The Importance of John the Baptist in Our Lives

Thank you. That was very nice music. Really enjoyed listening close as we are now here. We used to meet. We weren't able to see each other quite as well. It's such a nice way of having more of a family feel to these services. We covered last week a very important topic of the life of John the Baptist. Usually you don't hear too much about him, but there is so much to learn about his life and lessons and how they apply to our own lives today. Believe me, he's one of the most important personages that we could understand because he was very important to God. Maybe to mankind he's not that important, but to God and to Jesus Christ, who mentioned that there wasn't anyone born of a woman that was more greater than him. He was also called in Luke chapter 17, the greatest of the prophets. Certainly there were great prophets in the Old Testament, but John the Baptist was the greatest of these. Now that's hard to understand because John the Baptist didn't write any books in the Bible. Here we got books like Isaiah and Ezekiel with many chapters, and you don't regard John the Baptist as one of the apostles. And yet we're going to learn how important John the Baptist was to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, and he should be to us. So again, there's kind of a mystery involved here. The Bible many times hides certain spiritual meanings that we have to go in a little deeper to grasp. Last week we covered the early period of the life of John the Baptist, and this week we're going to cover the latter part. So I covered the first three points about the life, and I'm just going to briefly summarize those. First of all, John the Baptist was one of the three persons in the Bible that we are told had the Holy Spirit from his birth. You can read it in Luke chapter 1 verse 15. Jeremiah was one in the Old Testament that mentioned also that he was called from the time of his mother's womb, that he was already ordained to be a prophet of God even before he was born, and of course Jesus Christ. He had God's Spirit and without measure. The second point we covered last week was Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest person who ever lived. Maybe we thought it was Abraham or Moses, but it was because of the vital role that John the Baptist had in preparing the coming of the Messiah. Now God could have done it with trumpets, with angels, with the chief priests in Jerusalem. You know, he could have made a real big thing. Here is the messenger. No, he didn't.

This man was vilified. He was accused of being this hermit out in the desert. He wasn't respected very much at all, but he had a very important role to carry out. And then in the third point, we went into the background of John the Baptist's life.

Mark thought it was so important that he begins the gospel with, first of all, John the Baptist. So does Luke in the first chapter begin with John the Baptist.

John the Baptist had a pretty short ministry, if you want to look at it from the point of view of the years involved. Perhaps up to three years from what we know. And he spent quite a long time in prison. So you include that period in his ministry. And so it's ironic that after John the Baptist was killed, we're going to go into that today, and just a short while later, Jesus Christ was also killed. And here, you know, the greatest, the Messiah, the greatest who ever lived, Jesus Christ came. And then the second, probably, the most important person, they were all killed within maybe a period of two years or so. And we don't take much of that into account. So now we go to the fourth point, which is the spiritual implications of what John the Baptist did. It wasn't just a history. It wasn't just a personage. There were some spiritual implications that are so important. And so let's turn to John chapter 1. And I covered this in another message some time ago. John chapter 1, basically from verse 1 to verse 18, it's a message that is a revelation from God. It's something that you can talk about, like a message out of this world. Because it isn't just a historical narrative. It's talking about, like, somebody witnessing at the very beginning that here was God the Father, and because of who he would have later, in God the Word. And notice in John chapter 1.1, it says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now, how far back is that? Were there any human beings that were there? No! So this is something that only God knew. Even angels weren't there. They were created later. So God gives us the privilege to know what happened before the beginning of time, before the creation of the universe. And it mentions that there are these two spirit beings, and that, you know, they share that divinity. They share spirit, but they are individuals. They're not one being. It says, he was in the beginning with God.

And notice it said the Word was with God. The term means alongside. He wasn't inside.

He wasn't an extension. He was with God. When I sit next to my wife, she is with me. She's not part of me. This is the same description. It says, verse 2, he was in the beginning with God. So from everlasting, all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. So here we see the role that the Word had. He was the executor. Today we would call him like the chief executive officer. He's the one that carried out God the Father's commands.

God the Father did not execute that personally. He did it through the Word.

And then it goes on to say, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. So he was the life giver. He breathed life into Adam, into Eve, into all living creatures, because that's part of the creation. So it wasn't just creating the planets and suns. It was creating life here on earth. In him was life, and life was the light of men. So he brought light. He's a creator of light, and also spiritual light he's talking about. He brings truth to men. Verse 5, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend or understand it. So when he came, people did not understand that spiritual light that he brought. And how was that light brought? Next verse. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. So here we're going into this remote past, and this word that came, and it says, but before he came, God sent John. That word sent is the same verb that has to do with sending out as a mission, just like the apostles are the sent out ones for an official fulfilling of orders, carrying them out. Here is a man that was prepared by God and sent out. It says, verse 7, this man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. So here's his role. See, it's not talking about so much the person as the mission. You know, no Old Testament prophet had a mission like this. No New Testament person had it. You are being sent, and you are going to do two things. Through your life, you're going to be a witness to mankind, and secondly, you're going to be a witness that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. So he had two roles. First was his life had to be such that it was unquestionably godly, faithful, so he didn't interact much with society as such.

The world then, as it is now, today is worse, but we had a corrupt priesthood in Jerusalem. We had a Roman system in charge where bribery and all kinds of crimes were committed, and they had the boot of a police state on top of them. And so, God prepared this man so he would come out of the wilderness and be able to preach the truth of God straight in the eyes of the people. There was no compromising. There was no changing that message. And then he goes on to say, this man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. So he had the truth. If people would have followed John the Baptist faithfully, they would have accepted the Messiah. There was nothing wrong with his witness. It was just the darkness of men that did not allow that light to shine in them. He goes on to say, verse 8, he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Very important because some consider John the Baptist such a great prophet, such a holy man, that they thought he was the Messiah. And there were followers of John the Baptist all through the New Testament. And as you remember, the Apostle Paul ran into a couple. They were out there. They were disciples of John the Baptist. They hadn't heard about Jesus Christ and had to be rebaptized into the name of Christ. But from the history of those first centuries, there were people that still followed John the Baptist. You still have historians talk about in the year 250 AD that there were still followers of John the Baptist. He made that big of an impact. And so John the Apostle wants to clear up. Yes, he was a great man. Yes, he came from God. Yes, he was a righteous man, but he was not the light. He was not the Messiah. So he makes that very important.

And then he goes on to say, verse 9, that was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world, talking about Jesus Christ. And then it goes on and he says, talking about Christ, he was in the world and the world was made through him. He repeats that. The creator of all things by following God the Father's commands and carrying him out. And the world did not know him. He came to his own, talking about the Jewish people, and his own did not receive him. But the cow continues on in verse 19 with John the Baptist. So he goes in and he talks about the light and who that light was that was Jesus Christ, not John the Baptist. And then John returns to explain the mission of John the Baptist. In verse 19, now this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? So here the Sanhedrin, you know, sent representatives because they saw the popularity. People were changing their lives and they wanted to know, who are you? Where did you get your authority from? They asked Jesus Christ the same question later on.

Verse 20, he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. See, John never took upon himself that, oh yes, I'm this great prophet and people should follow me. So he was humble. He knew his role. He was there to prepare the way. He was not the Messiah.

And then he goes on to say, and they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah?

The prophet? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And he answered, no. The prophet, similar to Moses, that said that someone would come later like him. Then they said to him, who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? And he said, and here he quoted Isaiah, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? They're still trying to say, oh, you must be this very special person. And he's saying, no, I'm just preparing the way. He humbly accepted his role.

John answered them, saying, I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know. So he says, there is the Messiah has arrived, and you do not recognize him. In verse 27, it is he who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandals, sandal strap, I am not worthy to lose. These things were done in Beth-Barah, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptized. Now, in verse 27, where it says, it is he who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to lose. And other translations bring out there. The Greek is saying, he existed before I was born. He says this one, he's coming after me, but he was before me. Let me read to you the English majority text version. It says, he is the one who comes after me, who has come to be before me, of whom I am not worthy that I should lose the strap of his sandal. And I think I brought that out that the most menial task for a slave in those days was to take off the sandals and to wash a person's dirty feet. But John the Baptist did not consider himself even worthy of doing that with the Messiah. In verse 30, it brings out this same verse. It's repeated. He says, this is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.

Again, like the Passion Translations others bring out, he says, I told you that a mighty one would come who is far greater than I am because he existed long before I was born. So again, bringing back the message, the Word has arrived. He existed forever. And so, John as a witness is not just witnessing to Christ as a person. He's saying, this is God in the flesh. He is walking among you. He is before me. He existed before me. And so, that's why this testimony is so important.

Notice in verse 29, it says, the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So he recognized, just like in Isaiah 52 and 53, that this was the suffering servant that would come and give his life for the sins of the world. Verse 30, I read that. Verse 31, he says, I did not know him. And they were cousins because Mary was related to the mother of John, as Luke brings out. But John never really had an interaction until Jesus began his ministry. So he says, This is he that I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water. So, baptism of water was a preparation to reveal the Messiah. And that's the way God did it. He goes on to say, and John bore witness saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove. And it should say, it remained upon him. The King James translation has it correctly.

I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. That was John the Baptist's mission. To point and say, this is the man. This is he who you should follow. I'm preparing the way. Just like Isaiah mentioned, just like in Malachi 3.1, it says that I will send my messenger before that time of the appearance of the Messiah. And as a result of that, some of John's disciples went and started following Christ as it's brought out in the next verse, verse 35. Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God. So he's saying he is the Messiah. He is the one sent from God. He's going to be like a lamb. He's going to sacrifice just like it was prophesied for the forgiveness of sins. And this is brought out by a gentleman before services. He asked me about this idea that some have that Christ supposedly did away with the law and things like that. And he asked, he said, Why do people say this? Well, it is because they don't understand Christ came to do away with the sins of the breaking of the law. That's where we get our forgiveness from. But you don't become a lawbreaker after that. Just like with a traffic fine that you have, somebody comes and he pays for your fine. That doesn't mean you can disobey all the traffic laws because you're going to have chaos. You're not going to be able to live normally. If you start breaking the commandments of God, the Ten Commandments, then you can have liars, you can have thieves, you can have murderers, you can have all kinds of people, and they're going to say, Well, there's no more law, so you can't find me, you can't penalize me. That is a completely wrong way to look at things. And so these two disciples, when they heard John the Baptist point to Jesus Christ, it says that two disciples, verse 37, heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Now, they basically made the decision at that time, if this is the Messiah, John was preparing for this, we must break our bonds, which is not easy to do as a disciple, and follow another. And that's exactly what they did. Then Jesus turned and seeing them following, said to them, What do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi, which is to say, when translated teacher, Where are you staying? We are following you. Where are we going to stay?

He said to them, Come and see. They came and saw where he was staying, and remained with him that day. Now, it was about the tenth hour. Now, how would you know that? That it was a tenth hour? You know why? Because all indications are John the Apostle was one of those two first disciples.

And notice, he always focuses on the others. He doesn't focus on himself. And verse 40, one of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which is translated to Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. Now, when Jesus looked at him, he said, You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which is translated a stone. And the other one, he doesn't identify. Just like in the rest of the epistle or the rest of the gospel, he's always deferring. He says the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who followed, the one that was with Peter, because he just said, I don't want to draw attention to myself because he could have said, Well, here I am, John, and I'm writing to you. And guess what? I'm one of the two. I was the disciple of John the Baptist, and now I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. Isn't that typical human being? But no, he didn't even want to name himself. That's the humility involved. And he was known as the Apostle of Love, and he just exuded that and Jesus Christ to recognize that type of love and got quite that intimate relationship and friendship with John. But you see this throughout this gospel. John will just not bring his name to focus like the limelight. That is so against human nature, isn't it?

So this brings out the spiritual implications of what we're talking about here. You know, the Savior came, and who prepared the way? How God used this man, he could have used a whole team of people. He could have used very eloquent. He could have used miracles. John says John the Baptist didn't make one miracle. He didn't do one miracle.

The way God is, it's his strange and mysterious work. He always works with a mustard seed, something so tiny, but then it grows and becomes the largest of the trees or big bushes, whatever you want to call it. That is the importance of John the Baptist. Now we come to the fifth point, the powerful testimony of John's life and death. Because he didn't have much longer to do his ministry. Notice in John chapter 3 and verse 22. John chapter 3 and verse 22. It says, After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he remained with them and baptized. Now John, talking about John the Baptist, also was baptizing in Enon near Salim because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. They came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him. So it started out with a trickle. Just a few disciples here and there, but pretty soon Jesus had a larger following than John the Baptist. Of course, Jesus was doing miracles, and he was just impressing people. But what did John do? Did he feel a certain amount of resentment? Did he feel that somebody was upstaging him? He wasn't as important as he had been before? Notice his humility. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. John received a certain commission. He's carrying it out, but he knew someone greater was going to come. He humbly accepted that. He says, You yourselves bear me witness 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, John the Baptist, was comparing himself to the friend of the bridegroom, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. So he's recognizing this. He never had a problem accepting and giving way to what Jesus Christ was carrying out. And shortly after that, he would be arrested. Notice in Matthew 11, verses 1-6, Matthew 11, verses 1-6.

He says, Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding his twelve disciples, that he departed from there to teach and to preach in the cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, Are you the coming one or do we look for another? So here, John the Baptist was shocked. He had a lot to carry out.

He thought he would continue to prepare the way. And God said, It's enough. You have done your part. And John started wondering, Well, I thought the Messiah was going to come, and he was going to bring this glorious period upon Israel, and he was going to overthrow the Romans and establish the kingdom of God. That was what most people believed at that time. And so he said, Well, here I am in prison. And Jesus doesn't seem to be overthrowing anything for the time being.

What's going on? And Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things which you hear and see, the blind see and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me. And so in a subtle way, he replied to John, God knows what he is doing. And this is what I'm carrying out, the mission that I'm carrying out.

And with that, John said, He is the one that is the boss. I will yield to him. I will just have to humbly accept. But of course, he was confused. At that time, even Christ's disciples didn't really understand that he was not going to conquer at that time all of Israel and free it from the Roman rule. Let's go on to Matthew 14. Here it relates the death of John the Baptist. Matthew 14 verse 1. It says, at that time, Herod the tetrarch, this is Antipas, heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, this is John the Baptist.

He has risen from the dead and therefore these powers are at work for him. For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and because John had said to him, it is not lawful for you to have her. And here, some of Herod's sons, one Philip had a wife and he lived in Rome. At the time, Herod and Tipas was married to a princess of the Edomians, which were the ones that were in the eastern part there.

And she was of royal blood and everything, but on a trip to Rome, all of a sudden, Herod and Tipas fell in love with Philip's wife. And what did they do? They started living together. They plotted to divorce their own mates so they could marry. And here was this governor of that area, a Jew that was supposed to follow the laws of God that was flagrantly violating the rules that were in place.

And so, John the Baptist had said, you know, this is not lawful. He got involved in the politics of that day. And everybody knew this was wrong. He had the guts to tell the people. And so, it goes on to say, and although he wanted, talking about Herod, to put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.

Therefore, he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So, she, having been promoted by her, prompted by her mother, said, give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter. And the king was sorry. Nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he didn't want to embarrass himself. And back out of his word, he commanded it to be given to him. So, he sent and had John beheaded in prison.

And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl. And she brought it to her mother. Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it and went and told Jesus. It's interesting that there's a quote by Josephus in his book Antiquities of the Jews that mentions the death of John the Baptist. And so, of course, Josephus was not a Christian. He was part of the Jewish elite. He had been a rabbi and a teacher and, you know, military commander and all of this.

But he recognized in Jewish history, at that time, you have to talk about John the Baptist. So, here we have this outside source. And I'd like to read it, this quote from Antiquities of the Jews, book 18, paragraph 116 or section 116. It says, Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God as a just punishment of what Herod had done against John, who was called the Baptist. What happened? That remember the wife that was spurned, that was a princess? Her father got an army together and they fought against Herod and defeated him. And so this is what is part of Jewish history. It says, For Herod had killed this good man, who had commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, righteousness toward one another, and piety toward God. For only thus, in John's opinion, would the baptism he administered be acceptable to God. Namely, they used it to obtain not pardon for some sins, but rather the cleansing of their bodies inasmuch as it was taken for granted that their souls had already been purified by justice. Now that's an opinion of what Josephus believed, but it wasn't about purification there because they, you know, he was on the Jewish side. They believed in the ritual purification, but not the forgiveness of sins. But you read in the Gospels, it was about forgiveness of sins. And it says, Now many people came in crowds to him, for they were greatly moved by his words. Herod, who feared that the great influence John had over the masses, might put them into his power and enable him to raise a rebellion. For they seemed ready to do anything he should advise, thought it best to put him to death. In this way, he might prevent any mischief John might cause and not bring himself into difficulties by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly, John was sent as a prisoner out of Herod's suspicious temper to Maceris, the castle I already mentioned, and was put to death. Now the Jews thought that the destruction of his army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure with him. So here we have a secular source talking about the same thing that we read in the Bible. And I'd like to now go into the importance for God's work today. Matthew 17 and verse 9.

Matthew 17 verse 9.

Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. So that was in the transfiguration where he gave them a glimpse of how it would be his coming in the kingdom. He just showed them a vision. It wasn't something a reality. And then it says, and his disciples asked him, saying, why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Jesus answered and said to them, indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already. And they did not know him, but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist. So just like there was an Elijah that prepared the way for that first coming of Christ, we also have a work of Elijah before the second coming of Christ. And brethren, we are part of that work of Elijah. We don't think it's something exclusive. God knows the hearts. He knows, but we are part of that work of Elijah before the second coming of Christ. And that's the importance of John the Baptist, because now we are carrying out that mission. We are preparing a people to be ready for that second coming of Jesus Christ. And all of you are part of that work.

And just like John the Baptist thought that, who are we? In the midst of all of this sea of mankind, John the Baptist thought the same thing. Who am I? And yet he fulfilled his role. He carried it out. We are that little mustard seed in this world. And again, we're not exclusive. God knows the hearts of everybody. Let's not all think that, oh, we are the only group. No, but we do believe we are part of that body of Christ. And there is a work to carry, be carried out. And that takes us to the importance for us today of the life of John the Baptist.

First thing about John the Baptist that we should follow and copy was his faithfulness. He was not called to an easy life. He was a Nazarite. He had that Nazarite vow from birth. You know, he never tasted wine. He didn't have an easy life. Even as a young boy, as a teenager, he was probably feeling pretty much out of sorts. But he was preparing himself. And he could not be contaminated by a corrupt society. He had to be ready for that moment of witnessing when God called him. And he was around also, what, 28, 29 years of age when he started his ministry. And secondly, was John the Baptist's courage. He could have kept quiet. He could have just talked about religious things. He wouldn't have gotten in trouble with Herod. But just like us, in our message, we have to proclaim God's holy law, His commandments, what it's like. And we are telling the world, look, you are headed in the wrong direction.

And we tell it like it is. We're not afraid to suffer persecution for what we preach.

God calls His work as strange and mysterious work. Isaiah 28, verse 21, like a mustard seed.

Yet, John successfully carried out his mission. He fulfilled God's will.

Jesus said he was the greatest of the persons, maybe not before men, but before God. He received God's gold medal of approval, the seal of approval. John probably never knew it. He probably thought, here I am in a cell, and I'm the one that's God prepared all this time. His job was done. We don't know how long we have, but we continue doing God's work while we have the strength and life. The life of John the Baptist should be very encouraging to all of us. Let's do our job to the best of our ability. It might not seem very much to men, but isn't it important if it is to God? So let's remember John the Baptist's life and the lessons that he left for all of us.