In my opinion
there are few men who carry a more fascinating story of faith then John the
Baptist, even in the scriptures. Lessons
of faith can be learned from so many parts of the life of John the
Baptist. We can turn to the story of the
angel appearing to his father to promise a son to Zacharias and his wife,
Elisabeth, for a lesson in believing the promises of the Lord (Luke 1).
John the Baptist also chose to live in the
wilderness, following the command from God to preach of the Messiah who would
come among the people (Matthew 3). This
story gives us two powerful messages of faith.
First we learn we can rely on the Lord to provide for us if we follow
Him in faith. Second we learn about
faith to forsake the prizes of the world, such as wealth and prestige, in order
to obey the commands of God.
John further
demonstrates faith to obey when he baptizes Jesus even though he feels he is
unworthy (Matthew 3:13-17). And a study
of the scriptures yields many examples of times when John shared his faith in
Jesus with those around him with courage, though always in appropriate methods
and in accordance to the promptings of the spirit. Thus he teaches us to courageously share our
faith with those with whom we come in contact in appropriate ways.
But there is one
lesson on faith I think stands out above the rest when you study the life of
John the Baptist. John’s life teaches us
that we need to have the faith required to be able to recognize Jesus in our
lives. Only by faith can we know how He
touches us, what He does for us, and who He is.
And John demonstrated this faith throughout his life.
Mary visited Elizabeth when both John the
Baptist and Jesus were in the womb. The
growing fetus of John the Baptist recognized the special being growing within
Mary and leaped within the womb of his mother (Luke 1:41). It may strike you as odd to think of a
growing fetus showing faith. But this
story demonstrates the strength of John’s spirit. He knew his Lord and King even before birth. He recognized Jesus before either of them was
born because of the faith he had in Jehovah.
At another time
John stood with two of his followers, John and Andrew, when they saw Jesus
walking (John 1:35-42). John the Baptist
bore testimony of Jesus at that time, demonstrating again that he knew who
Jesus Christ was and what He would do for mankind. Because of this testimony, John and Andrew
left John the Baptist and followed Jesus the Christ. Andrew would later bring his brother Simon
Peter, who would carry another incredible story of faith in Jesus. The three men would later become members of
the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. All
of this came about because John the Baptist had faith in Jesus Christ and recognized
Him when he saw the Messiah.
Still another
time John bore his testimony of Jesus Christ and the mission He would perform
to those that followed John (John 3:25-36).
His testimony let his followers know that John the Baptist knew those
following him must leave him and follow Jesus to truly receive salvation. John in humility and with no jealousy
declared who Jesus was and what He would become. This was because John had faith in Jesus
Christ and loved Him for who He was and what He would become, for Jesus Christ
would become the Redeemer of all mankind when He gave Himself as a sacrifice
for our sins.
John was given an
incredible blessing because of his faith in the Savior. He was the one who had the privilege of
baptizing the Sinless One (Matthew 3:12-17).
John knew who Jesus was when He came to be baptized. But he was given a further witness of this
truth because of his faith in Jesus Christ.
John saw the Holy Ghost descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove,
testifying to John that what he knew was true.
Jesus was the Sacred One. And the
voice of the Father came from Heaven and declared Jesus was the Father’s
Son. John had the privilege of hearing
this witness because of his faith. John
would later bear record of these things (John 1:29-34) again because of his
faith and because he loved Jesus.
So to me the
lesson of faith that stands out from the life of John the Baptist is having the
faith to know who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us. John the Baptist had this faith before he was
ever born into this world. He had that
faith before he baptized Jesus Christ. He
had that faith before he witnessed the Father and the Holy Ghost testifying of
the Son. With that faith he boldly testified
of Jesus Christ throughout his life and ministry, and even before and
after. And because of the faith he
carried, John the Baptist had the privilege of baptizing Jesus Christ, seeing
the Holy Ghost testify of Him, and hearing the Father proclaim His love for
Jesus.
We should strive
to be like John. We should strive to
have the faith to know who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
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