Always The Baptizer, Never The Baptized
Written by Jarred Rushing
(7 minutes)
Then Jesus and his disciples left for a length of time into the Judean countryside where they baptized the people. At this time John was still baptizing people at Aenon, near Salim, where there was plenty of water, and the people kept coming for John to baptize them. (This was before John was thrown into prison.) An argument started between John's disciples and a particular Jewish man about baptism. So they went to John and asked him, "Teacher, are you aware that the One you told us about at the crossing place--he's now baptizing crowds larger than yours. People are flocking to him!" John answered them, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless God bestows it. You've heard me tell you that I am not the Messiah, but certainly I am the messenger sent ahead of him. He is the Bridegroom, and the bride belongs to him. I am the friend of the Bridegroom who stands nearby and listens with great joy to the Bridegroom's voice. Because of his words, my joy is complete and overflows! It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease." (John 3:22-30)
Make no mistake, John the Baptizer was one of the greatest men that ever lived and he had one of the most important, if not the most important, ministries in preparing the way for the Messiah to come. But I've always wondered one thing about John - after baptizing Jesus and seeing the long-awaited Messiah come on the scene, why did he continue ministering and not stop everything to follow Jesus? Even John's disciples didn't hesitate to leave him to walk with Jesus.
The next day, Jesus walked right past where John and two of his disciples were standing. John, gazing upon Jesus, pointed to him and prophesied, "Look! There's God's sacrificial Lamb!" And as soon as John's two disciples heard this, they immediately left John and began to follow a short distance behind Jesus. Jesus turned around and saw they were following him and asked, "What do you want?" They responded, "Rabbi (which means, Master Teacher), where are you staying? Jesus answered, "Come and discover for yourselves." (John 1:35-39)
No hesitation at all! One of these two disciples was actually Andrew, who brought his brother, Simon Peter, into the fold of Jesus' disciples. But why not John? John continues his own ministry. John continues to baptize people. I thought it was funny that even the name of the location where John was baptizing seems to be sending a message to John. If you string the two names (Aenon and Salim) together, they will translate "follow the dove's eyes." In Song of Songs 5:12, we are given a picture of Jesus as the writer pens, "His eyes are like doves." It seems to me that all signs are pointing for John to surrender his ministry and follow the One his life was pointing to.
John is saying all the right things. "He [Jesus] is the Bridegroom, and the bride belongs to him," and, "It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease." But we never see John join the ranks of the bride that belongs to the Christ. I guess you could say that John was always a bridesmaid, never a bride. He was always the baptiz-er, and never the baptiz-ed. It appears that John was defined by his ministry. His whole life was poured into his purpose. His occupation became his name - John the Baptizer.
It's hard to put away something that you've let define you and your life. Who am I if I don't do this? I think it's significant that John's disciples call the place where John baptized Jesus, "the crossing place," because that was a "crossroads moment" for John. On that day his ministry went toe-to-toe with the eyes of Yeshua, and John had a decision to make. Will I continue to be John the Baptizer or will I become John the Baptized? Will I find my identity and purpose in my ministry or will I find my identity and purpose in being called "Beloved Bride." I don't think John was called to just be the friend of the Bridegroom, who stands nearby. I think he was called to be joined to Jesus, fully baptized in His love.
John kept pursuing his own ministry. And one day the crowds died down at the waters of baptism and the Baptizer suddenly had no one left to baptize. So he partnered with the political spirit and found a thread of identity in railing against Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee and Perea, because he divorced his first wife and married his sister-in-law, Herodias, who turned out to be the one who called for John's head on a platter. And before he died, John the Baptizer, the one who would prophesy over Jesus as he walked by and the one who recognized the Lamb of God standing on the banks of the Jordan River, this same John, from his prison cell, sent messengers to ask the Christ as question: "Are you really the one the prophets said would come, or should we still wait for another?" (Matthew 11:2-3)
This is what happens when we find false identity in what we do, instead of finding our identity in Abba's voice: we lose sight of ourselves and we lose sight of Him. There are so many noble causes in the world. John had the privilege of being the forerunner to the Christ, yet he never should have let that define him. There was a higher calling that was reaching out for John. "John, come and discover who you really are - my Beloved One."
Again, there are tons of noble causes in the world, worthy of our attention. Helping the poor. Healing the brokenhearted. Caring for the widow and orphan. Being a good mother and a good father. Being the best boss or employee. Leading and serving in ministry. And the list truly does go on and on. But we can never let these things take the place of our highest calling in life. Being the Baptizer can never become more important than being the Beloved of the Father. Abba wants us to find our identity in the only thing that can't be taken away from us - His perfect love. It's the only firm foundation that there is. There's only one thing that has the ability to grant us true rest. There's only one thing that has the ability to stop all of our striving and self-earning. There's only one place where all of our purpose and identity should flow from: being found in Him, as His beloved, in whom He finds the greatest delight.
I've had a couple questions the past few days as I'm standing under this teaching: Did John ever have the opportunity to be baptized in the river that he so faithfully baptized others in? What difference would it have made in John's life if he had made a different decision at the crossing place that day? What if he would have shut the whole operation down to walk with Jesus?
Abba, am I at a crossing place right now? Is there something in my life that is competing with my finding all of my identity in You? Is there something, a title - an image - a theological opinion - a ministry or cause - a job or position - a place of safety where I feel protected from the world, that I'm unwilling to give up in order to be fully immersed in my true identity as Beloved One? Abba, come and walk with me. Abba, come and talk with me about this. It's a hard conversation, but You are the safest place I could ever be. I'd rather have this conversation with You right now, than have it with myself later as I'm sitting in a prison cell, wondering if You're really who You said You were. I don't just want to be a friend of the Bridegroom. I want to be ONE with the Bridegroom. Let everything else fall away effortlessly as I stare into Your eyes. Nothing compares to being found in You. Abba, let me descend into my beloved identity. Let me be fully immersed, baptized in Your perfect love. I trust the flow of Your river!
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Worship: "I Am Your Beloved" by Jonathan David & Melissa Helser
Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place
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