Hanukkah and the Messiah p. 3 The Forerunner of the Messiah p



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His Problem (doubts)



John 3:30: John knew and accepted that when the ministry of Jesus began that his ministry would necessarily be coming to an end. That was not a problem for him.
Though the timeline is difficult to know and there are various opinions, it seems that John’s public ministry before the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:32-33) was about six months long. His ministry after the baptism of Jesus was also about six months long. John was imprisoned by Herod the tetrarch where he sat for at least another six months up to a year (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29; Luke 3:19-20; John 3:24) before he was beheaded.
Luke 3:19-20: admonished Herod Antipas for his sinful behavior in his marriage to his brother’s wife, Herodias (see below). John was imprisoned at Machaerus, a fortress about 9 miles (15 kilometers) east of the Dead Sea.
Left: Aerial view of the ruins of Machaerus with the Dead Sea in the background. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the fortress of Machaerus was the place in which John the Baptist was beheaded (Bellum VII.6.1-2). The fortress was remote enough to keep dissidents like John the Baptist - out of the public eye where they could be executed quietly if the need arose. It had a tragic and cruel history. (www.bible-architecture.info)

Matthew 11:1-6; Luke 7:18-23
You can imagine the challenge to John’s thinking when this event happened! He had been preparing all his life for his predicted ministry of being the forerunner of the Messiah and now he is sitting in the lonely and dangerous prison. He has been there for several months and the Messianic Kingdom is not coming.
“the Expected One” (literally, “the One who is to come”) is a title of the Messiah. John’s doubts and questions have come because the Jewish leadership is rejecting Jesus’ teaching and the people are not responding in fully accepting Him as the Messiah. Things are not going forward as John thought they would!
Should John look for another? That is, “Is it possible that you, Jesus, are not the Messiah and the true Messiah is yet to come?” Even though John had been the one to correctly identify the Messiah and he had witnessed the affirmation of God the Father and the descent of the Holy Spirit at the baptism of Jesus, still now he becomes unsure.
The major part of the problem was that neither John nor his disciples understand the fact of the two comings of the Messiah: one as the Suffering Messiah and one as King Messiah.
Beloved, this points out that even spiritually advanced believers can get discouraged and have doubts about many issues. In the Lord’s response to John in Matthew 11:5 He simply pointed out some facts to him.
Arnold Fruchtenbaum says this:
The point of his question is did he accidentally miss and point out the wrong messiah. Now when the disciples of Yochanan arrive in Luke verse 21 Yeshua is healing people of diseases, plagues, blindness, and casting out of demons. Yeshua's answer to them is not yes or no, but in verse 22 Yeshua said go and tell Yochanan what you have seen and heard. They are to report back to Yochanan what they have seen, heard taught, the claims of Yeshua to be the messiah, because the purpose of all His works and teachings are to authenticate His messianic claims. Notice in verse 22b what Yeshua says:
"the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,

the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them."


The miracles that Yeshua did for Yochanan’s disciples shows that Yeshua has the power to bring in the Kingdom. According to the prophets, in the Kingdom there will be not blind, lame, deaf, or death as well as no lepers for the curse will be lifted. Yeshua has the power as He gives these miracles to the nation of Israel to show them that He is the Messiah of Israel and the God/man.
(Arnold Fruchtenbaum, The Life of the Messiah transcribed by John B. Metzger in partial fulfillment for his course work for Tyndale Theological Seminary, 2008, p.106 – personal copy, not published)

His Perishing



Matthew 14:3-12; Mark 6:17-29
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist michelangelo caravaggio 021.jpg

Artist


Caravaggio
Year

1608
Source Wikipedia

John the Baptist can be called the first martyr for the Lord Messiah Jesus. Even though John was killed by beheading because of his preaching against the sin of Herod Antipas (a son of Herod the Great) and his wife Herodias, it was his powerful preaching as the forerunner of the Messiah that brought him to the attention of Herod.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty:
Herod had first married a daughter of the Arabian king, Aretas IV. Then he became enamored with his half-niece Herodias (daughter of his half-brother, Aristobulus) who was married to Herod's half-brother (brother means half-brother) Philip (her half-uncle; cf. Josephus The Antiquities of the Jews 18. 5. 1-2). They had a daughter, Salome. Herod divorced his wife in order to marry Herodias who had divorced Philip (not the Philip of Luke 3:1). John had repeatedly denounced this marriage as unlawful (cf. Lev. 18:16; 20:21). (Word Search 10 digital edition)

Herodias wanted to see John dead and used her own daughter (from her previous marriage to Herod Phillip, her uncle) to perform sensual dances before him and the other party goers after they were, no doubt, very drunk (Matthew 14:6).


Arnold Fruchtenbaum:
Herod Antipas kept John in prison, and seems to have had respect for John and was unwilling to have him put to death. Herodias has to trick Herod Antipas into killing John the Baptist, and Salome was her tool for doing so. (The Life of the Messiah, Teacher’s Electronic Edition, p. 199)


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