preaching the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins,” they obeyed John’s preaching and fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy becoming the people made ready:
Conclusion. “The gospel began” when John started preaching “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” This new and definitive command was so novel and such an integral part of John’s work that it was joined permanently to his name. This preaching was the great tool for building “a highway for our God.” All who came up out of the water of His baptism had been prepared. Not only as a result of the powerful preaching, but also the act of power worked by God in granting them “remission of sins.”
Thirty years later when John began His work (Lk. 3:23), many were still watching. Mark revealed that the moment John the Baptist began preaching, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is written the prophets.” (Mk. 1:2-3) had arrived. Hence, the gospel age dawned with John the Baptist and his preaching to prepare the people as the prophecies and Gabriel foretold.
All four historians of the gospel record these things for us. While Mark and Gabriel quote Malachi, John, Matthew, Luke and John the Baptist all quote Isaiah. Isaiah had revealed that when: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” was heard, it would all begin. There is no doubt that John the Baptist was this voice for when asked “Who are you?”, John responded “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Jn. 1:22-23). God chose John to fulfill everything Isaiah had revealed in His prophesy.
“A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’” (Isa 40:3-5 - NASB)
God was using a “parable” in Isaiah. He compared John the Baptist to a road builder who would “make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.” God had given him the tools necessary to change the hearts of His people in exactly the same way a road builder does to the terrain when building a highway. John the Baptist was to break down the pride of the arrogant and give comfort to lowly and broken hearted. He was to straighten those who had become crooked, bent and twisted by sin. All this would be accomplished by softening the hearts as the road builder does the rock. This is what Isaiah had promised would happen when this “voice crying in the wilderness” was heard: “Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth” (Lk. 3:4-6).
While the tools used by those building roads in the mountains are simple to understand, the tools given to John the Baptist were more complex, being spiritual and not material. Shovels, picks, and hammers along with later implements like bulldozers and tractors would easily bring down mountains and fill in valleys and straighten the curves. But what tools did God give to John the Baptist to prepare the people for the Messiah? Mark told us he came with two things: (1) A new command and (2) a new promise:
- “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a 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.” (Mk. 1:4-5).
These two things were brand new and never revealed before. Luke also summed up John’s road building tools with the same words, but then added a very important application: “He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet.” (Lk 3:3-4) As John was “preaching a “baptism of repentance” and “the remission of sins”, it was “as it is written in Isaiah.” When John preached, it was “like as, even as, according as, in the same manner as” Isaiah had said it would be.
Thus John was commissioned by God and marked out by Gabriel as the forerunner and road builder for the Messiah using “a baptism of repentance for remission of sins.” This was both the beginning of the gospel and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that John would build a highway for our God.
While we now have controversies over baptism, there were no controversies then. John’s baptism was immersion in water. First, it is the definition of the term and was always used by Greek speaking people of a burial or immersion. Why choose a word that means immersion and then change it to sprinkle or pour? It makes no sense. Second, John chose his location for preaching, because “there was much water there.” (Jn. 3:21). He would not need much water to sprinkle or pour a little water on them, but would need it to immerse. Finally, when Jesus was baptized He went into the water and came out of the water. (Mt. 3:16; Mk. 1:9-10). Why would Jesus go into the water if it was only necessary to have it sprinkled or poured on Him? No one goes to the river or has a baptistry today unless they practice immersion. So it would have been then.
God also made it clear that this baptism had the ability to give remission of sins. This was the most startling and most powerful aspect of John’s preaching about baptism. When “all the country of Judea and all they of Jerusalem” heard him “preaching the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins,” they obeyed John’s preaching and fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy becoming the people made ready:
- “Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mt. 3:5-6)
- “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.” (Mk. 1:5)
Conclusion. “The gospel began” when John started preaching “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” This new and definitive command was so novel and such an integral part of John’s work that it was joined permanently to his name. This preaching was the great tool for building “a highway for our God.” All who came up out of the water of His baptism had been prepared. Not only as a result of the powerful preaching, but also the act of power worked by God in granting them “remission of sins.”