Dec 15 – Standing for the Truth
What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?
John the Baptist was quite a character. He was no ordinary-looking guy, and probably turned the heads of everyone passing by. Can’t you just hear them: “Did you see that guy? What in the world is he wearing?” People had never seen the likes of someone like him, so they went out to the desert just to check him out.
In our passage today, Jesus is asking the crowd a rhetorical question when he asks them what they went out into the desert to see. When Jesus asks if they went to see a reed swayed by the wind, He was basically asking if they went out to see some wishy-washy preacher.
A “reed swayed by the wind” suggests a fickle person; someone whose judgment and decisions are caught in the winds of public opinion. John was no such person. He preached the gospel without excuse.
He stood up for the truth of the gospel even though it ultimately cost him his life.
John the Baptist was the last in the line of the great prophets and the first to point to the arrival of the Messiah. John had a calling to live up to, and he took it very seriously. His whole mission in life was to prepare the way for Jesus. He is trying to convey the message that following Jesus is the only thing that matters in life.
It’s not a coincidence that this passage comes up so close to Christmas. We are challenged to pause in the midst of our holiday preparations to reflect on the reason for the season.
If Jesus were invited to your house for Christmas, He wouldn’t care about the state of your house. He would care about the state of your heart.
Take some time today to reflect: Are you a reed being swayed by the wind of consumerism or are you the voice of one calling in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord?
Lord Jesus, may my preparations this season begin with me. Change my heart, O God. Amen.
Pastor Tina Hosler