John the Baptist
We know so much about him and yet we hardly know anything. He was prophesied to prepare the way for the Messiah and yet many thought he might have been the Messiah. He was preparing the way for the King of kings and yet he was about as far from a palace as one can get. He said that he wouldn’t have known who Jesus was if the Holy Spirit had not landed on Him as a dove and yet both John and Jesus’ moms had spent three months together when they were pregnant. John helped people to hunger spiritually for righteousness by calling them to repent while John’s physical food locust and wild honey. John knew how to prepare the people for the Messiah while not really understanding who the Messiah would be. What was Johns most revealing statement about Jesus? “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. People were generally not called lambs. That has its roots in the sacrificial system and in the keeping of the Passover where a lamb was slaughtered so that the angel of death might pass over God’s people. John the Baptist points to Jesus’ ultimate calling. “The lamb who takes away the sin of the world” points to what the people would consider impossible. No one except God alone had the power to forgive sin and yet John says Jesus is that person... pointing us to what would take place on the cross. John the Baptist called for people to repent while Jesus was going to cleanse the whole body from all unrighteousness. John the Baptist was killed for condemning Herod for marrying his brother’s wife, while Jesus died at the hands of those He was trying to save. When Jesus’ ministry began to flourish, John was trying to remove himself from the public eye so that Jesus might have full attention put on Him. Both Jesus and John were miracle children as one (John) was born of a barren woman long past her childbearing age while the other was a virgin when she gave birth. Both were announced by angels. Both knew God’s plan. Both ministered to all people, including the worst, tax collectors, while the Pharisees and teachers of the law failed to recognize God. John had no gifts or stature that enabled him to serve, and yet he served faithfully, even to the point of death. How about you? Lord, Help us, like John, to call people to repentance and back to You. Help us to be faithful to Your call. Amen