28-Day Walk to Easter: Luke 1, John the Baptist's Introduction

Luke 1:76-78 (Zechariah's Prophesy) "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Sunrise shall visit us from on high."

When's the last time you witnessed someone give an introduction for someone else? Perhaps it was at a conference, or a chapel service, or maybe even at church when you had a guest preacher. Or perhaps someone has given an introduction for you before. Either way, we must note that there is great honor in the giving of an introduction. People don't introduce other people unless they are important, and the same principle applies to the very Savior himself. Jesus needed an introduction. Enter John the Baptist.

D. A. Carson, for those of you who know who that is, was here at the seminary last week giving a series of lectures. In one of them, he spoke of the greatness of John the Baptist. Jesus himself said that John the Baptist was the greatest man that ever lived (Matthew 11:11). Oftentimes we take this verse and interpret it as if John the Baptist was the most holy man that ever lived. Although this might be true, its not the point that Jesus is trying to make, as Carson pointed out. The point is that John the Baptist was the greatest man who ever lived because he introduced Jesus.*

Furthermore, we must note that the greatness of the one being introduced is presupposed by the one who is doing the introducing. I don't think they would ever let me introduce President Trump to give an inaugoral address, but they might let the Chief of Staff do it. Likewise, John the Baptist shows that greatness of Jesus was so great that the very man who introduced him had to be miraculously born. Not only was Jesus so great that he got someone to introduce him, but he got a man who was born out of a miracle to introduce him. Yikes! The coming of the man whom John is introducing must be important...

Are you bored yet? Good, because some things in life are boring. However, I hope you've seen my point: Although we often overlook him, John the Baptist had a great purpose in preparing the way for the Savior. There's a reason that Luke takes such a great measure of time speaking of John the Baptist, that is, because he was the great precursor for someone who was coming who was even greater than he was. John the Baptist put the entirety of his listeners (and us as well, as we read through Luke's account) on the edge of their seats anticipating who was to come. And the one who was to come, as we will see, was greater than we could ever imagine. And you'll have to wait on the edge of your seat until tomorrow's devotion to hear who that person was... [Spoiler Alert: It's Jesus.]

*Carson, as a humorous joke to make his point, noted that Dr. York (the man who introduced Carson before he gave his lecture) was actually "the greatest man on earth...because he introduced me."