Matthew 3:3
“THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'”
Here’s what Jesus says of John, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”, (Matthew 11:11). That’s quite a statement; John was the greatest or there weren’t any greater. That would shock many. Most would say, “What did he accomplish?” No art, no music, no cures of diseases, no new thoughts and so on. He prepared the way for Jesus. He was the opening act for God as He entered humanity. That’s big. God entered our world to save us.
The coming of Jesus was a big deal. Here’s what Peter said about the prophets who wrote the bible, “It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things”, (I Peter 1:12). Even the angels who had witnessed many of the great things God had done were curious. They saw Him create the world and all within it. The fact that God would temporarily set aside His diety to become a man was quite interesting.
God created John for this special purpose. As he began his ministry many were following him. The devil was also interested in Jesus’ coming. He sought to destroy him at many turns. The first time was through Herod as he killed the innocents. The next time recorded was when Jesus read from the scriptures in His home town synagogue. The people were offended and sought to throw Him off a cliff. It’s not recorded, but I’m sure the devil and his demons sought to tempt John to sin or do something to bring his ministry into compromise.
John was to make straight and prepare the way for Jesus to come. John’s message of repentance was getting the people’s minds and hearts ready for Jesus to come. He was saying that the kingdom of God was at hand. Some may have thought that human history would stop and God would come to rule for the rest of time. That’s true in a sense. God would come to rule. It would be Jesus, but human history would continue for millennia.
Jesus’ kingdom would come. His death allowed us to be reconciled to God and to live in harmony with Him while we lived our lives. Part of the Lord’s prayer is “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”. We are to pray for this. As we walk with Christ we are allowing Him to be king in our hearts and in our lives. In my workplace God’s kingdom is established. Those there get blessed. Some go to Him and become His subjects and they get to spread His kingdom.
We get to continue the work that John started. We get to make way for Jesus in the lives of others. The Holy Spirit uses those opportunities in their lives. He works in their hearts and minds. God uses us to spread His kingdom.
John did a great work. Jesus called him one of the greatest. If anyone follows Christ that in itself is great. They are cooperating with God and submitting to Him as king. It’s like we are living in this world of darkness. When the Lord enters our lives He is light and He makes us smaller lights. Like a lamppost at night illuminates, so we are lights in the darkness. Together all believers have His light all over the place. It becomes a well lit neighborhood.
We spread His Word and are witnesses of Him just by living and walking with Him. The next level is to share His Word. We are making His kingdom come. In God’s world He says that is great. This is part of what Jesus meant when He said the least will be the greatest. A little with God becomes much.
The world is ignorant of this. They put very little value on the church. They think the stances the church and the bible have are outdated and small minded. They don’t see greatness in John. Far from it. He was probably the brunt of jokes by the high societies of his day. The church and christians are still the brunt of jokes. We just had the summer olympics in France. The opening ceremonies was a mockery of the Last Supper. This done by those whom the bible says are living lives in strong contrast to it’s words. We are not to be intimidated by them and those who don’t respect us.
Lord, thank You for John and His ministry. While the world sees You and us as insignificant, that is far from the truth. Thank You for allowing us to partner with You in this. Your’s is the greatest story ever told. Thank You for redeeming us and letting us be rescued ones. Help us to walk with You and rescue others.