Jesus and John the Baptist
Matthew 11:1-19
March 5, 2006
Introduction
I was reading a special supplement to the Aberdeen newspaper yesterday about the 125th anniversary celebration for the city coming up this summer.
In there was an article about a guy who does a lot of researching about his genealogy, and has discovered that he is related to such people as George Washington and Clint Eastwood.
Do any of you have famous relatives? And I don’t mean famous ancestors. Most people have those.
My grandmother has done a bunch of genealogy studies also, and I’m related to a number of famous people myself. No one living now, that I’m aware of, but there are some famous people in my background.
What I want to know is if any of you have any famous living relatives - someone most people would recognize as famous.
The kind of person you hope recognizes you at family reunions or when you’re with a bunch of people you’d like to impress.
I personally don’t have anybody like that in my family. But John the Baptist did. He had a famous cousin: Jesus. And of course, everyone knew who John was. So they were both "famous" or well-known in the area.
John didn’t have to worry about Jesus recognizing him - he knew him, and as we’ll see in our passage today, he talked very highly of him.
Can you imagine these guys talking over the potato salad at the family reunions?
"So, Jesus, how’s the Messiah thing coming along?" "Fine. How about the baptism thing - how’s that going?" "Oh well, it’s got its ups and downs, you know how it is..."
Well, our passage today talks about how one famous cousin saw the other. This is found in Matthew 11:1-19. If you’re using the Bibles in the seats, this is found starting on page 688.
After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
"’I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears, let him hear.
16 "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17 "’We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ’He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ’Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions."
Today I want to show three actions that Jesus takes regarding John, and then I want to look at what we can do to make this real in our own lives.
Okay? Here we go. The first thing we find is that...
1. Jesus reassures John.
2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Now here’s a bit of a paradox: John knew who Jesus was, knew that Jesus was "the lamb of God," who came to take away the sins of the world, and yet now he has questions, and maybe even real live doubts about Jesus.
How could this be? What’s at the base of this question?
Well, I think it may have to do with the fact that John was in prison. He probably knew that his time was coming to an end, and wanted to make sure that he had done the job God called him to do.
So how does Jesus answer these guys?
"Tell John that the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are being healed, and good news being preached to the poor."
In other words, "Tell John that I’m doing what the Messiah is supposed to be doing."
This was reminiscent of Luke 4:18-19, where Jesus read from Isaiah about the "mission" of the Messiah -
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
Jesus was doing what the Messiah was supposed to do, and this was the message John’s disciples were to take back to him.
Jesus reassures John that the plan is going ahead, and that he’s making it happen.
But Jesus not only reassures John, but...
2. Jesus describes John.
Descriptions can be funny things. Not just "ha ha" kind of funny, but just weird kind of funny.
Think of how someone would describe you. What would they say?
Would they start by looking at physical characteristics? Would they start with your occupation? Your character?
I used to like to hear how people describe me, but as I grow older, I tend to shy away from hearing descriptions about me, because I’m a little afraid of hearing something along the lines of, "Yeah, he’s okay, in a kind of Elmer Fudd sort of way..."
Now I just want you to do me a huge favor, okay? Never admit to me that you’ve described me that way, alright?
Well Jesus says two things about John that he wants to make sure everyone understands. And make no mistake, these are the kind of things that if John were to hear them, he would not be embarrassed, that’s for sure.
First, he says that...
* He was the Prophet - Malachi 3:1.
This prophet would prepare the way for the Messiah, and this is the prophet Jesus refers to when he quotes this passage from Malachi 3 -
"’I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
Jesus says that in fulfilling this function that John was Elijah "who was to come." (also 17:10-13).
John was not a resurrected Elijah, but he took on Elijah’s prophetic role-boldly confronting sin and pointing people to God.
This "Elijah" would come and prepare the way for Jesus, and this is exactly what John the Baptist did.
The second thing Jesus said about John in describing him was that...
* He is the greatest to have lived before Jesus.
Remember what I said in the beginning of the message about being recognized by your famous relative at the family reunions?
Do you really think John would have had that problem, given the fact that Jesus considered him the greatest person to have lived to that point? Probably not.
Let’s move on to the third action takes in regard to John, and that’s that...
3. Jesus "relates" to John.
And I don’t mean in the "blood relation" sense - we’ve already covered that. What I mean here is that John and Jesus had some things in common, as well as one thing that this passage states they did differently, and that’s what I want to start with as I cover these three ways they "related."
* They differed in how they did things - John did not "eat or drink" (reference to his Spartan diet and abstinence from alcohol), while Jesus did.
This, of course, caused people to complain differently about them.
* They were similar in what they did - working to prepare people for the kingdom.
* They were also similar in how they were "received" - they were rejected.
This relates a little bit to what Jesus says back in verse 12 -
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
There are several views about the meaning of this verse. Most likely, this is a reference to Jesus’ opponents. Jesus was explaining that as his Kingdom advanced, attacks against it by violent people would increase. He referred not to just one type of opposition, but to opposition in general. John the Baptist ... was already experiencing the attacks of evil men (Herod) against God’s Kingdom. -Life Application Concise New Testament Commentary
The bottom line is that the news of the kingdom was not well-received by some, and would bring violent reactions, just as it does today.
So what’s the lesson here?
Take a stand and do what’s right, regardless of how it’s received.
There is just no pleasing some people. Jesus and John, both working for the kingdom, both working to please the Father, found that pleasing everybody was a losing proposition.
So they did what they knew was right anyway. It got them in trouble, but they did it.
Galatians 1:10 -
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Jesus says that -
"...wisdom is proved right by her actions."
New Living Translation -
"...wisdom is shown to be right by what results from it."
Though that generation was not happy with anything, the wisdom of the approach of both John and Jesus would be proved right by the results, namely, that many people would be brought into the kingdom.-Bible Knowledge Commentary
Here’s the application I want us to put into practice:
Allow your convictions to rule your actions, not vice versa.
If you don’t do that, then you run the risk of letting convenience and situational ethics make the rules instead of Biblical principle. And that’s dangerous, especially if you call yourself a follower of Jesus.
Does that make sense? If you call yourself a Christian, then you need to follow what Jesus says, in spite of what others might say.
Jesus and John lived this way - Biblical principle and kingdom priorities determined how they lived and what they said. This didn’t make them all that popular, but they did it anyhoo.
Can the same be said for you? Or do you live by what you can get away with, or by doing or saying the stuff that keeps you out of trouble or is politically correct?
You know, "politically correct" is an oxymoron, just like "government organization," "pretty ugly," or "working vacation."
So often "politically correct" means, "whatever it takes not to offend anybody except Bible-believing followers of Jesus - they’re fair game."
Folks, if we really want to see our country change for the better, it takes individuals living for Jesus 24/7. Living according to Biblical principle through the help and power of the Holy Spirit.
People who don’t compromise for the sake of keeping the peace when keeping that peace means stifling the message of Jesus.
Show yourself to be wise, by acting in ways that honor and glorify God, no matter what you do for living, no matter who you are, and no matter what your past.
You can live today for Jesus, making a difference for eternity.
Conclusion
Well, we’re about to take the Lord’s Supper.
And as we prepare our hearts, I would invite you to just take a moment and ask the Lord to search your heart to see if there’s anything that’s in the way of living for Jesus all the way.
And if he reveals something to you, then let me suggest that you take some more time and ask him to deal with that - to get rid of it, so he can have you heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Then you can approach communion with a renewed spirit that says, "Lord, I’m yours. Help me to live like it from this day forward."
And I would just invite all of us to remember that living for Jesus isn’t just for Bible characters or just for Sunday mornings. It’s for everyday, all day.
You can’t do it on your own. You need the help of God, through his Holy Spirit. So if you’ve never invited him to fill you and give you the strength to really live for Jesus, why don’t you take care of that today?
Let’s pray.
