Primary Text: Matthew 3:1-12
Memory Verse: “I indeed baptize you with water unto 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. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12
Introduction:
John, the Baptist, was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin (Luke 1:36). While working in the Temple at Jerusalem, the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and revealed to him all the aspects of John’s birth, including his name and vocation. Since Zacharias was an Abijah priest and Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron (Luke 1:5), John, by virtue of his heritage, was also of the priesthood of Aaron.
John’s ministry was popular. Matthew 3:5-6 records that people would come from all around the area to hear him preach. His ministry became so popular that some wondered if he was the Messiah. John promptly informed them that he was not the Christ, but the one sent ahead of Him to prepare the way (John 3:28).
John was the forerunner of Jesus’ ministry. He was the messenger sent ahead to help people get their lives and their hearts ready for the Messiah. Josephus, a historian of the Biblical time period (37-100 A.D.), recorded that John was an apocalyptic preacher: someone who proclaimed a message of judgment by God and issued a call for repentance. Part of John’s message was that those who were repentant needed to be baptized, and many were baptized by John. Jesus, himself, came to John to be baptized by him. This amazed John. He humbly said, “I am the one who should be baptized by You!” (Matthew 3:14). But Jesus knew that John needed to baptize Him to fulfill the scriptures.
Not much more of John’s life is recorded between the time of Jesus’ baptism and John’s death. With the ministry of Jesus beginning, John recognized that his own ministry would not be as great (John 3:30). The next we read about John is in Mark 6:19-20, which records that John admonished Herod for his sinful behavior, was imprisoned and then beheaded – truly a martyr for the Kingdom of God.
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- What important heritage did John the Baptist have? Luke 1:5, 36
- What did the Jews of the Bible expect the Messiah to be in the natural? Psalm 110; Matthew 22:41-46; Jeremiah 23:5-6
- How did Jesus differ from that? Isaiah 53:2-6
- What was John specifically sent by God to do? Luke 1:16-17; Matthew 3:1-3, 11; John 1:6-9, 15
- How was John’s ministry a fulfillment of prophecy? Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:1-3; 11:10, 14; 17:10-13; Mark 1:2-4; Luke 3:2-6; John 1:22-23
- What message did John bring to the people? Matthew 3:1-2
- How is what John proclaimed consistent with Jesus’ teachings? Matthew 4:17; Luke 13:5
- What type of life did John live? Matthew 3:3-4