Camel Hair and Single-Mindedness

I’m reading slowly through the life of Jesus according to Mark. I thought you might like to join me. J

Here’s the first chunk of chapter 1 for your reference:

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,^[a] the Son of God,^[b] 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way”^[c]—
³ “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”^[d]

⁴ And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶ John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.⁷ And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I baptize you with^[e] water, but he will baptize you with^[f] the Holy Spirit.”

It makes sense to tie John to the Old Testament though because Jesus later says that for those that can accept it, John was the “Elijah” that was to preceded the Messiah.

Now hold on. Didn’t John say that he WASN’T Elijah? Here’s how I figure it. John didn’t imagine himself to be Elijah resurrected. But Jesus understood that he was a TYPE of Elijah (or if you prefer, Elijah was a type of John). In other words, everything Elijah represented, John perfected.

Both Elijah and John had that wild-eyed prophetic bent. Both guys confronted sin in their nation. Both guys were fed by God in the desert. Both prepared the way for someone greater. (In Elijah’s case it was Elisha who got double-mojo from Elijah and did way more miracles. So you might also say Elisha was a type of Jesus.)

Now here’s something I find really interesting: John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins… for the forgiveness of sins! Is this the cart before the horse? Wasn’t Jesus supposed to die first to make this very forgiveness possible? So where did John get the chutzpah to offer God’s forgiveness to people? This is way outside the box. The law said forgiveness came through sacrifice. But John’s saying forgiveness comes when you say sorry to God and change your mind about sin. At first blush this seems like a gaping hole in the history of atonement theology. What’s the significance of saying sorry? What’s the efficacy of repentance? And what does atonement offer that an apology cannot? Or did John recognize that repentance is just one step in the process of forgiveness culminating in the cross? I don’t have the answer. I’d love to hear your explanation.

One thing was clear: John’s baptisms acted as a massive razor-sharp plow in the heart of the Jewish nation, tilling the spiritual soil for the seeds Jesus would plant. He was a waymaker.

And a waymaker was just about ALL he was. John was no renaissance man. He was a single-purpose guy. And when that purpose was fulfilled, he went to prison and got himself executed. And this, according to Jesus, was the greatest man ever born to date (though in the kingdom, the least person would be greater than him).

John knew his purpose on the earth. He focused all his energy on that purpose. Then he went home.

So what’s your purpose on planet earth? As best you can tell, why are you here?

For me it’s tempting to try to be and do everything. I want to be an incredibly complex and multi-talented person who single-handedly changes the world. Why do I have that compulsion? Honestly, I think it’s because I’m addicted to being appreciated. I want everybody to like me and think I’m great. But John didn’t want to be great. He just wanted to do his job. So what’s my job?

As best I can tell, here’s my life’s purpose:

1.             Get to know God. Grow more in love with Him.

2.            Express that love by learning to love people around me, especially the family God has entrusted to me.

3.            Make a spiritual investment in the continent of Africa, helping others get to know God and grow more in love with Him.

And if that’s ALL I do in my life, that’s plenty.

I also dream of being a musician, teacher, mentor, writer, globe-trotter, community-maker, etc. But I think that might be more about wiring than calling. I hope I get to have lots of different adventures in God’s kingdom. But I need to let go of the idea that God’s plan for me will help me get my approval fix. Like John I want to understand my small purpose in the presence of someone much greater than me. I want a slow, single-minded deliberateness to chip away at that purpose as God leads me, and to accomplish my small purpose in the bigger story with wide-eyed intentionality. 

PS- anybody want comment on the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was supposed to bring? I left that part out but I think it's profound.