John-the-Baptist didn't follow Jesus

1
The Mission of John-the-Baptist
Here is what the Bible tells us about Johns
mission. The angel speaks to Johns father.
Luke 113-17 But the angel said unto him, Fear
not, Zacharias for thy prayer is heard and thy
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou
shalt call his name John. And he shall go
before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke
176 And thou, child, shalt be called the
prophet of the Highest for thou shalt go before
the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.
The angel speaks to Zacharias
Johns mission was to be the forerunner of the
Messiah and to prepare his way to make ready a
people prepared for the Lord.
2
Israel waits for the Messiah
The Jewish people were eagerly waiting for the
Messiah. The Old Testament closed with these
words of Malachi
Malachi 45-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord And he shall turn the
hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse.
Because Elijah was supposed to come before the
Messiah, the Jews were also eagerly waiting for
Elijah! Even today, when Jews celebrate some
important religious celebration, especially the
Passover, they put on the table a dish for Elijah
with a glass of wine. At the end of the meal,
they will send a child look at the door to see if
Elijah is coming before removing Elijahs dish
from the table.
3
John-the-Baptist is Elijah
Malachi 45-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the LORD And he shall turn the
hearts of the fathers to the children
In Luke 117, the angel told Zachariah And he
shall go before him in the spirit and power of
Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children.
What the angel told Zachariah was clearly
pointing to Malachi 45-6. In fact, the angel was
telling Zachariah Your son is the Elijah that
Malachi announced!
Apparently Zachariah and John-the-Baptist got
the message because John dressed like Elijah!
Matthew 34 indicates that John's clothes were
made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt
around his waist. The only other person dressed
like that in the Bible is Elijah !! He had a
garment of hair and had a leather belt around his
waist." The king said, "That was Elijah the
Tishbite. (2 Kings 18)
4
John-the-Baptist is Elijah
Matthew 1710 reports this story The disciples
asked him (Jesus), "Then why do the scribes say
that first Elijah must come?" The disciples had
been telling people that Jesus was the Anointed
One, the Messiah. The Scribes knew very well
Malachi 45 that told Elijah must come before
the Messiah, so it was natural to ask the
disciples where was Elijah. If no Elijah, there
could be no Messiah! Jesus answered He (Jesus)
replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore
all things .Then the disciples understood that
he was speaking to them of John the
Baptist. Earlier on, in Matthew 1114, Jesus
said and if you are willing to accept it, he
(John) is Elijah who is to come. Whoever has ears
to hear, let him hear. Jesus was confirming
what the angel had told Zachariah John was the
Elijah announced by Malachi.
5
In Which Sense John-the-Baptist is Elijah?
Jesus said John-the-Baptist was Elijah. Did Jesus
mean that John is the re-incarnation of Elijah?
No! Elijah and John-the-Baptist were two
different persons, with their own unique
personalities. So why was John called
Elijah? The reason is that from Gods
providential point of view John carried a similar
mission as Elijah to prepare the way for the Lord
and to make a people ready for the Lord thats
why the angel and Jesus called John, Elijah.
6
John baptizes Jesus
John 132-34 Then John gave this testimony "I
saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove
and remain on him. And I myself did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water
told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come
down and remain is the one who will baptize with
the Holy Spirit.
I have seen and I testify that this is God's
Chosen One."
John testified that Jesus was the Messiah. Its
puzzling though that John would say I myself
did not know him. God had revealed to his
mother, Elisabeth, that Jesus was the
Messiah. Even John, aged 6 months in her belly,
jumped of joy. (Luke 139-56) Apparently, it
seems their faith had gone cold. It looks like
John didnt expect his younger cousin to be the
Messiah.
7
Where are the people prepared for the Lord?
After John baptized Jesus, he went back to his
own business, baptizing as if nothing happened.
Johns mission was to Make ready a people
prepared for the Lord Who were the people
prepared for the Lord? They were Johns
disciples. John had prepared his disciples to
attend the Messiah when he would come. They
naturally were to become Jesus disciples. But,
except two, they all stayed with John, away from
Jesus. John, too, should have become one of
Jesus main disciples. There was nothing greater
for John to do than follow and serve the living
Messiah, our Lord and Saviour Jesus! Because the
people who were prepared didnt come to Jesus,
Jesus was sadly lacking laborers, as we can read
in Luke 101 He told them (his disciples), "The
harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send
out workers into his harvest field.



John and his disciples
8
John denied he was Elijah
As we saw, Jesus had said John is the Elijah in
Matthew 1114 and Matthew 1710. John
119 Now this was John's testimony when the
Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and
Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail
to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the
Messiah. They asked him, "Then who are you? Are
you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the
Prophet?" He answered, No. It is very
disturbing that John said he is NOT
Elijah, Because Jesus said John IS the Elijah to
come. We have a problem here. Jesus says John is
Elijah but John says I am not Elijah. Who to
believe? Jesus or John?
9
Who to believe?
Who appeared more credible and respectable in the
eyes of the people John or Jesus?
John John is the son of a priest Miracles
surrounded his conception and birth He lived on
locusts and honey in the wilderness Well-respected
and people would come from far to be baptized
(Mark 14-5) Even people thought he could be the
Messiah (Luke 315)
Jesus He grew up in Nazareth, in the poor and
lowly home of a carpenter Jesus appear to be
uneducated His disciples were from low society He
was friend with tax collectors and prostitutes He
didnt respect the Sabbath day.
John had a much better image than Jesus. He
appeared more credible than Jesus. So when John
said No, I am not Elijah, the Jewish leaders
believed John. And they thought Jesus was lying
and saying this only to support his dubious claim
to be the Messiah. Jesus then was considered as a
liar and impostor. If there is no Elijah, there
can be no Messiah.
10
John doubts Jesus
Instead of going with Jesus, the king of kings,
John got involved in the love affair of the king
Herod and was put in prison.
Matthew 112-3 Now when John had heard in the
prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his
disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that
should come, or do we look for another?
At the Jordan river, John got a striking
revelation from God himself that Jesus was the
Anointed One, then how can he say Are thou he
that should come or do we look for another?
Now, not only the Jewish leaders, but John, too,
was doubting Jesus! Who has ever understood the
heart of our saviour Jesus betrayed by John?
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Jesus disappointed by John
Mat 114-6 Jesuss answer to John Jesus
answered and said unto them (Johns disciples),
Go and show John again those things which ye do
hear and see The blind receive their sight, and
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the
deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor
have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is
he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Jesus didnt answer yes or no! Jesus was in fact
quoting Isaiah 611 which is a prophecy
announcing the coming of the Messiah.
Indirectly, Jesus was telling John I am
fulfilling Isaiah 611, so I am the Anointed One,
the Messiah you expected. And Jesus added
Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in
me. Jesus is telling John I am sorry you are
offended by me. He is expressing his
disappointment toward John. God had raised John
as a giant to support, protect and serve our Lord
Jesus but now even John had lost faith in
Jesus. Jesus was left alone to face the
opposition of the Jewish leaders.
12
John was supposed to be the greatest in
the kingdom of Heavend
Mat1111 And as they departed, Jesus began to
say unto the multitudes concerning John, What
went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed
shaken with the wind? . Verily I say unto
you, Among them that are born of women there
hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist
notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he (John). Jesus was
saying that John was the greatest born of woman,
because he was the one who could directly testify
and serve the Messiah. In fact John was destined
to become the right hand of Jesus. Then all the
scribes and Pharisees, who thought John might be
the Messiah, would have come and followed
Jesus. That was Gods plan to establish the
kingdom of heaven in Israel. If John had done
that, there would have been no one greater than
John in the kingdom of heaven, except Jesus.
13
John failed Jesus
This new understanding of John-the-Baptist is
based on the revelation that Jesus gave to Rev.
Sun Myung Moon as related in Exposition of the
Divine Principle. Christian theologians didnt
realize that John failed Jesus and so they have
been puzzled by Jesus answer notwithstanding
he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he (John). How can John be the
greatest born of woman but the least of least in
the kingdom of heaven? How to make sense of this
saying? Lets see from Jesus own words what is
the meaning of the least and the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven.
Mat 519 Whosoever therefore shall break one of
these least commandments, and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of
heaven but whosoever shall do and teach them,
the same shall be called great in the kingdom of
heaven. The least in the Kingdom of heaven is
someone - who breaks one of these
least commandments - teach men to do
so By saying that John was the least of least,
Jesus was expressing that John did a grave fault.
In fact, John betrayed the expectations God had
placed in him to serve and protect Jesus.
14
John failed Jesus
In Matthew 181-4, Jesus tells us more about the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven At that time
the disciples came to Jesus and said, Who then
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And He
called a child to Himself and set him before
them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you
are converted and become like children, you will
not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then
humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. From this, we can
deduce that John didnt humble himself. He
probably was not humble enough to serve his
younger cousin Jesus as the Messiah.
In conclusion We have discovered the sad reality
that even if at the beginning, John did testify
of Jesus, it was just lip service, he didnt
follow Jesus and didnt send his disciples to
follow Jesus. With Johns support, our Lord and
Saviour Jesus would have been received and
accepted by the Scribes and Pharisees. Israel
would have become the peaceful kingdom of God
that Jesus came to establish. Tragically, Johns
disbelief in Jesus, led to the disbelief of the
Scribes and Pharisees and ultimately became one
of the main causes of our Lord Jesus crucifixion.