John the Baptist

Matthew 3 verses 1-12

STARTER: Get the group to share what they know about John the Baptist. For example:

Birth meticulously recorded Lk 1.5-25

Birth marked by an angelic proclamation & divine intervention Lk 1.57-80

Formative years living in the desert in obscurity Lk 1.80

Public ministry ended 400 years of prophetic silence

Prepared the way for the coming Messiah Lk 3.3-6

Central message the need to REPENT Matt 3.2

Spoke courageously about coming judgement Matt 3.10-12

Lifestyle as austere as his message Matt 3.4

Spoke bravely against Herod’s immorality – and cost him his life Matt 13.3-12

Affirmed by Jesus Matt 17.11-13

Fully accepted his servant role Jn 1.19-23

In prison questioned whether Jesus was the Messiah Matt 11.1-2

Don’t spend too long on this – it’s just a way of finding out how much the group knows about John.

He was born some six months before Jesus, and related to Jesus in some way – cousin/uncle? Did they grow up together?

READ Matthew 3 verses -12

Just a few background notes:

1 “In those days” suggests a KAIROS moment; something that would change the course of history, and also change people’s lives

Came from the desert/wilderness of Judea. This would have been eastern Judah, an area infested with wild animals, with very little rainfall and with few people choosing to live there. The wilderness was the birth place of the nation of Israel, and a place of hope (Hosea 2.14-15). There were some Essene communities in this area (e.g. Qumran) – had John been part of such a community?

2 Key message the need to REPENT, a word often used by OT prophets to urge people to return to a right relationship with God (Jer 4.1). Repentance is not just turning AWAY from sin, but it is a turning TO a fruitful life (10). To really repent is to think differently and to act differently. The need to repent was often the “first word” …

John’s message

Jesus’ message (Mk 1.14-15)

Preaching of the 12 (Mk 6.12)

After the resurrection on the Emmaus road (Lk 24.44-47)

Peter’s sermon (Acts 2.38)

Paul’s ministry (Acts 26.19-20)

3 From Isaiah 40.3 where the prophet spoke of preparing the way for the people of Israel to return from exile back to their homeland. It was part of the great message of hope, of forgiveness, of healing for the nation after the horror of exile. God was coming back, bringing comfort and rescue. Get ready!

The kingdom of heaven/God is to be found wherever God is king. John was not calling people to repent so that the kingdom would come – but because the kingdom was near; the kingdom was upon them.

5 People flocked to listen to John. Were they anxious to hear a genuine prophet? John bravely denounced evil/sin wherever he saw it and called people to righteous living. His boldness cost him his life (Mt 14.4ff)

6 Baptism was an initiation rite for Gentile proselytes who wished to accept the Jewish faith. It was a symbolic dying to an old life and giving birth to a new life. But here was John calling on Jews to be baptised! – and many were.

9 The Pharisees and Sadducees saw themselves as God’s chosen people, as true descendants of Abraham. They longed for judgement – on Israel’s enemies – and looked for the time when their nation would be restored to its former glory as in the days of King David. Sadly they were blinded by their own self-righteous confidence.

11 John clearly saw himself as far lower than the one who was to come, indeed he saw himself lower than a normal disciple of a rabbi at that time. “A rabbi’s disciple was expected to act virtually as his master’s slave, but to remove his shoes was too low a task for even a disciple.” (from Jewish writings)

Some questions to consider:

Pick out those which you think are particularly relevant to your group at this time.

• Work through what it really means to REPENT. It is far more than saying sorry. Over recent months a number leading celebrities have been caught breaking Covid-restrictions and have usually said “sorry” – but have they repented?

• Reflect a little on what is meant by the kingdom of heaven/God (3).

• Why do you think so many people flocked to hear John’s message (5)?

• Why do you think many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptised (7)? Do you think this was genuine repentance, or merely a chance to “jump on the bandwagon” and perhaps gain popularity. Was John convinced?

• John spoke powerfully of impending judgement (something Jesus spoke of often too). What do you think is meant by “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (8)?

• Do you think that at this time John fully understood that Jesus was the “one to come”? (cf Mt 11.2) He was about to baptise Jesus (13-17) so does this suggest that he did know who Jesus was?

• John was given a specific task by God. Do you think our church here in Ashtead has a particular “God-given task” at this time? If so, what is it? And do you think that God equally has tasks for each and every believer?

• John lived a very simple life without all the things that we today regard as “essential”. If John was to come and preach in our church next Sunday, what do you think his message would be? Is there a challenge here for us to live more simple lives, or do we deserve all that we have?

• John prepared the way for the Messiah, not knowing what it would look like when he came. What do you make of these words of Tom Wright: “Jesus’ own mission was quite different from what people sometimes imagine; the comfort and healing of his kingdom-message was balanced by the stern and solemn warning that when God comes back he demands absolute obedience. If God really is God, he isn’t simply the kindly, indulgent, easy-going parent we sometimes imagine.”

• One day God will unveil his kingdom in all its glory, bringing justice and peace and joy and love to the whole world. How can we get ready for that time? Are there any roads that need straightening out in our lives? Are there any dead trees that need cutting down? Are there things of which we need to repent?

PRAYERS

With Christmas fast approaching you might like to pray for all the events/services that will be taking place in the next few days. Things will be very different this year, but let us pray that the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, will ring out powerfully in our community this Christmas time.

And perhaps we can pray too for our national leaders as they make plans to deal with whatever are the consequences of all that will happen over the Christmas season.

You might also like to have a time of quiet for members of the group to reflect individually on anything that has challenged them in this study.