Jan 28thDevotion John 1:19-23 Focused On Running Home

John 1:19-23 – 19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”  21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”  He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?”  He answered, “No.” 22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”  23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” 

These verses continue on from Verses 6-8 and 15-18, telling about John’s testimony of who he was and what was his ministry was.  The Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites to ask John who He was.  John was quick to confess that he was not the Messiah.  John testified that he was not Elijah to come according to Malachi 4:5-6.  There it said that one like Elijah would come to “turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to the parents.”  They asked John if he was “the Prophet.”  They were speaking of Moses referring to Deuteronomy 18:18-19 that a prophet like Moses would come.  John did, like these two, come to call people to repentance and the salvation of the Lord, but he was not the one to fulfill the prophecies about of Elijah and Moses.

Since John said that He was not the one to fulfill the prophecies of these two, they then pressed and asked, in modern vernacular “Then who are you?”  John said he was the one who would fulfill specifically Isaiah 40:3 “A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  Remembering that Israel had not heard from a prophet in about four hundred years, and they were currently under Roman rule, they were anxious for their Messiah to come and they were anxious to again hear from a prophet.  The people, all the people, truly wanted to know who was John and what was he.  If he was a prophet, what was his message from God? Reading Isaiah 40:3-5 we see that John was calling from the times that the Jews were not hearing from God, they needed someone to cry out to them and show them a clear and straight way back to God.  Indeed they were again in the wilderness.  They needed a voice from God to guide them out of their present wilderness.  That person would be John.  He brought the message that their Messiah, who they were crying out for, was indeed coming and He was coming soon.  John was the man who would lead them to Jesus the Messiah and when Jesus appeared, John would identify Him and send them to follow him.  Then John was to step aside and let them follow Jesus.

We have been taught and know from scripture that we havea  ministry like John had.  Jesus commissioned all who believe in Him to “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  John, in a day of great need and hunger for the Messiah, was to tell people that the Messiah was coming soon.  Today, great numbers of people are likewise hungry for the truth, for knowledge of the returning Jesus the Messiah.  They have long heard that Jesus is coming soon and we are to share three things with them.  The first is the person Jesus.  The second is the work of Jesus to save all who come to Him.  And the third is what the Word says about His return.  These all Believers are called to do.  May we be as faithful, as loving, and patient to do the work of God as John was.  John was faithful to his commission even unto death.  Even today all who say we love Jesus so much that we would die for Him ought to be faithful enough to live for Him.  Some today are beheaded because of their faith.  We can be sure that those who are beheaded for their faith have first faithfully lived out their faith.  The way to be ready for all trials, even unto death, is to live daily for our Lord now.  Just as John did.  Praise God that He enables us to do that.  Trust Him, not ourselves.  He is faithful so He can enable us to be.  Praise God!

John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

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, Oh 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.

Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.