The Baptism of John, Was it from Heaven or of Men?
Like the Pharisees in Jesus’ time, many Christians, when posed the same question find themselves unable to respond with certainty. But there is one sure way to tell.
Jesus was teaching in the temple when the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him and asked, “By what authority do you do these things? (Teaching, forgiving sins, healing the sick, and many other things Jesus was doing). “And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus answered them with another question, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I in likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John (“the Baptist”), from where was it? from heaven, or of men?
Reasoning among themselves, “If we shall say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say to us, ‘Why did you not then believe him?’ But if we shall say, ‘Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.” Therefore, they answered Jesus and said, “We cannot tell.”
And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Was the baptism of John from heaven or of men?
In order to answer that, two questions must be satisfied.
First — Was the person, that is John, who is executing the act sent from heaven or by men?
If John was sent from heaven, that is by God, there must be a word from God in the scriptures foretelling him and his authority to do what he was doing.
If none, then we can assume that he was either sent by men of some man-organized religion or he came out of his own accord of personal intent.
God spoke strongly by the prophet Jeremiah against such men who falsely claim to be sent by God. Jeremiah 23:21 says,
“I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.”
Second — Was the act to baptize people, commanded by God?
The same principle applies here. If it was commanded by God, there must be a word from the scriptures ordaining such an act to be done. Otherwise, John was doing it presumptuously out on his own and not as instructed by God which would disqualify him from the work.
Jeremiah 23:30–32 says further,
“Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He (God) says.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit these people at all,” says the Lord.
Let’s unscroll the scriptures and find out if the two requirements above can be satisfied by the coming of John.
First: The Person — Who was John?
John the Baptist, (as Christianity calls him) was not a Jew or Jewish. Both his parents were from the priestly tribe of Levi, through the line of Aaron and therefore he was a Levite, not a Jew. Jews were from the tribe of Judah.
John the Baptist was a priest from heaven, (meaning, of God) and not of the Judaism religion (that is, of men). That’s why his ministry was not based in the temple nor in Jerusalem. He was preaching not in the synagogue but in the wilderness, by the Jordan River. Jesus made this distinction between what is of God and what is of men when He rebuked the priests and elders of Judaism religion (Mark 7:5–9):
Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written (Isaiah 29:13):
‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men — the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
And that is religion, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men and by upholding their traditions they lay aside and reject the commandment of God.
Prophecies about God sending John
More than eight centuries before the coming of John, the prophet Isaiah prophesied of his advent (Isaiah 40:3–5):
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Moreover, during the time of the prophet Malachi, four hundred years later, God had already forsaken the Judaic temple and its priesthood because the priests themselves were profaning His name, despising His offering, robbing Him of the tithes due to Him, and introducing practices abominable to Him.
Thus, through the prophet, God spoke of the coming of another priest bringing a new priesthood who will come in the spirit of Elijah, in order to replace the defiled priesthood of the day. That was to prepare them for the coming of the Lord. Malachi proclaimed:
“Behold, I send My messenger,And he will prepare the way before Me. (Malachi 3:1)Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophetBefore the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Malachi 4:5)
Then God ceased speaking to them for 400 years until its fulfillment: the coming of John (the Baptist).
The fulfillment of the prophecy concerning John — To prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah
Fast forward 400 years, Luke recorded in his gospel an encounter John’s father Zacharias had with the angel of God in the temple where he was serving (Luke 1:11–17).
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is 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 in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also 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.
He (John) will also go before Him (Jesus) 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 a people prepared for the LORD.”
John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah
And Jesus confirmed that John was indeed the one who came as Elijah, as the gospel of Matthew (11:7–15) testifies:
As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written:
‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.’
“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Yes, he who has ears to hear, let him hear!
With those witnesses, we can tell for sure that John was sent from God.
What about the work that he was doing, was it from God?
Second: The Action — The Baptism of John, from where was it? From heaven or of men?
Was the work of baptizing people commanded by God? Let’s see.
John, the Disciple’s account regarding John the Baptist
Another John, who was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus described John (the Baptist) in his gospel (John 1:19–26):
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the LORD,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24–25 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26–27 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
There, John claimed to have come to fulfill God’s command to baptize people with water.
Gospel of Matthew’s account
Matthew in his gospel gave us his record about John (Matthew 3:3–6):
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’ ”
Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him, and were BAPTIZED by him in the Jordan, CONFESSING THEIR SINS.
In order to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, John was sent to preach that men must REPENT, then they were BAPTIZED, CONFESSING their sins.
Gospel of Luke’s account
Luke recorded in his gospel a more detailed account as he further testifies concerning John (Luke 3:1–18):
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying (Isaiah 40:3–6):
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled; And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
In the preceding account, John set the pre-requisite for baptism, and that is to repent. They would then bear fruits, good fruit worthy of repentance. Luke 3:10–14 continues,
So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
Then, he announced the coming of the Lord, the One mightier than him who will baptize with the Holy Spirit from God (Luke 3:15–18).
Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.
John claimed that he was sent to baptize with water in preparation for the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Now, the question: Are baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Spirit as proclaimed by John ordained by God?
Applying the biblical principle we laid out at the beginning and that is, if it was ordained or commanded by God, there must be a word from the scriptures ordaining such an act to be done, to prove that the baptism of John is from heaven (from God).
Searching the scriptures, we find God speaking to the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 36:22–28):
Ezekiel’s Prophecy
22–24 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
25 Then I will pour (“sprinkle” in some bible versions) clean water upon you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26–27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
There, spoken clearly in Ezekiel 36:25–27 are God’s words for John’s work (baptism with water) to make people ready for Jesus Christ’s work (baptism with the Holy Spirit) in order to reconcile men back to God, and eventually save them from the wrath of God’s judgment.
Being Born of Water and of the Spirit
So, in fulfilling the same God’s command Jesus also laid the same pre-requisite for entering into the kingdom of God as we read in John 3:1–8,
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, UNLESS ONE IS BORN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.’
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Knowing this, we can boldly tell that the baptism of John is from Heaven or of God and not of men, and if this is ordained by God, then it must be carried out.
Finally, Faith — Essential to Baptism
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.” (Mark 1:14–15)
In Mark 16:16, Jesus sets another pre-requisite when He sent forth His disciples for the great commission. Jesus tells us that baptism must be preceded by believing, that is by faith. “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.”
Faith is the primary essential to baptism for “without faith, it is impossible to please God.”
That is, Faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ
Jesus reiterated this in His discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:14–18),
14–15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
16–17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
God’s Commission to All Who Follow Him
The same commission that God gave to John, Jesus Christ also gave to his disciples. If you are a follower of Christ, then that same command is given to you.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all the nations, BAPTIZING THEM in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, TEACHING THEM to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)
Will you go and do as your God commanded you?