Greater Than John

March 28

(Luke 7:26-28 NIV) “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. {27} This is the one about whom it is written: "'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' {28} I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

(Isaiah 30:9-11 NIV) ““These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. {10} They say to the seers, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. {11} Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!””

Jesus said that those who are least in God’s kingdom will be greater than John the Baptist. Believers are called to a prophetic ministry of declaring God’s truth, even in the face of stiff opposition. As Scripture is marginalized and trivialized by the world, raging secularists would like nothing better than a cowering, intimidated Church. Many believers continue to grow in knowledge, but have refused to be a prophetic witness to the world. Some even choose what to believe based on popular opinion and personal feeling. Many have begun to bless sin, simply because they know some nice people who practice these sins! We must stand against the enemies of the cross as prophetic disciples, full of grace and truth. We must become more like John the Baptist, speaking the truth in love in spite of the ridicule heaped upon us by both the religious and the secular. This is our calling. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day