Are you a John the Baptist or a Pharisee?

John the Baptist is a very interesting and important person in the new covenant. Most people know about him but do not really understand the heart of his message. In the gospels, we are introduced to the prophet without delay. He is at the Jordan River, preaching and baptizing. Let us join him there and take a deeper dive into his mission and purpose.

In Matthew 3:2-3, we read John saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

The word repent in the Greek is metanoéō. It means to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider (morally, feel compunction). The phase of one crying in Greek is boaō. It means a to halloo, i.e. shout (for help or in a tumultuous way). Tumultuous is defined as a relationship that is characterized by disorderly commotion, mental or emotional agitation. Someone speaking tumultuously would reflect an overload of physical and emotional manifestations.

Let’s now paraphrase these two verses applying the Greek definitions, as follows: “John was imploring people with a high shout, accompanied with physical and emotional displays of heartfelt conviction, to reconsider their moral standing” [TK]. This message was not one of ridicule or judgment. This was a plea for people to change their lives because the “kingdom of heaven was near.” John’s physical and emotional manifestations demonstrate how deeply he felt about their lost condition. He did not want the people to miss “the Kingdom”. John rightly knew that the people’s hearts must be “made straight” if they were to receive “the Kingdom of God”.

However, this cry of repentance is interrupted by the appearance of the religious leaders of the time. Notice the complete change in tone, from John in Matthew 3:7-10.

7 “But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9 Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”.

The phase you brood of vipers in the Greek is echidna which means a viper, offspring of vipers, addressed to cunning, malignant, wicked men. Why is John the Baptist referring to religious people as wicked yet issuing heartfelt pleas to sinners to repent? Interesting? Now contrast this with the statement by Jesus in Matthew 11:20, “Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done because they did not repent”.

The phase he began to reproach in the Greek is oneidízō. It means to defame, i.e. rail at, chide, taunt:—cast in teeth, (suffer) reproach, revile, upbraid. Clearly, Jesus has righteous indignation against them. For what? Read the end of the verse; “… which most of his deeds of power had been done because they did not repent”. Jesus chided them because He first preached to them and they refused to repent. He also did more than just preach. The verse says that he performed deeds of power, which are miracles for them. This was not just a one-time-only effort. Jesus took time with sinners to demonstrate the power of the kingdom of God to them. It was not until after they saw His signs and wonders and heard his preaching, yet still did not believe, when he finally washes his hands of them.

If you pull both the example of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ together, they are interwoven perfectly. John was preparing the people for Christ without condemning them. He wanted them to get their hearts ready to receive Him. However, the religious leaders already had direct access to the holy scriptures and yet perverted its meaning to heighten their status among the people. Thus, John cursed them for their abuse of the “grace” they had as caretakers of the Jewish faith. Jesus takes this same line to the next level. As the Messiah, he came after John to establish His kingdom. He took time to preach, teach, and perform miracles to demonstrate His genuine desire that all should believe in Him. It was only after His exhaustive efforts were rejected that He rightly told them of their impending doom.

Today, too many Christians do not understand the deep truth in the holy scriptures. Whether in pulpits on Sundays, at workplaces, shopping centers, or on social media every day, proclaimed children of God use phases like them, not I; those sinners over there; gays, drug addicts, thieves, haters, wicked, look at them; hell- bound and the like. After which, everyone pats themselves on the back and relishes in their own “righteousness”. Yet how many sinners have you personally witnessed to face to face? When is the last time you sat down with a “lost person” and like John, shared a heartfelt reason for salvation? How long has it been since you demonstrated a manifested power of the Holy Spirit through you, to sinners to convince that the return of Christ is near? If you are not gifted with the power of Healing and Miracles, per Apostle Paul the best Holy Spirit enabled gift is the demonstration of Christian Love (1 Cor. 13:13)

The examples from scripture we just reviewed is that we are the ones at risk of being condemned like the Pharisees and Sadducees and unrepentant cities after hearing and seeing the light of Christ. Christ wants us to follow His example, which was consistent with Johns. In Mat 11:11, the scripture reads, “Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist”. We need to stop condemning sinners and start crying out with an overload of physical and emotional expressions of our longing for their salvation. And like the Lord Christ Jesus, we must hold one another accountable for seeing the light and yet rejecting it by our sanctimonious attitudes.

Be encouraged.

Thomas Knowles, Minister of the Gospel of Christ Jesus