Tag Archives: prophet

Greater Than John

Bible Study, , , ,

GREATER THAN JOHN

“‘Let me lay it out for you as plainly as I can: No one in history surpasses John the Baptiser, but in the kingdom he prepared for you, the lowliest person is ahead of him. The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptised by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence; the Pharisees and religious officials have nothing to do with such baptism, wouldn’t think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.” Luke 7:28-30 (The Message).

What on earth was Jesus talking about? John the Baptist the greatest and yet the least? It doesn’t make sense, does it?

According to Jesus, John was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, not because of the length of his ministry but because of its importance. All the other prophets, so said Peter, “…Who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.” 1 Peter 1:10b, 11 (NIV), spoke of events that were still far off in the future.

It was John who was privileged to announce and introduce the Messiah to his people, and yet he himself did not witness His ministry or hear His preaching. As soon as Jesus appeared on the scene, he was removed by Herod into a dungeon from which he was never released. He had stood on the brink of the era of the New Covenant but never experienced it for himself.

It must have been very frustrating for John to have been so near and yet so far. Perhaps he had longed to be a part of what Jesus was doing, to be more than his forerunner, even a prominent member of His band of disciples. But it was not to be. John’s work was done, short though it had been, and Jesus graciously acknowledged the value and importance of what he had done.

But, at the same time, He did not overplay John’s role. He was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets but the least in the kingdom Jesus had come to inaugurate. Why?  Because, through Jesus, people could enter and experience what he could only announce.

When the Holy Spirit came in His fullness to continue the work of Jesus, He would take up residence within every believer, making everyone who embraced Jesus as the Son of God and His teaching as His yoke, His dwelling place. It was no longer the privileged few who experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit with them; but all who believed would have Him in them, even the lowliest in man’s eyes.

The high-and-mighty religious ones who thought they were in, were actually out, while the ones they regarded as of no consequence, occupied a more privileged position than they. That’s how it is in God’s kingdom — the world’s value system is reversed. The places of highest honour are reserved for the ones who least expect it. If you think you are important, you are not!

John’s baptism was received by those who welcomed his message and identified with the one he was introducing. Of course, the religious leaders, who thought they knew better, refused to be a part of it. They would not participate in anything that attracted the riff-raff. How tragic that their proud, know-it-all attitude excluded them from the greatest moment in their history and their own personal lives!

What about us? How much have we missed of the grace of Jesus because we think we know better, or because we refuse to humble ourselves and change the way we think. Jesus’ way is open to all, but there are many who miss it because it demands our shedding all our preconceived notions about how it should be.

He said, ‘Follow me.’ That’s all! Are you following? If you are, you will be part of the many who are greater than John the Baptist.

He Understood

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HE UNDERSTOOD

“After John’s messengers left to make their report, Jesus said more about John to the crowd of people. ’What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pyjamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A messenger from God? That’s right, a messenger! Probably the greatest messenger you’ll ever hear. He is the messenger Malachi announced when he wrote, “I’m sending my messenger on ahead to make the road smooth for you.”‘ Luke 7:24-27 (The Message).

Why this vehement defence of John the Baptist?

John had just publicly revealed his vulnerability in his extreme circumstances. It was Jesus’ turn to set the record straight, not only to defend John but also to save his ministry.

He was God’s appointed forerunner of the Messiah, the one foretold by Malachi four hundred years before. He had come, as predicted, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to announce and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. People had flocked to hear him in the wilderness. They had received his message that the Messiah was on the brink of being revealed to them. Perhaps some had even been present when Jesus was baptised and had heard the Father’s affirmation of His Son.

Now John was wavering and who can blame him? The all-powerful Messiah had not lifted a finger to rescue him in his predicament. Perhaps John did not realise that his work was done, short though it had been, and it was time for him to step aside and allow Jesus to stand in the limelight for a season until He, too, stepped aside when His work was complete.

Jesus did not want the crowd to think that John was undoing all he had said and done by wavering in his conviction that He was the Messiah. Turning to the Scriptures, He demonstrated to John’s followers that He fulfilled everything the Scriptures had said about Him to that point. His own circumstances aside, John had to believe that Jesus was all that John had reported Him to be.

But Jesus was not only protecting John’s ministry, He was also protecting John himself. This temporary lapse in John’s conviction, this wobble in his faith, was not who John was. In his weakest moment, Jesus was there for him and quick to point out that he was no fly-by-night, self-appointed prophet. God had foretold his coming through His messenger centuries before just as surely as He had prophesied the coming of His Messiah.

In glowing terms Jesus began to correct any misgivings people the crowd might have had about John. John was no holiday maker or member of the idle rich, on public display for their entertainment. He was a messenger sent from God, whose arrival was foretold in the Scriptures as surely as that of the Messiah. The implication was that the people had better heed what John had preached. It was serious business and, even though John was shaky in his faith right then, his doubts did not cancel out who he was and what he had done before his incarceration.

Don’t you love Jesus for this little interlude? It reveals His heart once again. A lesser person might have criticised John for vacillating in his circumstances, but not Jesus. No matter how weak he was right then, his work remained and Jesus acknowledged that.

This should give us the courage to know that God is tender towards us in our struggles. He does not judge the process through which we have to go to reach our conclusions. How many times we have been where John was, only to emerge stronger and more secure in our confidence in God because God sees the whole picture and accompanies us to a place of greater strength.

So don’t give up. Jesus will never stab you in the back. He will walk with you through the valley until you reach the other side.

He Preached Jesus

Christian Life, ,

HE PREACHED JESUS – Acts 8:31-35

“The passage he was reading was this:

“As a sheep led to slaughter,
and quiet as a lamb being sheared,
He was silent, saying nothing.
He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.
But who can count His kin since He’s been taken from the earth?”

“The eunuch said, ‘Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?’ Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.” Acts 8:31-35 (The Message).

What a golden moment? Just Philip and the eunuch, riding along in an open chariot, far from anywhere, engrossed in the Scriptures together. Philip was in his element, unfazed by colour, culture, race and language differences, sharing the precious truth about Jesus. The eunuch’s heart was wide open to receive the truth and respond with life-changing faith in the Master.

What did Philip say to the man? He preached Jesus. What does that mean? No doubt his theme was the prophecy of Isaiah and prophecy about Jesus in general. What better way to present Jesus to this man than that He was the focus and pinnacle of Old Testament prophecy!

It was Peter’s theme on the Day of Pentecost. “These people are not drunk. This is the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy,” he thundered to thousands of curious onlookers. It was Jesus’ theme on resurrection day when He joined the grieving pair on their way home from Jerusalem. It was Matthew’s theme when he unfolded the fascinating story of Messiah, tracing every stage of His life back to the words of the prophets so that his own people, the Jews, would be convinced that Jesus was their Messiah, the king of the Jews.

Why is this such a vital theme in our faith in Jesus as the Son of God? Prophecy is God’s trump card. There is no religion on earth that can point to prophecy to authenticate its message. No one can stop people from making outrageous claims but to prove those claims to be true is another matter.

Such is the foolish gullibility of man that people swallow the most ridiculous beliefs ever spawned by human imagination without questioning their source or their authority. Can people in their right mind, for example, really believe that an image carved out of wood or stone has any power or influence in their lives? What about the random powers of nature? Do they have any intelligence or desire to affect human beings for their good?

All these false systems are an attempt to evade the truth that there is only one authentic and authoritative God. He gave us a detailed written record of His dealings with a people He chose to be His channel and through whom He came in person to show us what God is like. Even more amazing, He wrote the whole story before it happened so that we would know that it’s true.

When Philip told the eunuch the story of Jesus, it was no thumb-suck for entertainment; it was the poignant story of a God who cares. How much does He care? He cared enough to humble Himself to the level of a human baby, to live the same struggle-filled lives as ours and to be so misunderstood because His people wouldn’t consult the prophetic record, that they murdered Him as a lying imposter.

But the story didn’t end there. The prophets wrote the end of the book too. He came back again, just as He said He would, because He was not the fraud they said He was. Who proved to be telling the truth? He did, because He is alive and still doing through His people what He did when He was here in the flesh.

So who and what are you believing; the nonsense passed down to you just because you forefathers believed it, or the truth because Jesus proved it by fulfilling it to the letter?