Daily Devotional – Friday, April 22, 2022
John the Baptist came preaching … saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Matthew 3:1-2 (NKJV)
Concerning John the Baptist, Jesus remarked, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist…” (Matthew 11:11).
Why did Jesus regard John so highly?
God had ordained John as the forerunner of Jesus, as foretold by Isaiah. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the LORD. Make straight in the desert. A highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3).
Here is Matthew’s introduction of John’s ministry. “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”” (Matthew 3:1-2).
John prepared the way for Jesus by calling people to renounce their sins. He condemned sin irrespective of who was committing it. His bravery and persistence led to his imprisonment and martyrdom.
Contemporary John the Baptists
Jesus is about to return to the earth a second time. Born again Christians are the modern-day John the Baptist. Our message to the world is fundamentally the same as John’s – “Repent!” We are to lead penitent souls to Jesus, the coming King.
Unfortunately, many of us would rather sugarcoat the message to please those we need to pull out of the prison of sin. A famous Christian author summarizes the character traits of contemporary John the Baptists as follows:
“The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me fulfil my role as a modern-day John the Baptist, calling people to repentance as we await Your second coming.
