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Greatness in Camel’s Hair
Matthew 3:1-12 | Shaun LePage | January 15, 2006
I.
Introduction
A. William Shakespeare, in Twelfth Night, wrote, “Be not afraid of greatness: some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
B. I agree—in part—with Shakespeare, but the problem is, we have to define “greatness.”
Is “greatness” something you can be born with?
Can anyone achieve “greatness”?
What about examples—who are the greatest men and women of all time?
You’ll get different answers from different people, right?
Why?
Because we all have different definitions of “greatness.”
C.
Last year, The Discovery Channel conducted a poll.
“Who is the greatest American?” was their question.
The American public showed its incredible diversity once again—obviously displaying a wide range of opinions regarding what makes a person “great.”
Making the top 100 were Tom Cruise, Bill Clinton (#7), Michael Jackson and Hugh Hefner.
Ronald Reagan came out on top, and a lot of people were happy with that.
A lot of people disagreed.
Why?
Because we all have different definitions of “greatness.”
D. What about you?
Do you desire to be “great”?
Should you desire to be “great”?
It is my belief that each of us is called to greatness, but we must define “greatness” as our God defines it in His Scriptures.
If we are to be truly great, we must seek to be great in the eyes of our Lord.
E. In Matthew 11:11, Jesus said, “*Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist*…” John the Baptist was a great man.
Jesus said there was none greater—other than Himself, of course.
Here we have something—an example.
A man Jesus said was “great”—greater than any other before him!
We have the mind of Christ on what “greatness” really is.
So, we need to look at this man—John—and examine his life to answer our questions of greatness—if for no other reason than Jesus called him great.
F. We’re studying through the Gospel of Matthew—an excellent section of the Bible because I believe it speaks to the people of our time.
Matthew was writing to correct misconceptions about Jesus.
He was answering the question, “Who is this Jesus?”
Our culture knows the name, “Jesus,” but most people have misconceptions about Him.
G.
Last week we looked at the end of Matthew chapter 2. Joseph, Mary and a young—perhaps infant—Jesus were called “out of Egypt” by God and sent to live in Nazareth.
H.
In chapter 3, Matthew jumps ahead in time almost 30 years.
What happened to that time between the infancy of Jesus and the start of His ministry?
Do we know nothing of what Jesus was doing during this time?
1. There’s been a lot of foolish speculation about what Jesus was doing as a child and young man.
Beth and I once knew a man who was a student of Eastern religions and he gave me a book from an author known simply as “Levi”.
Levi claims that Jesus journeyed to India where He learned from the great Hindu masters.
Never mind that everything Jesus taught contradicted the great Hindu masters.
And never mind that there is not one shred of evidence that Jesus ever left Israel.
2. Luke’s version fills in some of the details for us.
At the end of chapter 2, Jesus—at twelve years of age—had gone to the temple with his parents—which was customary.
There, He communicated that He understood that Joseph was not His Father and that He had come for the purpose of being about His “father’s business.”
a) Then, Luke closes with these verses—51 & 52: “*And He went down with them and came to **Nazareth**, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.*”
(i) He wasn’t in India.
He wasn’t in Egypt learning Egyptian magic as some others have claimed.
He was in Nazareth, growing up.
No mystery.
No secret trips.
Just growing up in a small town.
(ii) That’s not a bad way to pray for your kids, by the way.
Jesus grew in a balanced, healthy way.
He grew in wisdom (mentally).
He grew in stature (physically).
He grew in favor with God (spiritually).
He grew in favor with men (socially).
I pray for my kids that God would watch over them and cause them to grow “*in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men*.”
(iii) And kids—a little bonus for you.
Jesus was—even in His childhood—a great example.
A great example for you.
Did you notice in v.51 that He—the perfect, sinless One—“*continued in subjection to*” Joseph and Mary—the imperfect, sinful ones.
We aren’t supposed to “*continue in subjection to*” or submit to only those who are perfect.
Or only when we think they’re right.
You and I both know your parents are imperfect.
Get over it and follow the example of Jesus—honor and obey your imperfect parents.
3. So, between Matthew chapter 2 and Matthew chapter 3, Jesus grew up in a little town in the middle of no where.
He lived a normal, human life.
Sinless, but normal.
Just growing and living and preparing for the time when He would begin His ministry.
I.
In chapter 3, we are introduced to John the Baptist, who played an important role here at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.
The King is being presented to the nation of Israel and John—like a herald who announces the arrival of a king—announced the arrival of the King of kings.
1. “*John*”.
In Matthew, John the Baptist just appears out of nowhere with no explanation of where he came from.
Matthew assumes his readers know John.
Luke did not make that assumption since he was writing primarily to Gentiles.
In chapter 1, Luke tells the story of John’s birth and how he got his name.
His father, Zechariah, received a visit from the angel Gabriel who told him his old wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a baby and Zechariah was to name the baby John.
Zechariah didn’t believe Gabriel, and he was disciplined for that unbelief.
He was unable to speak until the child was born.
When the baby was born, Elizabeth told everyone the baby’s name was John.
They didn’t believe it because no one in their family was named John.
So, they went to Zechariah and he wrote down, “His name is John.”
At that moment, Zechariah’s mouth was opened and he began praising God.
Let’s read the end of *Luke 1:76-80*.
So, John the Baptist is “*the son of Zechariah*.”
2. “*Baptist*” was obviously a name given to him later since his ministry became so closely connected with the ritual of baptism.
II.
Body—Read Matthew 3:1-12.
John the Baptist is “Greatness in Camel’s Hair” and a great example for us today.
How? Let’s take a look.
*A. **John the Baptist was great because he pointed people to spiritual transformation, not physical impressiveness (1-10).*
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