More than a Prophet

More than a Prophet

Matthew 11:1-19

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 27:2,

“Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.”

People will be more likely to believe it if someone else brags on you. John the Baptist was not a man to brag on himself. In fact, we might argue that John the Baptist engaged in self-deprecation. John said things like:

A man can receive nothing unless it is given to him from heaven (John 2:27).

He must increase but I must decrease (John 2:30).

I’m not worthy to unbuckle the shoes of Jesus (John 1:27).

A group of people once asked John who he was. He responded by saying telling them who he was not first. He said, “I’m not the Christ!” Then told them he was just a voice crying in the wilderness.

John never praised himself. He never bragged. But there was another man that praised him. Jesus bragged on John. Now when Jesus brags on you it means something.

When you’re a child you can scribble something on a piece of paper with a crayon and your granny will say you’re the next Michelangelo.

You can bang on a piano and your grandfather will say you are the next Beethoven.

You can hit a pop up off a tee and your dad will say you’re the next Babe Ruth.

You can make an S in kindergarten and your mom will say you’re the next Einstein.

They might be right, or they might be wrong. But when Jesus brags on you there is sufficient reason to. When Jesus brags on you what He says is absolutely true.

What is it that Jesus says about John the Baptist? He says he is more than a prophet. He says he is the greatest person born. Obviously, Jesus doesn’t mean John is greater than He is. John Himself stated that Jesus is greater than him. When it comes to those humans who have been mor of a mother and a father in this world, John is the greatest.

This morning we’re going to take a look at John the Baptist. We’re going to learn four things about him:

1. He was a man who took his doubts to Jesus (1-6)

2. He was a man people wanted to hear (7-11).

3. He was a man who stood firm in the face of opposition (12-15).

4. He was a man who was not influenced by his culture (16-19).

1. He was a man who took his doubts to Jesus (1-6).

A. John sends two of his disciples to Jesus (1-3).

I want you to notice something important in verse 1. Jesus has just sent out the twelve on a short-term missionary journey to preach the gospel. But notice it says that Jesus went in the cities to preach as well.

Jesus didn’t commission the twelve so He could take time off. Jesus didn’t subcontract out His work. While they are preaching, He is preaching as well. We need as many faithful preachers as we can get.

The second greatest preacher the world has ever known isn’t able to preach because he is in prison (2). He’s been locked. Guess what he’s been locked up for? He is in prison for preaching the gospel.

Herod had stolen his brother’s wife and the two were living together as a couple. John saw them in public and started preaching to them. Herod’s new lady was so mad she had John thrown into prison. John had probably been in prison for a year by this time.

John had some limited communication with some of his disciples. He sent two of them to ask Jesus if He truly was the Christ.

John has some doubts. This is probably surprising to us.

Think of what John said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

Think of what John did- He baptized Jesus.

Think of what John saw – the Holy Spirit falling on Jesus.

Think of what John heard “This is My beloved Son…”

How can he doubt now? Don’t be too hard on John. His life has been turned upside down.

He was a man of the wilderness. He was used to freedom. He was customed to the open air and sleeping under the stars. Now he was in a dark dungeon breathing foul air and hidden from the sun.

He was the forerunner of the Messiah, now he was behind bars.

He was the voice crying in the wilderness, now he had been silenced.

John was a great man, but John was still a man. He doubted. He didn’t doubt God as much as he doubted himself. He thought maybe he misunderstood. He wasn’t ready to give up on God. He tells his disciples to ask Jesus if he should keep looking for the Christ.

Doubt doesn’t equal unbelief. There has to be some measure of belief for a person to doubt. John is struggling because of his circumstances. We shouldn’t discredit a man’s entire ministry because of a moment of weakness.

The good news is John goes to Jesus with his doubt. That means whatever Jesus tells him he’s going to believe. That means he believes Jesus more than he believes himself.

B. Jesus points John to Scripture (4-5).

Jesus could have answered John’s disciples in a very simple way. He could have said “I am the Messiah.” But He doesn’t do that. He says to tell John

The blind see

The lame walk

The lepers are cleansed

The deaf hear

The dead are raised

The poor are preached to

Why did Jesus do this? The OT Scriptures prophesied that the coming Messiah would give the blind their sight, make the lame walk, cleanse lepers, give hearing to the deaf, raise the dead and preach the gospel to the poor. Specifically, the prophet Isaiah prophesied this (Isa. 35 & 61).

Jesus did all of these things. John knew the Word. He knew what the Bible said. Jesus points John to Scripture. Jesus is saying “Tell John to remember what the Bible says the Christ will do and then tell him what I am doing.”

When we doubt the Lord will not send us to the internet.

When we doubt the Lord will not send us to the world.

When we doubt the Lord will not send us to ourselves.

When we doubt the Lord will send us to the Word. Nothing will strengthen our faith like the Word of God will.

C. Jesus encourages perseverance (6).

Jesus wasn’t meeting John’s expectations at the time. John is to be reminded that the blessing of God is for those who are not offended in Jesus. We can’t quit because Jesus isn’t doing everything we think He should.

John probably thought Jesus wouldn’t leave him in jail. But the will of God is not always easy. Sometimes it involves suffering.

There are some who have said:

I thought if I got saved my marriage would be saved.

I thought if I got saved my kids would straighten up.

I thought if I got saved the bills would be paid.

I thought if I got saved my body would be healed.

Sometimes we misunderstand the gospel message. We are on our way to heaven. But this is not heaven. Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God.

There may days that you doubt. Don’t give up. Take your doubts to Jesus. He will remind you of Scripture. He will point you to the Book.

2. He was a man people wanted to hear (7-15).

A. Jesus asks a question.

Jesus asks the same question three times. He asks the people “What did you go out in the wilderness to see? “

This implies that they had gone to see John. Who knows how many people traveled to hear John preach? Probably more Jewish people in that region had heard John preach than hadn’t.

Here the disciples were traveling all over Galilee preaching to the people. The people had been traveling all the way to the wilderness to hear John preach.

It could be that some of them were concerned about John after his disciples approached Jesus. I think Jesus is letting them know that John is a great man of God. They have no reason to cast judgment on him. They might be tempted to think John has abandoned the faith that he preached. Jesus lets them know that isn’t the case.

B. Jesus answers the question.

He asks one question three times, but He gives three different answers to that question. “What did you go out to see?”

1. A reed shaken with the wind? The Jews were used to seeing the cane grass that grew in abundance around the Jordan river. When the wind blew it would bend over. The answer to Jesus question is obviously “No.” They didn’t travel all the way to the wilderness to see a preacher who has no backbone. They didn’t travel to see a preacher that was tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. They went to see a preacher who knew what he believed and stood on what he believed. There was no compromise in John.

Other than Jesus, no one preached with the courage of John. John even preached to the soldiers. These men could have killed him. He told them to repent of their sins and stop extorting people.

He preached to the tax collectors. He told them to stop stealing money from people.

He preached to the religious people. He called them a brood of vipers. He told them not to think they were children of God just because they were descendants of Abraham.

John was intimidated by no one.

He would tell you to repent if you had a sword in your hand.

He would tell you to repent if you had money in your hand.

He would tell you to repent if you had a Bible in your hand.

He couldn’t be bullied by soldiers, bought with money or bamboozled by the religious. He had a backbone. Let me say something here. I believe with all my heart the people of God want a preacher with a backbone. They want a preacher who won’t apologize for God or make excuses for sin. They traveled to the wilderness to hear a preacher with a backbone.

2. A man clothed in soft raiment? Jesus asks them if they went to see John because they heard he was a nice dresser? The answer to that question is obviously no. John dressed in clothing made of camel’s hair. He dressed like a poor man. He dressed like a prophet from another century.

Jesus says if you would have wanted to see someone in soft raiment you would have gone to a king’s palace. The word used for soft here is used in one other context in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 6:9 uses the word to describe a homosexual man. The word there is translated “effeminate.”

Jesus is saying John didn’t dress up fancy like a girl. Let me interject something. I don’t think a preacher has to wear a coat and tie. But I do think a preacher ought to dress like a man. I know this is controversial to say today but I’m going to say it anyway. Men should be masculine and women should be effeminate. Listen to me now preacher, if you and your wife are sharing clothes you shouldn’t be in the pulpit. There is something masculine about preaching to men and women. The preacher should not carry himself in a soft and effeminate way. I’m quite certain if John had dressed like Herod the crowds would have never traveled to the wilderness to hear him.

3. Did you go to see a prophet? Jesus said they did, but he was more than a prophet. John was the prophet that was introducing the world to Jesus. Other prophets had only spoken of the Christ in shadows and types. John points to the Christ and says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Think about this. The Jews had not had a prophet in 400 years. Not a single Jewish person alive at that time had ever seen a prophet. There hadn’t been one. Now the word was there was a prophet. People flocked to see him.

Jesus said that John was the messenger Malachi spoke of. Malachi said that before the Messiah comes a forerunner would come. He said Elijah would come. Luke 1:17 says John came in the spirit and power of Elijah. John was not Elijah reincarnated. John was the same type of prophet Elijah was. Jewish people today still misunderstand this. I was once observing some Jews celebrating Passover. The were eating the seder meal. They had an empty chair at the table. I knew what it was for but I asked them anyway because I wanted to hear it straight from some Jewish people. They said the empty chair is for Elijah. It symbolized they were waiting for him to return so the Messiah would appear. They don’t understand that John the Baptist was the Elijah prophesied of.

Jesus said that John was the greatest man born among women. That’s saying a lot. Think of all the people who have lived.

He’s greater than Abraham.

He’s greater than David.

He’s greater than Joseph.

He’s greater than Moses.

All of those guys lived to be old men. John died in his early thirties and had already achieved a level above there greatness.

Jesus adds something in verse 11. He says the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. What does that mean? It means that John died before experiencing what we as Christians experience. John was the bookend at the end of the Old Testament. He didn’t get to experience the cross, the resurrection, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the establishment of the church. Everyone on this side of the cross is more blessed than those on the other side of the cross because we have seen more than they have. We are greater positionally speaking. When I say better, I mean we are more blessed.

C. John stood firm in the face of opposition (12).

When John started telling people to repent and look for the Christ the forces of darkness woke up. Opposition began to mount. People resorted to violence to stop Christ. We saw that a couple of weeks ago when we considered Herod’s killing of the children.

The violent had taken John to prison. He was in a dungeon and had probably been there a year already. Herod would have already killed John if he wasn’t such a coward. Matthew 14:5 says the only reason Herod hadn’t killed John already was because he was afraid of what the people might do to him.

Eventually Herod is manipulated by his woman to kill John. John meets a violent end. He is murdered. His head is chopped off. He’s then mocked as his severed head is put on a platter. That’s pretty violent.

I find something interesting here. If you’ll notice Jesus waits until after John’s disciples are gone before saying all this wonderful stuff about him (7). As I thought about that a question came t my mind. The question was “Can we not wait until heaven to be rewarded?” We can wait, can’t we? We don’t have to hear Jesus say good job while we’re on this earth. We can wait until heaven to hear “Well done good and faithful servant!” Rewards in heaven are sweeter than rewards on earth.

John stood firm in the face of opposition and no doubt he received his reward.

John was a man people wanted to hear because he was unique.

Unique in his preaching.

Unique in his calling.

3. John did not play religious games (16-19).

A. Jesus describes John’s generation.

He said they are like children who were playing a game. Children will often mock what they see adults do. It seems that is the case here. I think what’s described here is weddings and funerals. In Jesus culture weddings and funerals were fare more expressive than in ours. Weddings were long celebrations with music and dancing. Funerals were emotional. Professional mourners were hired who would beat their chest and cry loudly. Kids saw this behavior and would pretend with it.

They would blow in a pipe and the other kids would dance around like they were at a wedding. They would play a dirge and the other kids would pretend to cry. Obviously if the children were playing the game, they wanted the other kids to dance and cry at the right times. If they didn’t the kids would pitch a fit. They would fuss and argue with one another.

Jesus says the adults of john’s generations are like kids who are mad at other kids for not playing the game the way they want to play the game.

The religious leaders were saying “Dance monkey, dance” to Jesus and John but Jesus and John weren’t obeying them.

B. Jesus describes Himself and John (18-19).

John was a reclusive man. The people didn’t like that. They said “He won’t come to our parties. He just sits out there in the wilderness. What’s he do all day anyway? He needs to come into town and win some of these sinful people to the Lord. He’s got a devil!”

Look at their logic. They say John is demon possessed because he doesn’t spend enough time with them.

Jesus was a very social person. He spent time in people’s homes. He celebrated. He even attended weddings and funerals. Look what they said about Jesus, “All He does is come to our parties, eats our food, and sleeps in our homes. Look at Him out there spending His time doing evangelism. He likes them sinners more than he likes us. When does He study? That’s why we can’t understand anything He says, He needs to get alone with God!”

They accused Jesus of being a glutton and a drunk.

They were mad because one wasn’t social enough and the other was too social.

This never bothered John. He had a job to do. He was called by God to call the people to repentance and prepare themselves for the coming of Christ. Winston Churchill once said, “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” He was right.

John didn’t fit the mold of the religious leaders. But that didn’t bother him. He didn’t eat what they ate. He didn’t dress like they dressed. He didn’t preach like they preached. John would rather be alone and please God than with the crowd and out of the will of God.

C. Godly ministry will bring godly results.

Jesus said wisdom is justified of her children. That means that wisdom will produce children who act wisely. In other words, you know a tree by the fruit it bears.

Look at the results of John’s ministry. Jews were getting baptized. Jews didn’t do that. Gentiles who wanted to become Jews got baptized. John’s preaching was breaking hardened hearts. Even the Jewish people were seeing their need to be saved. That’s what Isaiah and Jeremiah were trying to do. John’s preaching was bringing about genuine repentance and restoration to God.

This is a great lesson for our current generation. If we want to see genuine change, we need to look at the life of John the Baptist. He was more than a prophet. He wasn’t perfect. He had days of doubt. But he was a great man of God who wasn’t changed by his culture. He changed the culture. He had a backbone. He stood firm in the face of opposition. And look at us this morning. We are still talking about him. He died as a young man, but we still see his fruit. We’re learning from his life. Wisdom is justified of her children. John’s life is still bearing fruit.