John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus and played a crucial part in preparing the way for Jesus ministry to flourish. He knew his role and was happy to decrease whilst Jesus’ ministry increased. His life was cruelly taken from him, but his example of selfless service remains for us today.

<p>John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus and played a crucial part in preparing the way for Jesus ministry to flourish. He knew his role and was happy to decrease whilst Jesus’ ministry increased. His life was cruelly taken from him, but his example of selfless service remains for us today.</p>

Adam Ramdin

Lineage Season 4: Manger to Messiah

01 The Birth of Jesus Christ

02 The Wise Men

03 Jesus: The Temple Visit

04 Jesus: Baptism & Wilderness Experience

05 The Wedding at Cana

06 The Pool of Bethesda

07 John the Baptist

08 Jesus Rejected in Nazareth

09 Calling the Disciples

10 The Sermon on the Mount

11 Peace, Be Still

12 Healed Demoniacs Witness in Decapolis

13 Feeding the 5000

14 Lazarus: Raised From The Dead

15 The Good Samaritan

16 Signs of the Times: Matthew 24

17 The Garden of Gethsemane

18 In Pilate’s Judgment Hall

19 Calvary: Jesus’ Sacrifice for the World

20 He Is Risen

21 The Walk to Emmaus

22 Peter Restored By Jesus At Galilee

Lineage Journey

John the Baptist was born to Zacharias and Elizabeth and was to play an important role in the life of Jesus. His parents received word of his impending birth from an angel, but his father initially doubted the promise. He temporarily lost the ability to speak until the birth of his son. John the Baptist was born during a time of tremendous upheaval in Israel where there being strong tension with their Roman rulers and the spiritual state of Israel was in dire straits. John was called to be a reformer As a son of a priest, the natural order of things would've been for him to go and train in the rabbinical schools of his day, but this would've unfitted him for his work. Instead of being sent to learn under the theology teachers, God sent him to the desert to learn in nature, he gave up the luxuries of home life for the stern discipline of the wilderness, a life of simplicity and self denial. He wore the garment of the ancient prophets, camel's, hair, and he ate locust and wild honey things that were found in the wilderness in the first century AD there was a group of people living in Comran called the een. They were a sect of Jews who lived a very strict and solitary life. It was in the caves of Comran in 1946 when a shepherd boy found that Dead Sea scrolls. Even though there is no hard evidence to suggest that John the Baptist was an een, there are some similarities between his life and their lifestyle, and it's likely though not proven that he came in contact with them. John the Baptist was called to be the voice crying in the wilderness and was to prepare the way for Jesus to come. John the Baptist called the nation to repentance at a time when they needed it most and practice his baptisms here in the river Jordan. John preached prior to Jesus public ministry and it was John who baptized Jesus in the river Jordan. As Jesus ministry now started and increased, the crowd started to follow him, and slowly the crowd who followed John the Baptist decreased. John's disciples, though were jealous at this situation and came to him, but he gave no air to their complaints or had sympathy with their dissatisfaction. He knew what his mission was and what Jesus' mission was, and he said in John three, verse 30, he must increase, but I must decrease. John the Baptist did not have any selfish ambition in him at all. His life though was sadly come to an end here on this mountaintop at the hands of hous King, Herod's wife. He had rebuked the king for taking his brother Phillip's wife. Heroes was thus very resentful of him and wanted him killed, but Herod feared the people and would not harm him. One night she threw a party for him and her daughter Salomi danced before him with a mind clouded by alcohol. He promised he would give her whatever she asked. She went and asked her mother, and her mother said the head of John the Baptist on a platter. It was thus that the life of one of the greatest prophets came to an end. It was here in the fortress of herd where this sad story took place. John the Baptist knew what his mission in life was, and he did this faithfully. He did not try to be someone else and neither was he jealous of others when they achieve success because he knew that their mission was not his mission. Sometimes in life we get so mixed up and want things that aren't ours, whether that's material, possessions or position. May we have confidence in our sense of identity in Jesus Christ and a sense of assurance of who we are in him.

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Series

Lineage Season 4: Manger to Messiah

07 John the Baptist

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Other Teachings in Series

01 The Birth of Jesus Christ

02 The Wise Men

03 Jesus: The Temple Visit

04 Jesus: Baptism & Wilderness Experience

05 The Wedding at Cana

06 The Pool of Bethesda

07 John the Baptist

08 Jesus Rejected in Nazareth

09 Calling the Disciples

10 The Sermon on the Mount

11 Peace, Be Still

12 Healed Demoniacs Witness in Decapolis

13 Feeding the 5000

14 Lazarus: Raised From The Dead

15 The Good Samaritan

16 Signs of the Times: Matthew 24

17 The Garden of Gethsemane

18 In Pilate’s Judgment Hall

19 Calvary: Jesus’ Sacrifice for the World

20 He Is Risen

21 The Walk to Emmaus

22 Peter Restored By Jesus At Galilee

Sound Doctrine