The Promised One: Advent Day 17

Read & Journal

Read John 1:19-34. Take a few moments to meditate on what you’ve read. Use the following prompts as a guide.

• Take a few minutes to mull over what you’ve read. What are the key points you want to remember from this passage?

• What do you learn about God in this passage? About his character?

• Do these verses reveal anything about Jesus, his mission or his purpose?

• What do you learn about John the Baptist and his role?

• John comes to a moment where he recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, the one God had promised. Have you come to that realization yourself? If so, journal a prayer thanking God for all he has done to bring you into relationship with him.

Ponder

We aren’t given a lot of details of what John the Baptist’s life was like as a child or teenager. We simply jump from Zechariah’s prophecy and praise to John living out his calling as a “voice shouting in the wilderness.” Was the story of his birth a well-known family story, one Zechariah and Elizabeth told and retold throughout the years? Did Zechariah remind his son of the words he’d prayed over him when he was a newborn?

Recall a few of the key phrases of the prophecy Zechariah spoke over his son in Luke 1:67-80, which you read yesterday:

• “You will be called the prophet of the Most High”

• “You will prepare the way for the Lord.”

• “You will tell the people how to find salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.”

Compare those phrases to the adult John the Baptist you meet in today’s reading. What similarities do you see?

Zechariah spoke those prophecies over a tiny baby in Luke, and in John’s Gospel, we get to see them fulfilled in the life of John the Baptist. John understood his calling and his role—and rather than grasping for more power or prominence, he focused on what he’d been called to do. He watched and waited for the Messiah to appear, and when he recognized that Jesus was the One they had been waiting for, he testified to that fact.

It’s easy to look at your role, your gifts and talents, your life and find it lacking when you compare it to someone else’s. John never seemed to lose sight of the fact that his job was to prepare the people for the Messiah. It wasn’t to build his own following or make a name for himself; it was to continually prepare and point the peoples’ hearts toward Jesus. He was making the way straight and paving the way for the Messiah, and while the world around him might seek to distract him, John kept his eyes on Jesus.

As we close out this third week of Advent, don’t let the world distract you from Jesus. Keep your eyes on him, let him define your value and your purpose. And seek to follow and testify about him, knowing that he can use your life to prepare the hearts of others for his salvation.