Question: Why was John called the Baptist?

Answer: To state the matter simply, John was designated “the Baptist” because of his work of baptizing the people of Judea in preparation for the ministry of Christ (Matt. 3:1-17, especially vv. 6, 7, and 13). His work was to bring the thinking and attitudes of the Jews into conformity to the principles of the new kingdom which was soon coming; for this reason, it is described in terms of road construction—cutting down the mountains and filling the valleys—as a highway for the Lord would lead all willing to walk it to submission to Jesus Christ in the new kingdom (Luke 3:4-6). This highway leading to the new kingdom traveled through the hearts of men, demanding a change of heart, later to be discussed under the word “repentance.” John sought to gain the hearts of the people of that region of Judea where he did his work.

Notice that the idea of immersion appears in the designation being discussed—“John the Baptizer/Immerser.” As part of his teaching, John instructed people to be immersed, as he declared a “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3). His baptism was designed to achieve the same purpose as that of the baptism of the Great Commission announced by Jesus as heaven’s will for the whole earth (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). Whatever the latter baptism accomplished, the former also achieved, for the remission of sins is common to both baptisms. John’s baptism also required repentance of its subjects, just as Jesus’ baptism under the Great Commission did. In both cases, then, the act of baptism was not mere ceremony or ritual, but an expression of the faithful, penitent, and obedient heart of the one requesting baptism. People today, including many who try to teach others the necessity of baptism, often misunderstand the total picture of baptism. While it is an action of obedience, it comes from a heart transformed by the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47). The old stony heart becomes a humble heart, changed by the faith/trust in Jesus Christ produced by the gospel, so that willing submission to Him results in a new disciple (Matt. 16:24). The same result in the hearts of people characterized the work of John the Baptist.

From this answer, it should be evident to the reader that John was not designated a “baptist” because of his affiliation with the Baptist Church or because of preparing people for membership in the Baptist Church. It did not exist in his day, nor did he plan and provide for its beginning in the work which he did (it did not begin for about sixteen more centuries). John’s work and designation are entirely irrelevant to whatever happened later in the birth of a Protestant denomination called the Baptist Church. When John baptized the people of his day, he did not thereby make them “Baptists,” as often claimed. When one working in a particular line of work performs his work, he does not transform the people on whom his work is bestowed into the same kind of workers. For example, if Lester the doctor doctors a patient named Tom, who would argue that Tom becomes a doctor just because of Lester’s doctoring him? Likewise, if John the shoe shine man shines the shoes of Jim, Jim is still a long way from being a shoe shine man. When a baptist (immerser) named John baptized (immersed) Thaddaeus, Peter, Jesus, or Mary, none of them became a baptist (immerser). Let the honest reader acknowledge that there was no Baptist Church in the divine plan, and John had no part in bringing it to pass. John’s work was preparatory to that of Christ, as expressed in his own humble assessment of his own relative unimportance: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

bobbylgraham@pclnet.net