Luke 7:27 - JOHN THE BAPTIST

JOHN THE BAPTIST

From before he was born, John the Baptist was a spirit-filled prophet. The angel had told the priest, Zacharias, that his barren wife, Elizabeth, would conceive, and the baby would be “filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb” (Luke 1:15b). When Mary, the mother of Jesus, visited her relative, Elizabeth, the fetus in her womb jumped for joy at sound of Mary’s voice because he recognized that the baby inside her was the Messiah (Luke 1:43-44). When John became an adult, he lived in the desert until time to begin his ministry (Luke 1:80). Many prophets exhibited what seemed to be eccentric behavior. For example:

·       Isaiah walked around naked (Isaiah 20:2)

·       Ezekiel cut and divided his hair (Ezekiel 5:1-3)

·       Jeremiah wore a yoke and bonds (Jeremiah 27:2)

·       Elijah doused his sacrifice (1 Kings 18:33-35)

John the Baptist was no exception. He wore clothes made of camel’s hair with a leather belt, and he ate locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6). I doubt many people accepted his dinner invitations. He came baptizing people to show their repentance of sin. He preached that the kingdom of Heaven was near (Matthew 3:1-2). John was imprisoned because he was so bold as to tell Herod the Tetrarch he was sinning by marrying his brother’s wife (Matthew 14:3). After he was imprisoned, he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He truly was the Messiah or they should search for someone else (Luke 7:19). Jesus performed many miracles in front of these two and told them to report back to John what they had seen (Luke 7:21-22) and listed deeds Isaiah prophesied concerning the Messiah (Isaiah 35:5, 6; 61:1). Then Jesus explained to the crowd that they had not gone out to see John because of the beauty of the Jordan river or his fancy clothing but because he was, indeed, a prophet. He then validated that John was not only a prophet, but the prophet foretold in Scripture:

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

You may remember the earthly end to the saga of John the Baptist. Herod’s wife (his ex-sister-in-law) had her daughter dance for Herod. When he promised her anything in front of many guests in reward for the dance, her mother instructed her to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Thus, he was decapitated and his head served up as if it were the last course of the meal. Gross! However, that is not the end of his story. He entered into the presence of the Father having fulfilled his purpose as a prophet and with the confidence that he had been one of the first to recognize Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God.