Q1. Hassling John the Baptist

[dmmelo9]

Hello,

 

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem?

    John was being hassled by the religious leaders because John was different. The question wasn't just rules, was spiritual!

   John's message was hard. The Jews did not understand the point. The point was change the behavior and open their eyes to the Messiah.

 

Q2. What were they afraid of?

   Because their teachings would be confronted. 

 

Q3. How did John understand his own mission?

  I guess John understood his mission as the only goal in your life.

 

Q4. How much conflict do you think could be expected from John's mission?

   So Many...

[AnonymousK]

Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by religious leaders from Jerusalem?  What were they afraid of? 

I think John the Baptist was being hassled by religious leaders from Jerusalem because his preaching of the coming Christ was drawing away their followers reducing their credibility as respected religious leaders thereby losing prestige and power over the people.

How did John understand his own mission? 

He saw himself as a voice in the wilderness preparing the way for the Lamb of God; someone for whom he (John) was not worthy to even be his servant.

How much conflict do you think could be expected from John’s mission?

Quite a bit of conflict could be expected from John’s mission as he continued to preach and baptize without backing down to the Sadducees and Pharisees.

[parkerslope]

Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by religious leaders from Jerusalem?

They thought that he was trying to turn people away from the traditions that they taught.  He was teaching the people to repent.

 

What were they afraid of?

They were afraid that they would loose people and money.

 

How did John understand his own mission?

I believe that John did not fully understand his work as the forerunner of Jesus.  He knew that he had to get the people to repent of the traditions that the Pharisee's taught.  Also to turn the thoughts of the people back to God alone, thinking of the coming Messiah.

 

How much conflict do you think could be expected from John's mission?

Much!  John was saying things that went against what the Jewish leaders taught.  The Pharisees and Sadducees wanted the people to follow them and not John the Baptist. 

[Old Jerry]

John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem because he was calling them out. He was pointing out how they were not following God but they were following their own ways. Therefore that made them afraid of losing the power that they thought that they had.

John understood that his mission was to introduce Jesus to the known world. There was a lot of conflict because the leaders wanted to continue to be the one that the people adored.

[Commissioned]

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem? What were they afraid of? How did John understand his own mission? How much conflict do you think could be expected from John’s mission?

John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem because he was not one of them and his preaching was making a huge impact, many were following him.  They were afraid that the people would be influenced by John's teaching and follow him instead.  John understood that his mission as the forerunner of the Messiah was to prepare the people to receive Him.  Becaus of the mission there woud be much conflict as Satan would not want this mission and the coming ministry of Jesus to take place.

[maddog]

The religious leaders were aware of the coming Messiah and that one was to herald His coming.  They were confused regarding the message because of their acknowledgement of Moses' Law.  They were protecting their religious grounds from the throngs of people running to hear and be baptized by John.  John understood he was the forerunner of the coming Messiah: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him." (Deuteronomy 18:15)

John was not Elijah himself, but prophecy given by his father Zechariah indicated that he did come "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17).  Much conflict/disarray would be caused through apostasy from Jewish faith. 

 

[grace2free]

Q1. (John 1:19-23)

John 1:19  And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
John 1:20  And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
John 1:21  And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
John 1:22  Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
John 1:23  He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

 

Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem?

 

There are many reasons like John is gaining popularity in the Jewish nation. The priest and Levites are intrigued in what John is doing like prophesying, preaching, counselling, and baptizing in water. Now they are reacting, they are offended because John told them they are generation of vipers.

 

What were they afraid of?

 

The time was the nation of Israel is under the colony of Roman empire and the king is Herod. There are uprising going on and there were rebels against the Romans and against king Herod. They are afraid he may cause un uprising and or if he is making money for preaching and prophesying he is evading tax.

 

How did John understand his own mission?

 

John being led by the Spirit of God did his mission and become to understand that there are a lot of sinners that needs a remissions of their sins.

 

How much conflict do you think could be expected from John’s mission?

 

There are a lot of conflicts because the corrupt priest and the Levites and also the king were offended. People may no longer go to the priest for sin offering and instead they can just go to John which is a cheaper way to remission their sins.

[royk]

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem? What were they afraid of?

 

How did John understand his own mission? How much conflict do you think could be expected from John's mission?

 

John never sought to have the permission of the Jewish leaders as he was preaching and baptizing. This had to disturb the incumbent leaders who would lose there power unless their exact system of religion and worship remained intact. Like me they were rigid in their ways [Lord have mercy] 

 

He had to be removed, just like they had to plot to kill Jesus. It was Jesus' destiny that He manipulated others so that He could fulfill the law in spirit and truth. John and even more Jesus were there to promote true spiritual worship to our Creator.Many Jewish laws were invented by people and took over their ways till they were no more in contact with God. Jesus more so than John was that revolution, that revival of true worship to our creator.

[Stanley Tavaziva]

The leaders came to see ourJohn the lightBBaptist for several reasons: 1 to investigate if there was any new preaching 2 They wanted to find out if thereJohn had credentrials of a prophet 3 They were probably jealous and wanted to see why this man was popular. Jjohn baptized people with water as a symbolic act of repentance.But soon one was to come who truly forgives sins, something only Son of God the Messiah could do.

[Stanley Tavaziva]

These Jewish leaders hassled John the Baptist for several reasons. 1 To investigate any new preaching as they were the guardians of faith. 2 They wanted to find out if john had the credentials of a prophet. 3 John had a quite a following, and it was growing. They were probably jealous and wanted to see why this man was popular. They kept on pressing John to say who he was because people were expecting the credentials Messiah to come. The Pharisees missed the point. They wanted to know who John was, but to John he wanted them to know who Jesus was.

[debramcguire]

I believe the religious were not comfortable with John because his ministry was one of a personal relationship with God not a religious empty life. John was presenting something real and the people were curious about this prophet of God. The religious leaders were jealous of what John had and didn't want to give up their control of the Jewish people.

John understood his mission and gave his all for what he was called to do before his birth. I am sure his father and mother had told him about God's plan from his conception to his ministry.

Wherever the truth is spoken, oppostion will follow, especially from the religious that do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. John was relentless in his ministry and even though the truth he spoke would eventfully cause him to lose his head he never lost his vision and was obedient until his homecoming.

[linda bass]

I believe John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem because they didn't like their sins being exposed in public. Most of them believed they were upright and righteous.

What the religious leaders were afraid of was, they would lose the people to John's ministry as well as the money people would bring to the temple.

John understood his mission was to announce the coming of the Messiah.

A lot of conflict could be expected from John's mission because there would be much opposition from the Pharasees and other religious leaders.

[JoanG]

John the Baptist challenged the religious leaders at that time. These men were scholars who study the Old Testament. They were well aware of the writtings that talked about the Messiah. They feared this coming. They feared that their positions would become unneccessary when the Messiah appeared. They did not want to lose the power that they enjoyed on a daily basis.

 

John was to prepare the way for the Lord. He was to try and help the people to repent and prepare their hearts and souls. He would baptize people in the water of the Jordan as a way of cleansing their sins.

 

In his time, I am positive that John was considered a radical person. His concepts and ideas went against the current teachings in the synagogs and temples. I feel that the people have had to struggle with what was comfortable verses what was being stirred in their souls. This would have caused inner personal conflict. And it would have caused conflict within the teachings because it would have caused the people to question the religious leaders like they never did before.

[John6:68-69]

John was baptizing near Jerusalem & he had a large following, he was influential.

John's purpose, his mission from God was to prepare the way for Jesus. 

[Joe_Applegarth]

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem? What were they afraid of? How did John understand his own mission? How much conflict do you think could be expected from John's mission?

1) John was proclaiming the coming of the Messiah to a people who desperately needed a Savior and unashamedly shared the good news of the coming of Jesus Christ.  He was a man of great faith and his message of the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom of Heaven threatened to unravel the power of the rich priests in Jerusalem.  2) John’s ministry was growing in popularity and the believers were confessing their sins and being baptized.  People in those days didn’t speak to (or about) leaders like he did, John was speaking openly and brazenly to, and about, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, calling them a “brood of vipers” and warning them not to rely on their Jewish lineage for salvation.  3)  He knew that he was not the Messiah and that he was not Isaiah but rather he was a “lone voice in the wilderness” proclaiming the coming of the Messiah.  4) Because of the message that he was delivering, his antagonism toward the Pharisees and Sadducees my best guess is that he expected a lot of conflict.  His antagonism of Antipas’ marriage to his brother’s wife set other wheels in motion that heightened this conflict.

[van]

I believe the religious leaders were selfish and greedy and didn't want anyone to coming to stop there money. They didn't want anyone coming in and arouse the Jewish people. They wanted to keep total control. They were also afraid that John was Elijah or the Messiah.

[ngunanpk]

The religious leaders were afraid yes, but am of the opinion it wasn't out of a sincere heart for the people, but to protect their own rights and privileges that came with their position, it could be that they were expecting that God will confer with them to let them know His plan exclusively, or they had cast off restraints and merely going through the motions of life and not expecting the MESSIAH. Secondly, John must have been moved by the spirit to answer them thus, else, they could have stopped him. He had a good grasp of who and what he was called to do and rightly so. If he didn't he could have been distracted by being compared to Elijah, he probably did not even know he was. He just stuck with his purpose as explained without questions by the Holy spirit.

[Lionwolf]

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem? What were they afraid of? How did John understand his own mission? How much conflict do you think could be expected from John's mission?

John the Baptist appears to have been well known had quite a large following. From what we know of this time people with large followings made the powers that be nervous. The religious leaders were political creatures and they were afraid the political balance between themselves and King Herod and the Romans might be upset. John the Baptist knew quite well what his mission was. He claimed the kingdom was at hand and to repent and be baptized for forgiveness of sins. This mission combined with the size of his following was certain to make many people uncomfortable. This would certainly spawn conflict from the highest levels. The message he was preaching was not designed to make people happy, but was a message with the purpose of making people realize they needed to reevaluate their relationship with God and in so doing prepare themselves for the Messiah. Jesus would face even fiercer conflict.

[Paul Hodge]

To give my answer to this question I am going to suggest that the religious leaders who came to investigate John the Baptist were under the orders of their superiors. That being so, they had set questions to ask John, and depending on his responses, they could make their minds up regarding whom exactly was this man baptizing Jews in the Jordon River. They were not going to leave anything to chance and arrived in numbers so as to have other witnesses to John’s testimony.

If I was going about living a peaceful life and then was confronted by a group of government officials who appeared argumentative and intimidating I would surely suspect that I was on trial or under suspension for breaking the law or encouraging others to be lawbreakers. I would be very careful of how I answered their questions.

John the Baptist did not appear to be overly afraid of the religious leaders and his demeanour indicated to them that he had nothing to hide; he gave straight answers to all their questions.

The religious leaders had to be sure that John the Baptist was not asking his followers to dissent from following the ‘Law’ as set down by the Sadducees and Pharisees. They were worried and confounded as to the growing popularity of this underclass upshot that he might become a rabble-rouser and this would not be tolerated by the hierarchy power base in Jerusalem.

So according to the gospel of John, the religious leaders could not accuse John the Baptist of breaking any laws and left the meeting still holding reservations over the true identity of this man and his mission to “prepare the way of the Lord”.

However, I am suggesting that all-the-while the religious leaders had John as a marked man and would contrive a way to have him removed to ease their own phobia over his manner of preaching and self acclaimed authority to baptize people to cleanse them as a preparation for the coming of someone even more mightier and foreboding than past prophets.

 

[Celtic Wanderer]

John was raising the concerns of the nation’s leaders, he was becoming widely known and threatened their authority. Was he a danger to the nation’s security?  Who was he?  Was he an important Biblical prophet? Was he the Messiah?     

John told them that he was not 1. the Messiah, 2. Elijah, or 3 The Prophet (Moses).  John said that he was the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said (Is 40.3-5) He was a forerunner preparing the way for the coming king. Bringing people to repentance in readiness for His appearance.

The leaders, both political and religious, rebelled at John’s call for repentance.  A deep rot had set in amongst these leaders. By and large they were proud, wicked, fleshly people.  They were not aware that the time of their visitation had arrived, and they really should have been ready. Because John was a straight shooter and told them that they needed to repent these proud leaders reacted against him.

[Old Jerry]

I think that John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem because he had a large following. They wanted to know what he had that they didn’t have. I think they were afraid that he was going to drive people away from them and they wouldn’t be able to have the power they wanted. John understood his mission as the one who was the calling in the wilderness and preparing the way for Jesus. Since the Jews didn’t believe that the messiah was coming then there would have been a lot of conflict from John’s mission.

[Godswriter]

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem? What were they afraid of? How did John understand his own mission? How much conflict do you think could be expected from John's mission? The religious leaders believed him to be the promised Messiah who was to come at that time.  Others would try and lay claim to the fact that they were the Christ or the Messiah. But John was a faithful witness. He spoke that he was not the Christ (the Messiah). 
They were afraid of a revolt of the people. A lot of conflict could be expected if there was a revolt of the people. 

[Rosesam]

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem? What were they afraid of? How did John understand his own mission? How much conflict do you think could be expected from John’s mission?

The religious leaders were supposed to protect the people from false messiahs so they wanted to figure out who John was. But we see in the process of their investigation they protected the nation from the real Messiah Himself!! Since John was of the priestly line, he was to be performing rituals in the temple like other priests. Instead he had left Jerusalem, was out in the desert preaching, unlike the priests and the Levites who never preached. John had a huge following in spite of being in the outskirts and the religious leaders would have been unsettled by his fan followings. Moreover he was baptizing Jews, which was also unusual. Proselytes, that is those who converted into Judaism, were baptized not Jews.

They might have been afraid that their position and prestige in their social circles would be affected because of the popularity of John the Baptist. Since the Messianic expectation of the Jews were at its peak during this time, they would have wondered whether it would damage their social standing as the people were being pulled towards John the Baptist.

Therefore they asked him whether he was the Christ, Elijah or the Prophet and John answers negatively to all these before proceeding to tell them who he is. He says that he is the messenger to prepare the way straight for the message or the Word that is going to be soon revealed. His mission was to turn the people’s heart to the Lord in repentance before the Messiah comes.

John, for the purpose of giving an unadulterated message from the Lord, separated himself from the religious hub of Jerusalem and moved into the wilderness. He took a Nazarite vow – uncut hair, not touching defiled things, not consuming anything from grapes. He lived an uncontaminated life so that his message would come as living oracles from God, which did impart effectively unto the people. Therefore they came out to John in repentance and with humility they partook of the baptism of John unto repentance. Wherever there is true repentance, there is always oppression from the realm of darkness and this was felt as an intense conflict from the religious leaders of John’s day.  

[Paula Price]

John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders because they considered themselves keeper of the law and John the Baptist was not one of them.  They did not understand his role and what his purpose was and did not want him to divide the people between the law that they taught and what it was that John was proclaiming.  There was such a large following of John and much talk about him baptizing, that they were concerned that he was teaching something contrary to the law they taught .  John understood his mission by the Holy Spirit. He knew and was doing what he was born to do. He was not swayed by those who considered themselves the religious authorities.  He was only obeying the voice of God as he spoke to him.. he was being obedient to God and not to man. There was much conflict because John the Baptist was finally beheaded. He preached against sin and urged everyone to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sin. he was preparing the way for the Savior of the world who would show them a better way of life and the glory of God which would save them from their sins. The government and rulers did not understand that this was to be a spiritual movement, a individual choice people needed to make.  They only thought in the realm of the physical things.  they thought there would be a physical battle with kings and armies to take over the ruling government. 

[newwine50]

Q1. (John 1:19-23) Why do you think John the Baptist was being hassled by the religious leaders from Jerusalem?

He was drawing large crowds.  He was the son of Zechariah, a high priest, but didn't follow in the same line as the established priesthood.  He wasn't following their protocol.  He was invading their territory.  

What were they afraid of?

They were afraid of change from the way things had always been. 

How did John understand his own mission?

He saw himself as the Voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. 

How much conflict do you think could be expected from John's mission?

Much because it went against everything they had known and approved as being from God.