I have often portrayed in my own mind that John the Baptist (or Baptizer as I like to call him) was this kind of "wild and crazy" looking guy that went around warning people "The End is Soon". Certainly some of you have seen these type of guys...on a street corner with a sign up in the air, looking like someone who just came out of the "Ice Age".
Yet, as I continue to prepare for the season of Lent (probably some might be getting tired of me preparing for Lent stuff...sorry...I need a lot of "prep" I guess), I am focused at the moment on John the Baptizer...and am learning from what I read and study about him, he was a "far cry" from being "wild and crazy" or a "little whacked out" if you know what I am meaning.
700 years before John even arrived on the scene, Isaiah was making mention of him through a prophecy. It is in Isaiah 40:3 and I will write this in a "gleaning form", meaning I gather various scripture and other resources available and put it in my own words somewhat so it can make sense, at least to me, of what the Lord might be trying to convey in thought...of His Written Word.
So, here is a Gleaning from Isaiah 40:3: "Listen!...There is a thunder in the desert!...What is that?...and I can hear a Voice...Someone is calling!
This Voice is announcing something...I can hear it: it is saying: "Clear a path...through all your wilderness! Clear out all your obstacles!...make this path as smooth and straight as you possible can. Fill in any valleys, level any hills, get some stone and fill in the ruts, and remove any large rocks! It's Him!,,,it's really Him! He is on His way...and He is coming right through the path we clear...into all our waste land and all our wilderness. Prepare yourselves!...He is coming...to be among us!"
John the Baptizer! This is the very guy Isaiah was referring to. So, I have decided it would be good for me to take a good look at John, and find out for myself what he was really like.
John was born of Jewish parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. This couple was kind of like Abraham and Sarah, they were beyond their years to have a baby, yet God thought it to be the perfect time. Zechariah was of the Jewish priestly order of Abijah, while Elizabeth's lineage could be traced to the House of Aaron...and they were "good people". It turns out Jesus Himself was a relative of John, through Elizabeth and Mary, who were blood relatives.
John himself was about 6 months older than Jesus, and even his name John was foretold by an angel, and John's name itself means "Jehovah is gracious".
The scriptures also explains how John would be filled with the Spirit of God and would walk in the way of a Nazirite, as defined in Numbers 6: 1-21. The basics of a Nazirite was he was to drink no alcohol, including wine. In fact, a Nazirite couldn't even eat fresh grapes or raisins. A Nazirite would not be allowed to cut his hair, and the "big one"...never go around a dead person...even if it was their own mother or father. The chapter in Numbers goes into detail as to what all that may involve for a Nazirite.
The scriptures are silent as to what happened to Zechariah and Elisabeth, John's parents, although legend insists Zachariah was slain by Herod the Great and Elizabeth had to flee with John when he was quite young into the wilderness of Judea..but I don't know if any of that is true.
At any rate, John enters this "picture"...to prepare those for who is coming...the Messiah!
Lent can be a journey, accompanied by Christ Jesus... to the Cross.
Yet, as I continue to prepare for the season of Lent (probably some might be getting tired of me preparing for Lent stuff...sorry...I need a lot of "prep" I guess), I am focused at the moment on John the Baptizer...and am learning from what I read and study about him, he was a "far cry" from being "wild and crazy" or a "little whacked out" if you know what I am meaning.
700 years before John even arrived on the scene, Isaiah was making mention of him through a prophecy. It is in Isaiah 40:3 and I will write this in a "gleaning form", meaning I gather various scripture and other resources available and put it in my own words somewhat so it can make sense, at least to me, of what the Lord might be trying to convey in thought...of His Written Word.
So, here is a Gleaning from Isaiah 40:3: "Listen!...There is a thunder in the desert!...What is that?...and I can hear a Voice...Someone is calling!
This Voice is announcing something...I can hear it: it is saying: "Clear a path...through all your wilderness! Clear out all your obstacles!...make this path as smooth and straight as you possible can. Fill in any valleys, level any hills, get some stone and fill in the ruts, and remove any large rocks! It's Him!,,,it's really Him! He is on His way...and He is coming right through the path we clear...into all our waste land and all our wilderness. Prepare yourselves!...He is coming...to be among us!"
John the Baptizer! This is the very guy Isaiah was referring to. So, I have decided it would be good for me to take a good look at John, and find out for myself what he was really like.
John was born of Jewish parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth. This couple was kind of like Abraham and Sarah, they were beyond their years to have a baby, yet God thought it to be the perfect time. Zechariah was of the Jewish priestly order of Abijah, while Elizabeth's lineage could be traced to the House of Aaron...and they were "good people". It turns out Jesus Himself was a relative of John, through Elizabeth and Mary, who were blood relatives.
John himself was about 6 months older than Jesus, and even his name John was foretold by an angel, and John's name itself means "Jehovah is gracious".
The scriptures also explains how John would be filled with the Spirit of God and would walk in the way of a Nazirite, as defined in Numbers 6: 1-21. The basics of a Nazirite was he was to drink no alcohol, including wine. In fact, a Nazirite couldn't even eat fresh grapes or raisins. A Nazirite would not be allowed to cut his hair, and the "big one"...never go around a dead person...even if it was their own mother or father. The chapter in Numbers goes into detail as to what all that may involve for a Nazirite.
The scriptures are silent as to what happened to Zechariah and Elisabeth, John's parents, although legend insists Zachariah was slain by Herod the Great and Elizabeth had to flee with John when he was quite young into the wilderness of Judea..but I don't know if any of that is true.
At any rate, John enters this "picture"...to prepare those for who is coming...the Messiah!
Lent can be a journey, accompanied by Christ Jesus... to the Cross.
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