Meet John The Baptist

Meet John the Baptist

Matthew chapter 3:1-3:12

Introduction-

We are in the third week of Advent. Traditionally, a look at joy.

Could their be anymore joy to a believer than the preparation of Jesus coming? Christmas!

• Betty read- “But be glad and rejoice forever”- that is joy!

•George read- “If we live by the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit”

!that is a joyful thought because we realize it is not all about us and what we can do.

Let’s meet the guy God called to alert the Israelites of their soon coming King.

Matthew 3:1-3:12

•What about this guy?

•What if this guy stood on your corner?

•Would you give him the time of day?

“The voice of one calling in the desert- prepare the way of the Lord”

•We would think this guy has issues.

Matthew 1-

Genealogy of Jesus

Birth of Jesus Christ

What the angels announced

Matthew 2-

Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus escape from Egypt. King Herod dies and Mary and Joseph and the baby return to Nazareth.

Matthew 3-

This crazy looking, weird acting man is yelling through Jerusalem about a now 30 year old Jesus saying “repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near”

!There is 400 years between the writings of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

(Silent years)

Isaiah 40:3-

“A voice of one calling in the desert prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight in the wilderness a highway for the Lord.”

•Now all these years later, here is this voice telling the Israelites and us to prepare for the coming King.

•They compared the look and words of John the Baptist to Elijah the prophet.

According to 2 Kings 1:8

•Elijah wore camels hair clothes and a leather belt around his waist.

Melachi 4:5- God was sending Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord.

They thought John could of been a resurrected Elijah coming to pronounce judgement on them.

!To us John was a nutcase with weird eating habits.

Come on! Locust and wild honey. Really! Would you eat that?

•That is almost as bad as rice cakes.

•I hear the word cakes and I think that should taste good. But it is like eating insulation.

!I’m from the old school. I still think moron is a pre-existing condition.

!It’s like you people that talk through your dogs. You know who you are...you know what I am talking about. Your hugging and loving on your dog, saying, “Your daddy is a moron- yes he is, yes he is.

!We think John the Baptist was weird, but the people of Jerusalem didn’t.

!Some thought he was a resurrected prophet

 a wise man,

 a man sent from God to deliver a message that needed to be heard.

“Repent for the kingdom of God is near.”

!This Jesus is HE WHO WAS SPOKEN OF THROUGH THE PROPHET ISAIAH.

!I (John) baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

•Slaves carry sandals, clean travers feet.

•John is saying, I am talking about, the one that I am a forerunner for.

I must decrease and He(Christ) must increase.

!He goes after the Pharisees and Sadducees. He says you brood of vipers:

who warned you the gig was up?(paraphrased v7)

who warned you that just because you were a descendant of Abraham, that that was not enough!

Who warned you that a life changed should bear fruit in keeping with repentance?

Who told you that the ax is ready to fall on the trees that do not bear fruit.

I baptize with water, there comes one who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

!John came not with opinion of his own, but with a message from God. For a long time before he spoke to the world, he kept company with God.

!John pointed beyond himself. Not only a light to shine on all that was evil, a voice to the rebellious, he was also a light to God.

It was not himself whom he wished people to see, he wished to prepare them for the one who was to come.

! To tell Israelites that Abraham was not enough was a incredible statement.

•They believed Abraham stood at the gate of hell and redirected any Israelites who might by chance went in wrong direction.

• It is that spirit that John the Baptist is rebuking.

•The spirit of I’m okay- by religion, by heritage, by what church you attend or family attended.

! JOHN MESSAGE IS A THREAT AND A PROMISE.

!The threat is if you think like the Pharisees and Sadducees. Those vipers of religion. YOU HAVE MISSED IT.