Knowing Your Identity

Isaiah 40:1-5                    John 1: 19-28

Knowing your Identity

A college student was looking for a small two-hour course to fill out his schedule. The only one that would fit was a course in Wildlife Zoology. However, he had some reservations about taking this course as he had heard that it was tough, and that the professor was rather strict. But, as it seemed to be the only choice open to him, he signed up for it.

After only one week, the professor presented the students with a surprise quiz. The test was one sheet of paper divided into squares and in each square was a picture of a bird’s legs. The test simply asked them to identify the bird from the picture of its legs.

Well, the student was floored. He didn’t have a clue. He sat and stared at the sheet of paper and as he did, he got more and more angry. Finally, he jumped up from his desk, stomped up to the front of the classroom, and threw the test on the professor’s desk exclaiming, “This is the worst test I have ever seen, and this is the dumbest course I have ever taken!”

The professor calmly looked up at him and said, “Young man, you have just failed the test.” Then he picked up the paper and saw that his young student had not written his name on the test.  Dryly he said, “Your name, young man?” At this, the student bent over, pulled up his trouser legs and said, “You identify me!”

Identity is an important part of life as it reveals who we are as individuals…and knowing who we are helps us find our purpose in life…it helps us understand why we do what we do. Yet so many throughout time have had no idea of who they were and consequently were doomed to live out their lives in the wake and shadow of those around them, never finding their own voice and never singing their own song, proverbially speaking. 

This is true of modern society as well. The cause of this loss of identity is known by many different names…peer pressure, fashion, conformity, compliance, tradition, and so on, but ultimately a lack of identity means that we live out the dreams and aspirations and talents and faculties of others. We allow the values and standards of others to shape and mould us, allowing their ideals to smother our ideals and never allowing ourselves to grow and develop into the people God designed us to be. 

And so, all too often at some later stage in life, like during midlife or even later, we experience what some call an identity crisis…a time when we wonder why we did what we did all our lives…a time when we experience real grief as we suddenly realise that we have not fulfilled any of our own desires and dreams. It is a moment when we realise that we don’t know who we really are…we don’t know and may never have known what our real purpose is in life…and we don’t know why we should even continue to do what we are doing. 

And sadly, believers are not exempt. The people of God often find themselves in an identity crisis as we seek to hold on to our identity in Christ with the relentless demand for us to conform to the ways of the world. Tragically, we may even buckle under the strain and begin to live lives that do not reflect the identity of the one we claim to follow.

John the Baptist, it seems, did not have this problem. In the Gospel passage for today, we saw that when questioned by the authorities from Jerusalem, the Baptist’s replies were clear and concise. He knew exactly who he was…he knew exactly what he was meant to do and why.

We are told that the ministry of John the Baptist had become quite popular.  Mark said that the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. This is hardly surprising. Messiah fever was quite common in those days…many people yearned to be free of the oppressive Roman yoke…and the fact that John, the son of a respectable priestly family, was baptising at Bethany beyond the Jordan, an area loaded with political significance as it was here where Joshua camped with the Israelites prior to crossing over the Jordan into the Promised Land, may have been the reason the crowds flocked to be baptised. They understood that what the Baptist was doing was getting them ready for something big…and they wanted to be ready.

Now, I think it is possible that the interrogators from Jerusalem understood this. The priests and Levites no doubt knew John and his family well. So, the question “who are you?” was not a simple “getting to know you” exercise. This delegation wanted to know if the Baptist was who some of the people thought he may have been…because if he was, this might mean trouble. 

Some folks really do prefer the status quo…they don’t like rocking the boat because this might make things uncomfortable. The Jerusalem authorities didn’t like their Roman overlords any more than anyone else, but they didn’t want anything to disrupt their daily way of life. At least the Romans allowed them to continue with their traditions and their rituals. We see this fear of disruption expressed clearly in a statement made by Jesus’ opponents in John 11:48. A member of the Sanhedrin said, “If we let him (Jesus) go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then (and here come the fear) the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Never mind the truth. Just don’t make things difficult for us. 

It might very well have been this same fear that caused the authorities in Jerusalem to send a delegation of priests and Levites to question the Baptist. If this was the case, then “who was John the Baptist”, was quite a serious and weighty question. 

The language of verse 20 is interesting…it is quite blunt and emphatic. “He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Christ.’” Note the double positive coupled with a negative. John had absolutely no delusions of grandeur. He had no false ideas about himself. He knew exactly who he was and therefore he also knew who he was not. He knew his purpose in life and consequently he did what he did intentionally…deliberately. Unlike some false messiahs before him, he had no political aspirations outside the reality of his own identity. To put it plainly, John wanted to be nobody but himself.

But it seems his reply still did not dispel the fears of the Jerusalem delegation. The second question did not so much deal with who John was, but rather what exactly was the purpose of his ministry? If he was not the Christ, well then why was he doing what he was doing? If not to lead a rebellion to deliver Israel from Roman occupation…if not to re-establish the kingdom of Israel…then what? What did he seek to accomplish?

Now, there were three loaded questions asked here. “Are you Elijah?” to which the Baptist simply answered, “I am not.” Then the question, “Are you the Prophet?” Here John didn’t waste much time in his reply…he bluntly said, “No.”

The Baptist didn’t appear to be in a talkative mood and the Jerusalem delegation seemed to have run out of any further specific suggestions. 

So, notice how they framed the next question. “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” Do you see how they combined his person with his purpose? They knew that a normal person cannot consistently act out of character. A person is what they believe themselves to be. You cannot live contrary to your convictions. It confuses the whole of life if you attempt to live contrary to your principles. Attempting to live a life that is not yours in order to “fit in” or to please others can only lead to personality problems.

So, by quoting from Isaiah 40:3 in his response, John revealed his purpose, and in his purpose, he revealed his person. He said, “I am a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.”

Now you need to understand a few things about all these questions. The popular belief at the time was that Elijah (whom you may remember did not die but was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot) would quite literally return. If you’ve ever attended a Seder meal you may have noticed one extra chair and an extra place setting at the table. While this practice is symbolic, it does signify the belief that Elijah is meant to return to announce the coming of the Messiah. 

But John knew that while his ministry was certainly like that of Elijah, he was not the returned or resurrected or even reincarnated Elijah. Remember what the angel said to Zacharias, John’s father? John would go before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah. So, in his denial, the Baptist was correcting their incorrect understanding, not denying his place in the fulfilment of the prophetic word.

The second question was about him being “the Prophet”. Now, I believe the use of the definite article must not be overlooked here. This is not just any prophet. This is the prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18. Moses said to the people, “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him shall you hear.” True, there was some debate about the identity of this prophet. Was he the Messiah or was he the forerunner of the Messiah? 

But seeing that the Baptist had already denied being the Messiah, it seems that the priests and Levites either did not equate the Prophet with the Messiah or that they were simply asking the same question another way. As we have seen, John simply said no.

The final question, I think, was one born out of desperation. What do you say about yourself? And here John quoted the well known passage from Isaiah 40.

The implication of his answer seems clear. John believed himself to be the herald of the Messiah. In the Ancient Near East, when a king was to visit a certain area, heralds would ride out before him and prepare a safe roadway for the royal entourage. They would also announce far and wide that the king was coming and that the people needed to be ready to receive him properly. This is the imagery behind this prophetic statement of Isaiah.

So, to sum up, in his responses, John flatly denied that he was the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet. He knew that he was a simple servant preparing the roadway for his king. 

But this raised the issue of authority. If he was no one special, who gave him the right to do what he was doing?

In order to understand the objection, we need to understand what baptism would have meant to the Jews of the first Century. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the word “bapto” or “baptizo” was sometimes used to refer to the ceremonial washings of the Jewish people. As such, baptism was seen to be a rite of cleansing or of consecration.

In Exodus 19, three days prior to God’s appearance on Mount Sinai, Moses received the following instruction from God: “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” This type of “baptism” was composed of two parts. A washing of their clothing coupled together with a rite of sprinkling living or running water, usually mixed with the blood of a bird, onto the people with a branch of hyssop.  As such it is a graphic image of cleansing and of consecration as hyssop was used as a purgative.

Hyssop was also used to daub the blood of the Passover Lamb on the doorposts of the Israelite homes in Egypt prior to their deliverance from slavery…so there’s a lot of symbolism here…

I believe, this practice serves as the backdrop for John’s baptism. Remember, John was a priest, and therefore would have prepared the people accordingly…using the living or running water of the Jordan river.  The Lord was coming, and they needed to be ready…they needed to be clean and consecrated…the people understood this and therefore they confessed their sins and were baptised. 

But the burning question was why. Why was he doing this? 

Well, what was his purpose? Who was he? 

In his replies, John the Baptist made it clear that he was simply an obedient servant whose purpose was to serve his Lord by preparing the way for him…by preparing the people to meet him at his coming. 

As I said before, John was a herald…a messenger…an ambassador…nothing more, but certainly nothing less.

It seems strange to me that this delegation had such difficulty in completing their mission. John’s identity was plain for all to see. There was no incongruence in John. He knew exactly who he was and he acted in accordance with that knowledge. His actions revealed his person and his single purpose. To do what he was called to do. That was his identity. That was his purpose. That was his practice.

Now, we, dearest beloved brethren, have an identity too. We are no longer in Adam…we are no longer under the curse…through Jesus we are forgiven, and we are now in Jesus. And more…the fullness of the Godhead now lives in every single believer. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we are adopted by God as his sons and daughters. We are united to Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and we are now citizens of heaven. Paul tells us that we are raised with Jesus and seated with him in heavenly places and that we are new creations in him. Last week we saw that all who accept Jesus are given the right to become children of God, co-heirs with Jesus and heirs of the kingdom. 

These are all present spiritual realities…this is no pie-in-the-sky-when-we-die-by-and-by promise. We are children of God in Jesus. We have been raised with Jesus. We are seated in heavenly places with Jesus. We are new creations in Jesus. 

This is our identity. We are in him. 

But because we are who we are…because we are new creations, we have a new purpose. Because we have this new identity…and since we have been raised with Jesus, we ought to set our mind on things above where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Why? Because as children of God we ought to display the family likeness…we need to discard our old worldly characteristics and clothe ourselves with his character…like him we must be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, caring, merciful, and loving. 

This is what we are and what we ought to strive to be…because of our new reality…because we are in Jesus, we ought also to do what Jesus did. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, so Jesus sends us into the world as ambassadors of the new reality…as spreaders of the good news…as lights dispelling the darkness…as agents of the renewed creation. We are God’s vice-regents in the world…just like Adam and Eve before the Fall we too have been given the responsibility to care for all creation. 

It is extremely important to know that we know that we know this! When we are flooded with questions about our identity, we need to answer as clearly as did John the Baptist. This is who I am and therefore this is what I do. No questions. No doubts. No compromise.  I am in Jesus and because I am in Jesus old things have passed away…all things have been renewed…I am a new creation…signed, sealed, delivered…I am his and he is mine. Period. 

Thankfully, while the world will seek to identify us by what is observable and measurable…our station in life, our wealth, our position in society, our possessions, our intellect, our outward appearance…while the accuser of the brethren will come with his lies and deceit to make us believe that somehow we just don’t measure up…thankfully, our Lord doesn’t look at our exterior…our Lord doesn’t need to identify us by our legs or our stature or our pedigree or anything external in order to identify us. No, our Lord looks at our heart…hearts renewed and reborn because of Jesus. 

So do not live your life in the shadow of the past (or any other shadow, for that matter), dearest beloved brethren…live in the reality of who you are in the one who came to give his life so that we might live in freedom.

Then you will pass any test that comes your way.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2022