John the Baptist

Through the eyes of John the Baptist

Intro

Good Morning Church

I hope everyone had great Christmas celebrations!!

Welcome to any visitors, I’m Tony

Today is December 29th, which is crazy, meaning, this is our last sermon and gathering this year??

It’s almost 2025, not sure if you are a New Year’s resolution type of person,

but incorporating some new spiritual disciplines or practices is always a good idea

In the New Year pastor Jon will be preaching about prayer and fasting, so I’m just saying ...

As for today, I’ve been asked to close out our sermon series, That They Might See

And our subject is John the Baptist, Jesus through the eyes of John the Baptist

It’s Christmastime, so we’ve looked at Jesus’ birth story and how others viewed His coming, and the role they played in it.

Everyone was an adult for Jesus’ birth, Mary in her mid-teens we’ll say, which was adult enough to have children then

But at the time of Jesus’ birth, John was just a baby himself, preceeding Him by only 6 months in life

And yet, John was no ordinary baby,

we may not see him in the nativity scene

Anyone who’s been around Christianity knows John was a unique individual and had an essential role to play in the story of Christ

In fact, he’s so important that prophets like Isaiah and Malachi prophecy about John and all 4 gospels write about him

2 of the Gospels, Mark and Luke, basically begin their version of the good news about Jesus Christ, with John the Baptist,

Luke does so with his birth story, which we’ll look at first,

Mark starts with Malachi and Isaiah’s prophecies about the messenger who will precede the Messiah and then he goes right into John’s ministry

Even the gospel of John, the disciple, not the Baptist, but even in John’s gospel,

with his amazing, poetic and transcendent introduction about Jesus as the eternal God,

he intrudes on this intro with what must have been

the necessary mention of John the Baptist

That’s how great a figure John was.

In their minds, you can’t begin to tell the story of Jesus, without telling the story of John the Baptist as well,

So, today we’ll look at his birth story, then his ministry, and finally, we’ll finish up looking at his last days

Before we get started, Let me pray

Father

Holy Spirit

Jesus

Amen

We’ll be starting in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 1, verse 13 if you want to turn there now

I’ll give you a heads up, we are going to move a couple of times, so there’s gonna be some page turning, not too much though

So, let’s go there now, Luke chapter 1, verse 13

Body section 1

In the preceeding verses we’re told that Zechariah is a priest and he and his wife Elizabeth are from the line of Aaron

We’re also told that both he and his wife are righteous before God, living blamelessly,

but they had no children and they were well advanced in years

Zachariah, though, has won the priestly lottery,

This is his once in a lifetime chance to enter the inner sanctum of the temple and burn incense, which represented the prayers of the people going up to God

It is in this place and at this time where the angel Gabriel shows up and speaks to Zechariah

Now I’ll say this, Gabriel has been named at his appearing only 3 times in the whole Bible

Once to Daniel in the OT

Here to Zechariah, and then to Mary

We assume it was Gabriel who appeared to Joseph, but that was in a dream, and he’s not named.

All that to say, Gabriel’s appearing is a big deal, the news he brings is directly from God he says

Let’s pick up the story in verse 13

READ LUKE 1:13-17 IN BIBLE

Luke 1:13–17 ESV

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

“Don’t be afraid, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son”

It’s doubtful, that in this moment, Zechariah is praying For a son.

Let’s be honest, they are both well advanced in years, I’m betting that they abandoned that prayer long ago

but that doesn’t mean their fervent prayers for a son weren’t heard by God

His silence all those years, I’m sure felt like a no, but was actually a not yet,

Another reminder we don’t know the ways of God and what He might be doing

Here, I think it’s safer to assume, Zechariah was more than likely praying for the Messiah to come

To deliver them from Roman oppression, and usher in the Kingdom of God

Without knowing, his two prayers were intricately woven together

Gabriel says, “Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John”.

This is significant, again, Gabriel is delivering God’s message

So it’s God who wants this boy to be named John, Why?

We lose something when the names get translated out of the original Hebrew

To us the name is just John,

But in Hebrew, his name is “Yochanan” which means, God is gracious,

This is like Jesus’ name, in Hebrew it’s Yehoshua, which means God is salvation,

Jesus is God and He’s come to bring salvation to the world

So, as John comes, he’s reminding the people that God’s grace has finally come upon them as he ushers in the Messiah’s coming

Now, Gabriel gives some more details about John

“He must not drink wine or strong drink”, most believe this is part of the Nazarite vow, a setting apart for the unique purposes of God

Gabriel says more

That John will be great before the Lord, some of what makes him great is the role he played

Some is how he played the role, which I’ll talk about in a bit

And that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even in the womb

This is a first, others have been filled with the Holy Spirit,

but we are not told of anyone else being filled with the Spirit pre-birth

John’s special

Gabriel also says that John is to go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, he’s to be like Elijah

Turning people back to the Lord Gabriel says,

This reminds me of Elijah’s showdown on Mt Carmel, where he calls people to turn back to God after he defeats the prophets of Baal

Ultimately, John’s main purpose was to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord”

To prepare the way of the Lord, to go before Him, and announce His coming

A couple of years ago I went to Cuba for work,

and I was in Havana, the capital city

We were being driven around this beautiful but rundown city,

And then the driver made a turn onto a street which was paved and smooth

And the buildings and townhomes had been cleaned and painted,

and all the visible power lines were gone

Which was not the case with the street we just turned off of

As we drove further, we then made another turn, back on to the normal worn and bumpy streets

with the rundown buildings and visible power lines

So I asked about it, why that one road was different from the rest

I was told that they had fixed up certain areas and roads on the preplanned route that President Obama was driven on when he had visited

They got it ready for his coming, and I’m sure they prepared the people as well.

It was no different back then,

when Kings were going to be visiting a city, a forerunner would precede them

Announcing his coming and giving them notice to get ready

Even though Jesus won’t be noticed as a King at the onset of His ministry,

God knows He is, and He’ll be sending John to announce His coming

pause

Let’s turn a page or two, still in Luke 1, go to verse 76

Now at first Zechariah doubts the possibility of having this son

But Elizabeth did get pregnant, and she did bear a son, and they did name him John

And after his birth, Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit

And he prophesied, first about the Messiah, and then in verse 76, he shifts to John

READ Luke 1:76-80 IN BIBLE HIGHLIGHT AS YOU READ

Luke 1:76–80 ESV

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

the prophet of the Most High

who will go before the Lord to prepare His way

John will give knowledge of salvation, he can’t bring salvation,

but only give understanding that it comes through forgiveness of sins,

and it comes because of God’s tender mercy, because God is gracious

He was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearing

This is where Mark begins, and you don’t have to turn there, it’ll be on the screen (Mark 1:1-8)

Mark 1:1–8 ESV

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Heading before chapter 1 verse 1, John the Baptist Prepares the Way, given to us by the ESV translators, but

Mark is saying the ministry of Jesus Christ or Messiah, the Son of God,

That Good News, begins with the ministry of John

Matthew gives us some more details of John’s ministry

Again you don’t have to turn there, this too will be on the screen

Matthew 3, verses 1-6 are similar to what we just read in Mark

So we’ll pick it up in verse 7 reading through 12

Matthew 3:7–12 ESV

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Yikes, this is harsh, this is confrontational, this is bold,

This is truth, and this too is God’s graciousness to them

How will they know if they are not told

So John comes calling people to repent and be baptized

Repentance is sometimes seen as negative, but the Bible tells us that it’s a gift from God,

Acts 11:18 ESV

When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

2 Timothy 2:25–26 ESV

correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Repentance isn’t just turning away from your wickedness, because it’s the right thing to do

Repent is metanoia, change of mind

It’s seeing and experiencing God’s mercy, His grace that leads us to change our mind and want to get right with God

The underlying Hebrew concept is to have a change of heart

The change of mind and heart cause the turning, to God and away from sin, both turns must happen if this is real

Shown by a gratefulness and a new desire to walk with God and to live for God

Baptism was a living metaphor of purification with water, but not just their hands

But being immersed in order to have a total body cleansing,

Purified in the mind, heart and body of the life pattern of sin that plagues mankind

John, God is gracious,

brings this gift of repentance and baptism from God to the people, to all the people, so they might be ready for the Lord’s coming

Part 2 What is greatness

Earlier we heard that John would be great before the Lord

What really is Greatness?

I want you to be honest,

when you think of someone you consider great, who do you think of?

Is it an entertainer, an athlete, someone super wealthy

That’s worldly greatness

Pastor John preached last Sunday about King Herod, the great

It’s worth noting he wasn’t “the great” because of his wealth, or his building projects,

but only to distinguish him from his son’s and grandson’s who also had the name Herod

In reality, he’s Herod the oldest

But we might look at a “king” and his wealth, his accomplishments and achievements and think, great

And yet Herod was an insecure and scared little man who murdered people, children, to hold onto what wasn’t his

Pastor Jon pointed out that there are some, percentages would say there are at least a couple in our gatherings that are pursuing a worldly greatness

This is another warning for you

Gabriel said that John the Baptist was great before the Lord

Was it John who we thought of earlier?

Is it his “great” life we are modeling ours after?

Are we hoping our kids grow up to be someone like John the Baptist?

Or are we steering them towards worldly greatness?

So, why was John great? How was he great?

It wasn’t just Gabriel who said this, Jesus said it as well.

In Luke 7, Jesus says in regards to John, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.

Of all those born of natural birth, in the history of the world pre Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, ascension and sending the Holy Spirit,

Jesus says that none were greater than John

So what made John so great? Keys for us maybe

Turn with me if you will, to John’s gospel, chapter 1

He writes in verse 6 about John the Baptist

John 1:6–8 ESV

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

We’ll skip down to verse 19, John’s own testimony

John 1:19–23 ESV

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

1st we’ll say that it was because John knew who he was, and why he was.

I can imagine Zechariah telling John his birth story, his encounter with Gabriel, and his own Spirit inspired prophetic words after he was born

So, when questioned here, he easily answered, I’m not the Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet

Well then who are you?

I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” graciously quoting Isaiah for them,

If I’m here, that means He’s coming

The next reason John was great is not something that’s admired by our world of self-promotion, but is so like Jesus

2nd It was his Humility

Look at verse 24 through 27

John 1:24–27 ESV

(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

Do you see it?

Even though I was born first, and came on the scene first,

One is coming, and He’s actually here, He was before me, long before me

And even though I’m great in God’s eyes, I’m not even worthy to untie His sandals.

The lowest servant in the household untied sandals and washed feet

That line, not being worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals, that’s the third time we’ve heard it today, and it’s written in all four gospels.

Matthew actually writes “carry”, John says he’s not even worthy to carry Jesus’ sandals, or untie them, we get the point

John was great, he had an accurate view of himself, that’s humility,

Not false humility, devaluing yourself, or pride, self elevating,

but he knows he is very important, which makes him great

But he also knows, Jesus is more important, which makes Him greater, far greater

In John 3 verse 30, as Jesus’ ministry was taking off and all the people, and even John’s followers are going to Him, John says,

He, Jesus, must increase, and I must decrease,

Unlike Herod, John held loosely what was given to him for a time, and then let go of what was never his to hold on to,

He was The Forerunner of The King, but once the King has arrived, the Forerunner is no longer necessary

John served his purpose

Pause

The last thing I’d say that made John great in God’s eyes is his passion and faithfulness to his God given mission

He was resolute, and all in

Nothing deterred him,

no one intimidated him, and

he spoke truth, regardless of the circumstances or audience,

even to king Herod,

Who he called out on his unlawful marriage to his brothers wife, which landed him in prison

John didn’t need the approval of man, he already had the approval of God

His heart was for all people to repent and be baptized, to be ready to receive salvation from the Lord,

All of these make John great before the Lord

Part 3 How did John see Jesus

The Sermon series is “Jesus in the eyes of”,

so how did John see Jesus?

We’ll continue in John 1, verse 29

John 1:29–34 ESV

The next day he 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 ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world

To the Jewish ear this is a profound statement

They would think of the Passover Lamb and the Lamb used for the Day of Atonement

The perfect, unblemished lamb sacrificed in place of the people in order to receive forgiveness from God.

Each family had to sacrifice a lamb and do it at least yearly

Therefore their lamb had limited and temporary coverage

John sees something unique in Jesus,

what others like Joseph or Mary, or the wise men, or Herod, or the Shepherds didn’t see or know

Yes Jesus is God is salvation, yes, He’s the holy Son of God, yes He’s the King of Israel,

Yes He’s the Savior, Christ the Lord, and He’s the Messiah come to bring salvation,

But, John also sees, at least in part,

how this salvation would come

Through the forgiveness of sins and God’s Lamb

Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God,

His death brings coverage for the sins of the world and for all time

There are no limitations when it comes to The Lamb of God

Pause

Now, for us,

if there’s one image we should see when we think of John

It’s him pointing and declaring behold, that Jesus is the Lamb of God

The next day, John does the same thing, standing with two of his own disciples, John sees Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God!!”

Always

calling attention to Jesus,

pointing to Jesus, and

sending people to Jesus, even up to his end

And yet, at the end, we see something else in John and I’m grateful for it

even though we see such steadfastness, such dedication, an unwavering in his ministry

at his very end, he’s in prison because of that interaction with Herod I mentioned earlier

And in a short time, he will be beheaded

Turn with me, one last time, to Luke, chapter 7, verse 18

Luke 7:18–23 ESV

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

What do we call this? The Bible doesn’t tell us John’s motives here, or his inner struggle, if there was one

It could be that John was pointing his last remaining followers to Jesus, that’s nice, I like that for him.

Or, maybe he’s just wanting one more confirmation that what he dedicated his life to wasn’t a waste of time, could be

But, what if we place ourselves in his shoes?

If I’m John, if you’re John, could there be more?

Might we be wondering, Questioning God, how did it turn out like this?

Thinking, I did everything you asked,

I fulfilled my mission, the mission you gave me, I did good.

I knew it wasn’t about me, that I had to decrease, I didn’t know that meant disappear

We don’t know what John thought his post mission life was going to look like, but I doubt, at the start, he envisioned this.

Is this doubt? Is it questioning Jesus? Is it unbelief?

Is it just human nature?

Why do we assume that just because we do what we’re supposed to do,

just because we are good, good things should happen for us?

But this is John the Baptist, surely he’d be rewarded

And I’m sure he was, well done good and faithful servant

Can that be enough??

None greater!! Jesus said

But that wasn’t the end of His statement, He continued

Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

That’s all those on this side of the resurrection and pentecost, all who have the Holy Spirit inside us and are living for God

I doubt that when we think of ourselves, not many think John the Baptist is a fair comparison

I’m going to assume we don’t view ourselves as greater than John the Baptist

I’m willing to bet, we feel more like John in prison, questioning, doubting,

not the John on the mission field, bold and powerful

I can appreciate Jesus’ kind and gentle reproving

He understands John’s humanity, his limitations, and He understands ours too

Go and tell him what you see,

the blind see,

the lame walk,

the leper is cleansed,

the deaf hear,

the dead are raised up,

the poor hear the good news

That too is prophecy from Isaiah, Messianic prophecy

And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me

Not offended,

if it doesn’t turn out the way you thought

Not offended

when my ways don’t line up with what you believe Messiah should be like

Not offended

when I don’t do what you think I should do

And you still believe, blessed is that one

I can appreciate John here, the great John the Baptist, acting a lot like me

But in the end, we need to act more like John

He was filled with the Holy Spirit, so are we

John was sent by God, so are we

His ministry is not too much for God to ask of us

Preparing people for the Lord’s coming

Pointing people to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin’s of the world, their sins too

Being willing to share God’s message to whomever and wherever God asks us to

To be faithful to this mission,

whatever the outcome might be

And however our life turns out

Because as we’ve heard in this sermon series,

Jesus is God is salvation,

He is the Holy Son of God,

He is Christ the King,

Jesus is the Messiah,

the Savior who’s come into the world, and

He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World,

no matter how life may turn out for us

Let me pray

Benediction

May the Lord bless you and protect you

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you

May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace

go in peace

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