More Than A Prophet

Men of Character and an attentive savior

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“As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Matthew 11:7-14

John was very open and bold for Christ. He pointed people constantly to Him. He said “he must increase, I must decrease..” He said, “behold the lamb of God..”

If we reread Matthew 10:33 we will hear,

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

This is interesting in light of this passage, because we see Jesus openly acknowledging John to be “More than a prophet.” There is a sweetness in this. We can have a sneak peak into Christ willingness to not just acknowledge John before men, but one day, us before the father.

We hear Christ asking, “what did you go out to the wilderness to see..” Meaning, if John was nobody why was everyone going to him?

Then he asked, “a reed shaken by the wind..?” or was he timid? No, he was bold. Unwavering in the truth.

Then he mentions soft clothing, or kings clothing. Was he worldly? Was he into riches and living in the midst of wealth? No. If they went out to see him for those reasons they were very wrong.

John was a man set on the face of God. A preacher that demanded repentance. He wasn’t afraid of kings. Like I mentioned a day ago, he confronted Herod to his face. He wasn’t afraid of making men angry, he wanted them to see their sins and turn from them!

He was more than a prophet. Why? Because Old Testament prophets only had a glimpse of Christ, John declared and saw Christ face to face. He was a witness. The old testament prophets foretold of the lamb, John says, “Behold the lamb!”

Jesus loved John. You can see it in how highly he speaks of him here.

here are a few things to consider about this:

A Christ Who Is Ready To Honor His People

We can see clearly that the Christ we know and serve is compassionate and attentive in our work. This was mentioned the other day and it’s a lesson to hear again and again. He sees our lives and our character. He sees our boldness and our passion. We must again remind ourselves that our service will not go unnoticed. John was in the wilderness preaching, so should we not believe that even if we are in the rivers of Africa preaching the Gospel, we are seen. Our Lord is ready to honor us in all that we have done. This should motivate us in any service. Whether you are a janitor, a mechanic, a stay at home mom, a librarian, a trash man, a doctor, a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, the guy who just helps people try on shoes, or any other thing you do as a Christ-loving individual. The work is noticed. It’s honored. Share Christ.

Men of Character

We should also see the two traits about John and consider them:

1. Bold. Not a shaken reed.

2. Not worldly. Not dressed in soft clothing.

What two of the best characteristics to have said about you. Let’s take risk for Christ. Speak up against the wrong of kings. Not to be insult but to bring to repentance. Let us not be swept up in petty hobbies and pursuits. Not seek to be rich in worldly terms but rich toward God.

We must see that laboring for Christ is never unnoticed, so let’s take risk. Be men of Character. We need bold men. We need focused men. It’s easy to fall for the worldly pursuits. We have to earn money and pay our mortgages. We have to put food on the table. These are important things. We probably aren’t all going to stand in the wilderness like John, we aren’t John. But John’s focus and character are ones to set our hearts on. If Christ takes notice of them, why would we think we should overlook them?

Let us read our Bibles. Be men of prayer. Be faithful husbands. I talk mainly to the men, because they have the larger responsibility. We don’t need more shipwreck preachers and husbands. We need men of character.

John Proclaimed, We Will Enter

“Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

John prepared the way for Christ, this is a very highly favored thing to be called to do. But to be IN the kingdom is something of greater honor. It’s good to preach the gospel, very good. It’s good to go to church, very good. But to enter the kingdom of Heaven, that’s what matters.

The gospel is that you and I are rebelling against God. We want our own way. We love his stuff more than him. We work hard and never recognize he gives us the power to live and move and have our being. We think we do everything ourselves. We don’t acknowledge him. We wish he wasn’t real. We suppress the truth so that way we can live in all the pleasure we can consume, even when He says it’s evil. We laugh at that. We are desperately wicked, and we call ourselves good.

And the fact is that all our trying to be better and working hard and thinking that we can fix our wrongs with God is a lie. We can’t. In fact going to church doesn’t make us right with God. Giving to the guy on the corner doesn’t make us right with God. We need someone to take our punishment so we can walk free.

That’s what we need. And that’s exactly what Christ did. He took our place for the punishment we deserve. He was nailed on the cross. We were suppose to be on that cross. We are the sinners. Christ was innocent. But he died in our place. He absorbed the wrath of God so we could have peace.

And we must admit our sins and turn from them. We must see we can’t earn Gods favor but we must trust in what Christ did for us. We must see Christ as our treasure. We must see him as our Lord.

John did prepare the way for Christ. But if we ignore the message, we lose everything. Christ has prepared a way for salvation. Do we see this?