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Set Apart

God the Father baptized John with the Holy Spirit when John was in his mother’s womb. That’s insane! I mean, this guy was born and raised in a special way. He was not to touch anything from the vine: no wine, no grapes, no raisins, nothing. Why? Scripture says, “Do not get drunk on wine. . . Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). When you are filled with the Spirit, He leads you, guides you, and speaks to you.

John the Baptist took nothing from the vine. He was set apart and filled with the Holy Spirit to usher the Creator of the universe into the Earth that He created.

That’s a radical call. John the Baptist was radical. In John 1, he declares he is the voice shouting in the wilderness, clearing the way for the Lord’s coming. People didn’t look at him and say, “He’s preaching about this Messiah, but he’s living it up, rolling in Rolls-Royces, private jets, and carrying Louis Vuitton. What’s up with this dude?” No. John the Baptist was a simple man. His clothes were made of camel hair. He ate locusts and honey, and lived a simple life. He had disciples around him to keep him accountable. His purpose was making crooked paths straight. When you looked at John, the way he lived his life was a straight path to Jesus.

God had told John that he would know who the Messiah was when he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon that person from heaven. John said, “Okay, God. I don’t even understand what you’re saying, but I’ll be looking out for this. I’m going to baptize people because this is what You called me to do.”

So, all of a sudden, Jesus showed up, John baptized Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. Then, God the Father said, “This is My dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy.” Here you see the Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working together. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”

There were other titles John could have used: the King of Israel, the Christ, the Messiah. But John was set apart to testify that Jesus was going to die as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and that once again, another prophecy was being fulfilled.