John, the Lesser

Author: Joseph

Date: December 1, 2019

After His testing in the wilderness, Yeshua learned that John was imprisoned by King Herod. He hid Himself in Galilee and then settled in Capernaum. John, who was preaching for people to repent and seek the kingdom of God was then silenced in his prison cell.

Yeshua took some time in hiding, but also made a bold return, proclaiming the same message as John who came before Him: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

John’s imprisonment did not make Yeshua timid about proclaiming repentance and God’s kingdom. John had been working as a messenger to forewarn people with the same exact message Yeshua was going to proclaim. Yeshua was still the main messenger and His boldness was not hindered by anything but Himself.

"The hearts of people would be revealed in their response to Him."

John’s purpose was also to prepare people to accept Yeshua and His message for them. If anyone was willing to listen to John, they would be more likely to hear the words of Yeshua and believe in Him. If they rejected John, however, then they were more likely to reject Yeshua and dismiss His message just the same as they did with John. Yeshua was more convicting in His words and held more authority, making Him even more difficult to accept than John. The hearts of people would be revealed in their response to Him.

John was a messenger, a forerunner, and a test of how people would receive Yeshua.

God often works from lesser to greater things in our lives. When He speaks to us in a small way and tests how we respond, then He often speaks to us in greater ways and does greater things in our lives for His glory.

Do not ignore the seemingly small things that God speaks to you or is working at within your life. These are often opportunities for you to build up your faith in Him, which leads to stronger faith and greater opportunities to demonstrate faith. When we respond well to the lesser things, we are building faith to respond well to the greater things, just as those who accepted and heard John’s message were more likely to accept and hear Yeshua’s message.

Think today of ways that God has been trying to speak to you or change your life. Have you ignored Him or doubted Him? This has hindered your faith in Him and has hindered your relationship with Him. Build up your faith by intentionally listening and doing what He says or by going where He leads you. When you act faithfully in lesser things, you allow Him to do greater things.

Matthew 4:12-17

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org