The Heart of the Matter
John the Baptist stood out like a sore thumb. Created and set apart by God for a specific task. A great task. The greatest. To prepare the way of the Lord. A human megaphone for Jesus, John the Baptist spoke words of maximum volume as he pointed others to the One and Only and prophetically authenticated the divinity and eternal nature of Christ.
John knew who he was, and he knew who Jesus was. He was all about Jesus. Unashamedly unique, John didn’t cave to comfort, popularity, expectations of others, or tradition. Instead, he walked in humble obedience to God and sought to make much of the Messiah.
He was a bit of an odd bird who ate unconventional foods and wore unusual garb. Clearly, impressing others with his coolness was not John’s forte, nor his priority. He was different. Probably not the first one picked for the dodge ball games at Hebrew school. He might’ve even got teased: “Your breath smells like stinky bugs!” Who knows? What we do know about John the Baptist is that he was born for greatness, not for average. But he didn’t go about his days trying to be great. John was focused on pointing people to Jesus—not himself. He was on a sacred mission, which left others wondering about him.
The crowds wondered who he was.
They wanted to know why he did the things he did. The Israelites hadn’t seen a prophet in four hundred years. Something was surely up with this guy. One day John was baptizing people in the Jordan River. The priests and Levites hounded him with questions.
Finally, they said, ‘Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ 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.”’
Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, ‘Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’
‘I baptize with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’” (John 1:22-27)
Commissioned by God to be famous for Jesus, John had a humble heart and perspective. “I’m not even worthy to untie this guy’s sandals…”
I love what Pastor Dr. Tony Evans has to say about this topic. “God is not opposed to greatness. God is opposed to pride. Big difference. Unfortunately, it is a difference not widely understood or embraced.”
Peter reminds us of this in his letter to the believers in the early church. “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5b-6, NIV).
This week, Pastor Dan highlighted a passage about the frustration and anger Jesus had with the arrogance of the teachers of the law. They wanted the fanciest seats, the places of honor and all the attention. Attention that rightly belongs to the Lord. Their hearts were about themselves. (Mark 12:38-40)
Jesus also gathered His friends to point out a poor widow who wasn’t trying to be seen. She gave all she had to the Lord. Her heart was about Him. (Mark 12:41-44)
In our living and our giving, we all have opportunities and responsibilities to point others to Jesus. Whether it’s in public ministry like John the Baptist or in private generosity like the poor widow. The matter of our hearts is the heart of the matter.
Lord, Help me to live and give generously. Let my life be an arrow that points to Your greatness.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
~ Gwen Smith is an author, speaker, co-founder of Girlfriends in God and host of the Graceologie podcast.