An Amazing Linkage between Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Sun Myung Moon and Billy Graham

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth ... I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father."

John 16:12-13, 25

Billy Graham’s impact on Christianity and the world continues to be felt today.  He is widely seen as the Christian leader who had the greatest influence on the spiritual lives of Christians in the twentieth century.  In the first article of this series, we examined how he had been prepared by God for a special mission – not only to bring people to salvation through faith inChrist, but to lead mankind to welcome the Lord of the Second Advent, the Rev.Sun Myung Moon.  In this article, we will further examine the many ways Graham was prepared by God to fulfill his critical role as the John the Baptist figure for the return of Christ.

The coming of the Messiah does not only involve the person of Christ Himself. When we look at the first coming of Christ, we see that God had prepared a nation, and within that nation, individuals with specific ordained missions.

Since many things that Christ came to teach were new to the chosen people of Israel, God prepared a path for Jesus and His teachings to be accepted.  The descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were thoroughly familiar with the laws of Moses and the stories of how God had guided their people in the past. Therefore, the standard by which the people of that time would measure any teacher, rabbi or prophet would be the words of the Old Testament (as wecall it today).  They fully expected that their messiah would come to reiterate and reinforce the existing teachings.  

How willChristians know when Christ returns? While it will certainly be the greatest moment in history for which God and the heavenly hosts have been waiting, the Bible makes it clear that people on earth may not know when He comes.  

·     1 Thes 4:2  … the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

·      Luke 17:20-21  Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Most of the people in Jesus’ time did not have a direct spiritual experience revealing the identity of Christ.  However, everyone could see and hear the great prophet John the Baptist when he testified toJesus as the messiah in the Jordan River. While they were anxiously awaiting the coming of Christ, Christ was already in their midst – and they didn’t know it.  God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Therefore, we can expect something similar when Christ returns.

God’s strategy is to prepare a God-centered people who are waiting for God to send their savior.  Amongst those people, He raises up a leader or leaders of faith to whom God can reveal the identity ofChrist.  God will then use those leaders to guide the rest of His children back to His bosom.  This was God’s plan at the time of Jesus, and is the same at the Second Coming.

We can look at the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible to glean an important lesson about human nature and the Will of God.  God had His reason for accepting Abel’s offering and rejecting Cain’s.  But rather than humbling himself to God’s viewpoint, Cain was filled with jealousy towards his younger brother,Abel.  We know that this same pattern of restoration between elder and younger is repeated over and over throughout theBible.

This dynamic is no more apparent than in the relationship between John the Baptist andJesus.  John was born around six months before Jesus.  Jesus’ mother Mary was the cousin of John’s mother, Elizabeth, so John and Jesus were related.  John grew up in the home of the priestZechariah, who was loved and respected by the Jewish people.  Jesus grew up in humble circumstances, accused of being an illegitimate child who associated with fishermen, tax collectors and prostitutes.

And yet, whenJesus came to John the Baptist to be baptized in the Jordan River, God revealed to John that Jesus was His Son, the Messiah. While John shouted out a proclamation testifying to Jesus in that moment, John the Baptist never became a follower of Jesus.  In fact, while in prison, John expressed doubts that Jesus really was the messiah. (Matt. 11:3)

Historical facts linking Rev. Moon and BillyGraham

1.    In Matthew 21:43, Jesus says, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts outits leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”  The fig tree has traditionally been understood to represent the nation of Israel. Isn’t it amazing that Rev. Moon and Billy Graham were both alive whenIsrael was reestablished as a nation? Both grew up to be great preachers, and in Rev. Moon’s case, a great religious leader.  Could that be a coincidence?

2.    We can find many examples of God attempting to work through the elder-younger relationship in the Bible, beginning with Cain and Abel.  Although both were loved by God, God’s blessing came to Abel, the younger brother.  God needed Cain to humble himself to Abel andto learn from him.  This dynamic reflects the relationship between the archangel Lucifer, who was created first, andAdam, who was created as God’s beloved son. Lucifer tempted Eve and then Adam, leading to their spiritual deaths.  Just as Lucifer could not humble himself to God’s will and to Adam, Cain allowed himself to be overcome with jealousy and rage, leading to the murder of Abel.  We see this same elder-younger dynamic in theBible in the stories of Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Menasseh and Ephraim, Zerah and Perez, Aaron and Moses, Caleb and Joshua, and finally John the Baptist and Jesus.  In the twentieth century, it was Billy Graham and Rev. Sun Myung Moon.  Graham was born about 14 months before Rev.Moon.

3.     Bothlived until their 90’s and preached until the day of their death.  They were totally dedicated to doing God’s will.

4.     Oneof the Jewish requirements for someone to be accepted as a prophet included being financially independent, able to carry out their mission without relying on anyone else.  Both Billy Graham andRev. Moon raised millions of dollars in the course of their missions.  It is estimated that Billy Graham, who was often invited to speak at events and sold many books, had $25 million in personal wealth when he died.

5.     Both had physical infirmities.  Billy Graham had Parkinson’s disease.  Rev. Moon had diabetes.  They persevered through those physical difficulties, continuing to do their missions.

6.     Both preachers fulfilled Jesus’ mandate to preach the Gospel to the whole world preparing the way for the end to come.

7.     In Matthew21:43, Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”  And in Matthew 24:27 we read, “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will thecoming of the Son of Man be.”   In these verses, Jesus states that God’s kingdom would come to a nation other thanIsrael, and that we should look to the east for the messiah’s coming.  Billy Graham never testified to Rev. Moon as being in the position of the returning Jesus, but he did testify to Korea as being an exceptional nation, where Christianity was incredibly fervent. Pyongyang was known as the“Jerusalem of the East”.  

8.     Itis significant to note that during Billy Graham’s ministry, when he spoke aboutthe fact that he would die at some point, he would always describe how he anticipated being in Heaven with Jesus, and even looked forward to it.  But when he reached the point where he was close to death, his children said he seemed very troubled.  This was not what people expected fromGraham.  This testimony is reminiscent ofJohn the Baptist’s last days, when John, while in prison, questioned the most important thing about his life – his revelation about the living Christ.

Jesus is considered by Christians to be as perfect as God.  God sent Jesus in the perfect way – the way the messiah must come.  There was nothing more that God could have done.  

God sent Sun Myung Moon in the same way He sent Jesus – which is the perfect way.  At the Second Coming, Christ comes not as agreat conqueror in the sky, but as a poor Korean man.  He comes in humble circumstances, the same way that Jesus came.  This is the wayChrist must come.

If John the Baptist had supported Jesus, Jesus’ course would have been completely different.  The same is true with BillyGraham and Sun Myung Moon.  God did His part in sending the messiah.  The rest is left to God’s chosen people who must follow Him.

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