๐๐๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ฒ-๐ญ๐ณ โ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ด๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐น๐ถ๐ท๐ฎ๐ต, ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐๐, ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ.โ
John the Baptist was to have the ministry of turning โ more precisely REturning โ people back towards their God. Commensurate with that was a reconciliation between the generations and repentance of sin to Biblical โwisdomโ or righteous precepts. It was to be done to prepare the people for someone and something greater to come.
John would later point to Jesus as that โsomeoneโ to come. But inherent in this proclamation is a statement that the people of Israel were not ready to receive their Messiah. They had strayed (or were led astray) from following the ways of the Lord. In occupied, oppressed Israel, the compromised state of mind and path in life is understandable. Itโs remarkable the God chose this time to send John the Baptist and Jesus.
Part and parcel of Johnโs message was that oppression and discouragement were no excuse for not following the Lord. Indeed, there was a thriving and overcoming implicit in the ministry of the suffering and dying Messiah. THAT was not expected by anyone in first century Israel. What the people expected and wanted was a Messiah who would throw off Roman rule and re-establish Israel as THE world power. Jesus would indeed conquer Rome, though not through military/political power. Johnโs ministry prepared the people for righteousness in the midst of suffering and overcoming despite trial and opposition.
Where do I explain away my ethical shortcomings and compromises with โwhat Iโve been throughโ? Where do I do that for groups of people of whom Iโm a part? It doesnโt wash and it doesnโt mesh with the gospel I profess to follow. Perseverance and patience (literally โlongsufferingโ in the original Greek) are products of following Jesus. Do I pray for them to develop and be lived out in my life? If not, I need to.
๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ญ ๐ก๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐๐น. ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ถ๐.