“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)
God has communicated His plans to man directly as He did with Adam or indirectly as He did with Pharaoh through Moses (Genesis 3:1-24; Exodus 5:1). One plan God has shared through many messengers for thousands of years is that He would one day save people from their sins. Two of God’s most famous prophets—John the Baptist, and Jesus, the Christ preached that message of salvation.
John was born to Zacharias and Elizabeth, two elderly servants of God. The angel Gabriel was sent by God with a message to Zacharias that his wife would bear a son who would not drink wine or liquor, but he would be filled with the Holy Spirit. “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.” John was born, and he grew, and became strong in spirit. He lived in the deserts until his public appearance to Israel (Luke 1:5–25, 57–80).
Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, two young servants of God. The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary with a message that she would give birth to a son. Joseph, however, received the message from an angel of the Lord, in a dream. The angel said to Joseph, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus was born as promised. He grew strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on Him (Luke 1:26–56; 2:1–52).
The message preached by John and Jesus was that sinners must repent from their sins (Luke 3:2–3; Luke 5:31–32). This did not sit well with the Pharisees who thought of themselves as being righteous. Both John and Jesus used the same words to describe the self-righteous leaders—a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:4–8; 12:25, 34). These messengers from God were both killed by people who did not fully comprehend or believe their message (Mark 6:14–29; Luke 23:1-49).
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SUMMARY • God communicates with man either directly or indirectly
• It was prophesied that Jesus would save His people from their sins
• Both John and Jesus preached that sinners need to repent from their sin
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RBG Devotional 3–2: The Messengers: John the Baptist, and Jesus Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org 22-Jun-21, 13:41 |