The Baptism of John: Was It From Heaven, Or Of Men? - Part 1582

"Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come," saith the Lord of hosts, "but who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' sope [soap]; and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years." (Malachi 3:1-4; Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:2; Luke 1:76; Luke 7:27; John 1:23; 2:14; Isaiah 40:31; Isaiah 63:9; Habakkuk 2:7)

The child that is to go before the Lord was to be called the prophet of the Highest, for as his father Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost prophesied about John the baptizer -- "thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins ... through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:67-80)

Similarly, as we know, John the baptist/baptizer always pointed to the One who would come after him -- Jesus the Christ. Indeed, John said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor and gather His wheat into the garner: but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16; Acts 2:3-4; Matthew 2:22)

Given the prophecies from afore, nothing that Jesus did (including clearing the temple from money changers) should have come as a surprise to the chief priests, scribes and elders. But apparently, His actions did, and not only that, but these questioned from whence came His authority. Again, one would think that those who professed to be learned in the old covenant scriptures, (and likewise, the prophecies which foretold of the coming of Jesus) would already have seen the scriptural markers pointing toward the time of the coming Messiah.

At the very least, these should have known that from the time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand," that He was the promised Messiah. The prophesied Christ. The Lord Himself coming forth as a mighty man. (Isaiah 42:13) The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

The one and same Jesus who opened the book of the prophet Esaias [Isaiah] in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and read at the start of His ministry, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year the Lord." (Luke 4:15-21)

On this day particularly, since Jesus also told those in the synagogue that "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:21; Acts 13:29)

Thankfully, neither then nor now -- not everyone reduces Jesus to being just "Joseph's son?" (Luke 4:22)

Nevertheless, as Jesus was walking in the temple, the chief priest and the scribes and the elders asked Him, "By what authority does Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority to do these things?" (Mark 11:27-28)

Given the evidence up until this point, this is an interesting question -- particularly since we know from the scriptural account just prior, that "all the people were astonished at His doctrine." And too, before now, Jesus had already been in the temple, and cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves. And in fact, would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel [wares] through the temple. (Mark 11:15-17)

As comparison, note that John offers the same example but through a different set of eyes. That is, when the Jews' Passover was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And Jesus said unto them that sold doves, "Take these things hence; make not My Father's house an house of merchandise." At this point, even His disciples remembered that it was written, "The zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up." (Psalm 69:9; John 2:17)

[Because as the Lord had proclaimed through the prophet Isaiah, "... for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people ..." (Isaiah 56:7) But this is not what was happening here. Instead, as the Lord also asked earlier, "Is this house which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen [it]" saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 7:11)

Thus, herein, the Jews said unto Jesus, "What sign showest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou does these things?" And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:13-16)

Of course, Jesus was referring to the "perfect sacrifice"on the cross wherein He who knew no sin would become sin so that we might have life more abundantly in Him. But the Jews were not willing to concede that this same Jesus was in fact God Himself robed in flesh, or that He, God would willingly become our Saviour.

These would reject the scriptures which state: "He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11)

So, this explains why these had to ask Jesus, "By what authority does Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority to do these things?" (Mark 11:27-28)

Because in reality, these did not know who Jesus was. But Jesus, knowing their hearts answered back, saying unto them, "I will also ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was [it] from heaven, or of men? Answer Me."

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we shall say, from heaven; He will say, "Why then did ye not believe Him?" But if we shall say, "Of men: they feared the people: for all [men] counted John that he was a prophet indeed." (Mark 11:29-32; John 5:27; Matthew 3:5; Matthew 14:5)

In other words, the chief priests, scribes and elders were in a hard place. So like so many in a similar predicament, these told Jesus that "We cannot tell."

Note what Jesus then said unto them, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." (Mark 11:32-33)

Yes, Jesus answered their question with a question. But that is not all that is going on here. Most certainly, these should have already known who Jesus was by the extraordinary miracles He performed everywhere He went. Or, by the numerous healings that occurred in people's lives. The multitudes of sick and brokenhearted who gathered around Jesus wherever He went, seeking His wisdom and knowledge of the heavenly. Or, by the preaching of the good news gospel to those who marveled at His doctrine.

The fact that John the baptizer was full of the Holy Ghost by birth should have been sufficient to recognize that John's baptism was from heaven, or the fact that John was the forerunner to our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ. Did the question eventually get answered? Not directly, and certainly not the way the scribes and Pharisees expected.

But, in retrospect, perhaps, this is one of these moments of enlightenment when a verbal answer is not really necessary. The lesson should be inherent in the example. And in that context, as we discover in Luke 7, there is a response worth noting that is not visible from the outside but shows the whims and desires of the heart. That is,

"And all the people that heard [John the baptist] and the publicans justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves being not baptized of him." (Luke 7:29-30)

Just like on the day of Pentecost. Those who "gladly" received the Word repented and were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins ... thus receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38)

So, long story short, we as believers in Jesus need to stop following the money changers within religious organizations and start seeking the Lord God Almighty who loved us enough to shed His precious holy blood on a cross. In so doing, we too will know from whence comes our salvation. Our blessed assurance which is Jesus -- the only Name under heaven in these last days wherein we can be saved.

Stand in the offering plate.