John the Baptist #1 The Greatest Prophet
John the Baptist #1 - The Greatest Prophet
“I say to you, among those who are born of women there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist.” Luk 7:28
John was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the “voice” preparing the way for the Lord Jesus, who is the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ.
“The voice of him who cries out, Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isa 40:3
So important is it that we know John the Baptist is THAT voice, that each of the 4 gospels quotes that verse from Isaiah, and says it refers to John:
Mat 3:3; Mrk 1:3; Luk 3:4; Jhn 1:23
As the last Old Testament prophet, John was closing out the Old Testament Mosaic system of priests and sacrifices, and announcing the start of the New.
The last verses of the Old Testament prophecy of John, not Jesus!
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Mal 4:5-6
Even though Jesus said that John was the greatest prophet, I have never heard a single sermon on John, and I have found only one book on him, by F.B. Meyer, which I would highly recommend. Here are links to free downloadable PDF copies:
https://archive.org/search?query=source%3A%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gutenberg.org%2Febooks%2F25904%22
https://archive.org/details/johnthebaptist25904gut
www.gutenberg.org%2Febooks%2F25904%22
https://archive.org/details/johnbaptist00meye
I think the reason this is so, is that many people have difficulty understanding who John was; he was an Old Testament prophet, but he is written about in the New Testament.
He is THE transitional person between the Old and New: he closes the door of the Old, and opens the door of the New. His job was not to preach the Christian gospel of a savior dying for sinners (compare what John preached to Isa 53); his job was to announce that the Savior was coming, and that he was bringing the Kingdom of God/Heaven with him, and that he would soon appear on the scene.
The first half of John’s ministry, which was up until Jesus was baptized, was a call to repent because the Lord was soon to begin his public ministry. John was sent to baptize people as evidence that they had repented of their sins, and were looking for the Savior. He clearly said his baptism was different than, less than, the baptism of the Lord who was to come. John’s baptism was an external baptism, while the Lord’s was internal.
“I indeed have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Mrk 1:8.
Again, so important is this, that it is also mentioned in all four gospels:
Mat 3:11; Mrk 1:8, Luk 3:16; Jhn 1:26, 33
And his baptism is not Christian baptism into the singular name of the Father-Son-Holy Spirit.
This is proved by Act 19:1-6: “While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples and said to them, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” They said to him, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” He said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
The second half of John’s ministry started when Jesus was baptized, and is summarized by John saying “now he is here among us - go to him”:
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him, but for this reason I came baptizing with water: so that He might be revealed to Israel.” Jhn 1:29-31
“They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.” John answered, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear witness of me, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” Jhn 3:26-30
John rejoiced that people were no longer coming to him, but were going to Jesus. John knew that his job, his role was to be “The Voice” announcing the advent of the Savior.
John referred to himself as “The Voice” and applies the statement in Isaiah to himself!
“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” Joh 1:23
Once Jesus entered the scene of public ministry, which started at his baptism, John knew his work was done, and that he was to fade off of the scene. John was not only OK with that, he rejoiced in that!
Many ask the question, “Before baptizing Jesus, did John know that his cousin Jesus was the Christ?” This question is asked because of John’s statement in Jhn 1:33 “I did not know him.” They were cousins, so John’s statement cannot mean he did not know Jesus on a personal, family level, and it cannot mean that he did not know the back story of his birth and Jesus birth, and their inter-connectedness; of course John’s mother and father would have told him all that happened prior to the birth of the 2 boys; read Luk 1:5-80.
They were family, and Mary was so close to Elizabeth, that she goes to her to tell about the angel’s message. She did not go to her mother, or a sister, she goes to Elizabeth who was a cousin, an older female relative; the word is generally translated “kinfolk.”
Elizabeth not only accepts and believes all that Mary tells her, but greatly encouraged Mary. In fact, Elizabeth is so encouraging, that Mary stays with Elizabeth and Zacharias for 3 months. She goes to see Elizabeth when she, Elizabeth, is 6 months pregnant, and stays 3 months, that would be the time of the birth! We do not know for sure, but she was probably there when John was born, and maybe even when there when he is named, and therefore was there when Zacharias begins to talk again. The point is, since the 2 moms were so close, it is certain the families got together while the boys were growing up, and therefore John and Jesus knew each other quit well, and knew the back story, from before their births; John knew exactly who Jesus was.
So what did John mean by “I knew him not.”
When John is told to start baptizing and preaching ministry, he was told he would see the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus, as confirmation that he was the Christ; that sign was not meant to tell John something he did not know, but to confirm something he already knew!
John was preaching and baptizing, telling people to repent because the Lord is soon to start his work, but John does not know when Jesus would start. I would say John was preaching and baptizing for 6 months or so prior to Jesus being baptized, and all that time expecting Jesus to make a public appearance and start his ministry; but John is wondering when and where and how Jesus would start; it was that to which John was referring when he said, “I knew him not.”
Also, John NEVER expected Jesus to come and request baptism from him! That is why John says to Jesus in Mat 3:13-15, “I need to be baptized by you.”
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. But John prohibited Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.”
Jesus response “for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”, means, “This is the right way for me to start my ministry; baptize me! This is my public statement that I have come to identify with sinners. Even though I am without sin, I will take their sins to myself (Jhn 1:29), and become sin (2Co 5:21)”.
Jesus baptism is his statement of identification with sinners; it was the event that started his public ministry. Jesus publicly humbles himself in baptism as he identifies with sinners, and immediately upon completing that act of self-abasement, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and the Father calls from heaven, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
“I am pleased in him, because he is fulfilling my will, he is doing his part to redeem my elect.”
And then immediately after being baptized, the Holy Spirit drives, leads is too mild, drives him into the wilderness, to engage the devil in direct, personal combat. Jesus knew what was coming; he goes and enters the ring willingly and enthusiastically. The battle between Jesus and Satan was not new; this is not the first conflict. Satan coveted Jesus high standing in heaven (Isa 14:12-14), and so was cast down from heaven; Jesus is the one who cast Satan out of heaven. Then Satan attacks Jesus creation by tempting Adam and Eve to sin. Then Jesus (The Voice of the Lord) comes walking again in the garden, and deals with Adam and Eve, and Satan. Jesus himself is the one who tells Satan that down the road, he, Jesus would be born of a woman, and crush Satan’s head (Gen 3:14-15).
So then, after his baptism, as the man Jesus, the one mediator between God and Man, the head of the elect people, he goes to deal with Satan head on again, in the wilderness. He intends to do what Adam failed to do: he will not fall when tempted, he will overcome the Devil. From then until his death, Satan never ceased to attach Jesus, to try to derail him, to make him sin, but Satan lost EVERY battle!
“And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a season.” Luk 4:13
That is why in 1Co 15:45, Jesus is called the “last Adam”; note, not the “second” as if there might be a 3rd, but the “last.” Adam, as the head of the human race, failed; Jesus did not fail.
So Jesus goes to the wilderness, and in effect says, “Satan, bring it on!”
How much of this did John know? Afterward did Jesus tell John what happened in the wilderness during those 40 days? We don’t know, and conjecture is dangerous, but what we do know is that from this point on, after baptizing Jesus, John’s message and ministry changed, and he knows he is on the way out, and publicly states, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Jhn 3:30
25 April 2024