1. Can you guess, by looking at the pictures, who we are going to learn about?

2. Title: John the Baptist Date: 7th January 2011
Objectives:
To know who John the Baptist was
To understand what his mission was

3. Lay out of the Bible
The bible is a collection of 66 books written over a 2000 year period
The first half is called the Old Testament and is the Jewish scriptures and laws
The second half is called the New Testament and is about Jesus and the early Christian Church.

4. Waiting for the Messiah
At the time of Jesus the Jewish people were waiting hopefully for the arrival of the Messiah who would lead them. The Messiah would be special and sent from God. Many Jews though he would drive the Romans out of Palestine.
The Jews would know who the Messiah was because a messenger would come before him, whose job was to prepare the people for the Messiah.

5. What does the word ‘Messiah’ mean?
Hebrew meaning - The ‘anointed one’
A leader chosen by God
A Spiritual saviour
The anointing meant that someone was given authority to serve God in a position of honour and responsibility.

6. John the Baptist
At this time there was a man called John who lived in the desert and preached to people about how they should live.
He said that he wasn’t the Messiah but the messenger sent to prepare them.
…A voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Isaiah

7. Listen carefully and answer the questions:
EXT: With your partner, explain in your own words why you think John needed to baptise people? What does it mean prepare the hearts for the Messiah?
Listen carefully and answer the questions:
1. Who was the mother and father of John? 2.What was the mission of John? 3. Which prophet described John as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness"? 4. What did John eat? 5. Where did John live? 6. How did John think people should act towards one another? 7. Where were people baptized when they came to him? 8. Which groups of people asked him questions?

9. Baptising people
John used to take people to the river Jordan and duck them under the water as a sign that they had changed.
This is how he became know as John the Baptist.
“I baptise you with water, but one day, someone is going to come, who will baptise you with the holy spirit instead.”

10. Task
Imagine you are John the Baptist. Write a diary entry describing a normal day for you.
Think about:
Where you live, what you eat, who you see, what do you do every day, why do you do what you do?
The best diary entries should include the following quotes from the bible:
“I baptise you with water, but one day, someone is going to come, who will baptise you with the holy spirit instead.”
…A voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Isaiah

11. Matthew 3:1-12 John the Baptist Prepares the Way
 1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:    “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,    make straight paths for him.’”[a]
 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
 11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

12. What have we learned?
Who was John the Baptist
What was his mission?