The Baptism of John

By: Larry Yarber 

"John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4).

That John's baptism was of heaven, there can be no doubt. By inspiration Luke said that those who had rejected the baptism of John had rejected the counsel of God, "And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him" (Luke 7:29-30). When the chief priests and elders demanded to know by what authority Jesus spake, Jesus said unto them, "The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or of men? ..." (Matthew 21:25). In fear of incriminating themselves, the antagonistic Jews replied, "... We cannot tell ..." (Matthew 21:27). By refusing to answer this question they had established the Divine authorization of John's baptism.

Great hosts of people responded to the baptism of John, "And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins" (Mark 1:5). The very fact that even our Lord submitted to this baptism attest to its Divine origin, "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him" (Matthew 3:13). And if this were not enough, when our Lord came  up out of the water the Bible states that God the Father and God the Spirit put their stamp of approval on our Lord's obedience and John's baptism, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened up unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17).

John had been sent to prepare the people for the appearance of the Lord, "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;" (Luke 1:76). Therefore, it should not surprise us to learn that John's baptism was very similar to our Lord's and even connected to the remission of sins (Mark 1:4 - see our opening scripture, LY). Prior to John, the law and the prophets had only spoken of future forgiveness, "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John" (Matthew 11:13). John was the one to announce unto the people that the promised salvation was now come and stood in their midst, "Then said they unto him, Who art thou? ... Why baptizeth thou then, if thou be not that Christ, ... John answered them, saying, ... There standeth one among you whom ye know not; He it is, who ... is preferred before me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose" (John 1:22-27). And so, this salvation began to be proclaimed with the baptism of John, "Beginning from the baptism of John, ..." (Acts 1:22), and, "This word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached" (Acts 10:37), and, "When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel" (Acts 13:24).

Eventually, John’s work was completed, "And as John fulfilled his course, ..." (Acts 13:25). As it neared its completion John's disciples reported unto him, "And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, ... the same baptizeth, and all men come to him" (John 3:25). John replied, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). With the death of our Lord upon the cross, both the Jewish Dispensation of time and the baptism of John came to an end (Hebrews 9:15-17). From this point on anyone baptized by John's baptism had to be re-baptized by the baptism of Christ (Acts 18:24-28 and 19:1-5). Thus, as important as John's baptism was, it is not applicable to you and me today!

The Bible & History

By: Joe Spangler

When the writers of the Bible either casually or specifically mention some event of history, they do so with accuracy. Should their citations contradict known history, they would likely be judged frauds. Even the best of historians are sometimes subject to err due to their human frailty. Though intent on accuracy, the authors of the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica made so many slips concerning places in America that the publishers of the New American Cyclopedia issued a pamphlet exposing their rival’s mistakes. The classic example of the Bible’s amazing accuracy in this area is the many mentions of the Hittites (Gen. 23:10; 26:34). Though the Bible suffered at the hands of critics who denied their very existence for many years, archaeological discoveries later vindicated it. The veracity of the accounts was proved by finds at ancient Boghazoy in Turkey.

The historical claims concerning Jesus make up the most convincing proof of the authenticity of the Scriptures. Surely if the historical claims concerning the founder of the Christian faith are found false, the foundation of its doctrine crumbles also. Yet the historicity of Jesus exceeds that of any other subject of history. The Roman historians Lucian, Pliny, Suetonius, and Tacitus all attest to the existence, teaching, death, and religion of Jesus. The Jewish writer Josephus speaks of Jesus, as well as confirming the accuracy of both Old and New Testaments. The many predictive statements of the Old and historical statements of the New coincide with secular accounts of His birth, life, death, and kingdom.

Not only is the Bible true concerning the historical record of Christ, its history of the Jewish nation is prominently displayed in the pages of Holy Writ. Yet, never was a Jew heard in the annals of history who disputed the record. No historian of note questions the accuracy of the account of their ancestry, journeys, laws, or leaders. Details concerning the nations round about them and those who vanquished them are open for inspection.

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(Authors and books you might explore on this subject: Norman L. Geisler and William F. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible; Thomas Hartwell Home, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures; Wayne Jackson, Christian Evidences.)