THE GOSPEL: John The Baptiser!

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets:

“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.” [Malachi 3:1]

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’” [Isaiah 40:3]

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1-8)

The first four books of the New Testament are the gospel, The Words of Christ Jesus regarding the kingdom of God.  God prophecied and all the scripture speaks of the coming of a Messiah, but what was He coming to do?  That's what we will study in detail from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John simultaneously.  But before His coming, God spoke of The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ He was speaking about John the Baptist (or the Baptiser). Who is this John?  The Apostle Luke goes into great detail.

Luke starts off his gospel writing by validating the gospel and all that is written concerning Christ Jesus.  Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught. (Luke 1:1-4 NLT) Theophilus was an actual person, a Patriarch of Antioch.  Luke is very careful throughout his book to give very specific details, that to this day can be traced and found to be accurate.  He records real historical people's names, real places and events, therefore his and all the gospel books accounts of Christ Jesus can be believed as accurate also.  Besides, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (II Peter 1:20-21)

John's parents were Zacharias and Elizabeth.  Zacharias was a priest and Elizabeth was Mary's (Jesus' mother) cousin.  They were very old in age (Luke 1:18), just like Abraham and Sarah were, but ...an angel of the Lord  [Gabriel] appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.  For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also 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 1:11-17)

After this visit, Elizabeth did conceive and five months later, Mary received her visit from the angel Gabriel, stating that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.  Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.  For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:35-37) Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,  and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.  And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.  Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:39-45) What a miraculous thing to happen!

Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias.  His mother answered and said, “No; he shall be called John.”  But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed [Luke 1:18-25], and he spoke, praising God. Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began [Amos 3:7],
That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,

The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

“And you, child [John], will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel. (Luke 1:57, 59-61, 63-64, 67-80) What a blessing for a parent to know that their child will be used by God in such a mighty way, to help change the lives of so many people and lead them to The Truth! The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him. (Proverbs 20:7)