{"id":72491,"date":"2025-07-18T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/?p=72491"},"modified":"2025-07-02T14:51:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T18:51:04","slug":"john-the-baptist-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/john-the-baptist-2\/","title":{"rendered":"John the Baptist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1-17, Matthew 11:1-15, Matthew 14:1-12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Judaic tradition, few loom larger as key cultural figures than prophets. Ezekiel, Daniel, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah are metaphorical giants of the ancient tradition, acting as the voice of God to His people in difficult times. But at the closing of the Old Testament, their great tradition seemed to end. Centuries passed, kingdoms rose and fell, and God\u2019s people found themselves surviving under Caesar\u2019s power. But God was preparing a voice to speak once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rumors circulated about a strange man in the wilderness. Some said he wore camel-hair and ate bugs, recalling to them old stories about Elijah. Some said he had a miraculous birth, the first child of a barren, old woman. He was ascetic and eccentric, unafraid to preach repentance and shout down wealthy religious leaders, yet he\u2019d baptize anyone willing to confess their sins. Soon everyone was talking about this \u201cvoice of one crying out in the wilderness\u201d (Matthew 3:3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was John, and they called him the Baptizer<\/em>. He was strange but compelling, bold but humble. Yet even though his preaching and personality drew crowds, he had no interest in building fame for himself. \u201cThe one who is coming after me is more powerful than I,\u201d he insisted. \u201cI am not worthy to remove his sandals.\u201d (Matthew 3:11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through so much of Scripture, we see God working through ordinary people, using them to call His people back to Himself. When God\u2019s people were at their lowest under the Roman Empire, John proclaimed the long-awaited Messiah was coming\u2014and soon! John was God\u2019s voice in the wilderness to once again remind them that a sacred lineage, accumulated wealth, and favor with an empire wouldn\u2019t actually save anyone. In God\u2019s economy, the poor and overlooked would be raised up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To those who had the heart to hear, John was preparing them for a Messiah who would not look anything like what they expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t know exactly what sparked John\u2019s calling to give his life proclaiming the Messiah\u2019s arrival. But John, larger-than-life and unafraid to speak truth to power, was human too. While in prison for offending Herod\u2019s wife, he sent a message to Jesus and asked: \u201cAre you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?\u201d (Matthew 11:3). Under this question was a more vulnerable one: \u201cWas it all a waste?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like God appearing to Elijah at his lowest, Jesus met John\u2019s wavering with assurance: \u201cGo and report to John what you hear and see.\u201d Healing for broken bodies, the dead raised, good news to the poor \u2014 all the wonders John himself had proclaimed. \u201cAnd blessed is the one who isn\u2019t offended by me\u201d (Matthew 11:4\u20136).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John is remembered, in Jesus\u2019s words, as \u201cmore than a prophet.\u201d (Matthew 11:9,14) His presence helped break up long-fallow ground and prepare a nation\u2019s heart for Jesus\u2019s message and miracles, to make way for the coming of a humble Messiah and King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Jen Yokel<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1-17, Matthew 11:1-15, Matthew 14:1-12 In the Judaic tradition, few loom larger as key cultural figures than prophets. Ezekiel, Daniel, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah are metaphorical giants of the ancient tradition, acting as the voice of God to His people in difficult times. But at the closing of the Old Testament, their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":72349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[302],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pitnt"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72485],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"JOHN THE BAPTIST<\/b>

\r\nby Jen Yokel<\/i>

\r\n

In the Judaic tradition, few loom larger as key cultural figures than prophets. Ezekiel, Daniel, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah are metaphorical giants of the ancient tradition, acting as the voice of God to His people in difficult times. But at the closing of the Old Testament, their great tradition seemed to end. Centuries passed, kingdoms rose and fell, and God\u2019s people found themselves surviving under Caesar\u2019s power. But God was preparing a voice to speak once more.<\/p>
\r\n

Rumors circulated about a strange man in the wilderness. Some said he wore camel-hair and ate bugs, recalling to them old stories about Elijah. Some said he had a miraculous birth, the first child of a barren, old woman. He was ascetic and eccentric, unafraid to preach repentance and shout down wealthy religious leaders, yet he\u2019d baptize anyone willing to confess their sins. Soon everyone was talking about this \u201cvoice of one crying out in the wilderness\u201d (Matthew 3:3).<\/p>
\r\n

This was John, and they called him the Baptizer<\/em>. He was strange but compelling, bold but humble. Yet even though his preaching and personality drew crowds, he had no interest in building fame for himself. \u201cThe one who is coming after me is more powerful than I,\u201d he insisted. \u201cI am not worthy to remove his sandals\" (Matthew 3:11).<\/p>
\r\n

Through so much of Scripture, we see God working through ordinary people, using them to call His people back to Himself. When God\u2019s people were at their lowest under the Roman Empire, John proclaimed the long-awaited Messiah was coming\u2014and soon! John was God\u2019s voice in the wilderness to once again remind them that a sacred lineage, accumulated wealth, and favor with an empire wouldn\u2019t actually save anyone. In God\u2019s economy, the poor and overlooked would be raised up.<\/p>
\r\n

To those who had the heart to hear, John was preparing them for a Messiah who would not look anything like what they expected.<\/p>
\r\n

We don\u2019t know exactly what sparked John\u2019s calling to give his life proclaiming the Messiah\u2019s arrival. But John, larger-than-life and unafraid to speak truth to power, was human too. While in prison for offending Herod\u2019s wife, he sent a message to Jesus and asked: \u201cAre you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?\u201d (Matthew 11:3). Under this question was a more vulnerable one: \u201cWas it all a waste?\u201d<\/p>
\r\n

Like God appearing to Elijah at his lowest, Jesus met John\u2019s wavering with assurance: \u201cGo and report to John what you hear and see.\u201d Healing for broken bodies, the dead raised, good news to the poor \u2014 all the wonders John himself had proclaimed. \u201cAnd blessed is the one who isn\u2019t offended by me\u201d (Matthew 11:4\u20136).<\/p>
\r\n

John is remembered, in Jesus\u2019s words, as \u201cmore than a prophet.\u201d (Matthew 11:9,14) His presence helped break up long-fallow ground and prepare a nation\u2019s heart for Jesus\u2019s message and miracles, to make way for the coming of a humble Messiah and King.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"5","scripture":"Matthew 3:1-17, Matthew 11:1-15, Matthew 14:1-12","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}