all the prophets and the law. And if you believe me, John is indeed that Elijah,
whose coming was predicted. Let anyone with ears listen!

REFLECTION:
John the Baptist is a figure we reckon with in the season of Advent.
He is the one who calls “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”
He was the one who prepared Israel for the first coming of the Lord.
His greatness precisely was in getting Israel prepared for the first coming.
Did he succeed? Or did he fail? Always the prophet can only announce or alert people to forthcoming danger or blessing.
It is always up to the hearers to either respond to the call or turn a deaf ear.
John the Baptist did not live long enough to witness the fulfillment of the promise of Yahweh.
He had, however, the privilege of experiencing the fruit of salvation
that Christ would bring about by his death and resurrection
“in utero” or from the womb for when the pregnant Madonna (Mary) visited his mother Elizabeth,
he received the Spirit and jumped for joy! That is why truly there is
“no one greater than John the Baptist” among the sons of women.
Yet still “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he!”
Who can this least be? He who becomes a disciple of Jesus is greater than John.
We can be the ones! But we have hearers and doers of the Word, like Mary.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2020