Articles
John the Baptizer
As the Old Testament is coming to a close, God announces He will be sending the people a messenger like unto Elijah. Malachi 4:5-6 says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (NKJV). Earlier in the same book God had said, “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming” (Malachi 3:1, NKJV). The Old Testament ends with predictions Elijah coming and a messenger who will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. When we come to the book of Luke, we read about the announcement of the birth of this individual who would come “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17, NKJV). His name would be John (Luke 1:13, 60-63). John performed an important work and can serve as a great example to us in many ways (Matthew 11:11).
John is a great example of humility for us. Jesus would eventually gain more followers than John. John does not become envious or jealous but rather rejoices in the fact he accomplished his purpose in preparing the way for the Christ. See John 3:26-36. How many of us are driven by jealousy and envy and cannot stand it when someone appears to do better than we are doing? Let’s avoid the temptation of comparing ourselves with ourselves (2 Corinthians 10:12). Let’s also avoid the temptation of thinking of fellow Christians as somehow in competition with us and rather see them as fellow workers (1 Corinthians 3:5-9).
John is a great example of preaching God’s word even when it may have been unpopular. Remember how many Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism and he says, “Brood of vipers Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8, NKJV). Imagine calling a group of people a group of snakes! Imagine calling upon religious people to show fruits of repentance! Preaching these things was not the path of one who was trying to tell people what they were wanting to hear. John also would rebuke Herod for his unlawful marriage to Herodias (Mark 6:17-18). John’s preaching against Herod’s unlawful marriage resulted in him being beheaded for preaching the truth on that subject (Mark 6:19-28). Are we willing to proclaim the truth when it is unpopular? Do we simply want to tell others what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear? Think about the charge given to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-4 to, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (NKJV). Do we preach “in season and out of season”? Are we there to simply tickle people’s ears or tell them the truth they need to hear?
Matthew 11:1-6 may indicate John had questions arise in his mind while in prison about Jesus. If John is wanting an answer to the question in Matthew 11:3 for himself, then he demonstrates how it is possible for a person of faith to have questions. John would demonstrate for us what we need to do with our questions. John goes to the Lord with his question. When we have questions, do we seek to get our questions answered by turning to God and His word. John obviously is not a man who never faced any difficulties but who seems to persevere through whatever challenges came his way. Let’s think about how we can imitate some of the great characteristics of this forerunner for the Christ!
