John the Baptist Part 3 - Clinton Rowand (1235) - January 8, 2017

John the Baptist - Part 3

• Clinton Rowand
• Barrackville Church of Christ
• January 8, 2017
• Sunday Morning Bible Class

Introduction

• We have spent more time on this in the past two lessons than initially intended.
• This class will wrap up our discussion of John.
• John has been imprisoned for his work of telling of Jesus.
• That is the setting of our text in Matthew 11 today.

Matthew 11:1-6

• Matthew 11:1-6
• A lot of people had come to John asking if he was the Messiah. He was very humble and denied it.
• Towards the end of his life John seeks for an answer as to if Jesus was the Messiah.
• Why would John have wanted to know this when he had already baptized Jesus?
  • He probably wanted to draw attention to Jesus.
  • He wanted his followers to know that Jesus was the Christ and should be followed.
  • He was fulfilling the prophesy that he would serve as "Elijah" returning.
  • Plus, we all like affirmation that we have done the right thing. Especially at the end of our lives. John might have wanted to know that all if his life's work had been for the right thing.

Matthew 11:7-19

• Matthew 11:7-19
• Jesus ties up a lot of the questions that exist about the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus.
• The reason people went to see him was because of what he was saying, not who he was or the package he presenting it in. People went to him because he was more than a prophet.
• John had understanding and insight beyond anyone in the Old Testament. No one in the Old Testament knew the level of the Kingdom that was to come than John.
• But, everyone in the church has a better understanding of the Church than John did. They truly understood the kingdom because they were a part of it and John was not.
• The truth about John pointed the light toward/on Christ. John was the Elijah that was to come.
• John came from a humble background. Like Christ, he came from a normal family. He didn't come from immense wealth or prosperity.
• Jesus makes the contrast about the difference between himself and John the Baptist. John was not social and stuck to his teachings in the wilderness. People came to him. Jesus went to people. He spent time in their houses and ate at their tables. People criticized Jesus for being to social and John for being to anti-social.
• Sometimes we get too hung up on the fact that people don't like us. If people didn't like God in the flesh, why would we expect everyone to like us?
• Not all people, and probably even a majority of people will not like us. They won't like us for our teaching.
• Jesus was perfect and people still said negative things about him.
• When Jesus closed out the beatitudes in Matthew 5 he said blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. They persecuted the prophets and they persecuted the Christ and the Church. If we are teaching the gospel correctly, we too will be persecuted. If we aren't being persecuted, we may not be teaching the Gospel enough.
  • That is not to say that we should seek out persecution. This is only applicable when we teach from pure and selfless reasons.
• Truth and Wisdom eventually win out in all circumstances.
• John's role was to proclaim Christ.

Matthew 14:1-12

• Matthew 14:1-12
• The death of John the baptizer.