Tag: John the Baptist

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The Prophetic Voice in Isaiah 40: Trusting God’s Plan (Isaiah 40:3-5)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

[3] The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. [4] Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: [5] And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah 40:3-5

Explanation

The book of Isaiah can be divided much like the Bible itself. In the Old Testament there are 39 books, and in the New Testament there are 27 books, for a total of 66 books. The book of Isaiah has 66 chapters—39 that seem to represent the Old Testament and 27 that seem to represent the New Testament.

The beginning of chapter 40 speaks of one who is coming with a message: this voice that cries in the wilderness. It’s a prophecy about John the Baptist and the message that he proclaimed. Some may say it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in the sense that while he was just proclaiming the message that was written down, he was assuming the identity of the person described in Isaiah 40. The problem is that the message he was giving was also accomplishing what actually happened.

He literally did prepare the way of the Lord. He really was someone that lived in the desert, and he did prepare people for the coming of Jesus Christ. Verse 4 says every valley will be exalted, every mountain shall be made low—talking about an evening of the way. Going uphill is hard, going down through a valley could be hard, but having this straight path, this clear path through which the Messiah could come, through which God could come, and the glory of the Lord through the Son of God to be revealed—that’s what John was doing. That’s what actually happened.

He was a foreteller and a forerunner of Jesus. The truth of the matter is, the glory of God was revealed through Jesus. In the end, everyone will know that Jesus is Lord. In fact, that’s what Philippians tells us: that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. God’s gonna make this happen.

This is a prophetic passage that foretells what would happen with John and what would happen through God coming behind John—at least in timing and in messaging—through the person of Jesus Christ.

Application

The implication is that this is a sign that helps us understand that Jesus is who He said He was. It’s not the last sign or even the most prominent sign—Jesus’ resurrection from the dead helps us know that He was who He said He was as well—but it’s a picture. It’s a sign for us to know that John is exactly who Scripture said he was, and this was his message, and this was his ministry.

It’s pretty amazing how the Bible all works together. You can trust your Bible. Its prophecies come true. While not every prophecy has been fulfilled, many of them have, and they tell us—they witness to us—that every prophecy will be fulfilled because what God says He will do, He will do. The Lord has spoken it. The mouth of the Lord has spoken it.

Response

  1. Where are you having a hard time trusting God and trusting God’s Word? What can you do to deepen your trust in His Word?
  2. Is your ministry—is your service for the Lord—based on confidence in the Word of God, or is it based on your own effort?
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The Humility of John the Baptist Explained (John 1:19-20)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

(19) And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? (20) And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. John 1:19-20

Explanation

John the Baptist is in view here. He was experiencing significant ministry success and attracting attention from many people during this time. It had been 400 years since God had spoken through a prophet. There was a religious establishment—priests, Levites, and Pharisees—but John was the first person to show up as a prophet, as we see in this passage.

He was asked a question that, if he wasn’t spiritually grounded, could have been tempting. The Jews were looking for a Messiah. Part of what created this expectation was that they had been conquered and were subjugated by Rome. The Jewish people had a heightened awareness and curiosity about all things related to the Messiah. They wanted the Messiah to come so they could stop being dominated and conquered. They longed for the days of having their own king like David.

When someone came along who seemed to have God working in and through him—someone outside the establishment speaking prophetically and speaking truth to power—the regular people were excited about the possibility of him being the Messiah. That was part of John’s ministry success.

In verse 19, we see that priests and Levites were sent by the Jews (later we’ll see the Pharisees were involved too). Their basic question was: “Identify yourself. Who are you? Are you the Messiah?”

If you or I were asked such questions—“Are you thinking about being president? Governor? Do you have ambition for this office or that?”—the fact that you might even be considered could easily get to your heart and head. But John passed this test. John was very clear on who he was and who he was not. He confessed and denied not, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

Application

John had a role, and it was a very important role connected to the Messiah, but he wasn’t the Messiah himself. He was announcing the Messiah and was a sign that the Messiah would come within his lifetime (as we’ll see later in the passage).

The application for us is this: We should be humble about who we are and who we are not when we do ministry and work for the Lord. When God blesses us with results—when people show up and attend something we’re doing, when people convert under our ministry, when people repent and transform under our ministry—we must remember that although we may be used by God, we are not the ones causing what’s happening.

The Holy Spirit, through the Word and through the power of the Lord, is what changes hearts and changes lives. We are a conduit to be used by all those things, but we are not the thing doing the changing or transforming.

It’s very important that we do not take the glory for what God is doing and for what God wants to do. It’s very important that we understand who we are and who we are not.

John gives us a good example here. He says, “I am not the Christ. I am not the Messiah.” While that was obviously true to him in the moment, it wasn’t obviously true to everybody else—they were asking the question.

Response

  1. When are you tempted to take credit for what God is doing and for who God is?
  2. Is God using you? How is God using you?
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Why Jesus is Greater Than John (John 1:15)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

John 1:15

Explanation

The John in view here is not the author of the book.  This is the John referred to in vers 6.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

John 1:6

We already know that his purpose for being sent is to bare witness of Jesus.

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John 1:7

What was John’s quoted witness in verse 15?

When Jesus showed up in person, he literally pointed to him in real time.  He had already told his followers about the coming of the Messiah.  He said that thought He was a prophet, a greater prophet is coming, One that is greater than a prophet.  

Here he says it by saying that Christ was “preferred before me”.  In John’s estimation, Jesus Christ is greater than Himself.  His whole ministry was to point to Jesus while preparing people for Jesus.

Why?  At the end John points to one way we can know that Jesus is greater than John.  

When John was conceived, He, like the rest of us began at conception.  Before John’s conception, He did not exist.  Yet, this is not true about Jesus.  Jesus has always existed.  He existed before John.  He existed in eternity past, before time began.

He has no beginning or end.  This is the God that we worship.

Application

John had a great mindset. Point to Jesus. Prefer and prioritize Jesus over self. Putting our own existence and self image in light of the person of Jesus Christ will always give us an accurate view of who we are and what we are to do. In that way, He is like a compass that directs. In that way He is the Light of the world. It is by Him that we can see ourselves and everything else accurately. Consider the songwriter that said:

Two wonders here that I confess

My worth and my unworthiness

My value fixed

My ransom paid

At the cross

Response

  1. Who do you need to witness to about Jesus Christ today?
  2. Are you thinking accurately of yourself, in light of the person of Jesus?
  3. How does the pre-existence and eternality of Jesus make you view Him?
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Jesus Christ as the True Light (John 1:8-9)

On By Ben JenningsIn DevotionalLeave a comment

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

John 1:8-9

Explain

Who is “He” and who is “the Light”?

John the Baptist was not the same as Jesus.  He is being distinguished from the Light, Jesus Christ, the Word.  Jesus said that no man born of woman was greater than John the Baptist.  If John the Baptist was not that Light, or equal with that Light, then no one could be the Light that Jesus Christ was, and still is.  

John the Baptist did come so that all men might believe.  He was another bullet point on the long list of proofs that Jesus Christ is the prophesied Messiah, and Savior of the World.  He was not the Savior.  This was a question that many still had over the years even into the book of Acts.  John probably knew of people who had confusion about the place of John the Baptist in God’s view of things.

Acts 19:1-4

1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

How does the true Light lighteth every man in the world?

Some who translate this verse emphasize the word “true” as much as they emphasize the word “Light” which is interesting.  The idea is that this revelation of God in the form of the Word or the Light was a reliable, trustworthy, and clear picture of who God is because the Light is God revealed. 

He has been revealed to every man, He lights every man that comes into the world in the very least through His creation.  This is referenced as we will see in verse 10.

Romans 1 speaks to this truth.

Romans 1:20-21

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Notice two things we see in parallel from this passage in John.  First, that the invisible attributes of God are clearly seen in creation.  Second, that the person that suppresses this reality is described has having “their foolish heart…darkened”.  

It’s not that people cannot see God’s light.  It’s that they suppress what they do see, or they exchange what they see into worship of self or worship of the created rather than the Creator.  

Apply

I am to be like John in that I am a witness to the person and work of Jesus Christ.  I must follow John in the attitude reflected in what he said, that, “He must increase and I must decrease.”  John said that in terms of ministry effect and attention from the people.  That same sentiment must characterize my whole attitude.  It’s not about Ben Jennings.  It’s about Jesus Christ.  

I can be encouraged that every men has access to the Light revealed in Creation, and they must hear about the Light of God in the revealing of His Son.  That message must go out through every means possible in my life.

When I worship idolatrously, worshipping the created over the Creator, in a real sense that is darkness.  Darkness is not good.  

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!

Respond

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for loving me.  Thank you for giving me opportunity to see Your Light, to know Jesus and to make Him known.  Help me to do that faithfully today.  Help me to love you like I ought to love you.