What Can be Learned From the Message of John the Baptist?
The preaching of John the Baptist applies just as much today as it did in the first century. Disregarding the words of John the Baptist will surely lead to embracing great errors and believing in a false gospel.
Reading from the beginning of Luke chapter 3.
Luke 3:1-2: “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.”
John the Baptist was well removed from both the political and religious establishments of his time. The greatest opposition to the faithful men in the New Testament came from these establishments.
Luke 3:3-6: “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
There is an obvious figurative application to the geographic descriptions given here. The real Gospel of Christ demands that sin be forsaken without compromise. It cannot be harbored at all. No one can receive Jesus Christ as He ought to be received who does not acknowledge their sins before God and wholeheartedly turn from them. Those who challenge this claim will be utterly proven wrong very shortly.
Luke 3:7: “Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
Evangelists like Billy Graham who use emotional manipulation to coax people to the altar through smooth words and/or music are not faithful messengers.
Luke 3:8: “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
John the Baptist told Jewish people there that they are not in God’s favor because of their Jewish heritage. Despite being Jewish himself, John would be labeled as hateful towards the Jewish people now for saying such a thing. He was probably even accused of this in his own lifetime as many faithful men in the Bible were. Multitudes of Christians disregard Luke 3:8 and a multitude of other Bible verses since they say Jews are God’s chosen people because they are natural descendants of Abraham. This is wicked and downright crazy. This is being partial to the very generation of vipers whom John the Baptist rebuked so harshly. Inseparable from this, support of modern Israel and professing faith in Jesus Christ do not rightfully go together.
Luke 3:9: “And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
Many say that it is wrong to tell people that they need to get their lives right in God’s eyes or they will burn in hell. Yet that is essentially what John the Baptist told people here. We are about to see that John’s audience understood him that way. John also did not correct them for understanding him this way.
Luke 3:10: “And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?”
The people rightly understood that John was preaching about the necessity of repentance from sin and saying that true repentance must be accompanied by works worthy of repentance. John’s answer to their question proves that they did not misunderstand him.
Luke 3:11-14: “He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat (food), let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.”
John was not telling the soldiers not to defend Roman territory and keep order as they were being paid to do. He was rather telling them not to do violence to extort money out of people as Roman soldiers were known for doing. Extortion by violence and potential false accusation were common ways Roman soldiers obtained money to supplement their wages.
Luke 3:15-18: “And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.”
Jesus is wrathful. He never looked like a pacifist hippie nor did He ever speak in line with the doctrine of a pacifist hippie. The purpose of His first coming was not to judge the world. Yet in His glory as the righteous and supreme Judge of mankind, He judges His enemies with utterly severe violence. The real Jesus whom John was sent to prepare the way for does not accept people unconditionally.
Luke 3:19-20: “But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife and for all the evils which Herod had done, Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.”
The Law of Moses forbade a man from marrying a woman who had already been his brother’s wife (with one little exception which did not apply to Herod). King Herod refused to forsake this unlawful union. One sin persisted in will send a person to hell. Yet Herod had many sins which he was unwilling to give up. The things which are written in Mark 6:17-28 provide more detail on that. Despite his earthly power, Herod was a slave to sexual lust, he was a slave to his wife, and he was a slave to the opinions of others. He did indeed have a strong desire to be saved, yet he ultimately chose not to forsake all of his sins and suffer in order to do what is right in God’s eyes. Sadly, multitudes who preach in the name of Christ give people the impression that they can have a saving interest in Him as they refuse to forsake all of their sins and suffer in order to do what is right in His eyes.
In relation, Jeremiah 23:16-22 says: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.”
Many say that the Gospel account of John the Apostle doesn’t teach that you need to forsake your sins in order to believe in Jesus Christ. They claim verses such as John 3:16 teach that believing in Jesus doesn’t demand repentance from sin. This is very deceitful since John the Apostle establishes almost right away in his Gospel account that no one can believe in Jesus Christ as the Bible prescribes without heeding the message of John the Baptist.
John 1:6-8: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.”
Some claim that telling people they need to turn from their sins denies the sufficiency of the atonement which Jesus accomplished on the cross. They are dead wrong. Others claim the teaching that man needs to have his sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus is a later invention by the Apostle Paul. These are also dead wrong. Both of these claims are refuted by the words of John the Baptist. John preached the necessity of repentance from sin and also spoke about the atoning death of Christ.
John 1:29: “The next day John (that is, John the Baptist) seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Those who heard John the Baptist in person who knew the Old Testament (which was the entire Bible at the time) would have known that John was connecting Jesus with the Lamb which Abraham said the Lord would provide in Genesis and identifying Him as whom the Passover Lamb prescribed for Israel in Exodus pointed towards. John the Baptist preached the necessity of repentance from sin and the sufficiency of the blood of Christ to potentially redeem anyone from their sins as complementary truths rather than as things opposed to each other. Yet many contend with this in one way or another.
Note also how Jesus said that John the Baptist is “much more than a prophet” in Luke 7:26. John had also said “but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose” in regard to Jesus in Luke 3:16. John the Baptist also even said the following concerning Him.
John 1:34: “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”
Those who deny the supreme authority and divinity of Jesus Christ also disregard John the Baptist in their understanding. See John 3:25-36 along the same lines.
And also note this. Jesus also said concerning John the Baptist in Matthew 11:14 “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias (Elijah), which was for to come.” This was said in reference to the prophecy that was given back in Malachi 4:5. John the Baptist was not literally Elijah, yet he was sent before Christ “in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah)” as Luke 1:17 says.
Elijah called Israel to repent of its idolatry and be faithful to the true God’s prescribed worship. He also confronted injustice in Israel’s highest political leader (King Ahab) in regard to Ahab’s theft of a vineyard from a man named Naboth and Ahab’s murder of Naboth (see 1 Kings chapter 21). As faithful Elijah bitterly contended with evil in Israel, John the Baptist also contended with King Herod and rebuked the sins which prevailed in Israel in his time. And that was all even before the Lord rejected the Jewish nation through the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 due to the nation’s rejection of its Messiah and manifold sins.
How can anyone then be right with the true God when they support modern Israel in mass theft of land from the Palestinians and mass murder against them? The widespread support of modern Israel, especially from those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, is abominable. The same goes for the widespread defending of Israel’s sycophant yes-people in America and throughout the world. The identities of some of these should be obvious by now.
Aaron’s email is: gospeltruth768@yahoo.com