Although John the Baptist was born a priest, he forsook the outward position of the priest. By the outward position of his birth he was not a real priest, but a priest in figure, a priest in shadow. In 3:1 John came preaching in the wilderness as the true priest. John the Baptist’s preaching was the initiation of God’s New Testament economy. He did his preaching not in the holy temple within the holy city, where the religious and cultured people worshipped God according to their scriptural ordinances, but in the wilderness, in a “wild” way, not keeping any old regulations. This indicates that the old way of the worship of God according to the Old Testament was repudiated and that a new way was about to be brought in. The wilderness here indicates that the new way of God’s New Testament economy is contrary to religion and culture. It also indicates that nothing old was left and that something new was about to be built up.
The dispensation of law was terminated by the coming of John the Baptist (11:13; Luke 16:16). Following the baptism of John, the preaching of the gospel of peace began (Acts 10:36-37). The preaching of John was the beginning of the gospel (Mark 1:1-5). Hence, the dispensation of grace began with John.
Neither John, the new priest, nor Jesus, the new King, was in the old way. According to the old way, the priests stayed in the holy temple in the holy city, wore the priestly garments, ate the priestly food, and observed the priestly rituals. But with the coming of John the Baptist, all that was terminated. That was not the reality; it was a shadow. Now with John the Baptist, the genuine priest, reality came. As the real priest, John came to bring the people back to God. That was his ministry.
John fulfilled his ministry by living in a way that was absolutely contrary to religion and culture and outside both of them. Verse 4 says, “Now John himself had his garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey.” According to the regulations of the law, John, who was born a priest, should have worn the priestly garment, which was made mainly of fine linen (Exo. 28:4, 40-41; Lev. 6:10; Ezek. 44:17-18); and he should have eaten the priestly food, which was composed mainly of fine flour and the meat of the sacrifices offered to God by His people (Lev. 2:1-3; 6:6-18, 25-26; 7:31-34). However, John did altogether otherwise. He wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle, and he ate locusts and wild honey. All these things are uncivilized, uncultured, and not according to the religious regulations. For a priestly person to wear camel’s hair was an especially drastic blow to the religious mind, for the camel was considered unclean under the Levitical regulations (Lev. 11:4). In addition, John did not live in a civilized place, but in the wilderness (Luke 3:2). All this indicates that he had altogether abandoned the Old Testament dispensation, which had fallen into a kind of religion mixed with human culture. His intention was to introduce God’s New Testament economy, which is constituted solely of Christ and the Spirit of Life.
We have seen that during John’s time being a priest was a matter of religion, of wearing priestly robes, eating priestly food, and dwelling in a priestly building. When anyone conducted himself as a priest, everyone thought of him as a religious person, a person in religion. But here in Matthew 3 we see a real priest. Instead of staying in the priestly building, he went out to the wilderness, to a wild place where there was neither religion nor culture. There in the wilderness he lived in a “wild” way, eating locusts and wild honey. His honey was not the cultured honey processed and sold in stores today. It was wild honey. John was a real priest living in such a “wild” way. However, if you try to copy him, you will be false.
John was truly outside religion and culture. He not only ate wild things, but he also wore camel’s hair. Notice that the Bible does not say that he wore camel’s fur, which would have been somewhat orderly, but camel’s hair, which certainly must have been messy. Furthermore, his leather girdle was probably not very refined. John was truly “wild.” Nevertheless this real priest was the recommender of the King.
From the time of John the Baptist until today, a great many people have been brought back to God through the ministry of John. Whenever we tell others to repent, we should remember John the Baptist.
The ministry of John the Baptist was outside both religion and culture. When John was born, in Jerusalem there were two main things—Hebrew religion and Greco-Roman culture. John, however, did not stay in Jerusalem where his parents undoubtedly lived. He left Jerusalem and went out to the wilderness where there was neither religion nor culture, but where everything was natural. John ministered there in the wilderness bringing others to God and introducing the King, the One who represents God, to them. This was a strong indication that, during John’s time, the age was changed from the old dispensation to the new dispensation, from the dispensation of shadows and figures to the dispensation of reality. Those priests who wore the priestly robes, ate the priestly food, and stayed in the priestly building burning the incense and carrying out the priestly functions never brought anyone to God. But this “wild,” unreligious, uncultured John brought hundreds to Him. And he also introduced the King to them. This King was the One who brought God to repentant people.
When this King was introduced to people and they were truly brought back to God, the kingdom was present immediately. The King with the people is the kingdom. The kingdom was there because both the King and the people were there. The New Testament begins with the genuine priesthood introducing the genuine kingship. The real priest introduced the real King. This introduction ushers in the kingdom.
John’s message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (v. 2). People had to repent because the kingdom was coming and because the King was there. We also need to repent that the King may gain us and that we may be His people. After we repent, the King gains us, and we gain Him. Through the King’s gaining us and our gaining Him, we and the King become the kingdom. The kingdom immediately follows the King. If you receive the King and if He takes you as His people, the kingdom is immediately present. Why has the kingdom not yet come? Because you have not received the King, and the King has not yet gained you. Because you are still far away from Him, the King has not been able to gain you. Thus, the kingdom is not yet here. Rather, it is off somewhere waiting for your repentance. If you repent, the King will gain you, you will gain the King, and the kingdom will be here.
Many Christians who are preaching the gospel today do not know the divine principles in God’s economy. If we would be real evangelists, real preachers of the gospel, we must firstly be John the Baptist. This means that we must be priests, not formal priests, priests in shadow, but genuine priests, priests in reality. After we become such priests, we must also be Jesus Christ. This means that we must be the King who brings God to others. When we go to God praying for others, we are priests bringing them to God. But when we come out of God’s presence and go to the people, we are kings bringing God to them. If we do this, they will repent to the King, the King will gain them, and the kingdom will be present.
The proper church life today is the kingdom. We all have repented, the King has gained us, and we have received Him. Now we are one with the King, and the kingdom is here with us. Hallelujah, the kingdom is here right now! All this depends upon the recommender.
My burden in this message is to emphasize the matter of the recommender. Are you today’s recommender of Christ? If you are, then you must be clear whether or not you are still in religion and culture. We must all be in the wilderness, in an environment that is “wild,” not in an environment that is religious or cultured. The proper environment is outside religion and culture, but it is full of the presence of God.
When John was there in the wilderness, he was a great magnet drawing large numbers to himself. For this reason, verse 5 says, “Then Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the district of the Jordan went out to him.” Because of his drawing power, many came to John the Baptist. I hope the young people who go to the campuses will stand there as magnets. If you are such a magnet, others will flock to you. First you will be the priests appointed by God to bring others into His presence. Then you will be able to introduce the heavenly King to them. At that time, you will not only introduce the King to others; you will actually be the King. Thus, you will give a command to others, and many will turn to Christ. In this way Christ will gain the people, and they will gain Him. Then, immediately, the kingdom will appear on the campuses. This is the proper way to carry out the preaching of the gospel.