Preparing the Way

John 1:6-8

There was a man sent from God. This man was not Jesus. John, the gospel writer, suddenly stops talking about Jesus in order to introduce another character in his narrative—John. He is not introducing himself. This is a different John, John the baptizer. John the baptizer is a man sent from God. He was sent from God as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through the baptizer. The gospel writer is clear, here. The baptizer is not the light. He came to testify about the light. Yet, the baptizer came from God that all might believe through him.

Notice. People won’t need to believe in the baptizer. He came that all might believe in the light through his work. Why is this necessary? Why did Jesus need someone to prepare the way for Him? Could He not simply come, introduce Himself, and begin His ministry? God has done a lot to show us Jesus is truly the messiah and truly God in essence. As people, we need proofs. We are not quick to believe. Especially in our day, skepticism and cynicism are at high points. There is so much conflicting information. There are so many religious perspectives, all claiming to be the truth. I think that’s why God took His time in the Old Testament setting things up for the coming of Jesus Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, spanning thousands of years before Christ’s birth, God took the time to tell us what He was going to do in great detail. So, when it finally happened, we would know that it was the truth. There are more than 300 Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming of the messiah, and Jesus fulfilled them all—even the prophecies that had nothing to do with what Jesus did particularly, so we would know Jesus wasn’t a liar.

Consider Malachi 3:1-5:

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the LORD of hosts.

More than 400 years before Jesus was born, Malachi predicted that God would send a messenger to clear the way for Him. In Isaiah 9, 700 years before Christ’s birth, Isaiah predicted that a child would be born who was the Eternal Father. There is a clear sign that God is coming. There will be a messenger clearing the way for Him to personally visit His people. When God Himself comes down to His people, it will be for the purpose of purifying His people and bringing swift judgment against His enemies—those who practice injustice in any manner of ways, including sorcery, adultery, making false promises, oppressing those who earn fair wages, oppressing the widow and orphan, and turn away the alien. Look at how Jesus lines up perfectly with things predicted 400-700 years before His birth.

1. Jesus was born, God in the flesh

2. A messenger came to clear the way for God in the flesh

3. Jesus’s message was repentance and purification

4. He even judged Israel like Malachi predicted ending with the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.

This sequence alone would be nearly impossible to predict, and it is only 4 of the more than 300 Old Testament prophecies perfectly fulfilled in Jesus. John the baptizer is a huge part of prophecy fulfillment. Without a messenger clearing the way, you don’t have a messiah. Anyone who comes claiming to be the messiah, clearing his own way, is lying. So, knowing His own word, God sent John the baptizer to clear the way for Jesus.

If the baptizer’s testimony is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, we need to know some things about Jesus’s coming according to Malachi.

1. Jesus would come to the Temple,

2. Jesus would purify the sons of Levi,

3. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem would then be pleasing to the Lord,

4. Then, God would draw near to Israel for the purpose of judgment.

Jesus did go to the Temple. He purified it by overturning the tables of the coin-changers and setting worship right (cf. John 2:13-16). Then, God did draw near to Israel for the purpose of judgment against Israel for her injustices (cf. Matthew 24:1ff; John 2:19; Revelation). The only way sacrifice could be pure was by removing the Temple, which had become an idol of works-based religion and a staple of inequality and injustice in Judea. Not only did Jesus technically fulfill these four prophecies. He perfectly fulfilled them and was the very person the prophecies foretold.

According to the Old Testament prophecy being fulfilled in this text, Jesus has two objectives in His incarnation. He came to purify. He came to judge. Let me handle the judgment first so I can end this section on a good note—purification.

Jesus judges those who practice injustice on the earth. Malachi identifies a few forms of injustice—including practicing sorcery, adultery, making false promises, oppressing people who work honestly for their money, treating widows and orphans like lesser humans, and turning away aliens. We can have some conversations about exactly what Malachi means, but for the purpose of this chapter, we know that Jesus’s judgments are not arbitrary. He judges people based on their actions, and His judgment is just. No one who practices injustice will be with Christ. Sin removes us from His kingdom and separates us from Him relationally. His judgment is swift. Who can stand before Christ when He appears? Who can endure the day of His coming? The implied answer is, no one. We have all done injustices on this earth. Jesus will surely judge, here I believe to mean condemn, us all, and rightly so.

But, there is hope. Jesus came to purify the sons of Levi—the kingdom of priests He is building for Himself. If we are purified, we can present offerings to the Lord in righteousness and will not be judged. Malachi identifies Jesus as the one doing the purifying. That is Jesus’s work. People are unable to purify themselves. When we try, we become guilty of more injustices—the injustices of all works based religion that condemns people who don’t have the means to be very religious or theologically astute. Jesus alone must purify us from our injustices so that we may present righteous offerings. Everything comes from Jesus, and we will confirm that again in John 1:13.

The Bible is not a book like other so-called religious texts. It is not our basic instructions before leaving Earth. The Bible was not given so we would know how to get to Heaven or so we could somehow become righteous. The Bible tells us about what God is doing in spite of our sin because He loves us. I can’t preach people into being better. I can’t expect more of people than what they are. Neither can you. We also can’t expect to make ourselves better or more spiritual by trying to do more or less. That’s not how God works. We can’t provide Him anything He doesn’t already have. Instead, we recognize that God purifies us. This is liberating for the person bogged down by the works-based religion of the world. Jesus does the work. We trust Him with that work. Jesus’s work results in our righteous praise. We don’t have to try to be good enough. We don’t have to expect others to be good enough. We simply submit to Jesus who purifies His people, and good fruit will come from good trees.

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