John the Baptist has no heavenly hope?

by Ireneus 7 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Ireneus
    Ireneus

    JWs teach that John the Baptist would not inherit Kingdom of Heaven. However, there are problems with this teaching.

    John’s mother Elizabeth was both barren and too old to conceive. (Luke 1:7) Birth of John was an act of “Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:15) Then we find Jesus saying: “Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven [“kingdom of God,” Luke 7:28] is greater than he.” (Mathew 11:11; Luke 7:28)

    Greatness of John the Baptist lies in two factors:

    1) He was born from the “Holy Spirit” and hence is of the “woman” of Gen 3:15 which JWs teach as the heavenly organization.

    2) Life of John the Baptist was like a sacrificial dying for Jesus because he declared: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

    In other words, not only by his birth but also by his action (extraordinary humility) greatness of John the Baptist has no match whom Jesus himself described as “more than a prophet.” (Mathew 11:9) After showering such great praises to John it is unlikely that Jesus would make sentence such as “whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven [“kingdom of God,” Luke 7:28] is greater than he” which can be interpreted by JWs as John sharing no heavenly hope, especially because of the fact that there cannot be grades in that Kingdom because rest of the Bible overwhelmingly argues that no one earns the right to inherit that Kingdom because all those who become part of new kingdom are bought with blood of Jesus when their inheritance was death, when they were slaves to sin and death; hence question of their greatness doesn’t even arise.

  • MrHappy
    MrHappy

    To understand John the Baptist you need to explore the esoteric. John the Baptist was the greatest consciousness that the old Law based ways would produce. After the death of Jesus a new consciousness enable a new creation and this would produce greater and higher consciousness. There is only evolving consciousness and we incarnate to experience this evolution until we reach the Human being that God's had in mind and created in their image.

  • Fred Franztone
    Fred Franztone

    Heaven doesn't exist

  • MrHappy
    MrHappy

    Heaven - it's a state of mind and of being.

  • Dunedain
    Dunedain

    John the Baptist wanted to get to heaven, but he couldn't get a HEAD.

  • venus
    venus

    John, The Baptist, is more qualified than any other anointed ones because he is the only one who acknowledged Jesus even before his birth which he indicated by ‘leaping in his mother’s womb’ when Mary visited Elizabeth. (Luke 1:41-44) Contrast this with Apostle Thomas who doubted Jesus even after receiving years of training from him which prompted Jesus to say: “The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed.” (John 20:29)

  • Old Navy
    Old Navy

    John the Baptist has great significance as does the Lamb of God (Son of Man) and all who followed him as he showed The Way. The Son of Man was the first of the "anointed ones" as his Apostles were themselves the first who followed Him. Those who return to Heaven must first come from Heaven.

    Some of the many Angels who sinned have repented. What must they do to prove themselves worthy of re-integration into the fold? Saul, who became Paul, also adds meaning to the process. The Story is truly an amazing one. The Word provides clues (hidden gems) which enable us to comprehend.

  • Diogenesister
    Diogenesister

    My sons leapt in my womb quite often when people walked through the door. Did they know who they were? Not likely. It was probably just a co-incidence when Elizebeth felt her baby move on Mary's arrival.

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