BEN F. VICK, JR.
His name was John (Luke 1:13,60,63). His name was not “John the Baptist.” “Baptist” described his work. His parents were Zacharias and Elisabeth. Zacharias was a priest of the tribe of Levi; Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron. Luke records, “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:6.) We will have more children like John when we have parents like Zacharias and Elisabeth. There is a great dearth in our land for homes as they provided. Many parents in our day have gone AWOL – absent without leave (without permission.). God does not grant any parent permission to shirk their duty to their children (Eph. 6:4; Titus 2:4; 2 Tim. 1:5).
John’s upbringing was different from many children today. We are told, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.” (Luke 1:80.) He did not grow up in a palace or luxury. He wore no soft raiment, as did kings. His garb was camel’s hair and a leather girdle or belt. His diet was locusts and wild honey (Matt. 11:8; 3:4). Do you suppose he was picky about what he ate? He was an outdoorsman, a real man.
Luke is precise as to the time frame of John’s appearance. He came upon the scene in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar (about A.D.29). At that time, Pontus Pilate was governor of Judea. Herod Antipas, son of the notorious Herod the Great, was in power then. He ruled Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. Philip, also a son of Herod the Great, was over Iturea and Trachonitis, northeast of Palestine. He was in power from 4 B.C. to A.D. 33 or 34. Lysanias was the tetrarch (ruler of a fourth part) of Abilene. We have no information on him. Annas was recognized as the high priest by the Jews, but Caiphas was appointed high priest by the Roman government (Luke 3:1-2).
The angel, Gabriel, Matthew, and Luke, quote the prophets Malachi and Isaiah, who foretold John’s coming and work. Isaiah wrote, “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. 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: 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….” (Isa. 40:3–8.) The Holy Spirit through Malachi refers to John as “My Messenger.” The text reads, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, Even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Mal. 3:1.) Two messengers are mentioned in that verse. “My Messenger” was John; “the Messenger of the Covenant” was Jesus.
John’s work was to prepare the way for the Lord. Men were sent ahead of a king to make the path traveled smooth so he could travel unimpeded. Preparing the ground for the Messiah was not easy work. Though the Jews flocked to hear him in the wilderness, not all were receptive to his message. Matthew said, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1–2.) Repentance is the most challenging command because it involves the will. When many of the Pharisees and Sadducees went out to the Jordan to hear him, John said to them, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance….” (Matt. 3:7-10). He lost his head because he told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have his brother’s wife. John was a courageous man.
Mark’s account says, “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Mark 1:4–5.) In preparing the Jews for the coming of the Messiah, John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. It was a baptism that grew out of repentance. Baptism is an immersion (Rom. 6:3-4). The word is a transliterated word which means instead of a translation, the letters from Greek are brought down into English. See the word “baptism” in the Greek word: βάπτισμα?
John’s baptism was “for the remission of sins.” The same expression is used in Matthew 26:28 and Acts 2:38 in English and Greek. The purpose of John’s baptism was the same as the Great Commission baptism. One was to be immersed in order to receive the forgiveness of sins. The blood of Jesus flowed back to those faithful under previous dispensations, and it flows forward for all the obedient until the end of time. Those baptized under John’s era would be forgiven when Jesus shed his blood. Those baptized during the Gospel Age were and are forgiven because Jesus had shed his blood as well.
Involved in John’s preparing the Jews for the coming of the Lord was baptism. Before the cross, John’s baptism was still in force; however, after the church was established, his baptism was no longer valid. We have a case in Acts 18 of Apollos in Ephesus who was an eloquent and knowledgeable preacher, except he knew only the baptism of John. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they knew he needed further teaching. They took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. Soon after this event, Paul arrives in the city and finds twelve disciples who had been baptized unto John’s baptism after it was no longer in force. Paul said to them, “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.” These twelve had not been baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” When their understanding was corrected, they were baptized into Christ. There is no record that Apollos was “re-baptized.” He evidently had been baptized when John’s baptism was still in force.
John’s work was to introduce others to Jesus. He said to others, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John pointed others to Jesus, then got out of the way. He said, “He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30.) Let all of us put Christ in the forefront and ourselves in the background.