John the Baptist and Jesus Christ

God became a Man. The Creator of the vast universe, galaxies, and planets; the One who knows the stars by name (Psalm 147:4), who knows every sparrow that falls (Matthew 10:29), knows every hair on our heads over course of lifetime (Luke 12:7), and catches every tear every person has cried in a bottle (Pslam 56:8), and then He became flesh, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14). What is even more stunning is that the Savior, the Creator Jesus Christ (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Genesis 1:26-27) came humbly unto us. In stark contrast, John the Baptist's birth being fortold to his father Zacharaih was in the pinnacle of religious pride, the most honorable and highest place in Judaism, the Temple, "In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." (Luke 1:5-17). Zacharaiah is met with astounding news in the most likely place to hear it back then, the Holy of Holies, in the Temple built by Zerubabbel and renovated by King Herod the Great. This is where anyone would have expected the Messiah, the Christ's birth to be foretold. But that is not what happened, instead, Jesus' Birth, is foretold in the antithesis, the total opposite of Temple, Nazareth, "Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,  to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:26-28). The proclamation of God coming in flesh, being born and dwelling among us happens in Nazerath! Not at the glorious white stoned Temple that towered over Jerusalem, but in Nazareth which the disciples later remark as worst place, "Nazareth!" exclaimed Nathanael. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" "Come and see for yourself," Philip replied." (John 1:46). 

How incredible! A great prophet and forerunner of the Christ, John the Baptist, has his birth foretold at the place of greatest honor according to man, the Temple. While in contrast God Himself, the Christ, Jesus, is foretold at the place of least honor, the village of Nazareth! What does this mean? Firstly, it is symbolic. John the Baptist is last of Cohen priest line and Aaronic priest line through his mother (Luke 1:5), and so he represents the Law, Moses, whose purpose prior to Christ's ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection was to tell the people of Israel their sins, to tell them they are in need of repentance and salvation, but that the salvation comes through the Christ, Jesus whom John says, "On the next day, he sees Jesus coming to him and says, "Behold the Lamb of God, the One taking away the sin of the world. He is the one I was talking about when I said, 'A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.  myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel. Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I  didn't know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, 'The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' have seen and testified that this is the Son of God," (John 1:29-34),: "All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God." (1 John 4:15). In contrast, Jesus Christ who is God and One with Father and Holy Spirit, Blessed Trinity (Colossians 2:9, John 1:1-17, John 10:30, John 20:20-22) is the door of salvation and is the Savior, is Grace (John 1:17), not the Law, and Had come to fulfill the requirements of Law on our beheld and bear penalties our sins deserved on the cross (Matthew 5:17, Romans 3:21-31, 1 Peter 2:24). John the Baptist says, "repent," Jesus Christ says "redeemed." John says, "repent and turn to God," Jesus says, "you are redeemed in Me, I am God." John the Baptist came from both Cohen and Aaronic Priest lines through both Zachariah and Elizabeth, while Jesus Christ came from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David through both Joseph and Mary's line; though Jesus Christ actually created Joseph and Mary and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David; because Jesus is the LORD God of Israel; but it was necessary as Christ and Messiah, Bridegroom and God With Us in the body/flesh, that Jesus linage be from Abraham and King David. In addition Jesus Christ is of the MELCHIZEDEK priest line which is an eternal priesthood in heaven and that salvation must come from the Tribe of Judah not Levi  (Hebrews 7, Hebrews 6:19-20, Hebrews 7:9-10, Hebrews 7:1-17)

Secondly, John the Baptist was the end of Law and Priesthoods of the Old Covenant. It was necessary his birth be foretold at the Temple, because the old way of having a temple of cedar or stone, was to be replaced by Jesus Christ, God in a body, making flesh His temple, and then we Christians becoming Christ's Temples for He lives in us (1 John 4:15, Colossians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Hebrews 3:6, and Ephesians 2:22). John represents the end of the old order of things; he acknowledges this and says he is but the forerunner of the Christ, while Jesus is of the new order of things; the old order had a temple buildings and sacrifices and laws, the new order has intimate relationship temples (humans) being the temples of God, Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice for all sins (Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 3:18, Romans 6:10, John 19:1 thru John 20:30), and laws being replaced with Grace and Truth (John 1:17, Hebrews 8:13), and a church family (1 Timothy 3:15). Thus why Mary was told Jesus' coming in a simple community setting of the home town of Nazareth instead of the old way of the Temple building. John the Baptist represents he guardian and old testament, while Jesus is God, is the savior and new covenant (testament), "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17), "The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins," (Romans 8:3), "So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith," (Galatians 3:24), "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith," (Philippians 3:8-9), "Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace," (Galatians 5:2, 4), "Christ is the end of the Law, in order to bring righteousness to everyone who believes," (Romans 10:4), "For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day," (John 6:40), "All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God," (1 John 4:15), "Now, however, Jesus has received a far superior ministry, just as the covenant He mediates is superior and is founded on better promises," (Hebrews 8:6), "When God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear," (Hebrews 8:13), "After supper he took another cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant between God and his people--an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you," (Luke 22:20), "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split," (Matthew 27:50-51), "Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant," (Hebrews 9:15). John Baptist testified that Jesus is the Christ, Son of God, and Lamb of God; so do not mistake me for saying He was totally of old order of things; but He represents the last of Levi priest hood which is replaced by LORD God himself according to Priesthood of Melchizedek, the Tribe of Judah, and the Davidic Line. 



Jesus Christ's Coming is by far meek and humble, for He being God lowered Himself,
"You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

⁶ Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
⁸     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11)

and

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28:30) 

For Salvation comes through the LORD God Jesus Christ, who is humble, and yet is worthy of praise, and King of Kings (Revelation 19:11-16). Our God Jesus Christ is love (1 John 4:8), and He has showed favor to the least, the meek, weak, lowly, and unimportant on earth. For he told us, "They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’^[“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant.  But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Matthew 23:7-11). Jesus who is God has lived this, He became humble and servant to save us for eternity and deliver us from death and the Second Death. John the Baptist was a forerunner, and he prepared the way for the only Way to heaven and salvation, and eternal life, Jesus Christ (John 14:6, John 6:40, 1 John 4:15, and Acts 4:10-12). Amen.