A king coming into a city looks greater if he is preceded by heralds. If there is a lot of fanfare and royal declaration, we would greater esteem the approaching royalty. If there is no herald, we would not think much of this king.
God does it the same way with Jesus Christ. He is the coming king. And not just any king, but the King of all the Kings who have ever lived and ever will live. Think of that. He is the king of Barack Obama. But his inauguration of his reign would be so easy to miss precisely because he came as a baby. In order that we would not miss the greatness of the Christmas event, God gave us different clues that something breathtaking was going on. One of these clues is the sending of the herald, John the Baptist.
John the Baptist’s mission was to announce Jesus’ coming. After he was born, his father Zechariah prophesied, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways” (Luke 1:76, ESV). John’s preparation for this Messiah was his faithful declaration of his superiority. Hear John’s faithful witness about Jesus: “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me’” (John 1:15). John recognized that Jesus was before him (eternal) and that he was greater than him (God incarnate). That was his message to trumpet. He proclaimed this message when he lept for joy in his mother’s womb at six months old (Luke 1:41) until he lost his head to the Herodias’ deceitful demand (Matthew 14:1-11).
Think of how John the Baptist makes Jesus look great. We get the clearest glimpse from Jesus’ own analysis of John in Matthew 11, where Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (11:11). No one was greater than John. Wow! Not Moses, who talked with God face to face. Not Elijah, who raised a girl from the dead. Not Elisha, who received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and performed so many miracles that he made Elijah look silly. No, John the Baptist was the greatest of all prophets (and men) who had ever lived.
Why?
It was not because he performed more miracles (he didn’t perform any) or preached mighty sermons (he got killed for the one about Herod’s adultery). It wasn’t bound up with who he was or what he did. It was bound up with who he saw. He saw Jesus, proclaimed him, and that made him great. His faithful heralding makes the infant Jesus look great.
Come, let us adore this herald-preceded king!
No comments:
Post a Comment