John The Baptist

This week’s passage: Matthew 3:1-17

John The Baptist

Matthew’s first mention of John the Baptist introduces him as a preacher in the wilderness of Judea who is preparing people to know Christ, his message proclaimed so boldly that people were coming from Jerusalem, Judea, and the region around the Jordan river, to see what he was about and to be baptized by him. However, Luke introduces us to John the Baptist before he is even conceived (Luke 1:5-25), and Jesus and John meet while they are both still in the womb…lets go back to that time for a moment.

Zechariah was a priest in the days when Herod the Great ruled in Jerusalem. He and his wife Elizabeth were among those the bible says were upright in the sight of God because they followed His commandments and regulations. They are both old, and have no children because Elizabeth is barren. While Zechariah is in the temple praying and burning incense, he is visited by an angel who says he and Elizabeth will have a child who is great before the Lord and will prepare many for the coming of Christ.

"But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:13-17 ESV)

Zechariah had been praying for a child for years, but it seems the prayer had become so automatic that he didn’t believe it would ever be answered.

"Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I am an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years”" (Luke1:18 NLT)

Isn’t this how we are? So often God has shown us that when we pray and wait upon Him, He will move in our lives to accomplish things we thought were impossible. But we get impatient and start to doubt. We can’t help it really because we don’t have the ability to understand many of the things of God, including eternity. Sure, we know that means forever, but we also think it takes “forever” to load a webpage if we don’t see the content in 5 seconds or less! This is why God says to trust in Him and not upon our own understanding.

Later, we see the same angel visiting Mary to announce that she will be the one to bring Christ into the world. The angel also tells her that that her cousin Elizabeth is carrying a child and that she is now 6 months pregnant. After Mary becomes pregnant, she goes to visit Elizabeth, and when Elizabeth hears the greeting of her cousin, the baby leaps for joy in her womb and Elizabeth is immediately filled with the Holy Spirit!

"And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"" (Luke 1:41-42 ESV)

Matthew brings us back to these two men who, roughly 31 years later, bound by blood, spirit and purpose, are found together on the banks of the Jordan.

Jesus is Baptized

John was baptizing believers in the Jordan river, warning the Pharisees and Sadducees that showed up that they could not simply believe that they were right with God because they were descendants of Abraham, and that baptism should not be used as a tool to show others their righteousness.

"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham." (Matthew 3:7-9 ESV)

John tells them that coming after him will be one who will baptize them not with water but with the Holy Spirit.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11, ESV)

Jesus then appears on the bank of the Jordan, having traveled from Galilee to be baptized by John. John knows that Jesus has committed no sins so understandably says he is not worthy to baptize Jesus but should be baptized by Jesus!

"But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.”" (Matthew 3:15)

Allowing John to baptize Him would show others that John’s ministry was authentic, and that Jesus understood those who needed to be cleansed of their sin even though He had never sinned. He was also showing His submission to God’s will, knowing that He had come to die for our sins and to “fulfill all righteousness”. This is where Jesus began His official ministry.

"And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”" (Matthew 3:16-17 ESV)

Can you see the Trinity of God here? God the Father announcing His Son, God the Son submitting to His Father, and God the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus. Don’t you think it would have been an amazing thing to witness? I do!

John understood that baptisms didn’t save anyone, they were simply a public declaration of one’s repentance and a commitment to follow Christ. If there is no inward change of attitude and outward change of lifestyle producing the fruits of the Holy Spirit, then there is no real salvation. He saw that people must be prepared to know Christ. They must understand they need forgiveness, see examples of how to live for Christ, be provided the truth to avoid deception, and to know that Christ gives meaning to life. That is what John did, that was his ministry, and it can be ours as well. If you are truly wanting to know what you can do to become the “salt and light” for Christ in this world, you could learn a thing or to by studying the life of John the Baptist.