Men Still Seek Him

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing (John 1:19-28).

The Holy Spirit inspired John the Apostle to present John the Baptist as both prophet and witness. The same Spirit compelled many of the priests and Levites from Jerusalem who served in the Temple to come out into the wilderness to find out more about the man and his message. They knew John well as he was one of them. He and his father Zechariah were priests like them. But something had transformed John’s life and led him from the comfort of Jerusalem into the desert where he proclaimed a message of baptismal repentance. These seekers wanted to know more of the message and truth that John proclaimed and illustrated in such a straightforward and challenging way. Another group of inquisitors also came to John with questions. They were sent from the Pharisees and their questions were more accusatory. They wanted to know by what authority John was preaching and baptizing. The hearts of these two very different groups of people would be revealed in their responses to John’s message, and to the revelation of the One he would introduce to the world very shortly. John’s faithful service as the Lord’s messenger reminds Christ followers of our call to imitate him as His witnesses and of the truth that for many right or wrong reasons, men still seek Him.

Can you recall what you were thinking when you first began to seek the Lord? What was in your heart that compelled you to ask questions and to really listen as someone shared the gospel with you? Were you genuinely interested in the truth? Had something happened in your life that drove you to find out if Jesus Christ really was all that His followers claimed He was...? “For to us a child is born… and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Or were you as skeptical as the Pharisees? Was your heart filled with the kind of hurt and confusion that drives many to seek comfort in attacking those who’ve found peace and hope in an effort to make them feel something of your personal pain… “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19). The Jesus taught that no matter what your reasons or motivations, God was at work drawing you to Himself through His Son… “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6). How was your searching heart met by those God led you to?

What do you remember of the people you sought out or were attracted to in your quest for the truth? Were they familiar family members, neighbors, or friends? Were they pastors, teachers, or other servants of the church? What was it about their life that drew you to them? What made you expect to find answers from them? The Spirit inspired Peter to exhort Christ followers to always live a life that provokes seekers to ask why we are different and to be prepared to answer their questions with gospel truth… “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Does God lead seekers to you today? Are you prepared to share with them the gospel reasons for the hope you enjoy in Christ?

As we grow up into Christ we become more like John the Baptist, better witnesses of the gospel to those God brings our way as in every generation and for many reasons…

Men Still Seek Him.