John the Baptist

We are in a study on the life of Christ and we're just kind of still in the introductory stages of that. So we haven't actually gotten much yet to what the New Testament gospels say about Christ Himself. We're still really looking at background material and last week we introduced the Ministry of John the Baptist and we'll hopefully finish that part of our study tonight. Now if there are any English composition teachers here tonight I have a confession to make and an explanation to give on your outline. I know you're not supposed to have a Roman number one unless you also have a Roman number two. I understand that. You just don't see the Roman number two. I knew we weren't going to get that far so I left it off. It's there but you just don't see it. We're going to talk about John the Baptist tonight and I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. Just quickly to review where we were last week. And this is on your outline I believe we talked about the announcement of his birth last week in chapter one verses five through twenty five. From the circumstances of the parents, Zacarias and Elizabeth the character of the son what he would be like they had the unusual privilege of knowing exactly what their son would be like before he was born and then the consequences of that when Zacarias doubted. the message of the angel and was struck dumb, unable to speak for the entire nine months of the pregnancy and we'll see how that ends tonight. Now we're going to pick up in chapter 1 verses 57 to 80. We're going to talk about the birth and childhood, the birth and childhood of the Lord Jesus. Okay, several things. Here first of all his birth in verses 57 and 58 just follow along. I won't actually read all of these verses, just refer to some of them and pull out a few details for you, but the baby was born. John was born in verse 57, neighbors and relatives heard about it and shared her joy. In fact, there's a lot of anticipation of this birth because of how the announcement came about with the angel giving an announcement of what really was a miraculous birth. Remember last time we talked it was a miraculous but not supernatural birth. You can distinguish between those two. This was not a virgin birth, anything like that, but it was miraculous in the sense that Zacharias and Elizabeth were two old-d have children and so it was miraculous in that sense. And so this whole scenario, the fact that Elizabeth, at her age, is bearing a child, when the Bible says there in verse 58 that her neighbor shared her joy, this really is quite a stir that is going on throughout the Judean hill country. Verses 59 to 63 talk about his naming. It was typical that a baby was not named until, particularly with a male, until he was eight days old and he would be taken for the circumcision ceremony, the Jewish religious ritual and also the surgery and at that time he would be named. So there was no looking through baby books, you know, picking out names and knowing way ahead of time, of course there were no ultrasounds either so they didn't know at that time whether it was a boy or a girl. Of course they knew, they knew they were having a son and they also knew what his name was going to be but it was typical to name him on day eight and it was typical to name the boy after some member of the family. So notice what happens, verse 59 they take him to name him and those who were in charge of the ceremony were going to name him after he's father Zacharias but notice verse 60 his mother spoke up and said no he is to be called John. Notice how definite that is. Why did she say that? Why would she so definite about that? What the angel told her that he would be named, right? I mean angel had described to them his name will be called John and so she says no his name is John and noticed the question or statement in verse 61 they said there are there's no one among your relatives who has that name. Then they made signs to his father in verse 62. Evidently they felt that because he couldn't speak he also couldn't hear not sure they didn't recognize that he could hear but they made signs to him you know what's his name going to be and Kathy Hawkes could do those signs but I can't and and he asked for a writing tablet and that everyone's astonishment verse 62, 63 he wrote his name is John. Notice how definite that is. It's not like well you know we thought about this and we kind of like the ring of the name John. Now he just says his name is John. No questions no debate that's it and so this is really astonishing to people that the birth has been announced this way it has taken place in the circumstances it has and now this unusual naming of the child and so the effect of this in verses 64 to 66 notice first of all the effect on Zacharias. Immediately his mouth was opened his tongue was loose and he began to speak praising God. Obviously he has demonstrated now his faith in the message of the angel that was the reason why he couldn't speak to start with he didn't believe the message of the angel well by naming his son John he's demonstrated I do believe the message of the angel now I got it and his name will be John and so his his tongue is loose and he praises God and the neighbors verse 65 are filled with all throughout the whole hill country of Judea everybody's talking about this everybody wondering in verse 66 what then is this child going to be can you just sense the kind of anticipation remember the context of this there's been 400 years of silence there's not been a word from God there's not been a prophet sent by God to the people 400 years and so this announcement of this birth of a child and what he's going to be the forerunner of the Messiah this is causing a huge wave of curiosity throughout the hill country of Judea that's the effect on everybody filled with awe and wonder and talking about this it's the topic of conversation in everybody's home the song of Zacharias in verses 67 to 79 this really is not a song it's more of a prophecy and it basically is a prophecy about how God has visited his people twice Zacharias mentions God visiting his people and that's a very important term it goes back to the Old Testament God always visits his people he breaks into human history on special occasions when he's about to do something unusual and God is now visiting his people through this baby who will announce the coming of the Messiah this is a new era in human history and so this is very critical and this prophecy that Zacharias gives is about God now visiting his people after 400 years he's he's now chosen to visit his people and verse 76 he even includes the role of his son and you my child will be called a prophet of the most high for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him and so he recognizes the role of his own son John in this coming of the Messiah and then this chapter ends with just a brief statement about his boyhood and his growing up years in verse 80 and the child grew and became strong in spirit and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel wouldn't you like to know more again it's one of those summary statements that summarizes a lot of years and we really don't know anymore he just lived out in the desert now you can imagine that because his parents were so old when he was born they may not have lived very long after John was born maybe just a few years but there's a lot of unknown about John's growing up but he does spend his his years growing up in the desert until it was time for his ministry to begin okay that's his birth and childhood a little bit about his coming into the world in such a unique way any question comment before we move on to his message okay the question is do I think he was Elias or Elijah I hope we're going to get to that tonight that's the very last thing that I have planned to talk about but you're you're you're bringing up a very important point and so if if I can hang on to that it fits fits well under the last thing we'll talk about about how what Jesus thought of John that's a very important and interesting topic a lot a lot of ink has been spilled on that one but we'll get to that hopefully good question any others that I can put off okay let's talk about his message the message of John you have to skip over to chapter three chapter two is about the birth of Christ and we'll get back to that but we want to kind of summarize everything about John the Baptist and and please remember as we made clear last week in case you weren't here last week John the Baptist really is better referred to as John the baptizer or the one baptizing he was not he didn't start at the nomination he was not a Baptist in that sense of the word it's a participle in the original language of the the one baptizing the baptizer that was what he was noted for and that's why he's given that name but commonly called John the Baptist and so we'll just use that title let's take a look at his message which is unique and very interesting and this is again the first word from God but we have a prophet in 400 years so we want to spend just a little bit of time talking about this message that John has first of all in verse one it is a preeminent message look at what is indicated in verse one in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar when Pontius Pilate was governor Judea Herod tetrarch of Galilee brother Philip tetrarch of Iteria and Tracanitis and Lysanius tetrarch of Abelene during the high priesthood of Anus and Caiapus the word of God came to John son of Zachary in the desert now this message is preeminent because it's it's of such great importance because of the way it's introduced notice the setting in which this message comes the way it's dated you've got one emperor one governor three tetrarchs and two high priests mentioned to set the historical background for this message that comes to John you're given all this information about who was ruling the world and who was ruling Judea and who were the religious leaders and it was in the midst of all of that those important people and all of their important jobs that the word of God comes to John that do you get the irony in that God is going to break his silence of 400 years and he bypasses Rome and he bypasses Jerusalem he bypasses the governor's palace bypasses Caesar he bypasses the high priests in the whole religious system of Israel and sends his word to a man who he has prepared through his whole life who's out in the desert now that ought to tell us a little something about God's value system you know what's really important to God at this juncture in human history is not what's going on in Rome it's not what's going on in Jerusalem it's what's going on the backside of the desert with this guy who's been prepared by God to be his spokesman so you see God doesn't see things like we see them we have too much of a tendency to get impressed by power and might and God is not impressed by that he notes it here to put it in some kind of time frame but he's not impressed with Caesar and the governors and the tetrarchs and even the high priests he's doing his work in the heart of a man on the backside of the desert and the quick that we learned that the better off will be in our usefulness for God that God's not impressed with greatness and titles and power and importance God just wants people who are sold out 100% to him and when he finds those kind of people that's where he introduces his word and that's where he does his work you know even even in the church even in Christian circles there's so much emphasis on kind of climbing the ladder and you know getting places of importance and that kind of thing God doesn't care a thing about that and I think this is a good reminder to us that not what was happening in Rome or Jerusalem or in the temple it's what was happening in the heart of John the Baptist that God was concerned about that's who the word of God comes to it's very important to see that the preeminence of this message but notice it was also a particular message it was a particular message in verse two the word of God came to John now there are two words that the writer Luke could use here to indicate word one of them is the word logos that's the word that used for instance in John one the word was with God the word was God in the beginning was the word the word was with God the word was God that's the word logos and that basically means the whole package the whole message okay but that's not the word that Luke uses here it's a different word that's not used as often it's the word re ma re ma is the word that's used here and that means a specific message it's not the whole message that's not John's ministry to give the whole picture the whole big message of God he's got a very particular message a very distinct message and it's going to be summarized this way the kingdom of heaven is at hand and I'm preparing you for the king that's that's his whole message and you need to be baptized as an indication that you have repented of your sin so that you can be spiritually prepared for the coming of the king that's his message he's not going to talk about a lot of other things he's not going to expound Old Testament books you know he's not going to set up Bible classes where he goes through the book of Psalms he's just going to zero in on that particular message it's a re ma it's not a logos it's a re ma which is a particular distinct specific word from God very interesting a particular message but notice also in verse two it is a pressing message the word of God came to John to John another very interesting word to hear it's the little Greek preposition ep it actually means upon the word of God came upon John and it has the idea of a divine pressure a divine burden a divine compulsion to give this word a divine passion to give this word it's not just it kind of found its way in his vicinity came to him no this was laid on him okay this divine pressure from above is laid upon John I believe I sincerely believe that is one of if not the greatest evidence of a call to preach is that very thing is that pressing inescapable compulsion burden to give the word of God I'll never forget the first verse that I and I'm going to read it out of the NIV the first verse that I ever claimed if you will for a life verse when I went into Bible college it was in it was at the bottom of that Bible that my dad gave me and he wrote me a note on the front of it and on the next page I wrote this verse 1 Corinthians 9 16 where Paul said yet when I preach the gospel I cannot boast for I am compelled to preach woe to me if I do not preach the gospel now that kind of compulsion Paul knew John the Baptist knew that's the kind of compulsion that Paul tells Timothy about Paul recognized it in Timothy he said I've recognized what your gifts are and you have that same compulsion that burden that pressure laid on you by God to proclaim the word of God and so he told Timothy last thing I'm going to tell you Timothy and remember you will stand and give an account to God for this 2 Timothy 4 preach the word okay so that compulsion that you cannot get away from that burden that desire is I think one of the greatest evidences of God's if you want to call a call of God's moving a person into ministry certainly true with with John the message came upon John it was a divine pressure from above that thrust him into the ministry there's nothing else he could have done he was just compelled to do this so it was a pressing message and then notice it was a pertinent message verse 3 he went into all the country around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins it was a very pertinent message it was the most pertinent thing he could have given them the most needful thing that John could have preached to them was about the forgiveness of sins and that is the most needful message that anybody needs to hear is about the forgiveness of sins it is our sin that separates us from God it's our sin that causes us to be under God's wrath and condemnation and be on our way to hell and so the forgiveness of our sin being restored to a right relationship with God is the most important message anybody can hear now you'll notice that it says he preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins it was the repentance that was the outward indication or actually the heart I should say heart indication that they were serious about turning from sin it was the baptism that was the outward indication that they were serious the repentance is inward their heart is genuinely grieved over sin they are turning from their sin to faith in the message of of John and the forgiveness of sin and it's the baptism that demonstrates that outwardly they are to come be baptized to indicate that they are serious about getting their lives cleaned up it's not the baptism that forgives their sins in fact the the Greek preposition here translated in our English versions of repentance for the forgiveness of sins it's a it's ice whoops that's it's E I S ice not I C E it means a baptism for in the sense of looking unto the way that preposition is most often translated as unto in the New Testament so it's it's a baptism that is looking forward to the forgiveness of sins that will come when Jesus comes so the baptism is not what saves people the baptism is not what forgave their sins the baptism was just simply an outward sign an outward action that they were doing to show the inward repentance of their heart and because of the inward repentance of their heart God would look forward to the death of Christ and say because of his death that's coming your sins will be forgiven that's how salvation worked for Old Testament saints before the cross they trusted God God looked forward to the death of Christ and applied what happened at the death of Christ back to the sins of believing Israelites in the Old Testament and that's what John's talking about here okay so the message is very pertinent it's very needed the most needed message anyone could have questions about that concept yes Joe cultural significance yeah I think there is some cultural significance to the right of baptism in two ways first of all there's an Old Testament background to it when when the Old Testament prophets introduce the new covenant that God will come to give for Israel and will carry out with them in the Millennium it's it's mentioned in terms of a cleansing for instance in Ezekiel 36 he says I will cleanse you I will wash you and I think that's why you know Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3 when he was talking about it being washed with water and the spirit and Nicodemus couldn't understand that and Jesus says you're a teacher of the Old Testament you don't get that there was plenty of Old Testament background that he should have known the water in the Old Testament some of spiritual cleansing so there's that background but there were also Jewish baptisms in the first century the Jews practiced ritual cleansings before they would go into the temple and they did it I've seen the baptismal fonts on the south end of the excavations of the temple again I wish I had all my slides in a digital form I could show you some pictures of this how archaeologists have uncovered baptismal fonts at the south side of the Jewish temple this is Old Testament saints now who would go to the temple and they would walk down a set of stairs and completely submerge themselves in water and then walk back up another set and they're just a constant stream of these people cleansing themselves figuratively they were demonstrating the fact that I'm getting ready to go into the temple I'm supposed to be clean this is one way I show it going through these badness so there was a cultural very well-known practice among Jews that the way you demonstrate your heart is serious about being clean is to wash yourself and baptism is the way it was done there is some cultural background there okay any other questions all right let's let's look at the fact that it is also a prophetic message prophetic message in two ways verses four through six John himself is a fulfillment of prophecy notice a part of his message verse four as is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet this comes straight out of Isaiah 40 verses three through five he quotes it in the rest of verse four five and six this is a quote of the one who will be the four runner of the Messiah and so John himself is a fulfillment of prophecy but not only is John a fulfillment of prophecy it's a prophetic message also in the sense that John gives a prophecy he himself is a fulfillment of prophecy but he also gives a prophecy and that's in verses 16 and 17 where he prophesized the Lord Jesus John answered them all I baptize you with water but one more powerful than I will come the thongs of whose sandals I'm not worried that I untie he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit with fire in other words his his baptism is going to be a baptism in the spirit not in water a baptism in the spirit kind of looking forward to the time when the church would start in the book of Acts but also baptism of fire that speaks of judgment and verse 17 kind of completes that picture of judgment his winnowing fork is in his hand to clear the threshing floor and together the wheat into his barn but he will burn up the shaft with unquenchable fire and again the picture there that every is right would be familiar with is of a threshing floor with grain piled on it and you got this pitch fork kind of thing the threshing fork that the farmer would take and lift up some of the grain and throw it up in the air this was always the threshing floor is always on a high spot where there was a breeze you throw the grain up into the air the shaft kind of blows away and the grain falls to the ground and so the shaft is separated the unusable part is separated from the pure grain and that's the picture of judgment because the shaft is then burned it's useless so that John is prophesying about Jesus coming and what he will bring okay then it is a pointed message very pointed message verse 7 excuse me 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 now you talk about being pointed in your message you brood of vipers many believe that John is referring here primarily to the religious leaders the Pharisees, Sadducees of the day and and by calling them vipers he's saying basically you give a lot of poison coming out of your mouth you're poisoning people by what you say that may be what he's talking about here he will talk later directly to the Pharisees but then the in verses 10 through 14 he becomes very pointed with people who ask him questions about what what they should do to be prepared for his message to what should we do to show that we really are repentant verse 10 what should we do then the crowd asked Jesus answered the man with two tunics should share with him who has none the one who has food should do the same an evidence of heart change when you change your behavior verse 12 tax collectors came to be baptized teacher what should we do in other words what are we supposed to do to show that we're really serious about this cleansing and he says don't collect any more than you're required to well that was exactly the the chief sin of the tax collectors so if you're really serious repent of your sin then the soldiers asked you verse 14 what should we do he replied don't extort money which was very common for Roman soldiers their pay was very low and so they would extort money they would you know be like mafia guys that would take money from businesses to protect the businesses they would extort my so he says don't do that don't accuse people falsely and be content with your pay so his message was very pointed it was very direct it was very specific if you really want to show heart change this is a way to show up in your life it'll show up in a change in behavior so it was a pointed message and then it was a productive message verses 10 through 20 a productive message and let's move on to the next slide to talk a little bit about three ways in which his message was productive or three results and verses 10 through 14 as we've already seen people sought out John and so his message the kingdom is at hand produces this response that people sought him out they are asking him questions they're coming to him what must I do to show that I'm really serious and that you'll baptize me and so they're seeking out the people are flocking to hear this man preach and then verses 15 through 18 people were expectant about the Messiah the people expected the Messiah to come in fact they were so expectant they thought maybe John's the guy verse 15 the people were waiting expectantly and we're all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ from the Messiah John answered them I baptize you with water one more powerful than I will come the thongs of whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie we've already read his prophecy of Jesus but people were very expectant you know this is quite a stir in the area in Judea and then the third response is that Herod Anthepus was angered Herod Anthepus was angered and he throws John in prison verses 19 and 20 because John rebuked Herod for taking his brother's wife there's an interesting story about that even in Roman history about how Herod Philip had gone to Rome and Herod a grip of the tetrarke joins or Anthepus joins him there at a banquet is smitten by his wife and takes her home with him I mean there wasn't any divorce or anything he just said I'm taking you with me and so John the Baptist said you know that's not a very good thing to do that's that's not right and Herod locked up John in prison okay any questions before we move on to talk a little bit more about his imprisonment and death fine okay well you you pretty well know that John's birth was about six months before Jesus because of the story of Elizabeth and Mary when Elizabeth finds out she's pregnant or Mary finds out she's pregnant she goes and and spends three months there there's about six months difference in time as you read through that account in John and Jesus exactly when John was born it's a little difficult to tell I mean you know we know when his ministry started because it's dated by those rulers but as far as exactly when he was born it's a little easier to date the birth of Christ and so you can date it from his birth back six months could do that yes good question is this is the baptism we're talking about here symbolic of something different than our baptism would be after the death of Christ and it is it is symbolic of something different our baptism today is symbolic of the fact that we have been united with Christ and his death burial resurrection it's a picture of that the baptism these people went through was more a picture of the fact I'm getting rid of my sin it was more picture cleansing I'm washing away my sin and although the baptism didn't wash away their sin it was a picture of them getting their hearts clean so it did symbolize something a little different okay just quickly tell the story about John's imprisonment and death I do want to finish John the Baptist tonight and so there are four passages or three passages excuse me listed there for you the most lengthy account is in Mark's gospel and we're not going to take a look at the actual passage but just to remind you you're familiar with the story John is imprisoned because he has denounced Herod's taking his brother's wife Herodius is her name now you may recall the story of how John is not only imprisoned but how he dies Herodius's daughter well let me back up a little bit Herod has a banquet where he invites a lot of his co-regents and rulers and people who are under him and so forth officials to this banquet and at this banquet Herodius's daughter performs a dance which the Bible says Herod was very pleased with it obviously was some kind of immoral lascivious type of dance and it pleased Herod and all of his guests and so Herod offers her anything she wants and she goes and asks her mother what should I ask for and her mother says tell him to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter well when Salome who most believe her name was comes back in to make that request but obviously Herod is shocked but he can't back down in front of all of his guests he's made this promise he can't lose face and although the Bible says he feared John and really didn't want to take his life he felt like he couldn't back down and so he had the execution carried out and John was martyred so that is his imprisonment and death now let's let's take the last few minutes to talk about Jesus and John because I figure there may be a few questions on this and want to go ahead and talk about this for a moment Jesus and John let's just kind of tie together how they relate to each other first of all John's estimate of Jesus three things are important here about how John viewed Jesus at first John is reluctant to baptize Jesus when Jesus comes to him you'll find the story in Matthew 3 Matthew chapter 3 verses 13 to 17 Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John but John tried to deter him saying I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me John recognizing that his baptism was a baptism that demonstrated you were serious about getting rid of sin in your life he knew Jesus was who he was he knew Jesus was holy and so he says no I can't baptize you I need to be baptized by you I shouldn't be baptizing you and Jesus gives this curious reply let it be so now it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness then John consented now what did Jesus mean by that and there have been a lot of it there's been a lot written about this and a lot of speculation about what Jesus really meant by it's necessary to fulfill all righteousness what what probably Jesus was talking about was that in order for him to to fill all of the moral qualifications for him to enter his ministry and begin his ministry there had to be kind of a kickoff point a point that would would be recognized as the beginning of his ministry and this is the most public occasion for that and so he identifies himself with John's ministry and with his message by allowing himself to be baptized Jesus did not have any sin that he needed to confess or get rid of that was not the case for him but for all of God's righteous requirements for him to start into his ministry to to happen he identifies himself with John's message and John's ministry and who he was and takes this public opportunity for himself to be recognized as the Messiah because there will be a very public recognition in verse 16 heaven was open spirit of God to sins like a dove the voice from heaven comes this is my son who my love with him I am well pleased so this is the initiation of Jesus ministry and he does it by identifying with John's message which remember his message was the kingdom of heaven is in hand and the king is coming and Jesus basically is saying I'm here I'm here and so that is why he's baptized by John after that John proclaims him to be the Lamb of God and the promised Messiah in John chapter 1 verses 29 to 34 after the Holy Spirit the sins on him like a dove then although John knew Jesus and knew who he was now he knows that Jesus is the Messiah and it's time for him to begin his ministry and so he begins pointing his disciples to to Jesus and saying the hold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world this is this is the Messiah this Lamb of God and then in John chapter 3 verses 22 to 30 familiar passage John recognizes his ministry must decrease and Christ must increase because John's disciples come to him there in John 3 verses 22 to 30 and they're saying you know this this man named Jesus is baptizing a lot more people than you and John says that's okay I'm just a friend of the bridegroom he's the bridegroom and he's the main attraction now I must decrease and he must increase so John recognizes the importance of Jesus ministry the fact that his ministry is phasing out okay that's John's estimate of Jesus let's talk a little bit about Jesus estimate of John notice on the slide here here's what Jesus believed and felt and communicated about John number one he allowed John to baptizing thus showing his approval of John's work among the other reasons that I mentioned he was showing an approval and identification with John's ministry by allowing John to baptize him so that speaks highly of John secondly Jesus knew that that John was the prophesied forerunner if you would look at Matthew chapter 11 Matthew chapter 11 this is when John's disciples come to Jesus when John's in prison and they're asking are you the Messiah are you really the one and when his disciples were leaving Jesus turns to the crowd in verse 7 says what did you go out in the desert to see a reed swayed by the wind if not what did you go out to see a man dressed in fine clothes no those who wear fine clothes are in King's palace and what did you go out to see a prophet yes I tell you and more than a prophet in verse 10 this is the one about whom it is written I will send my messenger ahead of you and prepare your way before you so he knew that John and he points out to the crowd that John was the forerunner the prophesied forerunner of the Messiah third thing that Jesus says about John is that he testified of John's greatness if you read on in verse 11 I tell you the truth among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist these are the top of the list you look back over all the old testament saints and prophets there's no one greater than John John is chosen by God to prepare the way for the Messiah no one had a greater responsibility than that and then the last part of the verse is called great debate where he says yet he who is leased in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he probably speaking of the kingdom that Jesus will introduce and bring in probably introducing the church here and the least in the church is greater than John how can that be how can that possibly be what do you think we got one minute remember what John said and we just briefly referenced it but in John chapter 3 he has said you know he's the bridegroom I'm just the friend of the bride I'm I'm the one who's introducing the bridegroom and I'm just his best man if you were now who is the bride the church right so the two main players in this new thing that's coming is the bridegroom and the bride Jesus and the church the church is in a greater position than John the Baptist even though John the Baptist had the highest privilege of any Old Testament prophet the church is still in a higher position because we're the bride the bride we're not the the best man we're the bride and so the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John in that sense and I think that's the only sense in what you means that but then notice the last thing that he says about John this is the one that is the question that was asked earlier Jesus identified John as Elijah if big capital it should be this big if Israel had received Jesus as Messiah now there are four passages there I'm just going to mention them briefly Malachi 4 is the last prophecy the Old Testament that says that that Elijah will yet come and turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers the children Elijah will yet come Luke 1 in the prophecy when John is to be born says that he will come in the spirit and power of Elijah so his ministry will have the same spirit and power in Matthew 11 verses 13 and 14 if you still have your Bible open there Jesus says for all the prophets in the law of prophesied until John and if you are willing to accept it key words if you are willing to accept it he is the Elijah who was to come now in Matthew 17 Jesus says something else about this the disciples ask him in verse 10 why the interteachers of the law say the Elijah must come first Jesus replied to be sure Elijah comes and will restore all things but I tell you Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him but they have done to him everything they wished in the same way the son of man is going to suffer at their hands then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist so there's a both and a kind of situation here was John the Baptist the prophesied Elijah yes and no he was he would have fulfilled that role if Israel had trusted Christ as their Messiah if they had received Christ the Old Testament prophecy about Elijah would have been fulfilled in John that's clear from those passages but Jesus seems to leave the door open that because Jesus was rejected and John was rejected too they did unto him as they pleased Jesus said that leaves the door open that this prophecy has yet to be fulfilled it is possible and some some maintain very strongly you know the two witnesses in revelation chapter 11 in the tribulation time the two witnesses who do miraculous works there are some who believe that that is Elijah and Enek the only two people in the Old Testament who didn't die and since it is appointed in the man once to die they have to come back and die there are others who believe it's Elijah and Moses since their miraculous acts more represent Elijah and Moses you know the bible doesn't tell us who it's going to be I don't know who it's going to be it could be Elijah he could be one of them and if that prophecy is yet to be fulfilled literally then probably it will be fulfilled in the two witnesses but real quick look at this chart and then I'll open it up for we're behind our time here here is what would have happened if Israel had accepted Jesus as Messiah and this is a lot of speculation because we don't really know for sure but if Jesus had accepted if Israel had accepted Jesus as a Messiah here's Christ coming at his first advent his first coming to the earth the first 69 weeks of Daniel which are prophesied in the book of Daniel chapter 9 half to be fulfilled and completed with the death of Christ so Christ would have to die even if Israel had accepted him as Messiah if the kingdom that was offered have been accepted at Christ ministry he still would have had to die probably he would have died in this case at the hands of the Romans because the Jews would have accepted him as their king right so probably the Romans would have put him to death anyway but it would have accomplished the death of Christ for our sins and then probably what would have happened rather than the church we would have had the seven year of Jacob's trouble the 70th week of Daniel would have had to take place in there the Messiah having died and resurrected seven years of trouble and then the second coming to the earth to set up the kingdom if Israel had accepted Jesus as their Messiah that's probably the way it would have worked out and you and I would not have been here at least not in the church but that's not in God's sovereignty the way it worked out and that was not in this plan okay so forget that chart that's all supposition all right and our time is up we need to go let's pray if you have questions I'll be glad to talk with you in the lobby okay father thank you for the time together in your word pray that you would help us to better grasp who this man John was and the significance of his ministry what it means to have a four-runner of the Messiah like him and pray that we will have the same boldness to tell about Christ that he had in Jesus name we pray amen