“Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.”
[Mark 1:6 ESV]
[Photo by Rick van Houten on Unsplash.]
John was unusual. He was Bohemian (he broke the social rules of his day). He did not stay in a traditional house in a village or larger town or city as was the custom in Palestine in the First Century. Instead, he lived in the desert. There is no description of his accommodation but we can assume that it was crude and basic, lacking in comfort and only providing some limited shelter from the elements. However, we have a fairly graphic description of his diet and his clothing. He evidently used local materials for both. And so John wove camels’ hair into a rough cloth and then wrapped this around his body and protected his modesty with a leather belt around his waist. His diet was similarly very rough and ready. His diet consisted of two ingredients. His wild honey was a good source of antioxidants and it would provide him with sugar. It did not contain any fibre, fat or protein so its nutritional benefit would be limited but it might have prevented infection. However, he probably ate large quantities of locusts raw or else he would roast them in an open fire. Locusts were quite nutritious and a source of protein and vitamins such as iron and calcium, but they were low in carbohydrates. I have got all this information from the Internet but of course John had no 4G or WiFi. However, John was very knowledgeable about the law of Moses and he had checked that locusts were on the list of permitted foodstuffs (Leviticus 12:22). John lived a simple life of isolation and was close to nature. He had ample opportunity for prayer and meditation.
Much later on Jesus referred to John's lifestyle and stated quite explicitly what John was not. John was not 'a man dressed in soft clothing.' Jesus explains this reference that John was not a sycophant - Jesus talked about courtiers in king's houses would have dressed in such clothing. They were expected to dress to please their royal or noble masters. John was very different. He was not seeking to be popular even though there were many who flocked to hear him and be baptised by him. He was totally committed to serving God even though it made him seem eccentric and a misfit
(See Matthew 11: 7-15).
Jesus gave John a wonderful reference. John was in prison for his faithfulness in condemning Herod for his lack of morality, but the faithful messenger was not in a good spiritual state. So he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to check that Jesus was the Messiah. Obviously, he was beginning to have doubts. Jesus sent back a message confirming that He was in fact the Sent One - the Son of God and he ended with a comment which implied some criticism for John's state of mind. But Jesus went on to make this statement to the crowds concerning John the Baptist:
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist [Matthew 11:11 NIV] In this same passage Jesus described John as 'more than a prophet.' Jesus referred to the unique role of John the Baptist as the Herald or Messenger who would point to the coming Messiah. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets and signalled the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New Covenant in the person of Jesus Christ.
In fact Jesus spells this out because he spoke about John as being 'born of women' and this was emphasising that John was from the Old Testament era - before the New Covenant and the New Birth. Jesus pointed out that every humble believer in the New Covenant enjoys blessings which John never experienced - yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he [Matthew 11:11b NIV]
So though John the Baptist was a great man, and was given a glowing commendation by the Son of God, he was not part of the New Covenant to which every believer in Jesus belongs.
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