Meeting John the Baptist
Our text for today is Matthew 11:11.
In this verse Jesus tells us his opinion of John. “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist.”
That ought to tell you why we should want to meet John in heaven. Jesus said he is the greatest of all the prophets.
Enough said! But here are five more facts about John.
1. His name is John.
His name is not ‘The Baptist.” He is called John the Baptist because he was one who baptized. He had the high honor of baptizing Jesus.
2. He was a prophet.
We don’t usually don’t think of John as a prophet. We say, Elijah, Elisha, and Isaiah. Jesus called him a prophet and even more. In Matthew 11:9, Jesus asked, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”
3. John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins, likely through their mothers. In Luke 1:36, the angel Gabriel tells Mary about Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy:
“Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.”
Most Bible scholars hold that this means they were cousins.
4. John told his followers that Jesus was greater than him. See John 3:30.
5. John recognized Jesus before he was born! When Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited Elizabeth, John leaped in his mother’s womb, filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41).
I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.