Acts 13:23-25 – “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’
“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.” David is the man being referred to. It was promised that through his descendants the Savior would come (2 Samuel 7:11b-16, Psalm 27:29, 36, Psalm 132:11, 17). Paul has declared that Jesus had the lineage of David that was required to be the Savior (See also Matthew 1:2-17).
As these verses reveal, the One who fulfilled all the prophecies about David’s descendant would be the Savior, as Paul calls Jesus here. Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to David.
“Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.” We can see from this verse that it was apparent to Paul that even these people who were so hard to reach had heard of John the Baptist. It was well known that John was known by many as a prophet. He was the first prophet since Malachi who prophesied four hundred years earlier. Among the Hebrews, those hungry for the Lord were aware and desiring the blessing of hearing from God again. John was highly regarded.
Isaiah 40:3-5 revealed that one would come and who would “prepare the way” the way for the Messiah. There would come a prophet who would herald the imminent coming of the Messiah and preach that everyone should prepare their hearts to receive Him. John preached that to prepare their hearts they needed to repent of their sins and to be baptized in acknowledgement of their sins and of their desire to turn from them. John preached repentance to everyone so they would be ready for the imminent coming of the Savior. He preached that to “all the people of Israel.” Therefore we see that John the Baptist was heard of throughout Israel. Even Herod the King, who wanted to kill John, was afraid to do so because he knew the Hebrew people considered John a prophet (Matthew 14:5).
“As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’” Another example of how highly John was regarded and how obvious it was to the people that ee was a prophet is that he was continuously asked if He was the expected Messiah. His answer was always that he was not. He emphatically declared it by saying that not only was he not the Savior but that the Savior was so far above him that John was not even fit to untie his sandal.
Paul begins by declaring that the Messiah that the Jews were expecting to come, one of David’s descendants, was in fact Jesus Christ. Then, because of the veneration for John, Paul made it clear that John was not the Messiah and that being so by his own words. John was the one who was prophesied to come and to let the people know the Messiah was coming and to prepare themselves to receive Him. He emphatically and undeniably told and repeated to the people that Messiah is far above him. After all, the Jews knew that their Messiah would be God Himself. They have always looked to God as their Messiah and to no other (Isaiah 43:11). This is a firm statement of the deity of Messiah Jesus.
Our calling is the same as was the calling of John the Baptist. We are to do the works of God, we must proclaim the Gospel wherever we are, and we are not to allow people look upon us as if we are something. Rather we preach the Word and if God uses us to do a miraculous healing or physical miracle, then we instantly and always point to God and say it is He, and only He, that deserves all praise and credit for the moving of His Holy Spirit, the power of His Word and the signs He are His doing. We call people to yield to God through Jesus. We make sure that all their praise and gratitude belongs to God. John said get ready because the Messiah was coming. And Jesus the Messiah did come. We proclaim to the world and encourage each other to get ready because Jesus the Messiah is coming back. And Jesus will come back. Let the world that we all stand upon be the podium for us to cry out for all to be ready because Jesus is coming back. Praise God Jesus is coming! Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.