What happened to John the Baptist part 2
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John 1, John 3, Matthew 11, Matthew 14
John 1, John 3, Matthew 11, Matthew 14
This morning we’re going to do a deep dive on the life of John the Baptist. For sake of time I picked four passages. Turn to John’s gospel chapter 1.
Last time we left off with some questions. What was John’s plan after he prepared the way for Yeshua? Did he have one? Was it really God’s destiny for John to die in prison and be beheaded?
John’s ministry began around 26-28 AD. and lasted 18 months, and within that timeframe he baptized Jesus to “fulfill all righteousness” and he continued baptizing people for about four months after at Enon near Salim after Jesus began his own ministry.
Now remember, even though John was a miracle baby, he was still human as we are. Keep in mind, John devoted his entire youth and was trained by Zechariah his father who knew the corruption in Jerusalem and probably suggest John to join with the Essenes.
The Essene community living out in the hot and dry desert regions of Qumran
and Ein Gedi.
John begins from the Jordan river to call the nation to repentance and the response was epic!
In review of Luke 3 he sees the positive response and the crowds getting bigger, from common people, to tax collectors and even Roman soldiers repenting and getting baptized, his voice grew bolder to confront the naysayers - mainly the religious leaders from Jerusalem. Everybody thought he was the Messiah but John refuted that saying He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Jesus shows up to be baptized, not for repentance but a sinless Savior willing to identify with sinners with obedience and humility. And when John baptized Him, The Holy Spirit ascended upon Him just as He did on the Day of Pentecost birthing the church and the Father spoke: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Sadly, traditional church offer baptism by christening infants but how are babies capable of understanding sin or their need for cleansing? Then there’s sprinkling which originates back to the 3rd century for sick people unable to undergo full immersion. I had to do this for a very sick young man in a wheel chair who couldn’t leave his home and had a oxygen tank to breathe. After leading him to Christ he wanted to be baptized, so we got a bunch of towels on the floor of the kitchen and I pour a huge bucket over his head! But such baptisms are not the norm - full immersion baby!
Some churches even link baptism to salvation which Paul refutes in
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.
As we have taught here for over 25 years, according to Romans 6 baptism represents a spiritual death to sin, a burial of the past and a resurrection to new life in Christ and submitting to His Lordship. But baptism is a work or a good deed but it doesn’t save anyone. It’s a result of being saved already!! Baptism is a chance for every believer to show their obedience and willingness to align with the Father's will by identifying with His Son publicly. And by the way, we will be offering baptisms at Baker Bay service August 24. Richard will leave a sheet out in the foyer this month we can meet with you before hand.
Turn John 1 as verses 19-28 repeat the baptism of Jesus but in verses 29-36 we get a further detail from John the Baptist’s perspective. Verse 29
On the next day, he [John the B] saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Verse 30
“This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’
Wait...John was born 6 mos. prior to Jesus! This speaks of Yeshua as eternal. And John confesses he was unaware his cousin Josh was Messiah until the baptism.
Verse 31-34
“I did not know Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him. “And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, this is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ “And I myself have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
On the next day, John again was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
John was the first to apply this metaphor to Yeshua. The metaphor draws from the Old Testament where lambs were commonly used in sacrifices! The first example was Exodus 12 the Passover lamb
And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.
Paul will refer to Jesus as our Passover lamb in 1 Cor 5.7
Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed.
Peter used the lamb metaphor rearding the value of Christ’s blood!
...but with precious [valuable] blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
In the book of Revelation, the term "lamb" appears 30x as a defining metaphor for Jesus, portraying him as both as the slaughtered lamb (representing the cross)
and the standing lamb (symbolizing resurrection).
Turn to John 3 - after Jesus shares with Nicodemus but now things have changed as Yeshua’s disciples started to baptize people while John was still baptizing in A-nun near Salim - Verse 25
Therefore there arose a debate between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. Purification being the baptism of repentance. At this point John's disciples, were troubled by his waning popularity, so they had concerns...
Verse 26
And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.
This is the first reference to the followers of Yeshua being “a bride” which links to the Galilean wedding where John is the friend of the bridegroom or best man would warn the bride and her bridesmaids to stay prepared and ready with oil in their lamps because the bridegroom could come at any moment.
A beautiful picture regarding the pre-trib rapture of the church. The sudden “catching away”
Sadly, many are unaware of such metaphors and end up with other interpretations and today some believers claim there is no rapture. So much for comforting one another with these words!!
Verses 30-36 John says
“He must increase, but I must decrease. “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. “What He has seen and heard, of that He bears witness; and no one receives His witness. [That is, nobody in Israel understood who Yeshua was yet] “He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
So if we believe in the Son we have eternal life and we abide in Him, and He will abide in us. But the wrath of God abides on unbelievers not the church.
So, John has accepted the fact that he is decreasing. Suddenly he’s irrelevant or at least might feel that way.
OK, flip to Matthew 11`
What does he do now? I imagine he feels displaced and certainly didn’t have the personality to just kick back and do nothing. I realize, this is just a theory, but John hears something about Herod Antipas one of the three sons of Herod the great, a convert to Judaism. Antipas wasn’t born a Jew but he was trained in Jewish law so John knew Antipas married Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.
According to Jewish law, this marriage was considered unlawful and incestuous. So John took the liberty to publicly rebuke Antipas and his new wife Herodias. The result got him arrested and thrown in jail!
The one advantage for John was that Herod liked listening to him and Antipas was afraid to kill him since he was a prophet, so John sits in a dark and dank rat infested prison, thinking, wondering, feeling forsaken, hoping that maybe Yeshua will bail him out but days go by and no sign of deliverance. No dove, no voice of God. Things we’re not working out the way John thought. One day, two of John’s disciples came to visit him and he sends some them to find Jesus and ask him if he’s the One.
Matthew 11 verses 2-6
Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for someone else?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight 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 does not take offense at Me.”
Jesus cites a messianic prophecies of Isaiah 29, 35 - Passages that John would have known very well but he was stuck in prison with no kingdom of God in sight! So this message from cousin Josh had to sting! Yet as they go their way, Yeshua goes to John’s defense and exonerates him! Verse 7
Now as these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about 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 dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.
Now this verse is often used to apply to aggressive prayer warriors but Jesus being God knew all those prophets before him that suffered horrendous deaths.
Jesus continues: Verse 13-15 “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. “And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Final passage - Matthew 14 verse 1.
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they were regarding John as a prophet. [Mark’s gospel adds that Herodias was holding a grudge against John and was wanting to put him to death and was not able]
Verse 6
But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. [Mark adds when Herodias’ daughter pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” He also swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom. so she runs to mom and says “what shall I ask?” - Herodias said “the head of John the Baptist!”] Verse 8
Now having been prompted by her mother, [Herodias] she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” And although Herod Antipas was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. And he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus. Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself; and when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
So there you have it. After 19 months of success and popularity along with having a voice that cried out in the wilderness, is dead. John was family, he was a hero, the forerunner for Yeshua, the final and greatest prophet of the era meaning the most significant. Jesus is a miracle worker, he could walk on water, he healed and raised some from the dead and most of all, He was God in human flesh. Why didn’t He help John? Jesus was only 70 miles away but He also knew John was offended. Obviously when Jesus heard about his cousin’s death He got into a boat by himself and mourned. Was this supposed to happen or did John bring it upon himself? ..................................
If I were John’s sandals I would have assumed like much of Israel that the millennial kingdom was on the horizon and if that was the case, I was invincible because God was on my side.
First question: Why didn’t John join Yeshua’s disciples or at least track down Yeshua for His advice and counsel before he went to rebuke Herod? Choice!
While Jesus had already appointed the twelve He certainly would have put John in charge of something or sent him back to the Essene community to let them know Messiah had come. Choice!
But John remained alone with his thoughts. And he made a choice. This is where get into God’s sovereignty.
I believe John meddled in an area he was not called to meddle in. Even though John taught his disciples to pray, there’s no record of John praying to God for wisdom or direction at this point.
In all my years as a pastor, I’ve never sensed God interfering in my good decisions or stopping my terrible choices which were not bathed in prayer.
But listen: God has a divine plan to maintain the unpredictability of life and encourage human responsibility. [repeat]
John simply chose on his own accord to rebuke Herod’s unlawful marriage and was arrested for it! No Spirit like a dove, no voice from the sky, no deliverance.
John’s imprisonment lasted about 16 months before he was beheaded.
Many of you may face of have faced the same thing. You know you’re called, and will require stepping out of your comfort zone into the unknown.
For a window of time you may enjoy the fruit of your calling but it ends suddenly and in passion and experience you decide to step out on your own, assuming God is behind you, after all, it’s for the LORD but you end up imprisoned, losing your head. And wonder where was God. The only answer you’ll get is “where were you?”. Don’t mess with ministry if God isn’t leading you. Where God guides, God provides!
John the Baptist is a lesson of not allowing ministry to become our mistress!
Our calling for God is valid and significant as long as He’s the One preparing the way for us. Eph 2:10 - But if He’s not and we “step out” on our own, we will lose our head!! It’s our choice. Choose Him and let ministry come to you in God’s terms !
