'Appreciating God's Love'
A) Last Prophet-John the Baptist
Mat 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John."
Since John the Baptist was the last prophet of the Jews in the Old Covenant, then every devout Jew must believe and support his ministry. They must accept his prophecies by obeying his words and instructions.
Ministry of John the Baptist
Luke 1:76-77,79 "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
John the Baptist was sent by God in the presence of the Messiah (before the face of the Lord) to prepare the way for the Israelites to believe the Messiah. He was to convict the Israelites to repent of their sinful and wicked ways and to obey the Mosiac law.
God ensured them that if they became devout Jews by believing Moses and keeping the law, they would be able to understand the grace of God and their salvation by the remission of their sins at the cross.
In Act 2, three thousand devout Jews were convicted and believed the gospel of grace and accepted Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the remission of their sin, as their Messiah.
John 5:46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me."
B) Jesus Baptized by John
Mark 1:4-5 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
John the Baptist was sent to preach to the Jews the message of repentance for the remission of their sins and also to baptize them.
Though our Lord Jesus was sinless, yet He humbled Himself to meet up with him and requested to be baptized by him, as a sign of His submission to John the Baptist as the last prophet of God.
John the Baptist, when he recognized Him was reluctant to baptize the Messiah, the Son of God, who was sinless and did not need to repent nor be baptized.
However, our Lord Jesus managed to convince him to baptize Him for righteousness sake.
Mat 3:13-15 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
C) Jesus Preached Repentance
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Not only did Jesus submit to the baptism of repentance of John the Baptist, He even preached John's kingdom message. He knew that unless the Jews repent and keep the Mosiac law, they would not believe Him as their Messiah and be cast into damnation.
Luke 16:31 But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "
Jesus sent out His Disciples
Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
After John the Baptist was put in prison, Jesus continued to preach John's kingdom message to the Jews for He did not want to see any Jew lost. He even sent His disciples to preach the kingdom message to ensure that they would become devout Jews so that after Jesus' resurrection, they would believe and be saved at the preaching of the gospel of grace.
Mat 10:5-7 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "
