John the Baptist #2 The Transitional Prophet
John the Baptist #2 – The Transitional Prophet
John was the prophet who ended the Old and brought in the New.
As the last Old Testament prophet, we would expect John to function within the Old Testament system, but he did not.
Firstly notice that John was a priest; his father was a priest, and so he was a priest, yet he did not engage in the work of the Jewish Priesthood.
Secondly, God sent him to announce the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, but God did not send him to Jerusalem, or any of the larger cities or towns, he sent him to the desert.
By these 2 things, God was showing the Jewish nation that the Old Testament system was being set aside, and the promised New Covenant was starting. The work of the Old Testament system, with its animal sacrifices, all of the Temple worship, etc., was over. The Old Testament entire system was one big sign to show forth the person, work, and death of Messiah; since the Messiah/Christ was here, the work of the Old System was not needed any more.
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” Joh 5:39
This is the basic message of Heb 5-10!
It is something the Jewish people need to consider; there is no Temple, there is no Priesthood, there are no sacrifices.
Thirdly, John did not preach the Christian Gospel (compare his message with Isa 53); he preached the coming of the king and his kingdom, with clear and strong warnings to be afraid and repent and believe. Luk 3:2-18
Compare John’s preaching to Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 and Acts 3.
Fourthly, notice these differences between John and Jesus:
- John was in the wilderness, forcing people to come to him; Jesus was in the cities, and went to the people.
- John was a Nazarite, and so he did not drink wine or touch the dead; Jesus drank wine, and so much so that he was called a wine bibber, and not only did he touch the dead, but raised 3 people from the dead, and he also touched lepers, an absolute no-no!
- John is the “Best Man” “The Friend of the Bride Groom”; Jesus is the “Bride Groom”. So John fasts, but Jesus eats.
- John’s baptism is external, with water; Jesus baptism is internal, with the Holy Spirit and fire. Since John’s baptism is external, it effects no actual internal change, it only shows a desire to be changed; Jesus baptism is internal and effects real change: it produces Life, the New Birth: total change: “all things are new.”
In summation, I think the reason we hear so few sermons on John and why there are so few books on John, is that we are confused about him.
But we should not be confused because Jesus clearly tells us who John was:
“But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, but more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” Mat 11:9-10
Again, it is so important that we know who John was, and what his work was that this is stated in all 3 Synoptic Gospels; also see Mrk 1:2 and Luk 7:27.
These verses give us the key to understanding John’s transitional role: he is more than a prophet!
How is he more than a prophet? He is not just doing the work of a prophet, preaching etc, but as the transitional person, he lays hold on the Old and lays it aside, and ushers in the New; he was the announcer proclaiming the King and the Kingdom (the Kingdom of Heaven, NOT an earthly kingdom); his work was preparation for the new, external, preaching repentance, not the New Birth; if we understand those things, we will have a better understanding of his place and role in redemptive history.
He is unique!
26 April 2024