OUR FATHER WHO SENT A MESSENGER AHEAD OF HIS SON

In the book of Matthew chapter 11 verse 9, the Lord Jesus, speaking to the crowd about John the Baptist and what had drawn them to listen to him, asked and answered this question;

Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 

The question posed to the crowd about John the Baptist was what had attracted the people out to the wilderness to hear him?

They had not been drawn by a reed swaying in the wind because no one would have ventured into the harsh environment to listen to the opinions of a man that changed direction with the wind.

They had not gone out seeking a person with political power dressed in the fine clothing of kings and governors. If that is what they had been looking for, they would not have gone to the desert to find him but rather to the palaces in the urban centers of power.

Jesus asked, so if not these things, what compelled the people into the treacherous terrain to listen John? 

Jesus identifies the reason: a prophet. 

The gravity of a prophet speaking the words of God in the desert was the only power that could pull people out of their comfort zones into the discomfort of the wilderness.

The Lord Jesus said that John was such a prophet and that he was even more than a prophet because it was him of whom it was written, in the book of Malachi chapter 3 verse 1;

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’

This verse contains the words of the Father speaking to the Son about the one who would be sent to herald the sudden arrival of the Lord at His temple.

Amen.