"Are You the One to Come?"
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.
And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ ”
And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.
But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’
For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.
But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.
And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?
They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
But wisdom is justified by all her children.”
The most important question you can ask is, “Who is Jesus.” For Jesus’ identity is the key to eternal life. If he is the Messiah, the Son of God, then he has the authority and ability to forgive sins. It’s because of who he is that he can save. Now imagine living while Jesus was alive. You can go find him; he looks just like any other human, because he is fully human. He laughs, he weeps, he gets tired; he needs to eat; he gets frustrated. And yet, this man, we know, is God in the flesh; his hands formed the stars and the sea. He alone can heal the breach between God and man caused by our sin. So getting this question right is the most important thing you can ask. Who is Jesus?
And it is just this question that the disciples ask; when they do, they encapsulate the whole idea of this section. It’s the reason for the first part; but the last part is all about John the Baptist and why he was so great. But why was John the Baptist so great? It’s because of who he announced. He was the forerunner of the Messiah; his message was - prepare yourself, for Jesus is coming. Since Jesus returned to heaven after his resurrection, that same imperative still rings today. Prepare yourself, Jesus is still coming; we still do not know when.
I. But . . . Didn’t he know already?
I. But . . . Didn’t he know already?
The strangest thing about this question is that it would seem like John already knew the answer to his own question. he had preached that Jesus was the coming one already.
John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! 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 that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
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.”
And 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!”
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’
II. So Why the Doubt?
II. So Why the Doubt?
John had been preaching that this exact man was the Christ, the one who would come baptizing with the Holy Spirit and with Fire. He was unambiguous and bold about it, yet here he seems curiously out of character; no longer certain of his primary message. What’s going on?
John taught that the Messiah would come in Judgment
John taught that the Messiah would come in Judgment
Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Jesus did not Come to Judge
Jesus did not Come to Judge
John 3:17; 5:45; 8:15; 12:47
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.
You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
III. What was the Solution to John’s Question?
III. What was the Solution to John’s Question?
John knew what, not when. Jesus will judge the world; it just wasn’t time to do that yet.
For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
IV. How did Jesus prove himself?
IV. How did Jesus prove himself?
It may not seem so to us sitting here thousands of years later, but Jesus had a delicate balancing act to follow. To go around saying that he is the coming King who will judge the world was seditious behavior in the eyes of the Romans, so saying openly that he is the Messiah was an excellent way of ending up very dead. Furthermore, the Messianic fervor that the people had made it difficult to actually communicate anything about what his Messiahship actually meant. People would get too excited and end up not actually listening to what Jesus wanted done. For both reasons he can’t just say, “I’m the Messiah;” yet, that’s exactly what he needs to communicate.
To prove to John who he is without causing damage to his ministry, he begins simply to act to heal people, then to explain to John’s disciples in terms John certainly would understand. The bottom line is that his defense was that his miracles proved who he was. Only a man empowered by God could make the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk; but Jesus particularly chose language that alluded to the Messiah. John as a prophet would certainly have caught the allusion.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.
Jesus other point is about a blessing on those who are not offended. Now Jesus isn’t talking about the kind of offense we normally think of - “He said mean things about me and now I’m mad.” rather, this kind of offense is about being disillusioned about Jesus and his way of life. For example, in the parable of the soils, the one on shallow ground stumbles when persecution arises Matt 13:20-21
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
In other words, he is asking John to understand Jesus’ mission more deeply and therefore to continue believing that what John prophesied about Jesus will come true to the letter, just not in the time-frame that John was expecting.
V. Why did the Crowds go to see John the Baptist?
V. Why did the Crowds go to see John the Baptist?
After John’s disciples left with their message, Jesus begins to talk up John the Baptist. His main point is that John is the greatest prophet of all time, and indeed, he is more than a prophet. But he begins with a simpler question - why did the crowds flock to him?
Well, they had to have some reason. They didn’t just go to see the wind blow. Did they go because of John the Baptist’s professional, polished appearance? If they wanted that, they would have gone to the king’s courts. Of course, John’s appearance was rough. He wore camel-hair robes with a simple leather belt, and he ate locusts and wild honey. Whatever else was going on, it certainly wasn’t a fashion show.
Now John’s appearance would have suggested to them the old prophets - the hairy garment and leather belt. Matt 3:4; 2 Kings 1:8; Zech 13:4
Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
So they answered him, “A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
“And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive.
The Crowds got the point of John’s attire - John was proclaiming that he carried the same authority as the old prophets.
Because he was more than a prophet
Because he was more than a prophet
“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.
John was the one sent by God to prepare the way for God to come. A prophet can only preach - the messenger is actually doing stuff.
Because he is the greatest prophet of all time
Because he is the greatest prophet of all time
So, what makes someone great? That’s an easily debatable question. So let’s ask a simpler one. What makes someone great at, say sports? Its impossible to ever finally answer the question who was the greatest athlete ever. but whatever he is, it should be obvious that we are looking for the most physically capable person in that sport. He can accomplish the goal of that sport better than anyone else. Let’s keep going. What’s the greatest scholar of all time? Again, too hard to answer, but what we are looking for is obvious enough - the person who contributed intellectual ideas with the most importance for society. And we could trace similar things for other professions - the greatest of them is the one who can accomplish the point of that profession better than anyone else
But how do we measure the stature of a prophet? We don’t measure it by the number of people he influenced. Some of the greatest prophets who ever lived were largely hated and ignored in their lifetime. We don’t measure it by the greatness of their oratory, after all, the false prophets knew how to make a presentation that people liked to hear. So how to measure the greatness of a prophet? Well a prophet is anyone who speaks for God. His message is whatever God tells him to say at the time. In one sense, it’s a really simple job. Just tell people what God wants them to know. But in another sense its a really hard job, because God often wants the prophet to tell people hard and unpleasant things, things that people will hate him for saying. but if that’s the job, then how does one become a greater prophet? The purpose of God’s messages was to draw people to himself, to convict them of sin. It’s really the same purpose as a preacher, but while the preacher creates his message by following what the prophets have said, the prophet just tells people God’s message. So the greatest prophet of all time doesn’t have anything to do with skill, but with the importance of the message they are privileged to deliver.
John’s message was the most important message a prophet could ever deliver - it’s that the Messiah is almost here, so make yourself ready. that’s what made him the greatest prophet of all time.
You can be greater than John?!?
You can be greater than John?!?
And yet, Jesus declared that the “least in the Kingdom of heaven” is greater than John the Baptist. How is this possible? the least in the Kingdom would have to be the Christian who barely made it because he wasted his entire life and confessed Jesus on his deathbed. Such a person would indeed be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but how on earth could such a person be greater than John the Baptist?
To start with, remember that John the Baptist will be in heaven too, and he certainly won’t be the least. So Jesus isn’t saying that you as a Christian are right now greater than John. He’s saying something else. He is saying that everyone in the Kingdom of Heaven will enjoy greater privilege than John did. John’s privilege was to proclaim that the King is almost here. Our privilege will be to actually serve the King. It’s clearly better to actually do something than to announce that the same something is almost ready. I welcome someone who tells me dinner is ready, but it’s way better to actually eat dinner. In other words, the significance of each person in the Kingdom is greater than John because they will actually have a role to play. We don’t just strum a harp all day, there’s stuff to do, important stuff. And because that “stuff” means actually having a part in doing the very thing that John announced, no matter how small your role, it’s definitely greater than being the one who announces it’s nearly here.
VI. Who wasn’t Happy with the Message?
VI. Who wasn’t Happy with the Message?
We first get a summary of what the crowds thought - they “justified God” - that means they recognized that Jesus was right, and therefore that God was right in sending John and Jesus. They did this because they had been baptized by John. So most people, it seems, accepted Jesus’ words as true. The exception was the Pharisees and lawyers. They rejected John’s message, and therefore they rejected the will of God. This also means they rejected Jesus.
So it seems that Jesus’ ire is directed against those who were rejecting him, rather than all of the crowds. He complains it’s a bit like children, and the idea is that the kids are trying to play some kind of game. “Do you want to dance and be happy?” “No, I don’t feel like it.” “OK, how about playing a funeral?” “No I don’t feel like doing that either.” In other words, no matter what the kids came up with, the party poopers wouldn’t play.
Jesus and John had the same problem. John came with the spartan lifestyle of the old prophets, and the religious leaders complained that he must “have a demon.” Jesus, therefore did not dress like an old prophet, just like a regular guy, eating with normal people. So they accused Jesus of being gluttonous and a drunkard, and someone who liked to hang out with bad people. Clearly what’s going on is that the religious leaders simply didn’t want God’s message, so they came up with any excuse they could think of why God’s messengers weren’t good people.
So what’s the answer to these unreasonable people? Wisdom is justified in her children, meaning, true wisdom will eventually be seen for what it is, and those who have true wisdom will be seen to be wise. Jesus is saying that both himself and John are wise, and will be vindicated eventually, so you’d better get with the program.