Title: John the Baptist
Reading Isaiah 35v1-10, Matthew 11v2-11Greatest Ever OT Human?
Who is the greatest person in the Old
Testament? Who would you pick: Abraham, because God made the
original covenant with him;
Moses, because he lead the Israelites out of slavery;
Elijah, because he was the greatest prophet;
Moses, because he lead the Israelites out of slavery;
Elijah, because he was the greatest prophet;
David, because he was the greatest
King?
It’s JtB
The list goes on, there are any
number of people to choose from. But Jesus chose John the Baptist,
there it is in verse 11 “I tell you the truth: Among those born of
women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist”.
Why is that? What is it that is SO special about John?
JtB – the story so far
Let’s have a quick reminder of
John’s life so far. John is Jesus’s cousin and he is a little
older than Jesus. He was a prophet, calling Israel to repentance.
He went out into the desert, he lived on locusts and honey, which he
found locally, and he was a celebrity in Jerusalem and the
surrounding area. Many people went into the dessert to hear him
preach and to be baptised, a symbol of their returning to God.
Expecting the Messiah
John expected a messiah. When
questioned by the Pharisees in John chapter 1 he said “I baptize
with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one
who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to
untie.”
He was, of course, referring to
Jesus. The apostle John goes on to say (verse 29-31)
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 the one I meant when I said, ‘A man
who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I
myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water
was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
Herod and John
King Herod was fascinated by John,
and wanted to hear him preach, but the message Herod got was not one
that he was prepared to hear. John criticized him for divorcing his
wife and marrying Herodias, his cousin’s wife. So Herod put John
in jail.
1 Year Later
Today’s reading is thought to be
set about a year after that. John has been imprisoned in the
fortress of Machaerus, East of Dead Sea. He is hearing what is going
on in the world outside from his disciples.
Not what is expected
What John was hearing, though, is not
what John was expecting to hear. Look at the OT reading.
(v4) “Be strong, do not
fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine
retribution he will come to save you.” Then will the eyes of the
blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the
lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
That’s what John was expecting.
Along with the miracles, there should be some vengeance, some divine
retribution, but none of that was happening – nor was there any
sign that it might. So, perhaps it is not surprising that Johns was
beginning to wonder if he had identified the wrong person as the
Messiah.
You, or someone else?
His disciples come to Jesus and ask
the question. The answer they get is “The blind receive sight, the
lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead
are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”
John’s Status
You may think it is not much of an
answer, and that it leaves more questions than it answers, but it
should be good enough for John to know that he correctly identified
the messiah.
Jesus realises though that the crowd
around Him might not understand what has been said, and might not
understand John’s status, so He starts the process of confirming
that John is indeed the one calling in the desert – and more.
A reed
Many of crowd that followed Jesus,
will also have been out into the desert to see John, so He asks them,
“What did you go to see?” “A reed swayed in the wind?”
“Someone who can’t make up their mind? Someone whose beliefs are
changed by the circumstances around them? - That would not be John,
he may have misunderstood, but he is not a doubter.
Fine Clothes
Not a reed then, so what did you go
out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, fine clothes are for
people in King's palaces. Jesus is having a dig at Herod for
putting John in prison. You won’t find those people in the desert
preaching repentance.
A prophet, a messenger
So, what did you go out to see? A
prophet then, Yes, most definitely a prophet. There had not been a
prophet in Israel for four hundred years before John and he was also
prophesied.
Malachi 3:1 “See, I will
send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly
the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of
the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.
John is that prophet, that messenger
who makes the people ready for Jesus, but it is not that specifically
that makes John Jesus’ choice for the greatest OT person.
What is a prophet?
To answer the question “Why is
John, Jesus’ choice?” we have to understand the nature of a
prophet. A prophet is a person who speaks God’s truth to others.
Jesus is God’s truth, He said so himself. John 14:6, has Jesus
saying one of the best known of His quotes: “I am the way the
truth and the life”
OT Prophet
Prophets is the OT spoke about Jesus,
but they did it vaguely, in our OT reading this morning Isaiah simply
says “Your God will come”. Malachi says “the Lord you are
seeking will come to his temple”. There is nothing really specific
– a little where, but no when or who.
JtB
John the baptist, on the other hand
was able to say “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world!”. He gave his hearers a very specific where, when and
who. He also describes Jesus’ mission – and provided some of the
what.
This is what makes John the Baptist
the greatest Old Testament character, because he speaks about God’s
truth (that’s Jesus) more clearly, more precisely than any of the
others.
The least in the kingdom of heaven
The least in the kingdom of heaven
(that’s us) are greater than John because we can speak God’s
truth in a whole lot more detail. We know who Jesus was as a person
on earth, we know who He is as we are all connected to Him by the
Holy Spirit, and we know how He takes away the sin of the world. We
know that He died so that we can be put right with God, and we know
that he rose from the dead as proof of who he is. We have the where,
when, who, what and how. So when we speak God’s truth, we can give
a clear, if not quite a perfect picture to our hearers.
As His followers or disciples, that
is our purpose – to speak the truth of God to other people. You
might know that better as talking to people about Jesus.
What a privilege it is to be greater
than the prophets!
Amen
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