TEACHING
the One who would come after him. “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’” (John 1:23)
THEREFORE BEAR FRUITS WORTHY OF REPENTANCE. MATTHEW 3:8
THIS VOICE WAS ALREADY HEARD 2000 YEARS AGO THROUGH JOHN THE BAPTIST. AND I BELIEVE THIS VOICE IS BEING HEARD AGAIN TODAY.
His message struck at the very heart of the religious establishment and the notion that belonging to God‘s chosen people, the Jews, was a free ticket to heaven (Luke 3:7-9). Rather, God was looking for a people of broken spirit, ready to repent, and not by mere words only. If necessary, God could raise a people for Himself out of stones, John declared. Repentance for John was not just reading a confession in church (or the temple), but required a radical change of lifestyle. “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (Matthew 3:8)
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(Matthew 14:4) His apparel was rustic at best and, according to Jesus, unsuited for the halls of power. (Matthew 11:8) And his diet was definitely peculiar – locust with honey. John the Baptist was a preacher who upset people both in his appearance and message. Yet many loved him and felt this strange firebrand in the desert had the word of the Lord for their generation. They sensed that God had again sent a man like Elijah of old, challenging their lukewarm-ness and wayward lifestyles. From all over Israel, they came to listen to him and to undergo the baptism of John. Jesus himself later gave him the highest compliment a man could expect: “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11:11)
John was the way-maker for Messiah. He carried out his ministry “in the spirit and power of Elijah… to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17) Or as Jesus himself would later say: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” (Matthew 11:10) ELIJAH MUST COME The prophet Malachi links this ministry of the way-maker to Israel’s great prophet, Elijah. Even until today, the Jewish people have a tradition of keeping a seat open at the Passover seder table for Elijah in anticipation of his coming. At one point, the door also is opened just in case Elijah has come.
But when asked by the people who he really was, John was surprisingly unpretentious and declared that it was not at all about him but
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5 | WORD FROM JERUSALEM
When Jesus and his disciples were on the way back from the Mount of Transfiguration. They had just encountered Elijah and Moses talking to Jesus, and the disciples asked him: “‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:10-13) Jesus answered in an almost cryptic manner. “Elijah is coming” and “Elijah has already come.” He indicates that there is a twofold ministry of Elijah. One took place through the person of John the Baptist. This ministry was very powerful but at the same time it ended with John the Baptist being beheaded. “They… did with him whatever they wished.” Yet Jesus also states that there will be a future ministry of Elijah, “Elijah is coming!” According to the Lord, this Elijah ministry will be different in the outcome. This future Elijah ministry “will restore all things.”
I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT THIS CURRENT CRISIS IS A CALL FROM HEAVEN TO ALL OF US TO “PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD!” The re-emergence and ongoing restoration of the modern state of Israel, the unprecedented growth of the Church around the world, and the global shakings (like the current Corona crisis) all indicate that we are living in times of great spiritual significance. Jesus is coming soon! Yet if that is true, we all need to revisit the ministry of John the Baptist. I personally believe that this current crisis is a call from heaven to all of us to “Prepare the way of the Lord!” This time it is not the voice of one individual person, church or ministry, but a call from the Spirit of God which is heard across the world by those who hunger and thirst for more of His glory and for the coming of their Saviour. Today, we hear that the Bible is sold out in
