April 11, 2007

John the Baptist - Reintroduction

Luke 1:39-45

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

John was in tune with the Spirit of Christ even before birth.

What if our spirits were that in tune with God’s Spirit?

John the Baptist - Review

Review - From Luke:

• Son of Zechariah and Elizabeth (1:5)
• They were elderly and Elizabeth had been barren (1:7)
• He was to be a Nazirite from birth (1:15)
• Will be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth (1:15)
• Was about six months older than Jesus (1:36)
• Was related to Jesus (1:36)

Review - What Jesus says about John:

• Matthew 11:11 - “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist”
• Matthew 11:9 - “more than a prophet”

Review - Similarities between John and Jesus:

• Their births are prophesied in the Old Testament
• Their births are miraculous
• Their births are announced by Gabriel
• Theirs are the only births recorded in the New Testament
• Both had God-given roles to fulfill His plan

John’s Ministry

His appearance:

• Clothes of camel hair
• Leather belt
• Ate locusts and wild honey
• Long hair - Nazirite vow?

Questions:

• How do you picture John?
• What would we have thought of John and the people that went to him?
• What was his personality?
• What was his demeanor?
• What did his voice sound like?
• Why did people come to him?

Luke 3:7-14

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 "What should we do then?" the crowd asked. 11 John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" 13 "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay."

John 1:19-27

19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." 21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' " 24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

Notice the questions asked:

• "What should we do then?"( the crowd)
• "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" (tax collectors)
• "And what should we do?" (soldiers)
• "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"
• "Are you the Prophet?"
• "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.“
• “What do you say about yourself?"
• "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

What do they not ask? They don’t ask about baptism.

His preaching:

• Didn’t hold back:
  • Called Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3, Luke 3)
    • These were the keepers of the law
    • Pharisees - written and oral law (traditions)
    • Sadducees - written law
  • Preached against Herod’s marriage (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 3)
• Preached and baptized for repentance (Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:4, Acts 19:4)
• Pointed to Jesus
• Many came to hear him
  • Matthew 3:5 - People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
  • Mark 1:5 - The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.

Baptism

Exodus 30:17-21

17 Then the LORD said to Moses, 18 "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. 20 Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, 21 they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come."

I Kings 7:23-26

23 He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. 25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

Two thousand baths = 11,500 gallons

I Kings 7:38-39

38 He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. 39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple.

Forty baths = 230 gallons

* The Babylonians broke the bronze sea into pieces and had the bronze shipped to Babylon. (2 Kings 25:13, Jeremiah 52:17)

* Certain parts of the Essenes were called “Morning Dippers” because they bathed daily for ceremonial cleanliness and forgiveness of sins. This was a separatist group and some feel John may have been an Essene.

* Those that were converted to Judaism were baptized as part of that conversion. This seems to have been a tradition instead of part of the law of Moses.

John’s Baptism

Acts 19:1-5

1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. 4 Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

What John says about Christ

Mark 1:7-8

7 And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

John 1:15-17

15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 3:22-30

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."

27 To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.

John’s Death

• Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee was the son of Herod the Great
• Upon the death of Herod the Great (4  BC) Caesar Augustus divided Israel into three parts and gave rule to three of his sons:
  • Herod Antipas ruled Galilee
  • Herod Philip I ruled Syria (East of Jordan)
  • Archelaus ruled Judea and Samaria

• Herod originally married the daughter of an Arab ruler - Phasaelis
• He divorced her and married Herodias
• Herodias was the granddaughter of Herod the Great and had married Herod Antipas’ brother, Herod Philip II
• Because of John’s intense criticism of their marriage, Herod had him imprisoned at the request of Herodias (Matthew 14:3)
• Herodias wanted to kill John (Mark 6:19)
• Herod and John
  • Herod was afraid of the people because they felt that John was a prophet
    (Matthew 14:5, Mark 6:20)
  • Herod knew that John was a fair and holy man (Mark 6:20)
  • Herod liked listening to John even though it disturbed him (Mark 6:20)
  • Herod regretted having to kill John (Matthew 14:9, Mark 6:26)
• Herodias finally gets her chance after her daughter dances at Herod’s birthday celebration (Matthew 14, Mark 6)

Matthew 14:6-13

6 On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 John's disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. 13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.

To learn from John:

Sacrifice

·        Preached in the wilderness

·        Didn’t have fine clothes or wealth

Commitment

·        Preached what he knew God wanted him to preach - whether to Pharisees, Sadducees, regular people, or Herod

·        Committed to God’s truth even when it cost him his life

Humility

·        Jesus is always first and foremost

John is chosen:

·        Not only to prepare the way for Christ

·        Also to baptize Christ

Matthew 3:13-15

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.