The Importance of John's Wardrobe

Today’s Living Word comes from Mark 1:6, “ Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, ”
In a sense, Old Testament prophets wore uniforms. Zechariah 13:4 says, "And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive.” If you wanted to be recognized as a prophet, you put on the simple coarse hair robe of a prophet.
Even the false prophets did this in order to gain credibility.

In 2 Kings 1:8, King Ahaziah recognizes Elijah when he was described to him as “a hairy man who wore a leather belt around his waist. It was not by accident that John wore this same simple outfit, for it identified him as a prophet, but even more importantly identified him with the Elijah spoken of in Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” This was later confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 11:14, “ And if you are willing to receive it, he (John the Baptist) is Elijah who is to come.”

Everything about John pointed to the Elijah who would be the forerunner of the One who was to come and we should not miss this key point, because it is further affirmation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

I’m Duane Matz and that’s today’s Living Word.

God Washes Away Our Sins In Baptism

Today’s Living Word comes from Mark 1:5 " Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” Mark 1:5.

The word got out. John was preaching a baptism that was not just ritualistic, not just something we do, but something God does. Original sin, (that which we are conceived in, see Ps 51:5..."in sin did my mother conceive me,") sins of commission, sins of omission, were all being forgiven by the grace of God through the rite of baptism, coupled with God-given faith.

No wonder the people flocked to him, and they all came with confession on their lips. What is it to confess? Simply stated, it is to agree. When someone confesses to a crime they agree that they did it. To confess our sins then is to agree with God and His Word that we are sinners.

So they all came out to John admitting that they were sinners in need of forgiveness or remission of their sins, and they were convinced that when John’s baptism was applied they had that forgiveness directly from God. This was the same attitude of the Ethiopian Eunich who upon having the gospel explained to him by Phillip said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Acts 8:36

Do not delay baptism for yourself or for your children. It effects the remission of sins.

I’m Duane Matz and that’s today’s Living Word.