Lessons from Matthew 3: Ministry of John the Baptist

Have you ever tried to live a lie? I mean have you ever tried to cover up something you did, something that you either knew was wrong or maybe at first you didn’t know but later came to realize was wrong? Possibly afterwards you thought, “How did I end up here? How did I get so deeply involved in this sin?” and then asked yourself, “Now how do I get out of it?”

Or maybe you just refuse to see the wrong in what you are doing and reject words of truth or rebuke and remain where you are at. Maybe you suffer from guilt over past sins and struggle with a sense of not being all you feel you should be.

Well the good news is that you don’t have to live your life in any of these states and that’s the message of this lesson. This message is just as important to our lives today as it was to the people of the Bible.

Through John (John the Baptist as he was known) and his message of God, may we also be led to the freedom we can have in Christ Jesus who came to save His people from sin’s penalty and its control in our lives.

Jesus Christ came to save His people from sin’s penalty and its control in our lives.

The Ministry of John the Baptist

In Luke 1 we are told that John was born in the time of King Herod of Judea. His father, Zechariah, was a priest and his mother was Elizabeth. This is the same Elizabeth that Mary, Jesus’s mother went to see when she found out that she was to birth the long-awaited Messiah. The angel Gabriel had also announced to Mary that Elizabeth, her cousin, was also with child which was a great blessing from God. (Thus John’s name.)

The Lord was gracious “because Zechariah and Elizabeth had remained childless and were both past the childbearing age but God had made a way where there was no way and he blessed them both with a son.”

Zechariah was told that John would be a joy and a delight to not only his parents but also to many people. Many people would rejoice because of his birth, for he would be great in the sight of the Lord. And because the Lord would use John’s life greatly, and in order that his life remain consecrated unto the Lord, his parents were to refrain from giving him wine or any other alcoholic drink. They were that told John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.

Because of John, his life and ministry, many of the people of Israel would turn back to the Lord their God. John would go before the Lord (as the forerunner, as Jesus’s herald or messenger) in the spirit and power of Elijah. He would turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Because the Word of the Lord had come to them, John’s parents were faithful and obedient believers. They clearly recognized God’s call on their son’s life and were eager to fulfill God’s plan. And they must have prayed diligently for John to fulfill God’s purpose in his life and then instructed him in the ways of the Lord.

In Proverbs 22:6 God instructs us to train up a child in the way he/she should go and when they are old they will not turn from it.

Training up a child in the ways of the Lord takes time, it takes persistence, and it takes prayer.

What are you actively doing to train up a child in God’s ways?

Thank you to all of you who actively bring up either your children, grandchildren, nieces/nephews, or neighbor children in His word.

May God bless you by seeing their growth not just physically but also spiritually. For what is spiritual will last into eternity!

This call to instruct children is not reserved for parents alone, but for anyone who would offer up their lives unto the Lord to make the difference in the life of a little lamb.

Did you know that God has set you apart also? He has called you not only to be saved, which is the first and foremost matter, but He has also called you to come alongside Him in faith and be used by Him to further His kingdom’s work here on earth.

All God’s people have been called to actively participate in His ministry to the world and its lost people.

And that is what John did. He became the forerunner of Jesus who made the people of his day aware of their specific sins and their need for cleansing and forgiveness. He prepared them for the Savior who would bring that cleansing and forgiveness.

What has God called you to do to actively participate in His ministry to the world and its lost people?

John the Baptist’s ministry leads us to his message, which we will focus on next time.

Terri Hamman

Faith & Fitness Coach