Amen, Jim and Richard! We need Jesus in order to do any good thing, and John's mission was to help the people see that they needed Jesus--even though John himself did not fully understand the Savior's mission. However, it is clear that what John most longed for was PART of the Savior's mission:
John did not fully understand the nature of the Messiah's kingdom. He looked for Israel to be delivered from her national foes; but the coming of a King in righteousness, and the establishment of Israel as a holy nation, was the great object of his hope. Thus he believed would be accomplished the prophecy given at his birth,--
"To remember His holy covenant; . . .
That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our
life."
He saw his people deceived, self-satisfied, and asleep in their sins. He longed to rouse them to a holier life. The message that God had given him to bear was designed to startle them from their lethargy, and cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness. Before the seed of the gospel could find lodgment, the soil of the heart must be broken up. Before they would seek healing from Jesus, they must be awakened to their danger from the wounds of sin.
John did not understand that the Lamb had to die; while he had been influenced by the popular conceptions of the Messiah's coming, it is clear that John longed for the people of Israel to experience a holy life--which IS PART of the Savior's first advent. Unfortunately, many who were longing for the overthrow of Israel's national foes would rather forget that there was a sin problem that led them to such an experience of bondage. Such blindness!
John's message was not a message of peace and safety. It was rousing, pointed, and direct. Many would consider his message too strong...is it not the same today? How do many respond when the message of the right arm of the gospel comes to them? How many are willing to lay aside sinful indulgences like tobacco, tea, coffee, and to turn to Christ with a full-heart surrender without rising up against the light as it comes? May we pray that each soul with whom we come in contact today will realize their need--for which Christ is willing and able to supply! We need Jesus continually, and when He is in the heart, He will give us grace and courage to go forth as bold, loving, faithful reformers like John the Baptist. Jesus is coming again! And the church must awake from her sins! So the message is sounding forth today:
Revelation 3:14-22
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Repentance is a gift which we receive from Jesus. By beholding His loveliness we shall be changed, and we shall more clearly see our constant need of His abiding in the heart. Only when we are abiding in Christ will all of the fruits of the Spirit be seen in the life without one missing--and He will guide us into all truth!