The Other John
(John 1:15-28) – One thing that can be confusing wen you are reading through the Scriptures is the fact that the same names are used in more than one context. Here we’re reading the book of John and right at the begin he begins talking about John. The John that is talked about here is actually John the Baptist who, if you read more of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) you’ll find out is actually Jesus cousin. Now John the Baptist was called by God to go ahead of Jesus and prepare people for his coming. John was a pretty wild looking guy and got pretty riled up when speaking about Jesus coming. Since he was baptizing people the Pharisees were pretty interested to find our who claimed himself to be. Some people thought he was the Christ. When asked about who he was he made it clear that he was not the Christ or anyone else they might think, that he wasn’t even fit to untie Jesus’ sandals.
What amazes me is that John the Baptist, while he was Jesus cousin, hadn’t even ever met him yet was on fire and wanted to bring others to him. He didn’t seem to care at all what people thought of his wildness. Where is that same fire in me or in any of us as Christ followers? Why is it that we find ourselves so timid in the face of the world?
