#226 – The Ministry of John the Baptist – Part 1

THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST – Part 1

Matt. 3:1 “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.”

John Gill says in his introduction to this chapter: “The Evangelist having given an account of the genealogy and birth of Christ; of the coming of the wise men from the east to him; of his preservation from Herod's bloody design against him, when all the infants at Bethlehem were slain; of the flight of Joseph with Mary and Jesus into Egypt, and of their return from thence, and settlement in Nazareth, where Christ continued till near the time of his baptism, and entrance on his public ministry; proceeds to give a brief relation of John, the harbinger and forerunner of Christ, and the administrator of baptism to him: and he describes him by his name John, in Hebrew ‘Jochanan’, which signifies ‘gracious’, or ‘the grace of the Lord’, or ‘the Lord has given grace’; which agrees with him, both as a good man, on whom the Lord had bestowed much grace, and as a preacher, whose business it was to publish the grace of God in Christ, Luke 16:16. This name was given him by an angel before his conception, and by his parents at his birth, contrary to the mind of their relations and neighbors, Luke 1:13-60,63. He is called by some of the Jewish writers, John the ‘high priest’; his father Zacharias was a priest of the course of Abia, and he might succeed him therein, and be the head of that course, and for that reason be called a ‘high’ or ‘chief priest’; as we find such were called, who were the principal among the priests, as were those who were chosen into the sanhedrim, or were the heads of these courses; and therefore we read of many chief priests, Matt. 2:4. From his being the first administrator of the ordinance of baptism, he is called John the Baptist; and this was a well known title and character of him. Josephus calls him ‘John’, who is surnamed, ‘the Baptist’; and Ben Gorion having spoken of him, says, this is that John who, ‘made’, instituted, or practiced ‘baptism’; and which, by the way, shows that this was not in use among the Jews before, but that John was the first practiser this way. He is described by his work and office as a preacher, he ‘came’ or ‘was preaching’ the doctrines of repentance and baptism; he published and declared that the kingdom of the Messiah was at hand, that he would quickly be revealed; and exhorted the people to believe on him, which should come after him. The place where he preached is mentioned, in the wilderness of Judea; not that he preached to trees and to the wild beasts of the desert; for the wilderness of Judea was an habitable place, and had in it many cities, towns, and villages, in which we must suppose John came preaching, at least to persons which came out from thence. There were in Joshua's time six cities in this wilderness, namely Betharabah, Middin, and Secacah, and Nibshan, and the city of Salt, and Engedi, Joshua 15:61,62. Mention is made in the Talmud of this wilderness of Judea, as distinct from the land of Israel, when the doctors say, that ‘they do not bring up small cattle in the land of Israel, but they bring them up, ‘in the wilderness which is in Judea.’”

John is not only mentioned in the Bible but secular writers and Jewish commentators as well. They knew of John and made reference to him. He was the son of a high priest. He evidently had no intentions of succeeding his father in the priesthood. He took up residence in the wilderness and was thus identified.

He was a man sent from God (John 1:6), was named by the Lord before his birth (Luke 1:5-13), and was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). We are told what he wore and that he ate locust and wild honey (Mark 1:6). All of this means that he was anything but normal. He was a prophet and this is the first time Israel had had a prophet sent by God in over four hundred years.