seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 1:19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Now, let me explain why I think the Pharisees were after John the Baptist. Think back to when we read about the three kings who visited the first Herod. They told Herod that God's Son was going to be born in Bethlehem. Herod sent his soldiers to murder all the babies who might possibly be the baby the big hoopla was all about. But the Pharisees; they knew Herod killing babies was not going to stop the Son of God, no more than killing babies stopped Moses. Now according to the reports from the other three Gospels, John the Baptist was an odd sort. He wore odd clothes and he ate odd food. He told the new Herod [the pig who had his stepdaughter do a pole dance] to repent! John the Baptist was an odd sort. John the Baptist, just so you know, is not the author of this book. The guy that wrote this book was the son of Salome, wife of Zebedee. John who wrote this book was a fisherman. He was a partner in a fishing boat with Peter... the one the Catholics sainted. So different men. John the Baptist was Elizabeth's son. Elizabeth was married to a priest. She was also Mary's cousin. Mary was the mother of Jesus. John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin!
The Pharisees were upset with John the Baptist because John was performing a tradition performed by the priests. They could not allow him to do that... it would either make God angry or it would steal some of their thunder. I found this the beginning of these traditions in Numbers 19:1-22 and again at Leviticus 14, 15, and 16:24-28.
So, Baptism by water was not new. It was usually done by priests. John was the son of a priest, but he wasn't a priest. The priests knew about what the three kings told Herod. They knew this guy was going to either steal their thunder or cause them trouble. So, they questioned him.
Meet John the Baptist.
He stepped on the Pharisees toes too!
