All glory to God the Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ
Turn to John chapter 1. Today we will studying verse 6.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
It is at this point I need to make a very clear distinction. To my knowledge, there are only three Johns in the Bible. The first would be John Mark or the Apostle Mark. The Apostle Mark was rarely called by his first name John. The second would be the Apostle John son of Zebedee. The Apostle John who wrote the Book of John, First John, Second John and Third John and the Book of Revelation. And the last would be John the Baptist, who is the topic of our discussion in verse 6. So to be clear, John the Baptist is not John the Apostle, son of Zacharias. John the Baptist never wrote anything in the bible; his job was to herald the coming of the Lamb of God.. So let’s find out who John the Baptist was and what he did.
We turn to Luke 1 and find out the unusual circumstances of John the Baptist’s birth. Luke is where we get most, if not all of our information about John the Baptist’s birth.
Luke 1
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,
9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.
11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.
14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.
17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.”
19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.
22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.
23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,
25 “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”
A couple thoughts on this. First, how God uses attributes of us as unmistakable signs to all. It is well known that people of advanced age do not have babies, yet Abraham and Sarah did and now Zacharias and Elizabeth have also been used as a mighty symbol by our God to show them and us that he is Sovereign Over All. We need to remember this in these days of panic and uncertainty. Both couples were of an advanced age and had a child, by the Grace of God. Both children ushered in something new and wonderful. Isaac fulfilled the prophecy of the Jews and the lineage of Jesus and John foretold of the coming of Christ and our salvation.
Next thought would be Elijah. The angel Gabriel spoke of this in Verse 17 of Luke 1.
17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
We now turn to Malachi.
Malachi 4:5-6
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
Also in Isaiah 40:3
A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
So we find that Elijah will come before the Lamb of God comes, to restore the hearts of the children to their fathers so that God would not come and smite their land with a curse. The Pharisees knew this and that is why they asked John “who are you?” That part is coming in a later part of this chapter.
In the time of Jesus, messianic expectation was never far from the surface, and speculation was that both John the Baptist and Jesus were the reappearances of ancient biblical figures.
In Matthew 16:13–16
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
We come now to the angel Gabriel. At first I thought he had not been given a sense of irony or humor, but now I think Zacharias’ silence was to be used as another mighty sign.
We continue with John’s story.
Luke 1:57-80
57 Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son.
58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.
59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.
60 But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.”
61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.”
62 And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called.
63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished.
64 And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.
65 Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea.
66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.
And Zacharias praised the Lord for the birth of his son and has a prophecy.
67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
71 Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
I call this a good start to understanding this man sent from God, whose name was John.
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Pet. 1:2