As we
continue to look at the life of Jesus, what we have today could be considered
to be the actual start of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has gathered disciples
and he’s worked his first miracle. Now he goes out into the countryside
of Judea, spending time with people and baptizing them.
It’s interesting, I think, that when
Jesus started his actual ministry, he did so in a pretty conventional way.
Yes, he’d done a miracle already, but as you remember that was not
something that was part of his plan. That was something he did his
mother, Mary, wanted him to. When Jesus started to execute his actual
plan for ministry, he did so in a very ordinary, almost boringly ordinary way.
He did, really, what John the Baptist had been doing for some time.
He went out and spent time with people and baptized them.
That could be a lesson for us right
there. I think too often, when we talk about bringing people into the
church, we think we have to do something new and exciting and different to grab
people’s attention. And yes, Jesus did do some of that with the miracles
and so forth. But that was not the core of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus
was not about flash and show. In fact, if you remember, that’s one of the
things Satan tempted Jesus to do: “Jump off the temple and let the angels
carry you down.”
Jesus was not about being flashy.
He was not about putting on a show. When it came time for Jesus to
start his ministry, what did he do? He spent time with people and he
baptized them.
And don’t jump over that first part.
We’ll talk about Jesus baptizing people in a minute, but note what he did
first. He spent time with people.
Jesus did not expect anyone to come
to him begging them to baptize him. He spent time with people. He
got to know them. He let them get to know him. He found out what
was going on in their lives. He gave them reasons to feel comfortable
with him, to trust him. After he had done all that, then he offered to
baptize them into faith.
In other words, this business of
going and making disciples takes time. I’m not sure we always recognize
that or talk about it. Too many times--and I’ve been guilty of this,
too--we act as if going out and sharing our faith and bringing people into the
church and making disciples should be quick and easy. It’s not. It
was not quick and easy for Jesus. It’s not quick and easy for us.
It’s something that takes time. It takes patience. And
it takes love. It takes loving people enough to spend time with them.
It takes loving people enough to get to know people. It takes
loving people enough to find out what’s going on in their lives. And it
takes showing love to people, so they can feel comfortable with us and trust
us. Then, we can offer to bring them into faith. But it won’t
happen overnight.
But it does happen eventually. And it happened eventually
for Jesus. Jesus was gathering more and more followers. And people
noticed. The people who’d been following John the Baptist noticed, too.
And they appear to have been kind of upset about it. They come up
to John the Baptist and say hey, you remember that guy who was with you on the
other side of the Jordan? That guy you testified about? He’s
stealing your thunder! He’s baptizing people and everybody’s leaving you
and going to him!
Now, think about who John the Baptist was. He was a famous
man. People from all around were coming to him to repent and be baptized
by him. Even Jesus himself came to be baptized by John. John the
Baptist was a Big Deal. And now here comes this new guy, this interloper,
this upstart, taking people away from him. Jesus is now the Big Deal, and
John the Baptist is becoming yesterday’s news.
It would’ve been easy for John the Baptist to be a little envious
of Jesus. It would’ve been natural for him to resent Jesus. It
would’ve been easy for John to want to try to do something to get the crowds
back, to do something to draw attention back to himself, to once again be the
Big Deal that he had been.
But John did not do that. Why not? Because John was
fully committed to doing God’s will. And when we’re fully committed to
doing God’s will, we’re not concerned with whether anyone thinks we’re a Big
Deal. We’re content to play whatever role God has for us, whether it’s a
big role or a small one.
You see, John knew who Jesus was. When Jesus came to be
baptized, John said “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and
remain on him...I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
And later, when Jesus was walking by, John said, “Look, the Lamb of God.”
John knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Divine Son of God.
And John knew that he, John, was not the Messiah. He was merely the
one who was sent to prepare things. That was God’s will for him.
That was the role God had for him to play. So when these people
came to him and said hey, this Jesus guy is taking over from you, John said,
well, of course he is. I told you he would. He says, “You
yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but am sent ahead of
him.’” He used the analogy of being the best man and your friend’s
wedding. You get things ready for your friend. You’re there for
him. And then, when he comes and they have the wedding, you’re happy.
You’re happy that you did your part, and that things are ready for your
friend to have his day.
John knew that, now that Jesus was here, this was Jesus’ day.
He gives that wonderful statement of humility: “He must become
greater, and I must become less.” John says, in effect, I’ve had my time.
I’ve done my job. I’ve followed God’s will, and I’ve played the
role God had for me to play. Jesus will take it from here. I’m not
jealous of him. This is how it’s supposed to be, and I’m happy that
things are going the way they’re supposed to go.
John knew that, when he was preparing the way, he had been doing
God’s will. And he knew that now, by stepping aside and watching Jesus
become greater than he was, he was also doing God’s will.
It’s not an easy thing to do what John the Baptist did. It’s
not easy to step back and let someone else get the glory. It’s not easy
to let someone else get the credit for things. That’s especially true
when you have every right to feel like you deserve some of that credit
yourself. It’s not easy--but it’s worth it.
Think of the peace of mind it must have given John the Baptist to
react that way. Now, John did not just go into retirement at this point.
He continued to preach his message of repentance. In fact, it
appears that he continued to baptize. But he knew that the one he had
been preparing people for was already here. He could relax, knowing that
God had done what God had promised and that it was all working the way it was
supposed to work. He could relax, knowing that he had followed God’s will
and that he was still following God’s will.
If John had not done that, if he’d tried to get the crowds back,
if he’d tried to get glory for himself, he’d have made himself miserable.
He could not have succeeded--he was not going to win a popularity contest
with Jesus. He sure could’ve gotten really frustrated and really upset
trying, though. But he did not. John had followed God’s will and he
was content with that.
That’s what following God’s will does for us. It keeps us
from getting frustrated and upset. It helps us feel content. When
we follow God’s will, we don’t need to feel like we’re in competition with
anyone. We don’t need to worry about who gets the credit. We know
that, really, all the credit belongs to God, anyway. Following God’s will
lets us just focus on the job at hand, not worrying about what might happen as
a result. If that means we have to accept a change in circumstances
sometimes, that’s okay. If it means that sometimes we’re out front,
taking a prominent position, that’s okay. If it means that we have let
others be out front, while we take a lesser position, that’s okay. It’s
all good as long as we’re following God’s will.
John the Baptist had been a famous man. But when the time
came for him to take a lesser role, he did so graciously and willingly, with no
complaint. He continued to play the role God wanted him to play, even
though it was now a lesser role. He was content, even happy, because he
was following God’s will. May we, too, play the role God wants us to play,
whether it’s a big one or a small one. And may we find contentment and
happiness in following God’s will.
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