I recently joined a men’s Bible study in which we’ve been studying the Gospel of John. As I was reading through John 1, I was really struck by the actions of John the Baptist.
In verses 6 to 9 we are introduced to John the Baptist as one who was sent by God to tell people about Jesus, “…the true light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9), and prepare them for His arrival.
Later in verses 19 to 28 we see John being questioned by the religious leaders about who he is. He openly denies being the Messiah, Elijah or the Prophet and instead responds to their questions by quoting the book of Isaiah saying, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert: ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (John 1:23). John had a very clear understanding of who he was and what God had called him to do.
Verses 29 to 34 describe to us the scene when Jesus approaches John in the wilderness and John realizes for the first time that it is Jesus (his own cousin!) who is the Messiah, the Light that shines in the darkness and gives light to all people. John calls out, “’Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29). Though not described in this gospel, we know it is at this time that John baptizes Jesus, after which the heavens open up and John sees the Spirit of God come down like a dove and land on Jesus and then the voice of the Father declares from heaven the pleasure He has in His Son Jesus.
It’s a truly remarkable scene. This is the moment John has been waiting for, the revealing of the promised Messiah, about whom John says, “’He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’” (John 1:27). This is the One the Israelites had been waiting for for hundreds of years. This meeting is made even more incredible by the fact that Jesus requires John to baptize Him, after which John is a firsthand witness to one of the clearest examples of God’s Triune nature that we have recorded in the Bible. He baptizes the Son. He hears the Father speak from heaven the love He has for His Son. He sees the Spirit descend from heaven and alight on the Son. What an incredible scene this must have been to take it!
What really struck me though in studying this passage was what happens next. John 1:35 says, “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.” John had just had this incredible experience. He met and baptized the Son of God. He heard the Father speak and saw the Spirit descend like a dove. What does John do in response? He wakes up the next morning and goes right back to where he was, doing exactly what he was doing before. Even more, verse 36 tells us John sees Jesus passing by and so he calls out, “’Look, the Lamb of God!’”. The two disciples that were with John then leave and follow Jesus instead.
I tried imagining myself in John’s shoes, thinking about what I would want to do here. There is no doubt in my mind I would want to go with these two disciples and follow Jesus. I would want to get to know Jesus, learn from Him and see what He was going to do. Instead, John stays. Not only that, but He points out Jesus to his own disciples so that they can leave him and follow Jesus instead. John continues in the role God prepared for Him, pointing people to the Light who was to come (and who has now come).
There is a very evident clarity of calling seen in John here. He knows what his role is and what his role isn’t (becoming a disciple of Jesus). As much as I think John would have loved to follow Jesus, to listen to Him teach in the synagogues, to be taught and poured into as one of His disciples and to see Him perform incredible miracles, this is not God’s plan for John. And John knows it. And because he knows it John has this incredible humility to stay and perform the role God has for him while at the same time sending off his disciples to follow Jesus.
Later in John 3:22-23 we read this, “After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where He spent time with them, and baptized. Now John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized.” So John is still at work, proclaiming the coming of Jesus and baptizing. An argument breaks out between John’s disciples and another man, and they come to John saying in verse 26, “’Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan (they are talking about Jesus)—the one you testified about—look, He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.’” We read John’s reply in verses 27 to 30, “’A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of Him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.’”
In case we were wondering if John was embittered, feeling like he was left behind while others get to follow Jesus, these verses show us this is absolutely not the case. John is full of joy. He knows the role He was called to, and because of this clarity of call John reaps a harvest of humility and joy.
I have thought much about this idea of clarity of call over the last couple of weeks since studying this text. We have been in Senegal for nearly 9 months now, and are still very much figuring out what long-term ministry will look like for us. My prayer is that God would give me greater and greater clarity of call in the months and years to come, that I might serve Him in humility and joy in whatever work He calls me to.
-Adam