More than a prophet

Matthew 11:9-10   Then what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is the one about whom it is written: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you” (NIV).

   God chose John the Baptist to be the prophet who would prepare people for the ministry of the Messiah.  God had the plan for him even before he was born, as was stated by Gabriel the angel, recorded in Luke 1:17.

   Yet why did God choose a man who would become an eccentric Levite to be the one to prepare people for the ministry of Jesus?  John the Baptist was in the lineage of Aaron, yet at age 30, plus or minus a few months, he was not serving in the temple like an Israelite priest should.

   God’s plan for the Messiah was a plan which few, if anyone, expected.  The plan had been foretold by the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah.  God’s plan was for Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for sins on a cross.  For such an unexpected ministry, God needed a unique and faithful servant.

   John was definitely unique.  Ministering out in the wilderness was totally unique, yet appropriate since the atoning sacrifice the Messiah was going to make would not be in the temple, rather it would be made outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

   And John was faithful to his calling.  Having the courage to tell people to repent was definitely rare, though fitting for a prophet.  John did.  And though John the Baptist had some doubts in prison, he remained faithful to God.  John had spoken against the sexual sin of Herod, who was committing adultery with his brother’s wife, along with other sins as Luke records in Luke 3:19-20.  John apparently stuck with his conviction, since the woman, Herodias, ended up getting Herod to murder John.

   John the Baptist’s unique ministry is a reminder to me of how each individual should approach ministry: Be yourself!  What matters is that you are showing and telling people the Gospel!  We all have different personalities.  We all have different gifts.  Mode does not matter, though it is wise to always have nice manners.  Sincerity is what matters.  In being a witness for Jesus, be yourself, and speak from your heart.

Hunter Irvine

Jesus is for real

Matthew 11: 2-6

   As a person who has recently struggled with much discouragement as a result of past hurts in churches, and unemployment, I am thankful Scripture records the discouragement of John the Baptist.  This was a lesson I needed to hear this week.

   We learn the Jesus freak hero who was the one who proclaimed Jesus as the “Lamb of God” (see John 1:29), started having doubts that Jesus is the Messiah.  His faith struggle seems natural to me considering John the Baptist went from the freedom of being in the great outdoors to being confined in a hot, dark, dingy, and stinky prison.  And he was probably hungry.  Even though Jesus was physically in the world, John’s circumstances were awful.  Experiencing despair, John questioned whether Jesus is the Messiah.

   I admire John the Baptist’s willingness to admit he may have made a mistake.  John had stated: “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).  But then at a tragic time, in his heart he was unsure.  Yet he was smart to deal with his despair by following-up with Jesus to confirm the truth.

   And Jesus answered.

   My own personal story here in the period of over one and a half years of this worldwide pandemic: I have been unemployed and church homeless.  The synopsis: Worshiping God on many Sunday mornings in such an intimate One on one manner in my room has been awesome.  And after 30 years of “going to church,” such a long period of rest has been a blessing.  On the flip side, I have missed carrying out my ministry call on Sundays.  There have been times of terrible discouragement for me, including when visiting some churches.

   Yet God continues to heal me from past church hurts, and God keeps preparing me for my next ministry adventure!

   I offer two practical practices which are keys to anyone persevering in walking by faith in Christ:

   First, read Scripture daily.  Even if it is only one sentence.

   Our lives in this world are full of challenging and hurtful experiences.  Yet in Scripture, we learn the truth that Jesus was in the flesh here in the world, fully God and fully human.  We can listen to His teachings.  We can see His actions.  We can be encouraged by the truth that Jesus is for real, and that He loves us.

   For example, Jesus carried out miraculous healings for people who had diseases, as stated in Matthew 9:35, and as is shown by the witnesses of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  But with so many people sick with COVID for over one year and a half, Jesus has not been here physically to heal.  Yet I know in my heart that Jesus cares, and that He is offering spiritual healing to anyone right now at this time of worldwide trouble.

   And first and foremost, we learn that Jesus’ ministry in Israel for about three years was leading to His ultimate sacrifice on a cross to make salvation and eternal life available to all people.  Jesus died as the substitute for the consequence of sins, which is physical and spiritual death.  Because of the love of Jesus, physical death in this world is not the end for anyone who gives her or his heart to Him.

   Also, we need to stay rooted in Scripture to keep gaining guidance and encouragement from God to live the life Jesus is calling us to live.  Loving God and loving people is what we were meant to do.  For example, since Jesus cared when people were sick, we should also!  Years before the pandemic, it was my conviction some church leaders did a poor job of promoting good health in churches.  I have known ministers who served on a Sunday, including serving Communion, when sick.  Often this was due to a failure to recognize church work as team work.  We should repent of our past mistakes.  We Christians should lead the way when it comes to repentance.

   Relying on Scripture for an entire lifetime in this world, we can continue to read with our own eyes or hear with our own ears, the teachings and the actions of Jesus our Savior and Lord.

   Second, pray daily.  Again, being physically separated from Jesus who has ascended to heaven, we can still talk with Him in spirit through the Spirit of Christ.  You can talk to God anytime you want.  How incredible!

   May we be encouraged by this Scripture which reveals even the great John the Baptist doubted the identity of Jesus when suffering in a prison cell.  Yet Jesus gave him reason to persevere in faith!

Hunter Irvine

Locusts and wild honey

   Embedded in a passage I examined last January, there is the well-known statement about John the Baptist: “…His food was locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 3:4).  This has negatively impacted his reputation for many years.  Yet this man, who was in the lineage of Aaron, the first Levite priest and the brother of Moses, is a neglected biblical hero.  His asceticism, which means making extreme sacrifices in day to day living to be closer with God, has long seemed to make some people uncomfortable.  I have been a Christian for over 31 years, and in all of the church services I have ever attended, John the Baptist has rarely even been mentioned.  The greatest attention focused on John the Baptist during my Christian journey came from one of the most popular rock songs of my generation, “Jesus Freak,” by the music trio dcTalk back in the mid-1990’s.  Spotlighting this biblical martyr added to the radical attraction to the long neglected messages which were offered on that pioneer album.

   Talking with a friend last Sunday evening, he started talking about eating bugs.  My friend has a Ph.D. from Cornell University, he is a computer expert, and he has an interest in the sciences.  Recently he was watching a science program which was discussing the advantages of people eating bugs for a more sustainable planet and for better health.  Following up with some research of my own, I learned much.  First, insects add nutrition to the diet for many people on our planet in certain regions of the world.  Second, I learned locusts are basically grasshoppers who swarm.  Locusts eat leaves and certain vegetation, thus a swarm of them can destroy certain crops.  I add that cicadas are not from the same insect “order,” and they eat tree sap and do not swarm.  For John the Baptist’s diet, the more appropriate translation may be “grasshoppers” if he was eating them year after year.  The bottom line is John the Baptist may have been ahead of his time.  You may be interested in reading this short article from 2013 in the Smithsonian Magazine: “People in Israel Really Are Eating Swarming Locusts.”

   Once I briefly considered eating a grasshopper, saturated in honey, in front of a youth group, thinking my feat might help attract some newcomers to youth group.  But that moment is gone.  Yet what we are going to find out early on in Matthew 11 is the fact that John the Baptist, Jesus freak hero, was also human.

Hunter Irvine