John 1:6 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”
John 1:1-8 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”
Who was John the Baptist?
Well, according to the Bible, John the Baptist was the first Christian, the first Christian witness, the first Christian prophet, the first Christian preacher and the first Christian martyr.
So who exactly was he and why was he so important?
- John the Baptist was Jesus’ second cousin.
Luke 1:35-45 “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
So the angel was telling Mary about how she was to carry the saviour, and how he was the Son of God and then “oh, by the way” your cousin Elisabeth, the one that was supposed to be barren, is into her sixth month.
So, Elisabeth was Mary’s cousin, which makes John and Jesus 2nd cousins.
This revelation to Mary from the angel seems strange until you look at the importance of who John was to become. It doesn’t seem relevant to the story until you look at it later. Here’s the angel telling Mary that she is to be with child of the Holy Ghost and that her child is going to be the son of God and then as a side note, “your cousin is pregnant as well.”
The birth of John was foretold to his father by the same angel, who didn’t believe it and was struck dumb because of his unbelief.
Luke 1:5-20 “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.”
Luke 1:57-66 tells the story of the birth of John.
“Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.”
2. John the Baptist was kin to Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb.
Luke 1:39-44 “And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”
John was just a man, born of Zacharias and Elisabeth, but he had a purpose for God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and he obeyed the will of God. We should strive to do the same in our lives.
3. John was what we might consider a wild man.
John the Baptist wasn’t your typical Baptist preacher. He wasn’t polished, he didn’t dress nice, look nice, and he probably didn’t smell very nice.
Matthew 3:4 “And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.”
Camel’s hair wasn’t a very glamorous garment. It was long and shaggy. It was course and probably not all that comfortable. It probably didn’t smell very good after the rain. So it says here his clothing was made of camel’s hair and he wore a leather girdle. In II Kings 1:7-8 we read about another character that wore the same type of garments. “And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words? And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
Remember what the angel said to Zacharias regarding his son?
Luke 1:17 “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
In the old testament, Elijah was called Elijah. In the new testament, he is referred to as Elias.
So it was fitting that he wore the same type of garments that Elijah in the old testament wore.
It says also that he ate locusts and wild honey. Now, I love honey, and I can imagine that wild honey tastes pretty good. But it would take a lot of honey to make me eat a locust.
Poor people still eat locusts today in that part of the world and the fact that the Bible explains his diet, it shows that he was a servant to God and not a polished preacher like the Pharisees.
4. John the Baptist was spoken of by the prophets.
Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”
John the Baptist was sent as a messenger to tell the people of Jesus and make things ready.
Isaiah 40:3 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
The book of Isaiah is unique in that it has 66 chapters just as the Bible has 66 books. Each chapter of Isaiah corresponds in some way to each book of the Bible in order. So Isaiah chapter 1 has references to Genesis, and Isaiah chapter 66 has references to Revelation. The 40th chapter of Isaiah lines up with the book of Matthew which is the 40th book of the Bible. Isaiah 40 and verse 3 talks of the coming of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist. Matthew chapter 3 and verse 3 says “ For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Tell me again how it was just men that wrote this book!
5. John the Baptist Prepared the way and preached repentance.
Luke 3:3-4 “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Matthew 3:1-2 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
John preached repentance which as we learned is a change of heart that leads to a change of direction. He warned people that soon they would have a key to reach the kingdom of heaven but only if they changed their hearts and repented of their sins.
He baptized them with water to show their confession of sins.
Matthew 3:6 “And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.”
He preached that your fruits would be made known if you were truly repentant and he called out the fakers.
Matthew 3:7-8 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”
John was the very first Christian preacher and he didn’t hold anything back concerning his work for God!
6. John the Baptist was complimented by Jesus.
Matthew 11:1-15 “And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their 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, whosoever shall not be offended in me. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that 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 suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
John held a special place in Jesus’ heart. Not only was he kin, but he was the forerunner, the messenger that told of the coming of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus knew what was going to happen to John and when it happened, the Bible tells us that Jesus went out on his own away from everyone else.
7. John the Baptist was the first Christian martyr.
Matthew 14:1-13 “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.”
Herod was having an affair with his sister-in-law and the preacher, John the Baptist, preached against him so he had him thrown into jail. History will indeed repeat itself. People get offended when preachers call out their sin. Sound familiar?
Herod would have had John killed but he feared John’s followers. Christian people need to stand up for the truth and righteousness and defend our preachers who are telling the truth of God!
Herod threw himself a big birthday party and promised Herodias’ daughter whatever she wanted because she danced for him and pleased him.
Wicked men do wicked things.
Herod is having an affair with his brother’s wife and at the same time he’s lusting after her daughter.
Herodias’ daughter, at the request of her evil mom, asked for the head of John the Baptist on a plate and Herod, because he swore an oath to give her whatever she wanted, made it happen.
Matthew 14:11-13 “And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.”
8. John the Baptist was sent from God.
John 1:6 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”
John was just a man. He was born of a man and a woman who were under the same curse as all of us before salvation. God chose to use this man, this mortal man to fulfill prophecy and herald the coming of the messiah. It simply says here, there was a man sent by God.
Why was he sent?
He was sent by God to be a presence. Each of us has the capacity to influence at least 3,000 people in our lifetimes. Have we taken the time to ask God to allow us to influence those people according to his will?
He was sent by God to be a partner.
John 20:21 says “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
God isn’t looking for people with exceptional skill or talent. He’s looking for a willingness to go and partner with him. Do we submit to the will of God to partner with him?
He was sent by God to proclaim.
We should be willing to share the message of Jesus and his Salvation.
A man met his neighbor in his driveway every Sunday morning as he was getting ready to leave for church, and each Sunday, without fail, his neighbor would ask him if he would go play a round of golf with him. The man politely refused each time and told the neighbor that he was on his way to church. Years of this went by and many invitations to play golf were given by the neighbor, until one Sunday the neighbor said this. “You know, it’s strange that for all these years, and all these Sundays, I’ve invited you to go play golf with me but you refuse because you go to church. I’m just wondering why, after all these years of me inviting you to golf, you’ve never invited me to church?”
We have a powerful message to give the world.
We have the knowledge of the gift of eternal life.
John the Baptist was sent by God to proclaim Jesus. Those of us that are saved have been sent to do the very same thing.
John the Baptist was the first Christian, the first Christian witness, the first Christian preacher, the first Christian prophet and the first Christian martyr.