#14.2 John the Baptist Begins His Ministry

#14.2 John the Baptist Begins His Ministry

Please first read: Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3 JST: Matthew 3; Mark 3

When John the Baptist (JB) now begins his ministry, it is really the return of the Kingdom of God to the earth.   The restoration of the Gospel and the true Church of Jesus Christ has begun. John will baptize the first converts in the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time. John comes upon the scene as a thundering voice of power; as one with authority he challenges, demands and accuses. He zeros in on the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, and all the public that comes to see and hear him. He calls them vipers, snakes, and hypocrites. He warns them of God’s wrath to come and the “damnation of hell” for their wicked behavior; and demands them to repent before the coming of the Lord, the Messiah, who is already on the earth.

When they object and say they are of the chosen race, the children of Abraham, he tells them God is able “of these stones (gentiles) to raise up children unto Abraham.” John quotes Old Testament prophets and tells listeners, “Now…the axe is laid unto the root of the trees”; trees which are not bringing forth good fruit will be cut down and burned. This is the message he gives to the multitudes that come; this is the stage he prepares and on which the Savior will begin his ministry.

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie:

Joseph Smith translation Matthew 3:  JB was the one spoken of by the prophet Esaias as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord and make his paths straight.”   Also, that JB baptized “many” in the river Jordan.

    

The coming of JB signaled the last of the old law (of Moses) and the beginning of the new (the Gospel). He would be the last of the old dispensation, and the first one of the new. It appears that from the very beginning, ‘All Jerusalem and Judea went out unto John's baptism.’

    

His authority and call came directly from God. His mission was to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord, which was imminent. He would use the gospel of repentance of sins, and of baptism. This calling of people to baptism was not something new to the Jews. The ordinance of baptism went back several thousand years in Jewish history.

   

JB came as many of the previous prophets, in the plain rough dress of the poor working classes, a simple life style, and simple food. It was not just the poor and lowly people who came to see and hear him, but also many Pharisees and Sadducees (two of the most influential sects among the Jews) came to challenge and contend with him.

Daniel H. Ludlow:

JB's ministry ended the preparatory Gospel. The advent of the Savior would be the beginning of the Gospel in its fullness.  At this time we see the diminishing of John and the ascendency of Jesus. JB, as he began his ministry, was the only legal administrator in the eastern hemisphere that held the priesthood keys of the gospel of repentance. The Prophet Joseph Smith said that John had the Kingdom of God with him.

Apostle Boyd K. Packer:

The appearance of John was somewhat typical of that of the ancient prophet Elijah as given in 2 Kings 1; that of a "hairy man and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins.” To the Jews this would fit the  traditional image.

Apostle James E. Talmage:

John’s lineage was of the priestly order, but he was untrained in the Rabbinical schools and had no authorization or license from the various recognized religious leaders. He did not frequent the synagogues or temple courts, but was a voice crying from the wilderness of Hebron. During the years spent there he had been prepared and taught by divine teachers. His rough garments and simple food, manner, and ways were thought to be characteristic of prophets.

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie:                                   

As part of his calling John was ordained by an angel of God when he was 8 days old and given the power to overthrow the kingdom of Jews, to make straight the pathway of the Lord, and to prepare a people for the Lord when he would come. Acting in the power and authority of the Aaronic Priesthood: “For he was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power.” (D&C 84:28)

John's ministry was the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth in the Meridian of Time. As to this new kingdom, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught John was “the only legal administrator in the affairs of the kingdom there was then on the earth, and holding the keys of power.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.276)

We see the authority and preparation given by God to John reflected in his powerful teachings, testimony, and chastising of the wickedness of the people.

Frederic W. Farrar:

 In the Roman Empire and those nations under its rule we see an age of uncertainty, doubt, general corruption, corruption in the high priesthood and sacred institutions, atheism, paganism, incest, adultery, perversion, universal crime and immorality. “Remorse itself seemed to be exhausted, so that men were ‘past feeling.’”           

William L. Colman:

The Pharisees were the largest and most powerful religious group in Judea at this time. They were also very rigid, inflexible and unyielding in their religious beliefs, and strict in their rules and requirements.

    

John was highly motivated in his calling from the Lord to cry and demand repentance. As his ministry and message drew large crowds it was inevitable that the two ideologies would clash.   Calling these religious leaders “snakes” and other negative names could only result in hostilities.

Holzapfel and Wayment:

We don't know how long JB had been into his ministry before Jesus began his ... maybe six months or longer. We do know that by the time Jesus came to be baptized by John, great crowds had been listening to John, repented, and been baptized. All this activity had also created many enemies for John.

Glenn R. McGettigan

February 2012; Revised May 2014

References:

“The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.” Edersheim

“LDS Bible Dictionary.”

“The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles.” Church Educational System

“Our Lord of the Gospels.” Clark Jr.

“Behold the Lamb of God.” Clark Jr.

“The Life and Words of Christ.” Geikie

“Mormon Doctrine.”  McConkie