19
One of Many
| Bro Gaius Egwu (Ohafia, Nigeria)
W
hen we think of Bible characters to
imitate, we may think of Paul or Dorcas
before thinking of John the Baptist. After all,
what did John the Baptist accomplish? His
pulpit was the Jordan wilderness, and he
baptized repentant sinners in a muddy river.
True, all Jerusalem and Judea went out to
hear him, and Jesus called John the ‘Elias’
who was to come. But John did not even
perform miracles. In the end, by preaching a
few simple words, John found imprisonment
through a damsel’s unprincipled dance, and
met his death – a terrible end.
Since we have come to the end of his life so
quickly, let’s go back, let’s think about John’s
life a little more. John did not have a
chequered past to make his sermons inter-
esting, (something like, ‘I once was a noto-
rious bandit, but I turned my life around’).
John could have boasted that his father was a
priest, or that his mother was of the daughters
of Aaron. However, we have no record he did
so. In fact, John did not talk about himself
much at all. Instead, he pointed to Christ,
“whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose”.
“Behold,” he said, “the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world. He must
increase, but I must decrease”. He fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah as he preached,
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his
path straight.” That is why he preached
repentance, so that when Christ began to
preach, many would be prepared to accept
the message, and find eternal life. As we read
more about John the Baptist, we see that
Christ said of him, “Verily, I say unto you,
among them that are born of women there
has not risen a greater than John the
Baptist”. With these words in mind, let us
consider two things about John the Baptist:
1| He never exalted himself – he spoke
of Christ.
2| Because of his ministry, many more
souls will be saved.
Don’t these things mean he was great?
Through the ages, we seem to once more hear
that voice from the Judean wilderness – a
voice raised in urgency. “Repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Then, near
the man in camel’s hair, we see Simeon and
Anna, their faces uplifted in praise at the
coming of the Messiah. Behind them are Moses
and Noah and Enoch. Voices swell in chorus,
“Worthy the Lamb!” No longer does John the
Baptist cry his message alone. In this scene,
he is one of many of those who foresaw the
Messiah. In front of John we see ranged the
faithful through the ages. We see men and
women who faced great temptation and won.
By victory, they freed themselves to proclaim
the greatness of Christ. With John the Baptist,
they raise their voices, “Worthy the Lamb!”
As the platter laden executioner dragged open
John’s cell door, he faced a man of conviction
and courage, a great man. I can imagine that
from the man clad in camel hair may have
come the words, eagerly spoken, “He has
come! Have you seen Him?”
Today, when platter bearing circumstances
occur, or even when friends and neighbours
with all good intent confront us, do they find
us with shining eyes saying, “He has come! He
will return. Do you know Him?” Like John, we
can thus be one of many raising our voices in
praise of the lamb. Did our life and actions
point men to Christ? Did our words express
who we are? The real us can never be hidden.
(Matt.12:34)