John the Baptist

No greater man was ever born of woman than John the Baptist.  He was the forerunner of the Son of God.

He was a mountain giant, raised in the Judean hills; he fed on locusts and wild honey, was poorly clad, but fearless.  His head never bowed until he met the Christ, the Son of God.

He was a preacher of righteousness, a heralder of a new dispensation, the voice of a new approach to God.

His pulpit was the peaks of the Judean mountains; his auditorium the arching sky and the deep valley.  His congregation was made up of many sorts of people-Sadducees, Pharisees, soldiers, courtiers, governors, kings.  His message pierced the armor of indifference in every hearer.

He was explicit in his teachings, clear and pointed, forceful in presenting the truth.  So much so that some wondered and inquired, “Art thou the Son of God?”

The characteristics which dominated his life were—

Simplicity.  No strut nor pride was ever seen in John the Baptist.

Honesty. He never rounded the corners or shaped his message to suit the crowd.

Humility.  He was positive in the depreciation of himself, and powerful in the declaration of the greatness of the Son of God.

Courage.  Because of his preaching he lost his head, but he kept his purity of soul and a clear conscience.

The compass of his sermons ran the whole gamut of Christian theology.  Sin was exposed in its hell-deserving awfulness.  Repentance was demanded of men in all walks of life.  Faith in Christ’s death as the Lamb of God was declared to be the only way to salvation.  The deity of Christ was affirmed in positive terms.

From the life of John the Baptist we learn that life in its eternal outgoing does not consist of meat, drink, clothes, earthly honor, or space of years.  It consists in doing God’s will, in God’s place with God’s power.  This is the mark of true greatness and is the coin the God’s eternal world.

--Oliver G. Wilson