John the Baptist (3)

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The forerunner of Jesus Christ, born to elderly parents of the Aaronic line. His public ministry began in the Judean wilderness with a call to repentance and baptism. His ministry is seen as a fulfilment of OT prophecy, in preparation for the ministry of Jesus Christ. He was executed by Herod.

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John’s birth and early years

His birth and naming

Luke 1:57–60 NIV
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
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Prophetic words over his life

Luke 1:14–17 NIV
He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
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He was related to Jesus Christ

Luke 1:36 NIV
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.

His early years

Luke 1:80 NIV
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

John’s ministry

His simple lifestyle

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His call for repentance

Luke 3:3 NIV
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

He fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy

Just as roads were improved in the ancient world in preparation for the visit of a king, so John calls for people to prepare spiritually and morally for the imminent coming of the Messiah.
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His practice of baptism

Mark 1:4–5 NIV
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
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His challenge to established religion

Matthew 3:7–10 NIV
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
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The contrast of his own baptism with that which the Messiah would bring

Luke 3:15–17 NIV
The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

His testimony to Jesus Christ

John 1:15 NIV
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”)
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He recognises that his own ministry must decrease, while that of Jesus Christ will increase

John 3:27–30 NIV
To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

John’s baptising of Jesus Christ

John’s reluctance to baptise Jesus Christ lay in his recognition of who Jesus was and the apparent inappropriateness of such a baptism;

John and his disciples

John had disciples

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He taught them to pray

Luke 11:1 NIV
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

His disciples become envious of Jesus Christ

John 3:25–26 NIV
An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

He sends his disciples to question Jesus Christ

Locked up in prison, John needed reassurance that his expectations about Jesus Christ had been well-founded.

John’s disciples and the first Christians

Acts 18:24–19:7 NIV
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

John’s imprisonment and death

His confrontation with Herod leads to his imprisonment

Luke 3:19–20 NIV
But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
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His execution

Matthew 14:6–12 NIV
On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Some thought Jesus Christ to be John risen from the dead

Mark 8:27–28 NIV
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
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Jesus Christ’s estimation of John

Jesus Christ honours him

Matthew 11:11 NIV
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Jesus Christ sees him as marking the end of the old covenant and the arrival of the kingdom

Luke 16:16 NIV
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.
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Jesus Christ sees him as the promised Elijah

On the basis of Malachi’s prophecy (Mal 4:5), it was widely accepted that Elijah must come before the Messiah could appear. This identification would have been reinforced by John dressing like Elijah (see 2Ki 1:8).
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