Both John and Jesus were conceived by the Holy Spirit. Even though John’s parents were old the Angel Gabriel said that Elizabeth (John’s mother) will bear a son and he will be called John. He will be great in the eyes of the Lord, and from the time of his birth he will be filled by the Holy Spirit. The angel of the lord said that John will go before Jesus as a forerunner possessed by the spirit and power of Elijah, to reconcile father and child, to convert the rebellious to the ways of the righteous and to prepare the people that shall be fit for the lord.
Chapter 3 of Matthew’s Gospel records some of the events connected with the beginning of the Lords Public Ministry. The appearance of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, is recorded in this chapter (VV 1-12). The baptism of Jesus is recorded in here (VV 13-17). When Jesus, Mary and Joseph dwelt at Nazareth, “came John the Baptist”...
John belonged to the legal dispensation. He was definitely a prophet, but he rebuked sin and a preacher of repentance. In Luke 3:2 we read, “...the Word of God came onto John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” That the word of God came to John gives the divine formula for God’s commissioning of the prophets.
John’s ministry was in connection with:
- The Holy Spirit, who worked more in accordance with the Old Testament than the New Testament. The spirit came upon John in a sudden outpouring, as with the prophets of old. John the Baptist was specifically appointed, anointed and sent of God for the ministry he carried out, and he sealed that ministry with his life’s blood.
- The baptism of John the Baptist was of much deeper significance than the baptism practiced among the Jews. The baptism of John was a divinely appointed office of his ministry; it was the baptism of repentance. Luke 3:3 tells us that John “came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” This was not the baptism of regeneration. Water has never washed sin away, and never will. It is said in the Word of God “Not by Works of righteousness which we have done, but according to HIS MERCY HE saved us, by the WASHING OF REGENERATION, and renewing of the Holy Ghost(Tit 3:5).
- The baptism of John the Baptist was definitely in accordance with the office of the law, and “by the law is the knowledge of sin.”(Rom 3:20).
- The baptism of John the Baptist was of heaven (Mat; 21:25) and those who came to him to be baptized also came “confessing their sins.”
- John was preparing the way for the appearing of Messiah. In Luke (7:29, 30) we read “And all the people that heard (Jesus), and the publicans, justified God being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the council of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.” John’s baptism was a national baptism and had to primarily and specifically with Israel. He baptized “unto repentance” which means “a change of mind.”
The outstanding characteristic of John’s ministry was his baptism. Jesus instructed his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem after he should be taken up into heaven, and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would endue them with power from on High. He said to them, “John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”(Acts 1:5)
John’s prophecy was that the Lord Jesus Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
John the Baptist, speaking in the spirit and power of Elijah, was equally convincing as to his calling and his purpose. According to Zechariah 13:4, false prophets hypocritically wore rough garments, the type of clothing worn by the prophets of God, in order to deceive the people. But John the Baptist was not imitating Elijah or anyone else. His dress and his diet, as well as his calling were of the Lord. He was like Elijah, and he was not afraid of man.
King Herod arrested and beheaded John because John very plainly told King Herod that he was living in adultery because he had taken his Brother Philip’s wife, Herodias. Such told preaching cost John his life.
John’s ministry was short but fruitful. In John 3:30 John declared “He must increase, but I must decrease.” In this chapter we learn that while baptism is of the Lord, and it is most definitely important, it does not save. It has nothing to do with regeneration. The baptism of John the Baptist was of divine appointment, it was ordained of God (John 1:33). It gave a name to his entire ministry- “the baptism of John”: (Mat 21-25).
But the baptism of John did not save anyone. John the Baptist baptized great multitudes, among them the outstanding Person of all time. No man ever baptized one so pure, holy and high as John did when he baptized the one and only, Lord Jesus Christ.
