John the Baptist – The Greatest Man Ever
John 1:19-27 HCSB This is John's testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and
Levites to ask him, "Who are you?" (20) He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: "I am not
the Messiah." (21) "What then?" they asked him. "Are you Elijah?" "I am not," he said. "Are you
the Prophet?" "No," he answered. (22) "Who are you, then?" they asked. "We need to give an
answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?" (23) He said, "I am a voice
of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord--just as Isaiah the
prophet said." (24) Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. (25) So they asked him, "Why
then do you baptize if you aren't the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?" (26) "I baptize with
water," John answered them. "Someone stands among you, but you don't know Him. (27) He is
the One coming after me, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to untie."
Name of God: Yahweh Shalom – God my Peace (Judges 6:24)
Topic: How someone who was described as the greatest man by Jesus Himself still struggled
with doubt and how Jesus allayed those fears.
Image of icon of John the Baptist from: http://members.tripod.com/Thomasene_Tradition/John_Baptist.gif
There are few people in the Gospels concerning whom we have so much detail and of whom the
Lord had so much to say, yet John’s period of service probably covered only six months. He was
a unique personality--rugged, strong, yet humble. He was the child of godly parents, (Luke 1:5-6)
his birth was super normal, (Luke 1:7), he was Spirit filled, (Luke 1:15) he was our Lord’s
forerunner, (Luke 7:27)
1. HE OBEYED A DIVINE COMMISSION
John’s work was undertaken under a strong sense of divine commission, and in John 1:33 four
words emphasize this: "He that sent me". He had been sent to do the work of soul winning. Who
had sent him? Look at John 1:6! It is important to notice, however, that if we truly are Christians
then we too have been sent.
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John 20:21 HCSB Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I
also send you."
Jesus was sent by God, (John 6:44; 7:16; 9:4, and compare 1 John 4:14,) and just as God sent
Jesus, so He has sent us. So John obeyed a divine commission.
2. HE DESCRIBED A SPECIFIC TASK.
Why was John sent? What did he come to do? John 1:19-22 sends us back to the OT:
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Malachi 3:1 HCSB "See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way
before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of
the covenant you desire--see, He is coming," says the LORD of Hosts.
Isaiah 40:3 HCSB A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the LORD in the
wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
We also are to be a "voice", we are to speak, to cry out in the wilderness of this world. How
wonderful to be a "voice" for God, a channel through whom He can speak to others! Every
Christian can engage in this, and on every hand people are waiting to hear this voice that tells
them of the Savior. And how did John the Baptist use his voice?...
3. HE INTRODUCED A WONDERFUL PERSON
In all the records of John’s public ministry, and in particular, John 1:19-37, we see that he always
pointed people away from himself to the Lord Jesus. (v. 25-27 See John 3:28-30) John calls
Jesus the “groom “ and himself “the best man.” May we all have this attitude of making God
increase and ourselves decrease!
Who was this Christ whom John introduced to people? (v. 30, 34) Christ was, and is, the eternal,
pre-existent Son of God.
We too are to speak of the Lord and to introduce Him to others. There is no vocation in the whole
wide world to compare with this. Catch the wonder of it! This is the work of the evangelist, the
missionary, the minister, and the individual Christian. But notice what John the Baptist said about
the Lord Jesus…
4. HE PROCLAIMED A GLORIOUS MESSAGE
John proclaimed two special things about Christ.
(1) Christ is the sin bearer (vv. 29, 36)
(2) Christ is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (vv. 32-33).
Thus the message that John proclaimed to his hearers was that through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ they could have deliverance from their sins, (Acts 13:38-39) and the gift of a new life.
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1 Corinthians 12:13 HCSB (13) For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one
Spirit.
There is only One who can bestow these great blessings, and that is Jesus, the Lamb who was
slain for us…and through His sacrificial and substitutionary death upon the cross He bore our sins
away and provided pardon and cleansing (Ex. 12:13; Acts 8:32; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pet. 1:19; 2:24; Rev.
1:5-6).
Only He can take guilty sinners and, by the miracle and mystery of His sovereign grace, unite us
"into one body"; and make us "to drink into one Spirit", making us "partakers of the divine nature",
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Ephesians 2:19-22 HCSB So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow
citizens with the saints, and members of God's household, (20) built on the foundation of
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the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. (21) The whole
building is being fitted together in Him and is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord,
(22) in whom you also are being built together for God's dwelling in the Spirit.
This is the glorious message that we have to proclaim and that this poor old world so desperately
needs to hear. Christ alone has the true answer to man’s need for forgiveness and the gift of
eternal life. We as Christians have the privilege and the responsibility of proclaiming this
message. Are we doing it? If so, we’ll see fruit and the Lord and His work will increase!
5. HE SECURED A RICH HARVEST
At first sight the harvest recorded in John 1:35-37 did not seem very spectacular, but think for a
moment. Who were these first trophies of grace who were brought to the Savior directly through
the ministry of John the Baptist?
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John 1:40-42 HCSB Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard John
and followed Him. (41) He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have
found the Messiah!" (which means "Anointed One"), (42) and he brought Simon to Jesus.
When Jesus saw him, He said, "You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas"
(which means "Rock").
They were Andrew and John [the son of Zebedee]; but not only Andrew and John, for verses 4042 tell us that Andrew found his brother Peter and led him to the Lord.
Notice the position of the word "first" in verse 41. It does not say, "he found his own brother first",
but "he first found his own brother", signifying that John led his brother James to Jesus, but that
Andrew was the first one to find his brother Peter. They both found their brothers! So here was a
rich harvest from John the Baptist’s ministry, Andrew, John, Peter, James, and the rest in the
following verses…and just think of the multitudes who were led to the Lord through those few!
They turned the world upside down…but it all started with the witness of the man John the
Baptist.
He was the greatest man ever born, and fulfilled a great role in Christianity…and yet even he
experienced a period of great doubt and testing:
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Matthew 11:1-3 HCSB When Jesus had finished giving orders to His 12 disciples, He
moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns. (2) When John heard in prison
what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples (3) and asked Him, "Are
You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Image of Mount Machaerus
John stood up to Herod for taking his own brother’s wife, and Herod cast him into prison in the
castle of Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea. The fortress of Machaerus was located on the top of
this tall hill and had a panoramic view of the Dead Sea and Palestine. This castle was also known
as the Black Fortress. It was built by Herod the Great in the gorge of Callirhoe, one of the wadies
9 miles east of the Dead Sea, as a frontier rampart against Arab marauders. Some of the
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dungeons there can still be toured today, built into the great hillside. Those dungeons are dark,
damp, rat infested, and most unpleasant.
John wondered why he would end up this way, and sent messengers to ask if Jesus truly was the
Messiah. John himself had proclaimed Christ to be to Messiah, but now he had doubts. We
should find this fact comforting. What? That’s right! If the greatest man ever born can have doubts
and have his faith falter, then it’s normal for any of us at times.
John, like most Jews, didn’t think Jesus would operate the way He did. John was in prison, and
was wondering if Jesus would allow this to happen. And we like him, have our doubts at times.
Maybe it’s when we’re in a financial prison, or a prison of poor health, a prison of poor
relationships or depression.
John was human, and like us, had preconceived notions about how God should do things, so he
began to question. It’s ok to question, it’s ok to have doubts, and investigate them. What’s the
only dumb question? The one you don’t ask! Sometimes God answers right away, and Jesus did
with John’s question…and some will be answered in heaven and not before. We must trust God’s
character even when we struggle trusting His ways.
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Matthew 11:4-6 HCSB Jesus replied to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and
see: (5) the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. (6) And if anyone is not
offended because of Me, he is blessed."
Jesus’ answer was is the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah 35. Jesus knew John would
recognize His credentials. Jesus was basically telling John, “Trust me even when you don’t
understand.”
It’s ok to be honest with our feelings, it’s ok to not understand everything, it’s ok to have some
doubts at times. I cannot begin to understand those little Amish girls being shot point blank in the
head. I cannot for the life of me figure out a conservative congressman, working on child predator
legislation turning out to be one himself. I can’t understand a little baby dying shortly after birth, or
a great Christian getting cancer. But I don’t have to understand, I just have to trust.
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Numbers 14:11 HCSB The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people despise
Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them?
Job 15:31 HCSB Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray, for what he
gets in exchange will prove worthless.
Psalms 31:14 HCSB But I trust in You, LORD; I say, "You are my God."
Psalms 37:5 HCSB Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act,
Proverbs 3:5 HCSB Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own
understanding;
Have you worked on a jigsaw puzzle lately? They can be confusing…they can test your patience.
Sometimes you are just certain the dog must have eaten the piece you’re looking for, and so you
try to cram in one that is kind of close to fitting! Who knew that a 100 piece Teletubby puzzle
could be so hard?
A blonde calls her boyfriend and says,
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"Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to
get started.”
Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"
The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a rooster."
Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and shows him where
she has the puzzle spread all over the table. He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at
the box, then turns to her and says,
"First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into
anything resembling a rooster".
He takes her hand and says "Secondly, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea,"
and then.....he said with a deep sigh"............
Image of Kellogg’s Rooster
…let's put all these Corn Flakes back in the box."
…Anyway, the key to working puzzles is looking at the picture…the big picture on the box.
Looking at all the jagged pieces to hard and too long will make you go mad…you’ve got to look at
the big picture! One day in heaven all the pieces will come together for us…until then, we need to
trust the big picture God has painted for us!
Image of John the Baptist about to be beheaded taken from:
http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/John_the_Baptist_beheaded.jpg
In the end John was beheaded because of his unflinching loyalty to the Lord (Mark 6:14-29). May
we trust the Lord and be faithful until death.
Image of Jesus mourning John the Baptist taken from:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.coptic.net/pictures/Icon.StJohnTheBaptist.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.coptic.net/exh
ibits/Pictures.html&h=761&w=698&sz=570&hl=en&start=11&tbnid=v5GQGumaM9T2xM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3DJ
ohn%2Bthe%2BBaptist%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D100%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG
This is the milk of the Word—an understanding of a great man who prepared the way of the Lord,
and showed us how to be a soul winner, and how to be real, express our hearts, and accept
God’s answers to life’s questions.
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