Jesus and John

Jesus and John

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,” Luke 4:18

As we enter into all the festivities of the upcoming season, we seem to speed up from our usual pace.  Gifts, cards, parties and all the activities of the holidays, seems to keep our minds busy and before we know it, Jesus slips to the background.  We often make contacts with friends and family members we haven’t seen in a long time.

It reminds me of a story in the Bible – the first time Jesus and his cousin John met (John and Jesus were related through their mothers Mary and Elizabeth).  John, the baptizer, as he was called, was baptizing people in the Jordan River and they confessed their sins and were saved through baptism.  He told the people of the One who was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  One day John looked up and he saw Jesus coming to be baptized and John told Jesus that he should be baptized by Jesus, but Jesus said no, it should be done by John according to God.  So Jesus was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and settled on him.

Immediately, John knew who Jesus was, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.”  John 1:29-30.  When Mary, the mother of Jesus went to visit Elizabeth, John’s mother, the Bible tells us what happened at that meeting.  “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.”    Luke 1:41-44

It appears that Jesus and John first met while still in their mother’s wombs.  “With God, all things are possible.” After the baptism of Jesus, they were never to meet again.  John’s preaching was that of Salvation by baptism.  He was preparing the way for Jesus to come as the Savior of the world.  Jesus preached the Kingdom of God. “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15.

Now John was in prison and heard of the things Jesus was doing.  He sent a note to Jesus asking if He was the One who God was sending.  Jesus answer about covered everthing in Matthew 11: 4-5.  “Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see 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.”  Jesus then turned to preach to the crowd and said this about John the Baptist, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.”

Later when John was beheaded by Herod, the disciples came and told Jesus. He wanted to go off by himself, but the crowds followed him.  “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.”   Matthew 14:23.  His grief was visible in that he needed to get with the Father by prayer. Thus was the story of Jesus and John.