THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

 JOHN THE BEACON FOR JESUS: 

John the Baptist was an unusual man. First off, his birth was unusual as Luke recorded the words of the angel of God, Gabriel: 

For he (John the Baptist) shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb…

And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias (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.

And Zacharias said unto the angel, “Whereby shall I know this?” for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

And the angel answering said unto him, “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto you, and to show you these glad tidings…” (Luke 15:22) 

John added some more information:

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe. He was not that Light but was sent to bear witness of that Light. (John 1:6-8)

John was not Elijah the prophet who had been taken away in a whirlwind. He was like Elijah in the sense that he was filled with the Spirit in the womb with the Power of that “Whirlwind.”

Luke also validated that assumption, “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting… And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost… (Acts 2:2,3).  The Holy Ghost was like a whirlwind, or as Yahweh revealed Himself as a pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire (Exod 13:21), indicating His Divine Power in a different shape.

The Power of God in the form of a Whirlwind filled John in the womb. John was just a vessel that embodied the Holy Ghost until Jesus would come to be filled with the Holy Ghost when John baptized Him with the Power of Yahweh.

John was a proxy for the coming Messiah, and once Jesus was readied, John was no longer needed.

Luke also wrote about that; “The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon (Jesus), and a Voice came from heaven, which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in you I Am well pleased.’” (Luke 3:22).

It appears that the Holy Ghost in the bodily shape of John left John and came into Jesus, thus ending the need for the baptism of John by water. Jesus was the first to be baptized by the same spirit with which John was baptized, so thereafter, the “one baptism” with any efficacy was the Baptism by God’s Voice from heaven where God resides. Paul wrote about the one true baptism:

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephes 4:4-6)

Long ago, Elijah preceded the prophet, Elisha. “And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal” (2 Kings 2:1). The Holy Ghost in the form of a Whirlwind left Elijah and came into Elisha in the same manner as John with Jesus.

Therefore, John was not “Elijah” who appeared later at the transfiguration, but was antitypical of Elijah and Jesus of Elisha, himself. It was never understood that it was not the prophets that were of interest but in whom was the “Whirlwind.”

Just as Elisha was “baptized” by Elijah, Jesus was baptized God from the presence of John. He was the only one who was baptized efficaciously. John was the “yod”(hand) that provided the “el” (power) of the Father.

John the Baptism said about Jesus:

I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, “Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.” (John 1:33)

Note that John baptized everybody else with water, but only Jesus was baptized with the Holy Ghost, by the “wave,” in “bodily shape,” as Luke saw it.

It seems that John was the “vessel” of the Holy Ghost for a purpose, and it was long enough for the Holy Ghost to leave his body and remove itself to Jesus. John facilitated the baptism of Jesus, but like John Himself, Jesus was baptized by the Holy Ghost.

Baptisms by John were for repentance, so that sins could be remitted (Mark 1:4), albeit the Baptism of the Holy Ghost emanating from the Body of the Lord God remitted (extracted) the sins. Water never extracted the sins from anyone as the Living Waters from the Holy Ghost from the “Belly” of Jesus (John 7:38) can only do that!

John had to die because the real Light (Jesus) came like a Whirlwind in bodily shape. John said about Jessus, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Mat 3:11).

Since John was not worthy to bear the shoes of Jesus, he would not be worthy of baptizing for Jesus. Hence, baptism by water was not for the remittance (extraction) of sins, but preparation for the Holy Ghost to extract them!

John confirmed that his baptism was the cleansing of the flesh for it to be clean for the coming Holy Ghost. The baptism of John just washed “old bottles” to make them as clean as new ones in preparation for the “Wine” to come as indicated by Jesus when He said, “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runs out, and the bottles perish, but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (Mat 9:17).

John was washing the vessels for the “New Wine” — the Holy Ghost. Jesus supplied the New Wine when the Holy Ghost poured from His belly unto the vessels of others. His was more than just a “cup” but a vessel ample enough to contain Living Water for all who would drink of it.

So, the announcement about John and Jesus should make sense; neither were Elijah nor Elisha but “vessels” for containing God, carrying the Holy Spirit to another in the case of John  and for Jesus, for all others, to wit:

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, “Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is He that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, “The Voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make His paths straight, and the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (Mat 3:1-4)

John, for a time, spoke for God. He annunciated “The Word” of God as a proxy for Jesus until God would ready Him. However, Jesus was “The True Word” as John indicated and His baptizing the “One Baptism” that remains on converts.

Hence, the nature of John was supernatural. He was a Nazarite in the mode of Samson, born with the Spirit of God and this time “Samson” did not drink, touch the dead, and nor ever cut his hair. John fulfilled God’s expectations of Samson, the difference that John never failed Him.

Jesus was the “True Light” (John 1:8 above) but John bear witness of the Light of Jesus. (John 1:7).

Think of an approaching automobile. A car coming at a distance pops over a hill and bears witness that it is an automobile that is coming.

An automobile is recognized by its two bright lights, so that the driver knows a car is approaching. Lights on the face of vehicles are for two reasons: (1) To warn that a vehicle is there and (2) that the light is real, and that its form is an automobile.

John was the “vehicle” that warned that some “Body” was coming, and that the one coming was as real as the light from the headlamps. However, the first light was for safety but the coming Light was the real Holy Thing as Luke also wrote:

The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore, also that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called “The Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)

John bear the light of God but Jesus was The Holy Thing! John could not make anyone holy with his water, but The Holy Thing could.

Therefore, the purpose of John has been explained, but his appearance has not, other than that He carried the divine Light that would soon reveal the person, Jesus, who was the True Light. The next commentary will examine his unusual appearance.

 

 PICTURE CREDIT Reddit