We have covered the recommender and the message of recommendation. Now we must consider the way of recommendation.
The first aspect of John’s way of recommendation was to baptize people in water. Verses 5 and 6 reveal that many were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. To baptize people is to immerse them, to bury them in water, signifying death. John the Baptist did this to indicate that anyone who repents is good for nothing but burial. This also signifies the termination of the old person, that a new beginning may be realized in resurrection, to be brought in by Christ as the life-giver. Hence, following John’s ministry, Christ came. John’s baptism not only terminated those who repented, but also ushered them to Christ for life. Baptism in the Bible implies death and resurrection. To be baptized into the water is to be put into death and buried. To be raised up from the water means to be resurrected from death.
It was in the Jordan River that twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel were buried and from it that another twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel were resurrected and brought up (Josh. 4:1-18). Hence, to baptize people in the Jordan River implied the burial of their old being and the resurrection of the new. Just as crossing the Jordan River ushered the children of Israel into the good land, so to be baptized brings people into Christ, the reality of the good land.
Whenever anyone repented in the presence of John the Baptist, John put him into the water. According to the New Testament, to immerse someone in water firstly meant to bury him, and secondly it meant to raise him up. Thus, on the negative side, baptism signifies death and burial; on the positive side it signifies resurrection. In his message of recommendation, John indicated that God would raise up living children out of dead stones. By baptizing the repentant ones, John indicated that they and all their past had to be terminated and buried. Burial, however, was not the end, because burial always brings in resurrection. Thus, on the one hand, burial is termination, but on the other hand, it is also germination. Those whom John terminated in baptism were to be resurrected, not in him, but in the One who was to come after him. John’s baptism was an indicator that One was coming to raise up the dead.
Baptism means that our natural being and all of our past must be terminated. Our being and our past are only good for burial. Therefore, as John, the genuine priest, was bringing others to God and introducing the King to them, he terminated and buried everyone who came to him in repentance, indicating thereby that those who were buried by him would be raised up by the resurrected One. This is the way of recommendation, the true way to bring the repentant ones to the King who would raise them up.
In the New Testament there are two ministries: the ministry of John and the ministry of the Lord Jesus. John’s ministry is to bring others to God by terminating and burying them. These terminated and buried ones need the resurrection that only Christ can afford. Hence, Christ came after John to minister life to the dead and buried ones. This is the reason we need to be reborn, to be baptized in water and in the Spirit. To be baptized in water is to have our natural life and our past terminated. To be baptized in the Spirit is to have a new start by being germinated with the divine life. This germination is only possible through Christ as the life-giving Spirit.
Anyone who is brought to God must be terminated in the presence of God. In a sense, it is wonderful to be brought into the presence of God. But in another sense it means that you must be terminated. If you are not terminated, you will be killed. Hence, to be brought into the presence of God is both wonderful and serious, for it means that we shall either be terminated or killed. The two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, came into the presence of God, but they were killed by fire (Lev. 10:1-2). If we are willing to be terminated in the presence of God, it means that we are ready to be germinated, to be resurrected, to have a new beginning. This termination is the genuine way of recommendation. It is the way of preparation to bring us into the presence of the King so that the King may be brought to us to give us a new start in resurrection. In Matthew chapter three we have both a strong termination and a prevailing germination. Through this termination and germination, the King gains a people, and the people receive the King.
Verse 3 says, “For this is he who was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” This verse reveals that John the Baptist was one who prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight. To prepare the way of the Lord and to make His paths straight is to change people’s minds, to turn their minds toward the Lord and make their hearts right, to cause every part and avenue of their heart to be straightened by the Lord through repentance for the kingdom of the heavens (Luke 1:16-17). John the Baptist prepared the way and straightened the paths. This indicates that the way was rough, full of hills and valleys. In some places it was very low, and in others it was very high. But John came and paved the way, leveling the hills, filling the gaps, and making the way smooth and flat. John also straightened the paths, which were full of curves. The fact that John paved the way and straightened the paths means that His ministry dealt with the mind and the heart.
Consider your past before you were saved. Did you not have a rough way within you? Certainly the way in your mind was filled with many hills and valleys. Before I was saved, my mind was filled with ups and downs. Nothing was flat. Moreover, in the lanes of your thought, emotion, will, and desire, there were many curves. One day you said your wife was an angel; the next day you said she was a devil. This indicates that your emotion was full of curves. Before you repented, all the paths within you were curved; nothing was straight.
When John the Baptist came, he commanded the people to repent. Genuine repentance prepares the way and straightens the paths. Before I repented, my mentality was rough. But, through the Lord’s mercy, on the day of my repentance, my whole inward being became smooth. From the time of my repentance, every avenue, lane, and path in my being has been made straight. This is to prepare us to receive the Lord, to prepare the way for the Lord, and to make His paths straight. The way to prepare others to receive the Lord is to help them to repent. John the Baptist seemed to be saying, “You children of Israel are far away from the Lord. Your mind is a rough way, and your emotion, will, desire, and intention are curved paths. You need to repent and straighten out every avenue within your being so that the Lord may come in.” When many heard John’s word, they repented, and their way was paved and their paths were straightened. Therefore, the King was able to come in. This is true repentance. Genuine repentance prepares the way for the Lord as the King to enter in. I can testify that along this paved way and in these straightened paths, I continually enjoy the Lord. My way is paved, the Lord Jesus is walking within me, and along my straightened paths I always have the Lord Jesus with me. This is the way to prepare ourselves to receive Christ the King.