All About Jesus: Our Personal Ministry 3/10/19

 

Title: “Our Personal Ministry”

 

Today’s Topic: John 3:30: He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

Scholars suggest there may have been hundreds of thousands of people who came to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Passover. At this point in our story, however, the event is over, and everyone from out of town is heading home.

John 3:22-26 Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people. 23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. 24 (This was before John was thrown into prison.) 25 A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing. 26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”

The men who followed John the Baptist were very loyal to their leader. They had followed John for a while now, and they had seen some of their colleagues who also used to follow John, leave their group, and start following Jesus.

Disciples of John the Baptist were worried about earthly numbers, figures, and attendance. They were starting to see their influence diminish. They were starting to wonder what would happen if everyone stopped coming to see John the Baptist.

 

How should the church feel if another church opens its doors across the street? Why is it hard to feel this way?

 

John gives a very important lesson:

John 3:27-30 John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

John tells his disciples that you only have what God gives you. John said no one could receive anything unless God gives it from heaven! John then utters one of the most humble statements and the entire Bible. He says, "I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and I must become less."

John also teaches his disciples that anything that we do is limited to the things that humans can do and that Jesus is not limited because he's not limited to earth.

John 3:31-36 

31 “He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! 33 Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true. 34 For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands. 36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

John is telling his disciples that even if you could do your best, your best is earthly, worldly, and bound by human limitations. If you're trying to give somebody advice or correct of sinful behavior, there's only so much that you can do because you're human. God can do so much more. John says, “Jesus is sent by God the Father and that Jesus speaks of God's words because the father has given the Son the Spirit without limit.” Jesus talks to people about what Our Lord has seen and heard and that he came from heaven to save the world, but nobody is believing in Him.

 

There is a warning that people will believe the disciples of John because they're talking from a human standpoint, but what good is it if somebody believes us, but doesn't believe Jesus? That belief is worthless.

 

If a non-believer will trust us before they trust in Jesus, what actions can we take to bring them to Jesus and finally believe in Him? Do our actions have an influence on others?

 

Shouldn’t people in our lives who know that we are Christians expect more from us when we are in ministry? We need to be beginning our conversations with statements like, “let’s see what the Bible says,” or, “I know that God has an answer for this.” or, “we need to start working on this in prayer

.” These lessons show others that we are leaning on God to direct our lives, and they can as well.

John the Baptist was so adamant about biblical principles that HE WOULD NOT BUDGE. John the Baptist would "tell it like it is," and if somebody in his life was living outside of the principles of the Bible, John would call them out.

Luke 3:19-20  John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. 20 So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

Standing by his heavenly calling lead to John being sent to prison, and it will get us in earthly trouble also. The ministry of John the Baptist was to let people know that the Messiah was coming. Can you imagine what people would've thought about John the Baptist if John had wavered in his support of the gospel so that he didn't offend anyone? Would people have really followed a wishy-washy religious leader?

Flimsy leaders create flimsy followers, and John was not a flimsy leader. Herod, the Roman ruler of the district of Galilee has become fed up with John talking down at the sinful lifestyle that Herod enjoys on a regular basis.

Herod acted outside of the Law of Moses and he married his brother's wife. John knows this is not appropriate and Herod it is going to shut up this messenger of the Lord by throwing him in jail. Notice what John did and what John didn't do. John spoke about the wrongdoing of a government leader, but John didn't cause a revolt of the people, but rather John simply told the truth.

 

What does the example of John the Baptist tell us about the courage we need to defend the authority of Scripture? Why is this hard?

 

 

See what Jesus does once the news of the arrest to make it's way to our Lord.

Matthew 4:12 

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee.

 

John 4:4 

He had to go through Samaria on the way.

Threats to our ministry don't always require us to stand and fight, sometimes we need to go find new sheep. Jesus knew that the pressure was on. Only a few days ago he had caused a major disturbance at the temple in front of thousands of people. All the Pharisees saw him toss over the tables of the moneychangers, and they knew who he was. He spent a good amount of time talking to Nicodemus. Jesus understood the depth of the hatred from the Pharisees for Jesus by now. John has just been arrested, and it's easy to imagine that Jesus is going to be next.

Jesus isn’t running away. He will come back and minister in this area again. For now, however, His ministry is better with Him in the field that it is with him in jail.

In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus talks to His disciples about not staying too long in an area where people aren’t going to listen.

Matthew 10:13–15

13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

 

Jesus is going to go and minister in another location. He's going to go to Galilee. There are people there who need to know about the saving grace that the son of God brings. Jesus could've stayed and argued with the people and he could have, with His heavenly power, simply changed the minds and convinced people of who he was. But that's not who He is.

Sometimes, after we made our point, and after we have preached in an area, it's time to go find a new sheep. Sometimes our work in a specific area is done much sooner than we think. Sometimes God has plans for us somewhere else, to reach new people, to guide new souls to Christ who have not heard his words.

 

What is the lesson you learned from this study?