There may be some debate over tracing the papacy back to Peter, the apostle, but how can one dismiss the clear testimony of John being the first Baptist? (I jest.)
John the Baptist is not the same as John, the brother of James, apostle of Christ, writer of the Gospel bearing his name, nor of the books of John 1-3. Of course, you probably already knew this.
There was a priest during the time of Herod, the king of Judaea, named Zacharias. His wife Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron, the same Aaron who was with Moses. They had no child and were passed the age of having children.
One day, while Zacharias was performing his duty as a priest, an angel appeared before him.
the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. [Luke 1:13]
This was the prophecy of John:
For he 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 many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, 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 1:15-17]
"He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb."
This is a proof text that unborn children are known by God, and can even be elected to service and filled with the Holy Spirit before being born. We may not be able to say we fulling understand this miracle that we see play out in John's life, but we cannot deny the Word of God which declares that it did. We should be careful not to dismiss or doubt the Word of God, lest we be dealt the same as the angel did to Zacharias for his unbelief.
behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. [Luke 1:20]
The prophecy of John, given by his father, Zacharias, while filled with the Holy Ghost, at his birth:
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel. [Luke 1:76-80]
In John 1, we find John the Baptist, "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." That Light was/is Jesus Christ and John was conceived, filled with the Holy Spirit, born, and raised up for the purpose of pointing sinners to "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
However, even John the Baptist had a time of doubt. John was cast into prison because of his stance against Herod regarding his divorce and marriage of his brother's wife Herodias. In fact, Herodias hated John so much that she would use her daughter to have Herod behead John. [Mark 6]
John sent two of his disciples to Jesus—the very Word and Light he had known was the Son of God [see John 1]—to ask, "Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?"
Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. [Luke 7:22-23]
John may have been beheaded for standing up for what was right, but he was welcomed into the peace of God at his death. Sometimes as Christians it may be difficult to stand for truth, maybe even a bit fearful of what may happen to us—whether friends, job, life, etc. There may even be times that we doubt as John did. Those are times we must turn to the Word (both the written and the Savior) and be encouraged by our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We were not born, filled with the Holy Spirit, and set apart as Christians to be silent and afraid. Jesus Christ said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." [Matthew 5:14-15]
How about we be a John the Baptist, a witness of the Light—Jesus Christ.
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