WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.679 Well, today is the third Sunday of Advent and the observant among you may have noticed that we're taking a second look at John the Baptist. 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:15.700 Russ spoke to us about him last week from Mark's Gospel and today we're in the Gospel according to John. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:22.539 Now, when Mark is all fast-paced and action-packed, John is more of a philosopher. 00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:26.620 He sits back and he wonders what this all means. 00:00:26.620 --> 00:00:32.679 He starts his Gospel account with a reflection on who Jesus is, the Word of God made flesh. 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:39.700 This sets the tone. Everything here is about what it means that God himself became one of us. 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:45.460 And into that walks John the Baptist. 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:53.320 John is quite an interesting character. We know from Luke's Gospel that he's a relative of Jesus. Their mums were cousins. 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:58.520 We also know that John started proclaiming the coming of Jesus before either of them were even born. 00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:04.560 He leapt for joy in his mother's womb when Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to visit. 00:01:05.460 --> 00:01:10.939 And I'm so sure John's parents were very proud and noted down the date and time of baby's first prophecy. 00:01:12.039 --> 00:01:17.319 While that first prophecy certainly wasn't his last, John very much lived the life of the classic Old Testament prophet 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:22.839 out there in the wilderness calling on his people to repent of sin, to turn back to God. 00:01:23.139 --> 00:01:25.139 And he baptized people to represent that. 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:34.619 Now, this must have caused quite a stir because in verse 19 we see the leaders in Jerusalem send priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:37.959 And he did not fail to confess, but confessed freely. 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:40.500 I am not the Messiah. 00:01:41.679 --> 00:01:42.819 Now, pay attention to that. 00:01:43.759 --> 00:01:47.719 They ask him who he is and he tells them who he is not. 00:01:48.459 --> 00:01:52.579 This tells us everything we need to know about John and what he came to do. 00:01:52.899 --> 00:01:57.939 It's like verses 6 to 8 say John came as a witness to the light. 00:01:58.019 --> 00:01:59.679 He's a witness to Jesus. 00:01:59.839 --> 00:02:00.599 That is his purpose. 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:05.959 He points away from himself and towards the one who is greater than him, who is coming afterwards. 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:11.359 And that's what he continues to do as the priests question him further. 00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:12.919 They ask him, are you Elijah? 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:14.259 I'm not. 00:02:14.919 --> 00:02:16.019 Are you the prophet? 00:02:17.299 --> 00:02:17.819 No. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:25.240 Now, these questions tell us what the people were expecting from John. 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:33.299 These names, Elijah, the prophet, they refer to promises in the Old Testament about the coming day of the Lord. 00:02:33.300 --> 00:02:41.140 That is the day that Israel were waiting for when God would come to rescue his people and to destroy his enemies once and for all. 00:02:41.820 --> 00:02:49.980 And on that day, it was expected Elijah, their greatest prophet Israel had, would return to them and get them ready for God to come. 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:58.539 And so when John comes making a big scene baptizing people, they assume he's getting the people ready for something big. 00:03:00.399 --> 00:03:04.599 But John says, no, I'm not Elijah. 00:03:04.959 --> 00:03:08.079 No, I'm not the prophet, which is odd for two reasons. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:12.060 Firstly, because he's making a big scene and baptizing people. 00:03:12.880 --> 00:03:26.400 But secondly, because elsewhere in the Bible, both an angel from God and Jesus himself say that John is the promised Elijah, that he has come in the spirit and power of Elijah. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:29.580 So why does John deny it? 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:41.599 Again, I think the answer is that he is pointing away from himself so that when he finally does give an answer, people aren't going to get hung up on John. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:44.360 He's saying, I'm not the main event. 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:47.060 I'm not the one you should be getting excited about. 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:55.319 I am, verse 23, the voice of one calling in the wilderness, makes straight the way of the Lord. 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:03.240 John, the prophet, quotes another prophet, Isaiah from the Old Testament. 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:08.460 Now, the Old Testament prophets pulled sort of a double shift when they prophesied. 00:04:08.819 --> 00:04:12.659 Yes, they spoke God's words into their own time, to their own people. 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:19.279 But at the same time, those words from God spoke to people down through history. 00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:22.259 That's why we still read them today. 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:35.060 And Isaiah in particular is full of prophecy that points to Jesus, including one part that is so uncannily similar that for a while people even suspected it might have been fake. 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:37.740 It wasn't, by the way. 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:47.000 So what John does when he quotes from this prophet is, yes, he's telling people, don't look at me. 00:04:47.379 --> 00:04:48.579 I'm just preparing the way. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:55.600 But more than that, he is joining up Israel's history with what God is doing right then in that moment. 00:04:57.840 --> 00:05:01.040 He is speaking into centuries of waiting. 00:05:01.460 --> 00:05:05.360 He's saying, I'm not the main event, but it's almost time. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:09.879 The one you have been longing for is here among you. 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:11.420 Are you ready? 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.040 Now, Advent is a time of getting ready. 00:05:17.259 --> 00:05:19.280 It's a time of waiting and longing. 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:26.460 We cast our minds back to wait with Mary and all of Israel for the Son of God to come. 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:31.300 We wait for the celebrations to start, the time spent with loved ones. 00:05:31.300 --> 00:05:39.500 And of course, this year, we are waiting in the midst of fear and despair in the COVID-19 pandemic. 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:45.699 Longing and hoping for a time when its weight will be lifted off our world. 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:49.879 Vital and huge in our minds. 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:54.480 But it's not the main event. 00:05:55.219 --> 00:05:59.939 No, this waiting, this longing, it points us towards something greater that is coming next. 00:06:01.500 --> 00:06:06.759 Waiting for Jesus at Advent teaches us to carry on waiting for him to come again in glory. 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:16.060 And our longing for the pandemic to be over reminds us that when he does come, our world will be healed and death and sickness will be no more. 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:32.759 If you have lost someone, if you are mourning, then please be comforted by God's promise that when Jesus comes, the dead will be raised to eternal life with him. 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:45.240 And finally, if, like me, you are tired of these restrictions on our worship, if you are desperate to all come together again, to raise our voices as one in praise to God. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:53.019 Well, what else can that tell us but that God intends for us to be a family united in praising him? 00:06:53.019 --> 00:07:03.560 And one day, when Jesus returns, all of God's people will come together around the throne of God to worship him. 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:11.099 And so, as a church, we wait and we hope and we pray. 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:14.320 Let us remember what it's all for. 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:24.360 So that in our lives together, we may be built up in the power of the Holy Spirit to point the world towards Jesus. 00:07:25.960 --> 00:07:26.500 Amen.