JOHN THE BAPTIST AS MODEL

 
            In the previous essay, we studied Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna the prophetess as models of empowered discipleship, as seen in the first two chapters of Luke.  Now we want move to another important model of discipleship, namely, John the Baptist; and we again begin with Luke chapter one.  As before, I suggest you look up the passage in your Bible.  In the last study we saw in Luke 1:13 a promise from God to Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a long-desired child.  That child became John the Baptist. 

 
Verses 15-17 are a prophecy given to Zechariah by an angel.  The angel declared that the promised child, John, would be great before the Lord; he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb; he would turn many sons of Israel to God; and he would fulfill the Elijah prophesies by preparing the way of the Lord.  Every aspect of that prophecy eventually was fulfilled. 

 
Now let’s move to another passage about the Baptist.  It’s located in John’s Gospel, in John 3:26-30.  This passage, which is part of a report about Jesus’ early Judean ministry, records a testimony to Jesus by John the Baptist.  The context was this.  Some of John’s disciples came to him with a complaint that Jesus had begun his own ministry and was attracting many people. 

 
Notice John’s reply in verses 27 and following.  “No one can receive anything except what is given him from heaven.”  In other words, the ministries of both John and Jesus were from God, and God provided the fruit for both.  There was no room, nor need, for jealousy.  Then John reminded his disciples that he earlier had told them he was not the Christ, but the forerunner.  He was not the groom, but the “best man,” (vv. 28-29).  “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease,” said John

 
            What grace and humility!  The Baptist willingly and happily yielded his life and ministry to Jesus, the Christ.  In effect he said I’m happy to have less, to be less, if it will glorify Jesus.  That makes John a powerful model of empowered discipleship.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he yielded himself completely, including his ministry, to Jesus.  Is that our attitude?  Is that the desire of our hearts?  I hope so. 

 
JESUS AS MODEL:
 
            Now then, I want us to look at one more model of discipleship.  I refer to the model of models, the Lord Jesus himself.

 
The passage we will turn to is Matthew 3:13-17 and parallels (Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34).  When Jesus sensed that it was time to begin his public ministry, he came to John the Baptist for baptism.  Notice that John objected to the idea of baptizing Jesus, because he knew Jesus should be baptizing him with the Holy Spirit.  But Jesus told John, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  Jesus wanted to undergo this baptism that symbolized repentance from sin, even though he was sinless, in order “to fulfill all righteousness.” 

 
Since Jesus was sinless, we know the word “righteousness” was used here in an ethical rather than a legal sense.  In other words Jesus’ righteousness had to do with his desire to do the will of the heavenly Father, rather than with pardon for sin. 

 
For Jesus, ethical righteousness was doing the will of the Father.  And Jesus’ baptism symbolized the primary purpose of his becoming human; namely, to die for our sins.  Thus did Jesus fulfill all righteousness, that is, fulfill the Father’s will. 

 
            By being baptized with a baptism symbolizing repentance for sin, Jesus symbolically took the sins of the world on himself.  And of course that was something he would do in reality on the cross.  Therefore we can say that Jesus at his baptism made a symbolic commitment to do the will of the Father in all things.

 
Jesus’ example becomes a general principle for us.  Ethical righteousness for us is the same as for Jesus.  It is doing the will of the heavenly Father in everything. 

 
I want to believe I’m committed to this principle.  But what if that means dying for others?  Sometimes I don’t seem willing to go out of my way for others, let alone die for them.  It’s a scary thought for any Christian.

 
Although there was no doubt that Jesus was willing to die for the world, his commitment quickly was tested.  And we shouldn’t be surprised if we are tested, because that is exactly what the Father did with Jesus.  He immediately arranged a major test.

 
            The Scripture passage is Matt. 4:1-11 and parallels (Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13).  At that crucial juncture of Jesus’ life, the Father chose to test him by leading him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.  If you are wondering why the Father would do that, it is because it was going to happen anyway.  Every human being is tested by temptation, and Jesus had become a real human being.  As you know, Jesus passed the test!  There in the wilderness Jesus modeled discipleship by using the written Word to overcome temptation, and he also modeled prayer and fasting. 

 
            Three times Satan attacked Jesus with powerful temptations, but Jesus did not yield.  Each time Jesus overcame the temptation by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy.  In the written Word Jesus found the will of the Father clearly spelled out.  And we have the same advantage.  Indeed we have the New Testament as well as the Old to guide us.

 
In regard to fasting, we are told Jesus fasted 40 days and nights.  From the nature of the specific situation (being tempted by the devil), and the larger context (beginning his public ministry), we can safely assume that Jesus joined prayer with his fasting.  Additional support is seen when Jesus, in another situation that was spiritually difficult (the casting out of a demon from a boy), Jesus declared “this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:21). 

 
            This time Jesus’ example demonstrates two spiritual principles.  First, we are to know God’s written Word well enough to use it successfully as a weapon in spiritual warfare.  And second, at critical times in our Christian lives we are to fast and pray.

 
I have been, and continue to be, dedicated to knowing the written Word.  But I confess that I have failed to exercise the discipline of fasting in any consistent way.  I pray that you are doing better than I with this particular spiritual discipline. 

 
            In summary, in the opening chapters of Luke we have seen four outstanding models of discipleship, three of which lived most of their lives before Jesus was born.  They were Zechariah, Simeon, Anna and John the Baptist.  These people had several characteristics in common.  They were righteous before God, and obeyed his commandments.  They were faithful to the duty to which the Lord had called them.  They were expectant.  And they were persistent in prayer.  Of Simeon it was said, in addition, that the Holy Spirit was on him.  I believe that was true of the others as well.  Indeed the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb (Luke 1:15).  And Anna fasted as well as prayed.

 
            And the result of all this devotion was amazing.  First, the Lord revealed himself in various ways to those faithful folk.  For example, he answered their prayers.  He gave Zechariah and Elizabeth a miracle baby who would grow up to be the forerunner of the Messiah.  And he gave Simeon and Anna revelations about the Messiah.  Second, the Lord gave them wonderful spiritual experiences.  Simeon and Anna especially were blessed to participate in the presentation of the Messiah at the temple, with Simeon actually holding the child and blessing God.  And the Lord gave John the Baptist the honor of preparing the way of the Lord.

 
            We also looked at Jesus himself as a model for us.  Jesus demonstrated discipleship by his commitment to the will of the Father.  And like Jesus, we are to do the will of the Father in everything.  Like him, we are to learn the written Word of God, so that we will know the Lord’s will when we are faced with temptation.  And finally, like Jesus, we are to learn how to fast and pray. 

            There are many models of discipleship, prayer, and fasting in the Gospels, including the model of models, Jesus himself.  And of course there is Jesus’ teaching, which should be the authoritative voice of God for all our lives. 

 

ZACHARIAH AS A MODEL OF DISCIPLESHIP

 
            We will begin with Zechariah as a model of discipleship.  His story is found in Luke 1:5-25, and I suggest you turn to the passage in your Bible.  Obviously, Zechariah’s discipleship is pre-Christian, rather than Christian.  Yet we can deduce several principles for Christian discipleship, because there is strong continuity between proper Old Covenant discipleship and New Covenant discipleship. 

 
First, notice in verse six that Zechariah and his wife, quote, “were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”  I won’t go into detail about what it meant for them, in their religious context, to be righteous and holy before God.  But it is clear that true discipleship for Zechariah involved personal righteousness. 

 
Second, take note of the fact that Zechariah was faithfully carrying out his priestly duties when the Lord suddenly revealed something to him.  The revelation, found in verses 8-13, was that Zechariah’s prayer for a child (a prayer he undoubtedly lifted many times) would be answered.  Thus faithful attention to the duties to which God had called him was important to the true discipleship of Zechariah. 

 
And third, the gathered people were praying, verse 10.  Zechariah probably also was praying when the word came.  The text doesn’t say that, but it is a safe assumption.  As we all know, prayer is the primary means of communicating with God.  And Zechariah was communicating with God.  Thus we can say, in summary, that a righteous, praying man who was faithful to his duties under God was given a revelation from God about his previous private prayers in a context bathed in the prayers of others.  

 
            Now then, I would like to suggest that several principles of application emerge from this passage.  First, like Zechariah, we are to be righteous before God.  But be careful how you define righteousness.  Remember Cornelius in the book of Acts.  The Jews of his day would not have called Cornelius righteous.  After all, he wasn’t a Jew; he wasn’t part of the covenant community.  But God said he was righteous.

 
            E. Stanley Jones, in his book The Christ of the Mount, which is about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, declares that living by the Sermon on the Mount is the only practical way to live (p. 14).  Moreover he rightly is adamant that the central focus of the sermon is the last verse of Matthew five (v. 48), “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

 
In other words, the Christian life is a life of personal righteousness and holiness before the Lord.  It is not simply believing certain doctrines, or avoiding forbidden behaviors, as important as those things are.  It is a vital relationship with the Holy One of God that enables us to be righteous and holy before him.  So in our journey to spiritual depth and power, we must be righteous. 

 
Second, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, we must be persistent in our prayers.  Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for many years about their childlessness before a positive answer came.  That is a lesson to all of us.  You will remember that importunity, or persistence, in prayer was a major teaching of Jesus. 

 
For a variety of reasons the universe is such that God cannot grant every request, and others must be delayed.  He always has to take the greater good into consideration.  He has to deal with the freedom he has granted his higher creatures, which he normally doesn’t violate.  And sometimes circumstances in the spiritual realm affect our prayers.  We will investigate this aspect of prayer more thoroughly in another essay.  But for now the point is, we must be persistent in our prayers, and never give up praying for good things. 

 
Third, we must be faithful to the ministry to which we have been called.  Zechariah did not neglect his daily duty.  Indeed he was performing it when blessed.  If you think about it, you will realize that this is a fairly common characteristic of biblical characters.  Several biblical characters that received some sort of revelation while they were faithfully working at their jobs quickly come to mind.  Moses was watching the flocks on the backside of the desert when the Lord called him to deliver the people from Egypt.  Gideon was harvesting grain when he was called to be a judge.  The Bethlehem shepherds, when they were told about the birth of Jesus, were working in the fields.  So Zechariah’s faithful loyalty to his ministry is significant.

 
All right, we are to be righteous before the Lord.  We are to be persistent in our prayers.  We are to be faithful to the ministry to which we have been called.  Fourth, it helps to pray when others are praying.  It is important to have a context of prayer, even if the others are praying about something else.  In Zechariah’s case it was a time of routine temple ritual prayer.  But the people were praying.  Thus Zechariah was praying in a context of prayer. 

 
SIMEON AND ANNA AS MODELS OF DISCIPLESHIP
 
            In Luke 2:25-38 we see two additional outstanding pre-Christian models, Simeon and Anna.  Beginning with verse 25 and Simeon, we see, first of all, that he was “righteous and devout.”  As you might suspect, “righteousness” is a constant characteristic of the biblical people of prayer.  Thus far we are two for two. 

 
Second, Simeon “was looking for the consolation [or “comfort”] of Israel.”  That is, he was anticipating the messianic consolation and comfort for which Israel longed.  Thus Simeon was both optimistic and hopeful. 

 
Third, “the Holy Spirit was upon him.”  This one is critical.  We Christians know that we can do nothing of eternal value apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. 

 
Fourth, we can deduce from this that Simeon was a man of prayer.  The fact that Simeon was “devout” implies that, of course.  But the clincher is the fact that “the Holy Spirit was upon him.”  Persons under the influence of the Holy Spirit pray.  It is like spiritual breathing.  When we are filled with the Spirit, we enter into the flow of communication between the members of the Trinity.  And prayer is the means of that communication. 

 
Finally fifth, the Spirit revealed several things to Simeon.  In verse 26 we see that the Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would see the Christ before he died.  In verse 27 the Spirit revealed precisely when the child would be in the temple.  And in verses 34-35 the Spirit gave Simeon a prophecy for Jesus’ mother, Mary. 

 
            Beginning in verse 36, we are told about Anna.  Here the information is less full, but Anna is like the others.  First, she was a prophetess.  That is, the Lord had called her to minister as a prophet. 

 
Second, Anna was faithful to her calling.  She remained in the temple and fasted and prayed “night and day.”  Now that expression doesn’t mean she never physically left the temple.  It means she spent most of her time there.  At the very end of this Gospel a similar thing is said about the disciples.  Luke 24:53 says of the disciples, “and they were continually in the temple blessing God” (emphasis added).  Of course that doesn’t mean they never left the temple grounds.  It means that, like Anna, they spent much time there. 

 
Third, notice the emphasis on fasting in her prayer life.  We will have more to say about fasting at another time; but it is important to note now that fasting provides a deeper dimension to prayer that many of us have barely touched. 

 
            In summary, we found a series of characteristics in these Old Covenant characters, many of which they shared.  They were called of God; they were faithful to their calling; they were righteous before the Lord; they were people of prayer; indeed they were persistent in prayer; they prayed with others; the Holy Spirit was upon them; and in one case fasting was a factor.  In all of these ways these Old Covenant characters are models of empowered discipleship.