Lessons In Discipleship: A Study In The Life of John The Baptist
Join us over the next five weeks as we examine the life of John the Baptist for Lessons in Discipleship.
You don’t have to be around a church very long before you hear the word, “disciple.” It’s what we aspire to be. We are called to embrace the teachings of Jesus and then participate in spreading those teachings throughout the world. There’s just one small question, however; How do we do that?
At first blush it seems to be so simple. The Bible is filled with God’s Word and the story of the life of His Son Jesus. There are even easy to memorize steps to follow like the Ten Commandments and the “Fruits of the Spirit.” However, a statement from Jesus warns that the commitment runs much deeper than that and that the path of a disciple can be fraught with hardships. In Luke 9:23 He declared, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” That’s a huge demand. How can we as frail human beings ever hope to be faithful in accomplishing this? Fortunately, the Bible gives us examples of many great disciples. One of them is John the Baptist. He was a cousin of Jesus who had been appointed by God to prepare the way for the ministry of His Son. In his role as forerunner, he was pressed to live a life utterly devoted to God. There was a duality to the way the public perceived him. He was obviously strange; living in the wilderness, wearing camel skins and eating locusts and wild honey. Yet, instead of being repulsed by him, the people were powerfully drawn to his cries for repentance.
Indeed, Jesus declared about John in Matthew 11:11, “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” So, if we are looking for an example, he is a prime place to start. Certainly, it would seem impossible to be as godly, driven and devoted to God as was John. He had a special call upon his life. But Jesus continued His declaration, saying, “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we can be the disciples that God has called us to be.