None Greater
Than John the Baptist
Verily
I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a
greater than John the Baptist. Matt. 11:11
The tall reeds that grew beside the
Jordan, bending before every breeze, were fitting representatives of the rabbis
who had stood as critics and judges of the Baptist's mission. They were swayed
this way and that by the winds of popular opinion. They would not humble
themselves to receive the heart-searching message of the Baptist, yet for fear
of the people they dared not openly oppose his work. But God's messenger was of
no such craven spirit. The multitudes who were gathered about Christ had been
witnesses to the work of John. They had heard his fearless rebuke of sin. To the
self-righteous Pharisees, the priestly Sadducees, King Herod and his court,
princes and soldiers, publicans and peasants, John had spoken with equal
plainness. He was no trembling reed, swayed by the winds of human praise or
prejudice. In the prison he was the same in his loyalty to God and his zeal for
righteousness as when he preached God's message in the wilderness. In his
faithfulness to principle he was as firm as a rock. . . .
In the announcement to Zacharias before
the birth of John, the angel had declared, "He shall be great in the sight
of the Lord." In the estimation of Heaven, what is it that constitutes
greatness?-- Not that which the world accounts greatness. . . . It is moral
worth that God values. Love and purity are the attributes He prizes most. John
was great in the sight of the Lord, when before the messengers from the
Sanhedrim, before the people, and before his own disciples he refrained from
seeking honor for himself, but pointed all to Jesus as the Promised One. His unselfish
joy in the ministry of Christ presents the highest type of nobility ever
revealed in man.
From My Life Today - Page 334
