Words can be powerful. John demonstrated that in his life. How else can you explain the reaction of people to his words? These powerful words were the magnet that drew people out from the city to come and hear the Baptizer in the middle of the wilderness. These powerful words were the catalyst of so many being moved to stand in the shallow waters of the Jordan and desire this baptism for repentance. These powerful words put John on the radar of the religious elite and caused them to send out a delegation (a.k.a. spies) to check out this dominating desert deliverer of mesmerizing messages. These powerful words even brought a reaction from the powers that be - even within the government itself. When John continued to call out Herod on the immorality of taking his brother’s wife, even this king responded with seeming equal force and had John arrested and thrown in prison.
Whether you loved John, hated him, or feared him, everyone seemed to agree that he was the bearer of powerful words. His powerful words had to be behind the rumors and wonderings among the masses that John might well be the long-awaited Messiah himself. But it is here that John shows his true power – the power of humility. Such conjecture and speculation could have easily gone to his head, but John would have none of it. Instead he made it clear that the power of his words did not come from some sort of inner strength he had developed and manufactured. In fact, the power of his words didn’t come from him at all. It came from the One who was coming and who was more powerful. John told them that this was the one - “the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” That’s some pretty powerful words in and of themselves. John wasn’t going to take credit for the effects of the words he spoke. He knew better. God had chosen him and sent him with one purpose – not of getting himself elected Messiah, but of truly preparing the way for the Christ who would come and leave people amazed, “because his message had authority.” (Luke 4:32)
Most (if not all) of us may have a little trouble relating to powerful words when it comes to the messages that make their way out of our own mouths. Every parent has had the experience of talking to a son or daughter and then wondering, “Am I speaking in a foreign language here?” Every wife has had the experience of sharing something with her husband, only to end up asking herself if a single syllable made it past the sports commentators or newscasters and registered in the consciousness of the man she loves. (As I husband I can say with certainty that we catch every word – oops I shouldn’t tell fibs in the middle of a devotion on the power of words.)
So to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to realize that we too have powerful words to share. These are not words that we have to create from scratch but a message that has been handed down from the prophets of the Old Testament and one in the wilderness near the Jordan River. It’s sung by angels over a Bethlehem hillside, and shouted by shepherds as they run up and down the streets of the town of David. It’s the message that Christ the Savior is born – that he died and rose again, and will make a final appearing to take all who believe in Him home. And these words are given to you and me as we share what it means to know the true meaning of Christmas. Don’t take them lightly. These are powerful words. Paul says this same thing emphatically in Romans 1:16:
I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
Whether you loved John, hated him, or feared him, everyone seemed to agree that he was the bearer of powerful words. His powerful words had to be behind the rumors and wonderings among the masses that John might well be the long-awaited Messiah himself. But it is here that John shows his true power – the power of humility. Such conjecture and speculation could have easily gone to his head, but John would have none of it. Instead he made it clear that the power of his words did not come from some sort of inner strength he had developed and manufactured. In fact, the power of his words didn’t come from him at all. It came from the One who was coming and who was more powerful. John told them that this was the one - “the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” That’s some pretty powerful words in and of themselves. John wasn’t going to take credit for the effects of the words he spoke. He knew better. God had chosen him and sent him with one purpose – not of getting himself elected Messiah, but of truly preparing the way for the Christ who would come and leave people amazed, “because his message had authority.” (Luke 4:32)
Most (if not all) of us may have a little trouble relating to powerful words when it comes to the messages that make their way out of our own mouths. Every parent has had the experience of talking to a son or daughter and then wondering, “Am I speaking in a foreign language here?” Every wife has had the experience of sharing something with her husband, only to end up asking herself if a single syllable made it past the sports commentators or newscasters and registered in the consciousness of the man she loves. (As I husband I can say with certainty that we catch every word – oops I shouldn’t tell fibs in the middle of a devotion on the power of words.)
So to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to realize that we too have powerful words to share. These are not words that we have to create from scratch but a message that has been handed down from the prophets of the Old Testament and one in the wilderness near the Jordan River. It’s sung by angels over a Bethlehem hillside, and shouted by shepherds as they run up and down the streets of the town of David. It’s the message that Christ the Savior is born – that he died and rose again, and will make a final appearing to take all who believe in Him home. And these words are given to you and me as we share what it means to know the true meaning of Christmas. Don’t take them lightly. These are powerful words. Paul says this same thing emphatically in Romans 1:16:
I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
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