John Appeared (Mark 1:2-8)

     John did not simply appear out of the blue. He had been the subject of prophecy centuries before his birth (verses 2 and 3). However, to the multitudes it must have seemed as though he came out of nowhere to begin an exciting spiritual revolution. So popular was he that all the county of Judea and Jerusalem was going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (verse 5).

From whence came his incredible popularity? God did not see fit to answer this question in a single verse. However, it is possible to piece together what we are told about John to help us understand what made him so magnetic and unique. A true man of God always stands out and above all else John was a man of God. Without exception John is set forth as one whose entire life was consumed with performing his duty to God and the Messiah. Every recorded word from his mouth was spiritual in nature. That sort of man is going to be conspicuous no matter where or when he is found.

     John’s appearance was remarkable. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. A weakling (physically or mentally) does not live out in the wilderness. The man who does will become as rugged as the environment in which he dwells. Our Lord himself emphasized this aspect of John in Luke 7:24-25. Where the people were used to the Pharisees and scribes of their day living comfortably within their cities, John seemed to burst forth from the wilderness like a whirlwind, strong of body and mind, disdaining the comforts to be had within a city like Jerusalem. This, too, would have made John unique.

     John’s commitment to his message was unmatched among those born of human parents. John came proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:2). He clearly understood that all men are sinners and need to repent. With John a man’s rank and wealth meant absolutely nothing. Whether it was Herod the tetrarch or a humble shepherd John knew they needed repentance and so his message to both was the same (Luke 3:7-20). Where the Pharisees tended to exclude themselves from the company of sinners in need of repentance, John did not hesitate to lump them in with everyone else. That was startling and did not go unnoticed.

     Taking these things together, along with God knowing precisely when any given “fullness of time” had come; it is not difficult to see why John became so popular and why his fame spread so rapidly in that tiny section of the world. But there is something else about John that needs to be noted. After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:7-8). John never forgot that he was a messenger and the one he heralded was superior to him in every way. There’s a mighty lesson there for you and I today.

No matter how much Bible knowledge we accumulate, how skilled we become in disseminating it, and how many are led to the Lord through the efforts we put forth, we are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty. (Luke 17:10). Should any one of us become the single greatest Bible scholar to walk the earth in the last 1000 years we will still be absolutely indebted to Jesus Christ, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

     Let us learn from John’s extraordinary concern for spiritual matters and unwavering commitment to fulfilling his duty. Even more, let us learn from his understanding that Jesus Christ is and always will be infinitely superior to us.