Who Was John the Baptist?

The Messenger God Promised

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John the Baptist was one of the most important people in the whole Bible. Jesus Himself said that no one ever born was greater than John (Matthew 11:11). God had a special job for him.

Promised long before. About four hundred years before John was born, God spoke through the prophet Malachi: “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me” (Malachi 3:1).

A voice. Isaiah wrote even earlier about “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Isaiah 40:3). Hundreds of years later, John was that voice.

Like Elijah. Malachi also promised, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet” (Malachi 4:5). The angel Gabriel told Zacharias that John would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17).

Turning hearts. Malachi said this messenger would “turn The hearts of the fathers to the children” (Malachi 4:6). John’s preaching would bring families back to God and to each other.

A miracle baby. John’s parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth, were old and had no children. God answered their prayer and gave them a son (Luke 1:13). The name John means the Lord is gracious.

Filled from the start. Gabriel said John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born (Luke 1:15). When Mary came to visit, baby John leaped for joy inside Elizabeth (Luke 1:41).

A surprising name. Everyone expected the baby to be named after his father. But Elizabeth and Zacharias named him John, just as the angel had said (Luke 1:59-63). Then Zacharias began to praise God.

His father’s song. Zacharias sang that God’s tender mercy would bring “the Dayspring from on high” (Luke 1:78). Dayspring means the sunrise. John would get people ready for Jesus, the Light of the world.

Growing up. John grew strong in spirit. He lived in the desert until the day God sent him to begin his work (Luke 1:80).

Simple clothes and food. John wore clothes of camel’s hair with a leather belt, and he ate locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). Locusts are large insects like grasshoppers.

Why so simple? John did not live for comfort, money or fame. His whole life said that God matters more than anything else.

The right time. In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, “the word of God came to John” (Luke 3:2). God had been preparing John for years, and now it was time.

What we learn. God keeps His promises, even promises made hundreds of years before. He planned John’s job before John was born.

What to do. God has good work planned for you too (Ephesians 2:10). Ask Him this week to get your heart ready to serve Him wherever you are.

John stands on the bridge between the Old and New Testaments. He is the last of the old prophets and the herald who announces the King.

Malachi 3:1. “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me.” God says the way is prepared before Me. The One who came after John is Jesus, so the Lord whose way John prepared is Jesus Himself.

Isaiah 40:3. “Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.” The road is made ready for God Himself. John’s work tells us who Jesus is.

Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6). “And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children.” Gabriel used these very words about John (Luke 1:17). Jesus later said that John was the Elijah who was to come, for those willing to receive it (Matthew 11:14).

Not Elijah in person. When the priests asked, John said he was not Elijah (John 1:21). He was not Elijah come back to life. He came in the spirit and power of Elijah, bold like him and with the same call to turn back to God.

His name. John comes from the Hebrew Yochanan (say: yoh-khah-NAHN), which means the Lord is gracious. His message of repentance opened the door to God’s grace.

A priest’s son. Zacharias was a priest (Luke 1:5), so John could have served in the temple. God sent him to the wilderness instead, far from the center of religious power.

Set apart. Gabriel said John would drink no wine or strong drink (Luke 1:15), like those set apart to God in Numbers 6. His life was given to God from the start.

Leaped. The Greek eskirtesen (say: es-KEER-teh-sen) means leaped. John responded to Jesus with joy before either of them was born (Luke 1:41, 44).

The wilderness and the Jordan. Israel met God in the wilderness after the Exodus and then crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. John called God’s people back to that same river to make a new start with God.

Clothing. Camel hair and a leather belt (Matthew 3:4) matched Elijah’s look (2 Kings 1:8). John’s appearance told people that the prophet Malachi promised had come.

Greatest born of women. Jesus said none born of women was greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he (Luke 7:28). Belonging to Jesus is a greater privilege than even John’s great job.

Application. God prepared John quietly for many years before his public work began. Faithfulness in hidden years is never wasted. God sees the years when no one else is watching.

He Must Increase

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Crowds came out to hear John, and people wondered if he was the Christ. John could have taken the glory. Instead he spent his life pointing to Jesus.

Not the Christ. John said, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming” (Luke 3:16).

Behold the Lamb. When John saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Why a lamb? In the Old Testament, lambs were sacrificed for sin. Isaiah said the Savior would be “led as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). John was saying that Jesus would die to take sin away.

Sending his followers to Jesus. Two of John’s disciples heard him and followed Jesus (John 1:35-37). One of them was Andrew, Peter’s brother. John was glad to let them go.

Glad to come second. John was born a few months before Jesus and began preaching first. Yet he said Jesus was greater, because Jesus was before him from the very beginning (John 1:15).

He must increase. When John’s followers worried that everyone was going to Jesus, John answered, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Like the best man. John said he was like the friend of the bridegroom at a wedding, full of joy just to hear the groom’s voice (John 3:29). Jesus was the groom.

Brave for the truth. John told Herod his sin was wrong. Herod “shut John up in prison” (Luke 3:20). John would not stay quiet about sin, even before a ruler.

A question in prison. In prison, John sent friends to ask Jesus if He was the One. Jesus told them about the blind seeing and “the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:5). Jesus answered John’s question kindly.

Faithful to the end. Later, Herod had John put to death (Mark 6:27). John gave his life rather than stop telling God’s truth.

Jesus honored John. Jesus called John a burning and shining lamp (John 5:35). John’s light helped people see Jesus.

What we learn. The best life points to Jesus. John was happy to be small so that Jesus could be seen as great.

What to do. This week, when someone praises you, say thank you, and then thank God too. Look for a chance to tell a friend about Jesus.

John’s greatness was his humility. He understood that his whole job was to point away from himself to Jesus.

Luke 3:15-16. The crowd’s hopes gave John an opening to claim the title of Christ. He refused at once and named One mightier than himself.

John 1:19-23. Priests and Levites came to ask who he was. He denied being the Christ, Elijah or the Prophet. He called himself only a voice, in the words of Isaiah 40:3.

The Lamb of God (John 1:29). “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This joins the Passover lamb of Exodus 12 with the Servant “led as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7).

The sin of the world. The Lamb did not come for Israel alone. His work reaches every nation, just as Luke 3:6 promised: all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Letting disciples go (John 1:35-37). A teacher in that day gathered followers. John sent his best ones to Jesus. True ministry builds people up toward Christ, not toward the minister.

John 3:30. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The word must is the language of God’s plan. John saw his shrinking role as God’s design, not as a loss.

The friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29). At a Jewish wedding the groom’s friend helped arrange everything and then stepped back. John’s joy was complete when the Bridegroom came.

Courage before Herod (Luke 3:19-20). John told a ruler to his face that it was not lawful for him to have his brother’s wife (Mark 6:18). Humility before God made John fearless before people.

Doubt in prison (Matthew 11:2-6). Jesus answered with Isaiah’s promises coming true: “The blind see and the lame walk” (Matthew 11:5). He did not scold John. He pointed him to the evidence.

Faithful to death (Mark 6:27). Herod had John put to death. John died because he would not stop telling the truth about God’s law.

Jesus’ verdict. Jesus called John “a burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35) and said none born of women was greater (Luke 7:28). A lamp is not the light’s source. It carries a light that comes from somewhere else.

Application. In group chats, sports and school, the pull is to make yourself look big. Ask: Does my life make Jesus look great?

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