The Forerunner

There were two things to which John, as the forerunner, testified: First, he proclaimed the Lamb of God to the whole world. Second, he proclaimed the entire divine plan as it was revealed at the time. In a world of bad news, the gospel is the good news.

The forerunner emerges before the coming Lord. There are seven things we can learn from him. An exegesis for our lives.

So, who is the forerunner? We read in the Gospels:

“And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77).

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Matt 3:1-3).

John the Baptist was the first forerunner. He emerged before the Lord Jesus and prepared the way for His first coming. The second forerunner is the Church, in anticipation of the Lord’s return. Seven examples from John’s life testify to this:

1. John’s calling

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe” (John 1:6-7).

What made this man so special? Being chosen and sent by God.

A person who has been sent ahead is a sort of ambassador. He represents his country among other nations, and acts on behalf of its interests abroad. He is the voice of his state. He doesn’t let himself be deterred from his task by other points of view, or even hostility.

John was a man sent by God, who represented His interests and served as His mouthpiece. His mission consisted of three things: First, to testify to the light. Second, to point to the Lord’s coming. And third, to call to repentance and faith in Him.

Are we aware that as the Church, we are God’s messengers in this world, and also have the same three-part mission? First, we should testify to Jesus, the light: “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life” (Phil 2:15-16a). Second, we should point to the Lord’s return: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev 19:10b). Proclamation brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit, always has both Jesus’ first and second comings as its basis. Nearly every Apostolic letter provides examples of this. And third, we should call others to faith in Jesus: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14).

In the following verse, Paul is speaking about himself and his co-laborers. But because of the context, this also applies to us: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20; cf. Phil 1:5, 7, 12, 14, 18, 27). Just as an ambassador speaks on behalf of his government, we do the same: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet 4:11).

John’s Gospel presents John less as the Baptist, instead emphasizing that he bore witness. There were two things to which John testified:

First, he proclaimed the Lamb of God to the whole world: “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). We also need this perspective in our hearts: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph 1:7). Possessing God’s grace is the greatest wealth a person could have. He or she receives complete redemption and forgiveness, and all of heaven and eternal life besides. Jesus’ blood was the price of it all. How much would someone pay to be able to live forever? “There is a good chance that I will live forever,” says AI expert and futurist Zack Kass. He’s anticipating that artificial intelligence will be able to solve every scientific issue and defeat climate change and death. But unlike the uncertainty of earthly and human prospects, everything is given to us in Jesus.

Second, John proclaimed the entire divine plan as it was revealed at the time: “So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people” (Luke 3:18, ESV). In a world of bad news, the gospel is the good news.

2. John’s bearing and belief

“John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27).

When asked, “Who created you?” a boy answers, “The good Lord did, but He only made me this big,” indicating the size of a newborn baby with his hands. Then he adds, “I did the rest myself.” That’s how humans tend to see it.

John’s remark shows us that there’s no pride to be had in anything. We say that someone was “born with it.” Okay, but who put it there? No one can make use of something unless it was given to him or her by God. People may be proud of their talents, knowledge, or intelligence, but even Nobel Prize winners received the very foundation of their achievement from God. The Bible teaches us that God “teacheth man knowledge” (Psalm 94:10). All knowledge, each discovery, all research and inventions, every effective formula comes from Him. All we are and all we have is a gift from our God and Father. It’s all grace, and He allocates everything as He wills, both the “measure of faith” (Rom 12:3) and the sphere of influence (1 Cor 7:7, 17; 2 Cor 10:13). God is the One who does everything (Eph 1:11), who brings everything into existence! “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Cor 4:7).

Having said that, we can be encouraged by the fact that God provides everything, and so we don’t need to worry. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). The Lord knows our needs. He also gives us the gifts and the strength to accomplish the task. He provides for us as we have need. We’re never left alone. Everyone called by God in Scripture shares this experience. God doesn’t give us everything in advance, but each gift at the right time. This reminds us that we are always completely dependent on the Lord, yet we can always count on Him.

3. John placed Jesus’ greatness above himself.

John said with Jesus in mind: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matt 3:11).—“He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all” (John 3:30-31).—“And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ” (John 1:20).

The Bible prophesies that there will be false Christs and false prophets in all times, especially in the last days. John was different. He testified, “I am not the Christ.” Only those who stand in Jesus’ shadow become great lights. John doesn’t say, “I must decrease, but He must increase”; instead, he reverses the order: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The greater Jesus becomes to me, the smaller I become. The greatest men and women of church history were defined by Jesus’ greatness and convinced of their own insignificance. There is a saying, “True greatness lies in modesty.”

Martin Luther made an impression on me in his confession:

I’ve far too rarely succeeded at believing, living, and loving as Christians should. All too often I’ve been brought down by lusts and burdens and vices that roll over me. I am what I am. And I remain what I remain: a disappointment and a failure. And no matter how pious my speech and writings, I am a beggar. And my life’s balance sheet is lean. I’ve often thought, ‘Forget God, it’s better to give in! You have nothing, you are nothing, and you’ll become nothing—you’re penniless and bankrupt! I’ve thought darkly, Come on, give up, you break every rule! Creep away, hide, break this off and just take off into the horizon.’ I’ve known for a long time: without Him I am lost here. A Christian without Christ is, at best, pious theater. Yes, I’ve known for a long time: Christ was born for me. I hold onto Him very tightly, and He is dragging me to the Father. I am what I am. And I remain where I remain: with the conciliator, the benefactor, the pardoner! And He says to the Father, ‘He belongs to Us now. He is a beggar. But he is Your child and My brother.’

When we let Christ be great—when we grow in His knowledge, and His grace becomes greater and greater to us—this will keep us small. Philipp Melanchthon, Reformer and companion of Martin Luther, once wrote: “I, poor man, am nothing at all. God’s Son is my only gain. That He became man is my comfort. He redeemed me through His blood. God the Father, rule me by Your Spirit forever and ever.”

In reference to 1 Corinthians 8:2 (“And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know”), John Owen wrote: “It has been the presumption of some, and especially of youths who profess to have dedicated themselves to this study but who have hardly gone further in evangelical studies than the reading of three or four volumes, to behave as if they alone were experts, and to consider that they are deserving of a glorious reputation among the great scholars. Such arrogance! Better it would be if such Suffenuses did not also go on to despise those who are truly endowed with the wisdom that they so foolishly boast of having attained to.”

Gerrid Setzer stated, “Those who claim they would be content with the last place in heaven, are often eager to take the first place on earth.” The more space the Lord takes up in our lives, the less space there is for our egos. When Leonardo da Vinci painted his world-famous Last Supper, he intentionally designed it so that the viewer’s eyes would be drawn to Jesus.

Leo Tolstoy once said, “Live in such a way as to have no need to conceal your actions, yet have no desire to make them public.”

4. John was great before the Lord.

Luke 1 writes of John before his birth, “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb… And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him… And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel” (Luke 1:15, 66, 80).

There is nothing greater than greatness in the Lord’s sight. That eclipses every earthly career. Caesar Augustus and Herod were great in the eyes of the people, and they vanished without a trace. Stars and celebrities come and go. John was great in the Lord’s sight and is immortalized in the Bible. Jesus Himself praised John as an Old Covenant servant, saying:

“But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:26-28).

5. John was uncompromising in his conduct.

In Mark 6:17-18 we read: “For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.”

That stance cost John the Baptist his life.

Do you know where the term “Protestant” originated? According to Wikipedia: “Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, who issued a protest (or dissent) against the edict of the Diet of Speyer (1529), were the first individuals to be called Protestants. The edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. The term protestant, though initially purely political in nature, later acquired a broader sense, referring to a member of any Western church which subscribed to the main Protestant principles.”

John was a Protestant. What about us: Do we likewise protest or show our dissent against trends in the church that are mainstream, but anti-biblical? For example, the new alphabet is no longer ABC, but LGBTQ+. You need not look hard to find churches in historic denominations that proclaim their commitment to being “open and affirming.” For example, the PC (USA) “affirms its commitment to the full welcome, acceptance, and inclusion of transgender people, people who identify as gender non-binary, and people of all gender identities within the full life of the church and the world…” No; in Creation, God created man and woman and declared them good, and they remained man and woman permanently.

How would John the Baptist have responded to this? John sided completely with God. He didn’t join the mainstream. We aren’t called to revolt, but to love. We aren’t to judge and condemn harshly and callously, driving people away from the gospel. We want to win people over. But we need to proclaim the truth of God’s Word uncompromisingly.

6. John’s suffering

“Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” (Matt 11:2-6).

John experienced hostility, temptation, and doubts, but he didn’t complain. Why did he have doubts? Hadn’t he repeatedly testified that Jesus was the Messiah? He testified that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But he didn’t know how it would happen. He had a different idea, and it wasn’t taking place. He was probably uncertain because Jesus didn’t appear as an almighty King, who frees Israel from the Romans and establishes His kingdom. Wasn’t He the One who baptizes with the Spirit and with fire, whose sandals John was unworthy to untie? And yet John was in prison, and the Lord apparently didn’t care. Why didn’t He free him?

God’s timetable is different from ours. Jesus wouldn’t come to get John until after His death. Jesus promised that the Church would suffer, and the majority of believers are probably experiencing great hardship. Anyone who isn’t firm on this truth will find themselves in crisis. They’ll be surprised with questions like, “Why isn’t the Lord helping me? Why can’t I get out of this? Why am I stuck? Why is the Lord letting this happen? Why isn’t He helping the prisoners in North Korea? Or Ukrainians in their distress? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Blessed is the one who is not offended by God’s truth. Blessed is the one who bears suffering with trust. Change will come, but not as we’re anticipating; it will be to the glory of the Father in heaven.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18).

7. John didn’t perform any signs, but he spoke only the truth.

“And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. And many believed on him there” (John 10:41-42).

This is a beautiful likeness of the Church. In the Church Age, the focus isn’t on physical miracles but spiritual ones. This is what matters.

• John didn’t perform miracles, but he had a strong character.

• John didn’t perform miracles, but he had a special mission to fulfill.

• John didn’t perform miracles, but he did a great job of pointing to Jesus.

• John didn’t perform miracles, but he had a deep and lasting influence.

• John didn’t perform miracles, but he gained Jesus’ highest praise.

This is what we should strive for in our own lives, especially during the Advent and Christmas season.