Discipleship With John the Baptist

TUESDAY

January 8

Discipleship With John the Baptist

Read John 3:21-30. Explain what this passage says about John the Baptist in relationship to discipleship. Was he also a disciple-gathering teacher? Because he did not have rabbinical education, what does the title rabbi say about the regard his pupils had for him?

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It is apparent that some Jews wondered whether John the Baptist was the Messiah. This is implied by the questions of the messengers whom the priests and Levites from Jerusalem sent to John the Baptist (John 1:19-28). Their questions are significant, especially when one considers that a two-messiah concept had developed among the Jews during this period between the Old and New Testament. It anticipated a priestly messiah from the tribe of Levi and a kingly messiah from the tribe of Judah. The fact that priests and Levites were sent is therefore notable since they belonged to the tribe of Levi.

It is possible that the disciples of John saw him as a priestly messiah; after all, he was from the tribe of Levi. This belief could also have motivated the Jerusalem visitors, who inquired of John regarding his mission. Some scholars believe that this was the reason the author of the fourth Gospel recorded so much of what the Baptist said about Jesus. He wanted it to be absolutely clear that John the Baptist saw Jesus, not himself, as the Messiah. Perhaps it is against this background that we must understand John 3: 25, 26.

What was the issue that caused some distress among John's disciples? See John 3:21-30. What does their attitude say about them? In contrast, what does John's response tell us about his character? What principle can we learn from John's response that we could apply to our own lives?