GETTING THINGS STARTED IN PRIME FASHION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Matthew 3:4-6

The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

Mark 1:5-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Who would you have picked if you could select one person to announce the coming of Jesus?

Maybe you would have picked a highly popular celebrity. Or a respected political official, maybe even a current or former world leader. Anyone of stature would have probably been the first person to come to mind.

But as we see in today’s devotion and our continuing look at the emergence of John the Baptist, God chose who was probably the most unlikely of candidates to have the honor of proclaiming the arrival of His only Son and the Savior of the world. Look again at our scripture verses from the Gospels of Matthew and Mark:

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.  Matthew 3:4-6

The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  Mark 1:5-6

The prophet Isaiah had predicted that the voice declaring Jesus’ coming would come from the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3-5) and as we read in the scriptures from yesterday and today, John definitely fit that bill. We know he received the word of God while in the desert where his attire was what one would expect for someone living off the land for the most part.

Our passage tells us that John was clothes were fashioned from camel’s hair and those clothes were fashioned by a leather belt around his waist. It was the outfit of a true outdoorsman who lived on a diet of locusts and wild honey. One thing’s for sure, John must have definitely distinguished himself from the crowd but it was more than his attire that drew people to him. We read where John had a spiritual anointing that led people to respond to his call from repentance from sin. In fact, the “whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem” as well as the “region of the Jordan” went out to him, many of which confessed their sins and were baptized in the Jordan River.

Things were starting to change, especially within the hearts of God’s people.  

Yes, John had acquired quite a following but as we will see tomorrow, he knew that he was only getting things started in prime fashion, priming the pump for believers to reflect on the way they were living and then turn from their iniquities, repenting and coming to a new life and relationship with God.

Indeed, John was getting things primed for Jesus but before He would arrive, John had a few words for the Jewish religious leaders of the day, words that would get him in future peril just as Jesus would when He emerged onto the scene. We’ll cover that in tomorrow’s message.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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