John the Baptist – a mighty prophet

In this festive season of 2017, I think it a good time to speak about one of my heroes. Little is found of him and his life. We know so few personal details, yet he is a man of inspiration to me.

His birth was a miraculous occasion where both his parents who were well advanced in their years and further, Elizabeth was barren, a terrible affliction for women in those days, in a society and time that desired to have children. (See Luke chapter 1, verses 5 to 7)

5 ¶ There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

We all well know the events of Zacharias’ feelings of incredulity and Gabriel’s stern sign to the simple priest, of being dumb (and deaf) until the birth of his son, to be named John.

In our modern day society which “elevates” the sanctity of life by discontinuing the practise of capital punishment. Further our society seeks to promote “freedom of choice” and allowing abortion, as an unborn foetus does not have any legal rights. The scriptures seem to indicate a different scenario when we consider the visit of Mary to her older cousin Elizabeth. When Mary greeted Elizabeth, the unborn John leapt in his mother’s womb. Elizabeth was immediately filled with the Holy Ghost and it was revealed to Elizabeth that Mary’s baby was to be the Son of God. There is a strong implication that the unborn foetus in the later stages of development has intelligence. (see Luke chapter 1, verses 39 to 44)

39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

Elizabeth’s term of pregnancy was completed and the babe was born. When his father Zacharias named him John in accordance with the instructions of the angel Gabriel, Zacharias’s tongue was loosed and he praised God while under the influence of the Holy Ghost. In his praising he foresees the role of his son serving the Son of God. (see Luke chapter 1, verses 76 and 77)

76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

Then verse 80 briefly mentions his growth and preparation for his mission

Then John commences his ministry to the House of Israel (see Matthew chapter 3, the first 6 verses)

1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

John seemed to attract great multitudes, of which many were baptised in the river Jordan as evidence of their repentance. We know that John was preparing men and women for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Then of course Jesus came to John to be baptised. There are some profound teaching moments contained in Matthew that I would like to point out (Matthew chapter 3, verses 13 to 17)

13 ¶ Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Firstly, we must remember that John was at the Jordan baptizing repentant sinners.
Secondly, when his half-cousin Jesus arrives to be baptized, John knows the identity of Jesus, namely that this is the Son of God. John’s ministry is to prepare the way for the Saviour. We have to believe that this famous prophet, John, is fully aware of his responsibilities towards the Saviour.
Thirdly, I believe that he knows that a vital component of his own ministry is to baptize the Saviour, but the purpose of baptizing the Saviour is not to be the same as for other men. Other men were baptized as a sign of their repentance from sin. Jesus is a sinless man who does not require baptism to cleanse himself from sin. So why baptism for the Son of God?
Fourthly, he must inform those watching from the river bank that Jesus is not being baptized for repentance from sin but rather another reason. So he enlightens his audience (see John chapter 1 verses 29 and 30)

29 ¶ The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

A bold proclamation from John stating that Jesus is the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world and also confirms the pre-eminence of Jesus

So the two master teachers engage each other for the benefit of their audience, remember that the way they teach is not in our plain manner of speech but rather what teaching methods the Jew is used to.

So when Jesus approaches John for baptism, John “forbids” him by saying that he (John) needs to be baptized of Jesus and asks why is Jesus coming to him for baptism? The Saviour answers by instructing John to perform the baptism to “fulfil all righteousness”. This “all righteousness” could imply that baptism is a ritual enacted to allow entrance into the Kingdom of God. To confirm my opinion we must look in the third chapter of John where Jesus is instructing Nicodemus.

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

So we can see that water baptism is one of two requirements for entrance into the Kingdom of God.

Now we realise that John had to tell his audience that Jesus is the Lamb of God and also that Jesus was not being baptised for repentance but Jesus was showing by perfect example that all who would want to enter the Kingdom of God must be baptised and that even he, the Son of God, must conform to the requirements of the Father. If John had not thus spoken, those watching would have assumed that this man Jesus was just another seeking repentance and baptism. Most importantly this was John's divinely appointed mission to testify of Jesus Christ and prepare the way for the Messiah, thus he taught his followers.

Then of course the baptism is performed and John sees the Holy Ghost descending upon Jesus in the form of a dove and hears the voice of the Father saying that Jesus is His beloved son in whom He is well pleased. This divine manifestation was evidence as promised by "he that sent me to baptize with water" (John 1:33)

So this is my first article about the life of a man who stands out in time; he never did a single miracle according to existing holy writ but he was a great prophet and a worthy forerunner of Jesus Christ.