Originally posted November 30, 2011, at Lutheran Confessions. Republished with permission of the author.
John the Baptist is not a self-appointed radical who appeared in the wilderness one day and started baptizing.
He is not “sui generis” (unique or in a class of his own) — quite the opposite. John’s genealogy proves how situated he is within a specific proclamatory and historical context, and it is this context that anoints him as the one who functions appropriately as the forerunner of Christ.
First, he is the cousin of Christ through Elizabeth (Luke 1:36).
Second, his father, Zacharias, was a priest of the temple, famously losing his voice because of his failure to believe God’s promise concerning the birth of a son in his late years (Luke 1:13).
Third, his mother, Elizabeth, was of the house of Aaron, something that gave him the right to perform baptisms (Luke 1:5).
In other words, John the Baptist is fully a member of the priestly class in Israelite society and functions as such. Even his odd dress and eating habits are an aspect of his calling as a Nazirite (Numbers 6:1-21; Luke 7:33).
He is doing nothing new. His ministry of baptism and repentance is deeply situated in the customs and religious practices of his community, even if those practices themselves appear radical or challenging. He is, quite simply, the last of the biblical prophets.
What is new about John the Baptist is not his station in life or his network of relationships, but his singular focus on the one coming after him.
Jesus says to his hearers that John was a “burning and shining light … you were willing to rejoice for a little in his light” (John 5:35), but then goes on to say, “I have a testimony greater than John’s” (5:36), echoing 1:8, “He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”
He is the squeak in the hinge of history. The hinge is Christ, but the squeak draws attention to a hinge when it is in use.
Just so John the Baptist testified to the hinge in a noisy and sacrificially faithful way.
Find a link to Clint Schnekloth’s blog Lutheran Confessions at Lutheran Blogs.
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Nice analogy. Thanks!
I ditto Marcus, Nice analogy. Thanks!!
Liked the article and the explanation of John the Baptist being in priestly lineage. I have a question. Later in the new testament apostles mention prophecy over and over again. Did the original texts in Hebrew, Aramic or Greek use words that indicated prophecy or when translated to English prophecy was that the closes term they could use to convey the message? Here below are a few verses of this. My three study bibles explain that prophets bring a divine message, can be anyone for a length of time or just one time, and often confront the status quo or religious authorities---and of course chapter 13 on love says prophecy will end when we all love each other when all love like Christ. So my understanding is there is still prophecy and prophets or now known as those spiritually gifted in the body of Christ. I believe there is an element of prophecy in every pastor. What is your in depth knowledge and take on this? How does it align with your philosophy on John the Baptist being the last prophet?
I Corithians 12
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
I Corithians 14
1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
I think relying on Luke for evidence that John the Baptist was of the priestly class is a bad idea. Luke's account is a novelization in the style of a "life of a historical person", much like one would write a "life of Julius Caesar". Like any other novelization, there are certain exaggerations that come with the genre. The virgin birth is one big example of this. In that day, you weren't anybody if you weren't born from a virgin. Another big examples is setting Christ's birth during Quirinius' governorship in Syria. The earliest date for this is 6 AD. Herod the Great, who in Matthew's Gospel was ruling Palestine, died in 3 BC. Other reasons to doubt the historicity of Luke's accounts come from comparing Acts to Paul's account of the same events in Galatians.
I find it really interesting that you switch entirely to the Gospel of John to assign John the Baptist's theological role. In the Synoptics, John isn't sure if Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus also says that John is lower than the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
And yet for all the technical slamming, I like the analogy of the squeaky hinge. Again, thank you for the article.
That is the same attitude that sustains a wide range of things from homeopathy and creationism to racism, sexism and homophobia.
Mary, I probably should have said the last of the "biblical" prophets, although in some sense that isn't true either, given that John of Patmos shares prophecy. I do think that with John the Baptist a way of being prophet comes to an end.
I really don't know what to make of Peter's remarks. So I won't try.
I find the approach I've taken above to be faithful to the overall sense of Scripture and the place and function of John the Baptist as forerunner in the theological tradition of the church catholic.
Sorry I did not get to you sooner, but was busy. Sorry. Thank you Clint. This comes up over and over again about do we have prophets today. I asked because like the term "love " when translated from the ancient texts is hard because those old languages had different terms for love where as in English we only have the one. I see that word prophecy and prophets again and again in the New Testament and like you I also see the prophets of old were different. But when I read about the apostles and Paul's travels and missions I see pieces of the prophets of old in them mixed with the new commandment of love and Christ's example. I have the same sense as you do that it is finished but not done. LOL! Then there is the whole thing about Revelations soooo I do not know how to reconcile that. I ponder all the time so I was delighted to see an article attempt to do that and I know that was difficult. It opened up a discussion and gave me a chance to ask some things. I have used the Internet, and different translations so it is there and not there. Then the question becomes how does it manifest itself today or has it transformed and merged into the new covenant and we call it something different? Or is a bit of the prophet in all of us? Ha! See I love doing this, but I have no answer either just scripture that I cannot reconcile as of yet. I read a report about some Lutheran pastors in Haiti experiencing a miracle healing maybe I should hunt them down and annoy them with it. LOL! I guess we will just have to have faith on this one for a while longer and I will put it on my mental list to ask God about it everyday and when I see Him :) Well, I let you in on a little secret--I worry a little about Peter as well so I just pray for him and let God handle him. :) Sorry if I came off strong, but the dam burst forth on my curiosity and it gushed out. It was exciting and a bit spirited. :)
Sorry I did not get to you sooner, but was busy. Sorry. Thank you Clint. This comes up over and over again about do we have prophets today. I asked because like the term "love " when translated from the ancient texts is hard because those old languages had different terms for love where as in English we only have the one. I see that word prophecy and prophets again and again in the New Testament and like you I also see the prophets of old were different. But when I read about the apostles and Paul's travels and missions I see pieces of the prophets of old in them mixed with the new commandment of love and Christ's example. I have the same sense as you do that it is finished but not done. LOL! Then there is the whole thing about Revelations soooo I do not know how to reconcile that. I ponder all the time so I was delighted to see an article attempt to do that and I know that was difficult. It opened up a discussion and gave me a chance to ask some things. I have used the Internet, and different translations so it is there and not there. Then the question becomes how does it manifest itself today or has it transformed and merged into the new covenant and we call it something different? Or is a bit of the prophet in all of us? Ha! See I love doing this, but I have no answer either just scripture that I cannot reconcile as of yet. I read a report about some Lutheran pastors in Haiti experiencing a miracle healing maybe I should hunt them down and annoy them with it. LOL! I guess we will just have to have faith on this one for a while longer and I will put it on my mental list to ask God about it everyday and when I see Him :) Well, I let you in on a little secret--I worry a little about Peter as well so I just pray for him and let God handle him. :) Sorry if I came off strong, but the dam burst forth on my curiosity and it gushed out. It was exciting and a bit spirited. :)
Prophecy is reading a situation through the lens of God's Law and God's Promise. It didn't end with John the Baptist nor John of Patmos.
While I agree with you in situating John the Baptist in the line of prophets (disagree that he's much different from Amos or Jeremiah or the others), that is another reason he is specifically set apart from the priestly class. The prophets were not the priests. They were the ones on the margin, largely because of what they claimed God's Law said to people: "Repent!" None of us like hearing that word. Sometimes the church catholic has had those words, but more often it has been a human institution in need of hearing those words.
ooooooOOOOOOOooooo Peter! I'm keeping that first sentence in my journal--that one I have not seen in print but I feel an insight opening with that set of text. I like your distinction between church catholic and human institution. It echos in mind the idea of the two kingdoms occurring at the same time and so at any time God's kingdom breaks through and we get a glimpse. Hmmmmm...........I think I will put you on my prayer list for everyday--I just bought a new journal and it aches to be filled with God thoughts. Thank you. What a great way to end a beautiful Sunday.
That definition of prophecy is one I've seen used by Carolyn Schneider, of Texas Lutheran University (Seguin, TX).
Thank you for that piece of info. I think I will do an Internet search and see if any of her writings or thinking comes up. It would be interesting to explore. That should keep me occupied for a while. Hopefully--but lately I have been pondering about Mother Mary.....It is just that time of year, but of course it could have been that I was playing with my Catholic friends while singing at a United Methodist Church Sunday--it was an universal experience of the spiritual kind LOL! :)