REFLECTION  5:  WHY WAS JOHN THE BAPTIST SO SPECIAL?

 

"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Matthew 11:11

 

Jesus gives John quite a complement here---sort of.  Two mysteries are presented in this incredible verse.  First, why was John the Baptist the greatest of all the Old Testament believers?  Remember, John died before Jesus went to the cross to initiate the New Covenant.  Thus, John was still a prophet under the Old Covenant.  For Jesus to say there was none greater than John is significant and we have to prayerfully consider why.  The second mystery here is why John, as great as he was, was still less than the least in the kingdom of heaven?  In other words, why is the least New Testament believer greater than John the Baptist?

 

Why was John the greatest Old Covenant believer? Well, I believe it is because he had the least distorted view of God's goodness.  His teachings are often overlooked, but he focused on giving clothes to the poor and food to the hungry. He taught tax collectors to take only what was due. He taught soldiers not to intimidate people and to be content with their wages.  In short, he taught us not to hurt one another (Luke 3:11-18).  These issues, along with water baptism, repentance, and heart preparation for Messiah formed his message, a message utterly lacking in promoting violence and wrath among men.

   

John had Moses' Godly humility without Moses' anger.  He had David's Godly zeal without David's violent streak.  He had Elijah's prophetic power without Elijah's willingness to call down killing fire on his enemies.  John wasn't perfect because he still lived by his own righteousness rather than the righteousness which is of God.  This is the reason he was less than the least of all New Covenant believers, because we live by the righteousness of God rather than by our own righteousness under the law.  But, John the Baptist's "orbit" around the heart of God was tighter and closer than all other Old Testament saints.

 

I think the "orbit" concept wonderfully explains the Old Testament saints' various positions in the universe of biblical revelation.  It also helps us visualize the Bible in a healthy way. In any solar system, planets orbit the sun at particular angles and distances.  Distant orbits result in frozen and more death-friendly planets, like icy Pluto.  Closer and more intimate orbits allow for warmer and more life-friendly planets, like lush Earth.

 

I think about Old Testament believers in the same way.  How close is their orbit to the heart of the Son of God?  Instead of physically measuring how close a planet orbits the Sun, we spiritually measure how close an Old Testament saint orbits around the Son. Jesus lets us know in the above verse John the Baptist orbits closer to Him than any other Old Testament figure, yet John also orbits farther away than any other New Covenant believer.

 

It is as if Spirit-filled New Testament believers, that is those in "the kingdom of heaven," have a closer Earth-like orbit which produces the warm and lush life of God for us who believe.  Our better orbit, however, is not due to our efforts but to the better way revealed in and by the life of Jesus Christ.  This better orbit, what Hebrews calls  our "better covenant with better promises," gives us access to more intimately accurate insights, vantage points and conclusions about God.

 

But, Old Testament saints have more distant orbits with more distant perceptions, understandings, and apprehensions about God.  This can result in "colder" and "harsher" theologies and views of God.  This is why David can love God but still feel justified in killing not only his enemies, but the children of his enemies.  This is why Moses can love God, but still kill his own people by the sword in God's name and feel justified. This is why so many Old Testament saints "kill" as part of their faith walk.  This is also why those today who still choose to live in Old Testament orbits think it perfectly permissible to hate and hurt their enemies in God's name.

 

I am not talking about sin here. Both Old and New Covenant believers fall into that snare when they neglect their salvation.  Rather, I am talking about what Old Testament saints considered to be a legitimate part of God's nature and a legitimate part of their own nature------anger, hate, wrath, revenge and murder.  These things are not in the intimate orbit of Jesus' nature and wherever they exist I assure you Old Testament orbits are being used. 

 

Jesus' orbit teaches us to love and bless our enemies at all times and to overcome all evil with good, forgiving all seven times seventy and never taking vengeance ourselves.  Yet, Old Testament orbits routinely believed in the violent treatment of enemies and the eye-for-an-eye revenge dynamic which permeates the Old Testament scriptures.  

 

As a lawyer, I always evaluate the reliability of a statement by an eye witness as follows.  How close were they to what they claimed to have seen, how well do they know the people they claim to have seen, and how detailed is their description?  If they were far away, then accuracy becomes a real question.  If they didn't know the people involved by sight, this further muddles their reliability. 

 

Lastly, if they couldn't see clearly enough to get a precise description of clothing  and physical details like size, facial features, hair color, etc., then their statement has to be relied on very loosely.  It can still be very useful in building an overall case, but the witness statement has to be assessed and weaved into the provable facts, allowing for some level of human distortion while still giving it credibility.

 

Likewise, Old Testament views of God were partial, distant and lacking in character detail. The best passage on this is Exodus 33:18-23.  Here, Moses asked God to show him His glorious goodness.  God hid Moses in a cleft of a rock and informed him he could only see God's "goodness" from behind and at a distance.  Moses then saw the Lord's goodness from behind after He had passed by.  What a wonderfully strange passage to show that the best Old Covenant man of his day could not achieve the orbit necessary to behold God's goodness from the front.

 

The bottom line is that New Covenant believers simply have a better view, a better orbit, a more reliable angle into the FULL FRONTAL VIEW OF GOD'S GOODNESS. This is why John the Baptist's orbit was more distant than any one in the New Testament kingdom of heaven.  He had not yet received the frontal view available only after Jesus rose from the dead and poured out His Spirit at Pentecost to live in all believers.

 

John, Moses and all other Old Covenant believers NOW most assuredly have that full frontal view of Jesus, but they didn't at the time their biblical experiences were recorded.  For this reason, their witness statements have to be adjusted by us through the Holy Spirit's leading based on their partial, distant and limited vantage point.  God doesn't want us to go backwards to see things from their colder, harsher and more remote orbit.  He wants our orbit blazing hot with God's New Covenant goodness and love!

 

God wants us embracing our better orbit and then using it to renovate Old Testament coldness into New Testament warmth.  David's orbit might have been a bit closer than Moses'.  John the Baptist's orbit might have been a bit closer than David's.  But the intimacy of Jesus' orbit surpasses them all by light years.  After we account for these orbit distortions, we will see the great truth that every Old Testament saint played a crucial part in our spiritual heritage.  Like stepping stones, we all jump from orbit to orbit through all the Old Testament saints, getting closer and closer to Jesus' coming arrival in the New Testament.

          

John the Baptist is the last stepping stone.  John didn't have a perfect picture of the coming Messiah, and in some ways he saw dimly and was perhaps tinged with some excessive future wrath expectations.  But he also knew all men need repentance and forgiveness, and that God was providing "a lamb Who would take away the sins of the world." John 1:29.  Not of the Jews only but OF THE WORLD!  That went way beyond any previous Old Testament orbit.  And, to his everlasting credit, he knew Messiah when he saw Him.  JOHN RECOGNIZED JESUS AS THE CHRIST!  John knew ahead of time what to look for in Messiah.  He knew Jesus would have the seal of the Holy Spirit descend and remain on Him (John 1:32-33). 

 

The Holy Spirit's seal of approval is almost completely forgotten today.  Yet, John knew that only the absolute heralding of the Holy Ghost could usher in the Christ.  He also knew that Jesus was coming to baptize US with the Holy Ghost and fire (Luke 3:16).  Nobody else saw THAT coming.  John was all about the Holy Ghost, both as Jesus' seal and as ours.  JOHN RECOGNIZED THE HOLY GHOST!

 

John was so humble, he even encouraged his own disciples to leave him in order to follow Jesus.  He claimed no honor or title for himself, referring to himself only as "a voice crying in the wilderness."  In a day when men lunge for titles of honor like pigeons on bread crumbs, it is refreshing to see a man let his gift speak for itself.  He rejected the honor of man, instead seeking the honor of God alone.  And he got it.

 

What was John the Baptist's vital last stepping stone message?  Only this----make your paths straight TO and FOR the now coming Lord.  This message still resonates today.  John said he must decrease while Jesus must increase. Or put another way, all men need to abandon their current orbits and jump over to Jesus' orbit.

 

I know John, Moses and David would all speak to us now and exhort us to come closer to God than they did.  They would tell us to USE the better things we have been given so that we may fully know God's frontal goodness.  They were faithful to the limited view they had, but now they know in full just as they are known.  They themselves have long since jumped Old Testament orbit to behold the Lord face to face now as they never did during their lives. The good news is we don't have to wait until we die to see God's frontal goodness.  We have full access NOW!