The prophetic model of John the Baptist
Mt 3:13-17 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, AI need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?@Jesus replied, ALet it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.@ Then John consented.As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, AThis is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.@
Jn 1:31-33 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel. Then John gave this testimony:AI saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I did not know Him nor recognize Him, but He Who sent me to baptize in (with) water said to me, Upon Him Whom you shall see the Spirit descend and remain, that One is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen [that happenCI actually did see it] and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!
It is interesting that John showed he knew who Jesus was by this scripture:Mt 3:14 But John tried to deter him, saying, AI need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?@
He and Jesus grew up as cousins. Their mothers talked about how Mary got pregnant while still a virgin. And how the angel told Mary and Joseph to name Him Jesus because He was the promised Savior. His name actually means the one who saves. They also talked about how the babies leaped in their wombs when their mothers were close together. It is clear John knew Jesus was the one. It had to be common knowledge in their two families. However, he then makes this statement:
Jn 1:33-34 And I did not know Him nor recognize Him, but He Who sent me to baptize in (with) water said to me, Upon Him Whom you shall see the Spirit descend and remain, that One is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen [that happenCI actually did see it] and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!
How can this be reconciled? I believe it has to do with John=s integrity to his prophetic knowledge. John knew Jesus was the One and he treated Jesus with the reverence due to Him. However, God told him that he would be the one who would reveal the Christ to Israel and God told John the sign he would see to know who it was. He had not seen that sign yet. Even though it was common knowledge for John that Jesus was the one, he said AI did not know him or recognize him@. He maintained this point of view until he actually saw the sign God told him he would see. John, believed not what his understanding and common knowledge told him (the obvious) over what he understood through his prophetic knowledge. This is the true integrity we all should have in what we hear from God.
All too often I see a person speak words from God about another person that reflect the person is from God and approved by Him. Then a short time later he finds out some information about the person he spoke over, or that person does something that he believes is not from God and judges him as not being from God. He believes common knowledge, and his own understanding above what God spoke through him about the person. When we do this we indict ourselves as profaning God=s words. Like John, we need to not make any assumptions once God has told us something about a person. We must view the person the way God has spoken about him until God tells us something different. Even Jesus said: Jn 5:30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. Anything else and we condemn ourselves as holding our own judgement above that of God=s. When we do we do not condemn the person with our judgements. Heaven knows how it feels about that person, but we condemn ourselves as ones who don=t know God when we judge a person after knowing what God has spoken to us in our hearts to be true about the person. As we move closer to the end of days God will tolerate this less and less because it shows ourselves as ones who are not in spiritual union with God and that there is no love for God in our hearts.The same goes for when God gives a direction for our lives. I have seen so many people hear something from God then dismiss it as not from Him or as faulty advice because they know of some obstacle that what God told them doesn=t seem to make sense in their own understanding. Or when people hear from God about a matter, they hold no reverence for His words and take it simply as advice to consider in making their own decisions. As if they know better and then do as they please believing God will back their play. This is not spiritual union but Awhat have you done for me lately@ kind of relationship. It says in reality I=ll work with you God, but this is my life.
