Key Passage
People went to hear John. The people came from Jerusalem and all Judea and all the area around the Jordan River. People told the sins they had done, and John baptized them in the Jordan River.
— Matthew 3:5-6 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
There is something self-revealing in God's word when presented in all of its liberating and uncomfortable truth. Amos had warned God’s people many years earlier that there would be a famine for God's word, a time when the voice of God through the prophets would go silent. John was the re-awakening of God's voice through a prophet. There was a clarity and ring of truth in his convicting message. He called people to a life-change through the confession of sins and baptism. People flocked to hear him, and then changed their lives based on John’s message from God. John was not in a convenient location. John didn't have money or power to gain an audience. What was John’s attractiveness? God's voice was recognizable in his preaching. The famine was over! People flocked to feed on the truth of God!
Prayer
Holy and Righteous Father, give me a love for your truth and a passion for your word. Through your Spirit, please enable me to understand and apply your truth in my daily life. In the name of my Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.
Related Scriptures
The Lord says: "Look, the days are coming when I will cause a time of hunger in the land. The people will not be hungry for bread. The people will not be thirsty for water. No, the people will be hungry for words from the Lord. The people will wander around the country, from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the north part of the country, to the east. The people will go back and forth looking for a message from the Lord. But they will not find it.
— Amos 8:11-12
Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or was it only from other people?" The priests and the Jewish leaders talked about Jesus' question. They said to each other, "If we answer, 'John's baptism was from God,' then Jesus will say, 'Then why didn't you believe John?' But we can't say John's baptism was from someone else. We are afraid of the people, because they all believe that John was a prophet. "
— Matthew 21:25-26
While John's followers were leaving, Jesus began talking to the people about John. Jesus said, "What did you people go out to the desert to see? A weed blown by the wind? No! Really, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No! Those people that wear fine clothes live in king's palaces. So what did you go out to see? A prophet ? Yes, and I tell you, John is more than a prophet. This Scripture was written about John: 'Listen! I (God) will send my helper ahead of you. He will prepare the way for you.'
— Matthew 11:7-10
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