₦airaland Forum

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Etc…

(add yours please)

Good Morning

SalC: Did John the baptist at any moment doubted Jesus?
The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. John 1:29
The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples, when he saw Jesus walking by "There is the Lamb of God!" he said. John 1: 35-36
When John the Baptist heard in prison about the things that Christ was doing, he sent some of his disciples to him. "Tell us" they asked Jesus, "are you the one John said was going to come , or should we expect someone else? Matt 11:2-3
Isn't it interesting to note that the fore runner of the Messiah who also showed the Messiah to the world turned round to ask the Messiah if he is actually the one whom he haas been talking about or should they expect another? Even when he heard the father during Jesus' baptism .."This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased"
Now the question is...
1) Can we say John was doubting Jesus being the Messiah?
2) If yes why?
3) could it be that this passage was about something else and not doubt?
4) How can we relate the action of John to our own actions as Christians?

debbie: @damerry.....you have given a new insight into those questions.
This is one of the problems we have in our present age,when we expect or pray we have an expectation,but when its like what we are looking at isnt what we are seeing.....we tend to start doubting God or even grow faint-hearted.But that does not change who God is.

Remember when John was beheaded,his own disciples scattered and some thought that was the end of their salvation,but the few that held on to their faith went ahead to accept the true Messiah.
Like my sister SalC asked......really many times we see ourselves doubting what God has told us and even his words,just because things turned out different.I assure you my brethren...THOSE WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN THE LORD ARE LIKE MOUNT ZION WHICH CAN NOT BE SHAKEN.

damerry: No, John did not doubt.




Not yes.



Yes.

John knew very well that Jesus was the messiah and That he (john) was the the last of the prophets.

However, to John and his disciples, Jesus was performing below or not according to the high expectations they all had of this long awaited messiah.

John sent his disciples to ask that question as their motivation had begun to wane, whatever be the answer from Jesus, in as much as Jesus will not deny that he is the messiah, will be a consolation and hope for better days ahead.

For john, that was a consolation as he knew that death was nigh. And he wished that his disciples who had come to him as means to find the end which they are seeking ( Jesus) will by that encounter with Jesus develop faith in Him and be incorporated as Jesus disciples.




Many a time our expectations of what we want/expect from God seems not coming or below expectations, Just like John, we need consolation to know that God is still with us anyway(a sign of better days to come). And like John disciples, we need a firm stand in God to be still and know that he is
God. Exodus 14:14

Good Morning. Wishing all a fulfilled day.

frankben: lol.... Any problem with that?

francistony taught me anyway?

frankben: *drives in with a bottle of schnapp*

hello salC

KiddaBlingzz: SalC
syncan
italo
obayaya
mizmycoli
mzmariah

Syncan: This Sister sef, so Jesus treatment of the tax collectors was that of abandonment abi? In that speech of his, you should see the meaning of the word "where sin abounds, grace abounds more" Rom5:20. Consider what he told Peter later in Vs 21. How many times will you forgive?

Kamsified: This discussion is very interesting
*Following very closely*

debbie: To everybody i say good morning,and specially to me sister Salc...thanks for this bible discussion.please i will like us to contribute and also learn too.
Now to the question of John the Baptist being a prophet or not.I think he saw himself to be unworthy to be called a prophet,remember he was acclaimed to be a mouth speaker or rather a fore-runner,who constantly announced the coming of the Messiah.
All his life he grew in the desert and ate what normal humans didnt eat per say.So whenever he entered the city to baptize and preach....the crowd called him a prophet,personally i think he didn't know he was actually prophesying. no human revealed to him all he said and did....yet he knew that the Savior was coming soonest.

Many a times we have gifts in us which we may not know about...but it takes the holy spirit and your ability to hear God to actually 1.Discover 2.Develop .3 Utilize these gifts all to the glory of the Father.
The story of the talents given to those three servants clearly makes us understand that one out of those three refused to understand and discover that he had a treasure in his hands.

damerry: Yes, he was a prophet in that like other prophets before him, he.....

1,He condemned the evil practices of his time and preached repentance. Luke 3 : 7-15

2. Kept the people's hopes of the coming of a messiah Luke 3: 15-17. (this is a consolation of better days to come as advocated by the prophets before him.)



John's consecration as prophet was right from his mother womb, as he was filled with the holy spirit even from his mother womb (Luke 1:15.) unlike other prophets who were called and consecrated by God in their latter lives. As a consequence, his prophetic mission was manifested inately (was inborn).

This can be seen as he came to the desert without being called, probably to seek truths by living a solitary life typical of monks and hermits.

There The word of God came upon him (his mission was activated) and he started preaching.

This (inborn prophetic mission) is what accounts for his oblivion of being a prophet. To make things a little bit pellucid, it can be said that..

he was programmed to be a prophet right from the bliss of his mother's womb. Thus, to John, his prophetic ministry seemed like living a normal life like everyone else.




Through out salvation history, the fall of Adam and the promise of salvation began at a broad base, form age to age events and prophets tapers gradually to the peak which was the birth of Christ.

It's like a pyramid where the fall of Adam and the promise of salvation represents the broad base, the higher the base, the higher the events and prophets of which John the Baptist ranks next to the peak (Jesus)

In John the holy spirit concludes his speaking (of repentance and consolation by the coming of a messiah) through the prophets. In John, the holy spirit also completes his work of making ready a people for Jesus.

just like in Jesus, God spoke at once, all that he had to say.

Thus, it can be said that after Jesus, john ranks next in the order of prophets.



Thats because he did things as a prophet




Yes.



like i earlier said, he did things inately hence he didn't consider his work dat special of being prophetic.



In the bible, we only heard of prophets before the birth of Jesus.
And from the deeds of the prophets, it can be inferred that prophets are

1. consecrated/called by God to condemn wrongs and preach repentance.

And most importantly...

2. They also point to a coming consolation in the person of Jesus.

Thus it's not a misnomer or a common title if someone calls himself a prophet @ this age. This is Because some of them were actually called by God and they also preach repentance and proclaim a coming consolation by the second coming of Jesus.



Yes, infact when we manifest those Gifts, we often take them as an occurrence of chance. It takes prayers and close observation to grasp and understand those gifts. Unfortunately, such is most hardly to come by in this secular age of ours.


*I stand to be corrected.*

Syncan: Thanks Sis.

I am not sure there was any bowl in contention there, John wasn't know for his appetite, he actually fed on wild bees and honey, so he couldn't have been dragging any bowl with them .

debbie: Many times we easily give up on a brother whom we feel is lost or derailed.Its not easy human-wise to go after that singular sheep....after all we have more than enough in the sheepfold,so naturally we will ask,why will i have to worry and disturb myself?But to our God,a soul is as important as the others.That is why he is all Loving and caring.
Personally i have at one point in my life given up on someone and even felt that some people i know will never change,but i realized that if God in his infinite mercy didnt give up on my.....why should i let go?

Syncan: A splendid submission...we have no reason to let go.

Syncan: The passage you refer to, isn't it this one : " And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No".

Nne. Try take a look at the highlighted word there, some versions use the. It was specific...a particular prophet who they refer to as "the prophet". He wasn't that Prophet (most likely Elisha who got a double portion of Elijah's prophetic spirit... also due to 2Kings5:8 ). He was a prophet, but not that prophet.

Fantasywrita: I understand u. I'm also a knowledge seeker like you so I can't adequately tell u why he is called anti Christ. But what I know from Islamic perspective is that we Muslims believe the anti Christ will be killed by Jesus on his second coming.

The Dajjal will appear somewhere between Iran
and Syria[12] and will travel the whole world
preaching his falsehood, but will be unable to
enter Mecca or Medina . [7] Isa (Jesus) will
return and the Dajjal will gather an army of
70,000 Jews from Isfahan, of those he has
deceived and lead them in a war against Jesus
who shall be accompanied by an army of the
righteous, along with Imam Mahdi .

And in regarding their greatness, it will be silly to start saying one of them is greater than the other. in Islam we don't say one prophet is greater than the other. we see them equally. Jesus is as great as Muhammed(pbuh) just as Muhammed is as great as Jesus. Prophet Muhammed spoke well of Jesus all through his life and ordered muslims to believe in all prophets. If any Muslim condemns Jesus then he or she is not a learned Muslim.

damerry: I suggest you post it one by one so dat we take them step by step and grab the gist instead of posting all where contributors pick questions they like and ignore the rest.

My opinion tho.

damerry: It's hightime i got fully active on this thread, hopefully this discussion will set me off on the right foot. *following*

Syncan: You're welcome Sis. Amen. Hope you de kampe.

Rich4god: Waiting to start reading....

KiddaBlingzz: thats good to know
me is doing fine.

How's my bro rich4god....

Rich4god: ^^^ Eyes wide open...

KiddaBlingzz: me ooo. Good evening mum. I missed you so much