John doesn’t nearly get the attention he deserves.  Jesus said that among those born of women, “there has risen no one greater.”  Jesus had a deep respect for John.

What I was meditating on here was the verses that “from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing.”  I know from Greek class that this phrase here is difficult to translate and can be taken one of two ways.  But Greek class aside, something significant happened through John the Baptist.  You would think that it would say from “the days of Jesus.”  But in actuality, the forceful advancement of the kingdom came through John.

Perhaps this was because the Spirit of God was upon John in a special way (as we read in Luke), he was the official prelude to Jesus which the prelude is always the first part of the main show, and John wasn’t like the others.  He did not fear man or Pharisee, only God alone.  Just reread chapter 3.  Yikes!

But now the question is for our time, who will be the ‘John the Baptist’ for this generation?  Who will be the one(s) to prepare the way for the second coming of the Lord?  Who will step forth and have no fear of man but only God? Hmmm….  I think I’ve met a few of those, but I too would like to be one of those who prepare the way for the Lord.  Come, Lord Jesus.

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Memorized:   Matthew 11:1-15  (January 14)