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JOHN IS EXPOSED FOR ALL TO SEE!

Exposed! Laid bare for all to see! The very idea sends chills up our spine. The past year of our life, 2004, is laid out for all to see in the local paper. They can read how we used inappropriate language to put others in their place. They can see how we colored the truth so as to put ourselves in a more favorable light. They can see how we presented ourselves to the tax-collector, the IRS. They can see the choices we made with our discretionary income, choices that served to indulge ourselves at the expense of those who were in need. As you look back on 2004 would you want your deeds exposed for all to see? In good conscience, could you stand up to the light of day?
In John 3, Nicodemus, a highly respected teacher in Israel, was exposed not as a fraud nor as a know-it-all critic but as someone who had a lot to learn about the kingdom of God. To his credit, he was seeking out the truth so when he questioned Jesus as to how someone can be born again, Jesus spelled it out for him in easy-to-understand Arabic. Jesus said:
“ You are Israel’s teacher and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
Look Nicodemus, even though you are a teacher of Israel you admit that you don’t understand what I’m saying. I commend you for at least admitting that my words have left you confused. But you need to make up your mind about me. You need to decide whether I’m telling you the truth about the kingdom of God, knowing that I’ve told you the truth about earthly matters. It is important for you to decide whether you believe me or not . . .
“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
This is the proverbial fork in the road. This is where we get to decide which path we’re going to go down. This is where we decide whether we’re going to believe Jesus or go our own way and drive across the flooded highway despite the warning signs and the barricades.
How do we decide which path to take? We decide based on whether we love the darkness or the light. We decide based on whether or not we are willing to be exposed for who we are in reality. If we choose to stay in the darkness, we do so because we don’t want our deeds exposed to the world. Many of the religious rulers in Jesus’ day were in this camp. If we come into the light, we come not believing in our own deeds, but believing in the one who has worked the truth into us. We come into the light so others can see what God has wrought within us. Jesus put it this way:
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
I like the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases v. 19 - 21. In The Message he writes:
“ This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”
Okay, what about you, do you welcome the light? Are you okay with us putting the spotlight on this past year? Well, in Jesus’ day, John the Baptist was one of the few who welcomed the light. In fact, John the Evangelist served John the Baptist up as an example of someone who was worthy of being spotlighted. He did so by showing us how John handled a very dangerous situation. In vv. 22 - 26 we read:
After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – the one you testified about – well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
At this point in John’s ministry, he and Jesus were working the same turf, north of Jerusalem. An unnamed Jew who had evidently been listening to Jesus, which is good, got into an argument with some of John’s disciples over the matter of purification. Maybe he understood Jesus to be doing one thing and John another thing. I don’t know, what I do know is that the word translated “argument” in the NIV is, in the Greek, the word from which we get our word “diatribe.” So it probably wasn’t so much of an argument as it was a prolonged and abusive discourse on the part of this unnamed Jew.
Whatever the case, John’s disciples went to him and informed him that the new kid on the block was attracting more of a crowd than John. They informed him that he was losing his congregation and suggested that he ought to do something about it. They were feeling the crunch of competition and were ready to fight for their fair share of the listening audience.
This is a very dangerous moment for John the Baptist. He’s being pressured by his own disciples to promote himself. He’s being encouraged to look out for his own ministry. He’s being challenged to enter into a debate with others about the validity of his work.
Behind the scenes, Satan is attempting to drive a wedge between John the Baptist and Jesus. In addition to the stirring language of his disciples, Satan must have whispered to his ego, “You know, it’s nice being the best at what you do, and you are the best. Of course, in situations like this, everyone knows that you need to fight to stay on top. But don’t do it for yourself, do it for the sake of your ministry.”
It all sounded so right. What his disciples were saying made sense – to those living in the world. But John the Baptist knew that Jesus wasn’t the issue. Nor was baptizing, or purification, the real issue. The issue was whether or not he was going to remain faithful to the will of God in his own life.
To John’s credit, he quickly discerned the real issue and gave this reply to his disciples. In vv. 27 - 30 we read:
To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.
Wow! First, he rebuked the notion that we need to grab for all that we can get in this world; the notion that we need to stomp on others before they stomp on us. He reminded them that God was in charge, not man. If the newcomer was attracting and winning more followers than John himself, and he was, it was not necessarily because he was stealing them away from John. That’s the spin the world would put on the situation. But, John sensed God’s hand in it and was content to allow God to be God.
This doesn’t mean that we can be lazy; it doesn’t mean we can take a lackadaisical approach to life. It is to be noted, that John kept right on doing what he had been called to do and left the results to God. After all, we’re not called to be lukewarm, we’re called to wholeheartedly serve the King of kings.
Second, John knew who he was and wasn’t. He had never been bashful, or hesitant, of telling others that he was simply the advance man. He was simply a courier who went ahead of the king to prepare the way. He made it clear from the very beginning that he wasn’t the long awaited Messiah. His job was simply to exhort people to repent so that they would be ready to face the one who was the Messiah.
Third, he let everyone know that he was not ashamed of his calling. In fact, he was overjoyed at being, sort of speak, the best man at the wedding. He liked his role, for he counted it a privilege to be the one that drew everyone’s attention to the bridegroom. Furthermore, he was the first one to see that the marriage was off to a good start. So when he saw that Jesus was attracting a crowd, that his ministry was off and running, his joy was complete.
So what is John’s point? His point is this: Joy is found in being obedient to our calling. It is not found in seeking out glory for ourselves.
Fourth, he clarified his position in easy-to-understand and easy-to-remember language. He said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” True humility, and we have a picture of it in John the Baptist, is not a case of thinking less of oneself, but thinking less about oneself. It calls attention to Christ, not to self. It is a life that gladly serves the king; not a “notice-me” life.
When William Carey, one of the great pioneer missionaries to India, lay dying he turned to a friend and said, “When I am gone, don’t talk about William Carey; talk about William Carey’s Savior. I desire that Christ alone might be magnified.”
Do you see what is happening in this passage? On the one hand John the Evangelist is endorsing John the Baptist as someone who doesn’t mind having his deeds examined by the world. For what he has done he has done through God. On the other hand, the Spirit has taken this as an opportunity to honor John the Baptist. For elsewhere in Scripture it is made abundantly clear that God honors those who have a humble spirit. Proverbs 15:33, for example, says:
The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.
Or, as Eugene Peterson puts it in his paraphrase, The Message:
Fear-of-God is a school in skilled living –
first you learn humility, then you receive glory.
Or as Peter puts it in I Peter 5:5 -6,
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because
“ God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
We tend to think of John being clothed in camel hair and a leather belt. We tend to think that here was a man who hardly dressed for success. In reality, John was consistently clothed in humility.
Yes, his rhetoric was abrasive, but it was in keeping with what the Holy Spirit wanted him to say so as to prompt others to be ready to receive the Christ. In other words, John clothed himself in humility by never quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit. So in due time, John the Baptist was held up as a shining example of someone who lived in the light and was honored by John the Evangelist.
You see, we tend to make humility hard. John made it look easy because he knew something we tend to forget. He knew God told the truth, so it just made sense to remain faithful to him. For him, it was simply a matter of trust and obedience. Here are the last words of a humble man:
“ The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but . . .”
Do you desire to clothe yourself in humility in 2005? Then stop listening to your own counsel and the so-called wisdom of the world! Listen and respond to Christ Jesus, trust and obey, for the truth He speaks is from the storehouse of all truth - the heart of God.

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