Love and Baptism

I have an interesting topic to cover today, and I think you'll find it interesting as well. It's about the most favored and beloved man of God in the history of the world. Who is it? No, it's not Jesus, as he has a rather unfair advantage in that kind of discussion. Besides, he wasn't and isn't just a man; he was and is also God. I'm talking about men who did NOT come from heaven. I would like to show you how this was revealed to me, and as usual it is by means of the scriptures. First of all let's look at what Jesus said about John the Baptist, a beloved man in his own right: "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Mat. 11:11). Now Jesus was on the topic of 'greatness' here, so it isn't John the Baptist that I'm getting to. I'm talking about most beloved and favored. But what Jesus said about John is exactly how we arrive at the obvious answer to my question. What was it that made John the greatest man ever born of a woman, up to the time that Jesus said that? Was John of greater faith than Abraham? Did he accomplish a greater volume of work for God than Moses? Did he ascend to heaven without dying like Elijah? Was his heart better than the heart of David? The answer to all of these questions is most likely, no. Not that John was lacking in any way, but that's a stellar lineup of who's who with God, to try to outrank. The thing that made John greater than all of those men was simply his proximity to Jesus in the grand scheme of God's plans for mankind. The centerpiece of all of human history, indeed all of the history of existence of any kind, was the six hours that God's only begotten Son hung on the cruel cross of Calvary in order to redeem my soul and yours from sin, and reconcile us to God.

So anything and everything that had anything directly to do with that, is of greater significance than any other thing in the history of the world. The same goes for 'anybody' as well. John was the only man sent by God to introduce Jesus to Israel, and to tell the purpose of his coming to this world. John was the only man in the history of the world who had the God-given opportunity to say the words, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29). Not to mention that Jesus willingly submitted himself to John's baptism, when in fact John knew it was he who needed to be baptized by Jesus (Mat. 3:15). So the point is that it was more than evident that it was John's direct proximity and significance to Jesus that made him the greatest man born of a woman, to that point in history. Of course as Jesus said, "he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." The reason for that is the same. The kingdom of heaven, which is to say the kingdom of God, we are told is, "not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). So anyone who has been baptized by Jesus with the holy Ghost is in the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:5; I Cor. 12:13). The scriptures also make it clear that everyone who is baptized with the Spirit is literally 'in Christ,' and has literally "put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). So again, the reason that everyone who is in the kingdom of God is greater than John, is because they have closer proximity to Jesus than John had, being IN Jesus; and also they have had an opportunity of significance that John did not have. That opportunity is to honor and believe the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, who both died and rose from the dead AFTER John had already died. It is in fact faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that results in Jesus baptizing anyone with the holy Ghost; so both of these reasons for those in the kingdom of God being greater than John, are the same (Jn. 7:38,39; Ga 3:14).

But before I get to our beloved man of the hour [and all time] I would like to look at another individual with similar significance to Jesus as John the Baptist. That would be Mary the mother of Jesus, whom God chose to bare his Son into this world, and to raise him to adulthood. Seeing that God alone knows the hearts of men, it is without question that Mary has to be the most favored woman in the history of the world. Hands down. The angel Gabriel certainly didn't try to paint it any other way than that: "And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women... And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God" (Lk. 1:28,30). We all know the rest of that story, so we'll leave it at that. Nonetheless, Mary had Jesus inside of her for nine months, and together with Joseph her husband raised him from a baby. Considering that the Lord showed me some years ago that raising children for his name's sake is the most important duty on earth in his eyes, that puts Mary at the very top of the list of women favored by God, with no close seconds. This is not to say that Mary was necessarily 'better' than women like Hannah the mother of Samuel, or Esther who saved God's people from destruction, or Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist. But it is to say that she had the proximity, the opportunity, the significance, and the substance; to be the most highly favored woman ever, and she surely was and is. I might add that Mary also had the opportunity to believe on and honor the death and resurrection of Jesus, and that she was one of the approximate 120 people who were at Pentecost, and received the holy Ghost when it was first sent back from heaven by Jesus (Acts 1:4,5,14; Acts 2:4).

So this all brings me to the man in question, who is the most highly favored and beloved man to God in the history of the world. Once again we are going to be looking at proximity to Jesus, and significance of relationship to Jesus; as well as deeds in regard to Jesus. Have you guessed him yet? Oh, it's really, really easy. But allow me the fun of bringing this out in living color, even if you have guessed who he is already. By proximity and significance to Jesus, we have to be able to acknowledge that the twelve apostles of Christ are the greatest and most significant men in the history of the world. John the Baptist may have introduced Jesus onto the scene, but Jesus personally chose these men to be his proteges, and to be the perpetrators of his Gospel unto all men for all time. It was these twelve men that Jesus told these words to just before he ascended back to heaven: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The apostles of Christ were not only with Jesus personally for over three years, seeing all that he did firsthand, and being taught by him closely; but they were among the first people to enter into the kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost. Not only so, but in the book of Revelation we are told that the names of the twelve apostles of Christ are written into the foundation of the heavenly city, new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14). So it's all about Jesus, and since it's all about Jesus it has to be that greatness and significance of men in the sight of God has to be about who was, and is what to Jesus. The apostles were what they were, and no one else gets the opportunity to be what they were to Jesus, so that case is closed.

Now the question is, Who among the apostles was and is most highly favored? Someone may miss this on a guess, but once we're done here I'm certain there will be no disagreement. The night of the Passover, when Jesus was betrayed, we get our first glimpse of the answer: "When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon" (Jn. 13:21-26). This may or may not clarify to you who I'm speaking of, so let's go a little further. At that same Passover Jesus told the apostles, "All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad" (Mat. 26:31). Well, when Jesus said that 'all' of the apostles would forsake him on that night, he didn't quite mean every single one of them. I know that the scripture says, "Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled" (Mat. 26:56). But it also says the following: "And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not" (Jn. 18:15-17).

So one of the apostles followed Jesus into the palace of the high priest where he was condemned to death for blasphemy against God, while Peter denied knowing Jesus (Mat. 26:65,66). Do you know who this 'other disciple' was yet? Well, when Jesus was taken to Calvary and hung on the cross, only one of his apostles was with him, along with his mother and two or three other women. That apostle was the one that Jesus said these memorable words to, as he was dying in horrible agony: "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home" (Jn. 19:25-27). But the story of this man's significance does not end there, though it would certainly be enough for Jesus to appoint you to be his mother's replacement for himself. The scriptures also tell us that this particular disciple was the first of the apostles that believed Jesus had risen from the dead: "Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed" (Jn. 21:8). Actually, the apostle John's significance to the Gospel doesn't end there either, and neither has it ended as yet. John the apostle is one of the three men in the history of mankind whom God allowed to bypass the sentence of death that was laid upon Adam. Enoch was the old world man who did not die, Elijah was the old testament man who bypassed death, and John is the new testament man who has never died. I won't go into detail about that topic, as I've already written another post about it. I will only give the scripture references that prove it, and I'm also going to leave a link to that article at the bottom of this page (Mat. 16:28; Mat. 24:34; Jn. 21:20-23; Rev. 10:8-11).

Without question John the apostle, who was obviously the best friend of Jesus while Jesus was on earth, is the most highly favored man of all time, and most beloved to God. He was one of the twelve most significant and greatest men in the history of the world, due to proximity and significance to Jesus. He was the one that Jesus actually told who it was that would betray him, as we've seen. He was the only one who went into the high priest's palace where Jesus was condemned, he was the only one of the apostles who went all the way to the cross with Jesus, and accompanied him until he died; and he was the first of the apostles to actually believe that Jesus rose from the dead, which faith is the hub of the entire Gospel. He also was and is in the kingdom of God, and is surely not one of 'the least' in the kingdom. Not to mention that he was chosen to not die, and that he will return before the Lord comes again, and will be the highest representative of Jesus to this world until the Lord returns from heaven. Jesus gave it to Peter to basically be the leader of the apostles, but it was John that made it his business by default to be closer to the heart of Jesus than any of the others, who were all very close to the heart of Jesus. Yes indeed, John is the one man in all of history who took advantage of the opportunity to be the man most beloved to Jesus, and certainly to the Father of Jesus. He truly knew the meaning of the words of the testimony of God's only begotten Son found in the old testament writings: "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me" (Prov. 8:17). So I suppose it's no wonder that he referred to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (Jn. 13:23; Jn. 19:26; Jn. 20:2; Jn. 21:7; Jn. 21:20). Oh yeah, he knew. Jesus knew too. Both of them still do. I just love it. Amen.

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