What did you learn from Sunday’s sermon, “The Voice That Must Be Silenced”?
Q1: How does John respond when the crowd tries to elevate him to Messiah?
Q2: John said he baptized with water and Jesus will baptize with what?
Q3: Why does John say He existed before me?
Q4: Does John address individuals personally?
Q5: What is the response of a sinner like Herod to that voice calling them personally to repent?
Q6: How did John the Baptist die?
Q7: What will you do when they say stop, shut up, just be quiet?
Sermon Summary & Answers
To recap, John fulfills the prophecy, and his responsibility is to prepare the path for Christ. This one voice was a voice that would pave the path. This singular voice in Luke 3:4 says the voice of one crying in the wilderness to make ready the way of the Lord. It was that voice the crowds came out to hear. And now for today’s sermon, “The Voice That Must Be Silenced” in Luke 3:15, we see the last days of the ministry of John the Baptist. His popularity had grown and with popularity crowds want to elevate you to a higher level or idol status. The person is just fulfilling their purpose, and the crowds try to idolize them. People were wondering in their hearts about John, and if he was Christ. He was so popular, the crowd decided he was not just the forerunner of the Messiah but that he must actually be the Messiah. John makes it clear that one is coming mightier than he is. In Luke 3:16-17, John says He will baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire. It’s His winnowing fork, and He will clear the floor, gather the wheat, and burn up the chaff. John’s answer to the people who elevated him to messiah? He rejects the idea and then minimized his own ministry.
John said he is just a man with some water to dunk you, just a messenger, but the Messiah is coming! The one who is to come was a clear way for Jews to recognize the coming Messiah. John says one is coming with real power! John says in John 1:26-27, I’m not even fit to untie his sandals. This is a colloquialism among rabbis to sort themselves in a pecking order, and in formal settings, they would look to the one before them and say they were not fit to untie their shoes. This references servants who would untie and wash guests’ feet. So, basically stated, I’m not fit to even serve Him, but He is coming, and I’m not him. John’s message was a call to repent, a necessary plea. But, the call carries no power. It’s just a voice that points to the power and the need for change, but the call can’t change you. John says that my ministry is powerless and is only a call pointing to the one that is coming. John says I issue warnings, He comes bringing fire. That was his constant message. He was calling for true change! Jesus is coming with real fire to judge. This is the harvester, the grim reaper! John said, no I’m not the Christ.
Turn to the gospel of John, written by the apostle not the Baptist. John 1:19-23, the Jews sent priests to ask who are you, and John confessed I am not the Christ. They asked are you Elijah? John said no. They said who are you? John said I’m a voice of one crying in the wilderness to make way for the Lord, carrying forward the message of Isaiah the prophet. They asked in John 1:24-25, why are you baptizing? He said I baptize with water, and He who comes after me baptizes with fire. There is me and my warning, and there is Him and His judgement. That’s who I am. I am not that one, I am just John. John, writing the gospel, introduced John the Baptist in John 1:6-9 saying John came as a witness to testify about the light, he was not the light, but there was the true light coming in to the world. John testified about him and said that He existed before me! I’m just a man, He is not just a man! He didn’t come from the earth, He came from heaven. John says, I’m just a voice.
Go back to Luke 3:18, John preached the gospel to the people. He didn’t only say repent, kingdom at hand. He had a lot to say when arguing for their need to repent and for a savior. Luke is precise too. They ask John personally what should we do, and he tells them each specifically stop being selfish. To tax collectors, to be honest. John tells you to your face what you should do and stop doing. Individuals were confronted in John’s ministry.
“He’d tell you he heard about you being a liar, stop lying. He’d tell you, your lazy, you need to get to work. He gave that response when they asked. The crowd became intrigued and asked what does that mean for me specifically. As a church, we are to call sinners to repentance and when necessary, get personal. When someone asks, get personal, tell them they that have to stop that, this, or those behaviors. John exposed their sin.”
Pastor Steve Wilson
The church exists where it exists to be the conscience of a nation. Every believer has right and wrong written on their hearts. We tell it to hush and then add all the other voices that say it’s not wrong and this turns off or sears it then it doesn’t prick us. The church becomes the voice that says you’re not hearing it from within and says that behavior is ungodly, you need to stop it and repent. We have to keep using this penetrating confrontation that targets the heart. That’s what John did. No one was exempt from that. Luke 3:19 even Herod is reprimanded. Herod, one of four leaders, Herod the Great’s son. This is also the Herod that will be there when Jesus is crucified. Herod becomes the fourth ruler of Palestine and had a reputation of cruelty and wickedness like his father. John reprimanded Herod because his wife is his brother, Phillip’s wife, who was the daughter of one of the other sons of Herod the Great. Our Herod went to Rome to visit his brother, fell in love with his wife, and seduced her. She divorced her husband, uncle Phillip, and marries uncle Herod, and is now back in Palestine. John intersects with them. Herod probably went out to hear John, and John confronted Herod and said that’s your brother’s wife. It’s adultery, home wrecking, and incest. You can’t keep living that way. You have to repent. It didn’t matter to John who you were even a man of power; your rules must submit to God’s law. Luke 3:19 also because of all the wicked things Herod did. Luke 3:20 says, Herod added this to all the wickedness; he locks up John the Baptist. And that ends John’s ministry and Luke’s account.
We have to venture to Mark to get rest of the story. Mark 6:14-20 says Herod heard about Jesus, and people said John had risen from the dead that’s why he has miraculous powers. Herod heard that John that he beheaded had risen. Wait, what happened? Well, Herod had John arrested because John told Herod it was not lawful for him to have his brother’s wife. John told him over and over again he can’t be married to his brother’s wife. Herod’s wife didn’t like what John was saying over and over again and had a grudge against John. She wanted to put him to death but couldn’t because Herod was afraid of John because he knew he was holy and righteous. Herod was really afraid of who John’s God is. Then on Herold’s birthday, Mark 6:21, he throws a huge banquet for all the lords and his wife and brother Phillip’s daughter comes in and dances for the crowd. Herod is so pleased by her dancing, he her tells her he will give her whatever she asks for up to half the kingdom. She leaves and finds her mom to see what she should ask for? Herod’s wife was a power-hungry woman. But, instead of taking the opportunity to get half the kingdom her hatred for John is stronger, and she tells her daughter to go ask for the head of John the Baptist. Mark 6:25-28, and immediately the executioner brings back John’s head on a platter, gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. Now we understand why John said they were all a bunch of snakes.
Sad, but it was never about John, the man, but about that voice that cried from the wilderness, repent. That voice had to be silenced. That’s the reaction of a sinner’s heart to that voice. It is not about men or women, but about the message, they can’t tolerate it because it tells the truth about who they are. Now, in this moment, the voice is silenced. That’s the end of the story of John the Baptist.
Characteristics of that Voice:
1. It is the voice that speaks on behalf of God, it is not John’s message;
2. It is the voice of humility. John didn’t seek the limelight and resisted any notion of elevating him to importance;
3. It is the voice of confrontation. The voice has to confront sin;
4. It is the voice of personal confrontation. The voice points to people’s sins individually and repeatedly because you need to know what God thinks about your sin.
5. It is the voice of hope. John exposed sin as he preached the gospel but also the hope that the savior can forgive you for your sins. And, one day, John will say there He is the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world.
Did you find this quiz and sermon summary helpful? Log on to gccbg.com/blog each week for the latest sermon study guide. Jessica will send the link out in the Midweek church emails. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Please email me at thepew@gccbg.com.
Answers:
- John rejects the idea and minimizes his ministry.
- Holy Spirit and fire.
- To illustrate that John is just a man and the Messiah is not just a man.
- Yes
- The voice must be silenced.
- He was beheaded.
- Only you can answer that.
