“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11, ESV)
A man came to London this year with one goal in mind: Become a legend. He won three gold medals to add to the three he won in Beijing four years earlier and pronounced that he was the fastest man alive and a legend. No one questioned that he was the fastest man alive.
But a legend?
Even if he wins three more golds in Brazil, the site of the 2016 Olympics, will Usain Bolt, the Olympian sprinter from Jamaica, become a legend?
Will any athlete in Olympics today be remembered in 2000 years?
John the Baptist is a legend and remembered 2000 years after his death. He said almost nothing about himself. He was poor. He may have been the worst dressed man of his day. But Jesus said that there was never a man born of woman that was greater than John the Baptist.
Today John the Baptist is a true legend to followers of Jesus Christ. Think of what Jesus was saying. This humble man was greater than Abraham. Greater than Joseph. Greater than Samuel. Greater than Daniel. Greater than David. Greater than Solomon. Greater than the great prophet Isaiah. Greater than all the apostles.
Why would Jesus make such a statement? What was it about John that made him the greatest man born of woman?
Matthew Henry says, “John was Christ’s harbinger.” He was the one who prepared the way for Jesus. He was the one who first recognized Jesus as “the Lamb of God.”
John the Baptist was like an English Pointer hunting dog. He pointed men to Jesus Christ and took a back seat. “He must increase and I must decrease,” John said. In John the Baptist Jesus shows us the way to greatness.
That way runs downward.
It is the way of Jesus.
We are challenged, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Have I taken a step like John, downwardly? Am I more concerned about lifting myself up and following in my own concerns? Or, am I pointed toward the example of John? And the example of Jesus, who on the night that he was betrayed washed his disciples’ feet, saying, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15)?
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Jim Hiskey
August 27, 2012
Copyright 2012 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.