Being humble while knowing you are superior than the other person is tough (Vanity I know!), it requires grace of God to remain humble. Back in my school days, my friend and I failed in Hindi. Nonetheless, I scored higher marks than him. It was merely 2 marks more than him; to this day, I remember how I had that wide grin on my face thinking that I was better than him,  although we  both failed in that quarterly test. 

The Word of God says, God exalts the humble. There are so many characters in the Bible yet one man is highly regarded by God and it is only because of his humility. Jesus speaks about this very man in Matthew 11:11  “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

Right, the man in the spotlight is John the Baptist. Technically, he is also  a  cousin of Christ, the Bible says that he and his parents were  filled with the Holy Spirit,  they were righteous before God. The word of God says; John while still in his mother’s womb, leaped for joy when his mother Elizabeth was greeted by the Mother of God, Mary. John was filled with Joy at the arrival of Jesus in Mother Mary’s womb. This is huge! I’ll tell you why. Not many recognised Jesus as the Messiah. Many still questioned Jesus’s authority in his public ministry or did not know who Jesus was; despite the miracles, the preaching and healing. He fulfilled every prophecy of the scripture, yet many failed to know who Jesus is. He asks his own disciples ‘Who they think He is’, you get multiple answers from them. Hardly a handful knew who Jesus was before his public ministry.  The only people who knew Jesus as the Messiah the Son of God was of course, His parents Mary and Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth discerned Jesus too. Yep, just about a handful of adults knew who Jesus is before His birth. The only one who recognised Jesus while still in the womb; was His bro, John! In actuality, a 6 month fetus. When we encounter Christ there is this inexplicable Joy that comes to you. John experiences just that, he manifests this Joy of the Lord with a big leap that the mother Elizabeth exclaimed this Joy to Mary, the mother of God. How awesome is that?  Such was his anointing and calling to bear witness to the coming Messiah.

John was in  power and spirit of prophet Elijah. He is a son of a priest, a Levi descendant of Aaron, a first born Jew. He was sent to the world to make way for the savior. A calling prophesied hundreds of years before he was born. (Isaiah 40:3) He is the one who baptized Christ Jesus, he renounced all of his privileges to become servant of his younger cousin who is Christ. To bring the lost world into repentance and crying out loud on the iniquities of the church leaders of his time. He had only one thing in his mind, which was to please God and God alone, which of course, cost him his life that he zealously gave away.

According to the Bible and history, John was beheaded around the age of 30. As a young man he counted every pleasure of his age to be nothing, living his life in wilderness. Forsaking everything which he could have possessed as a rightful Jewish priest. He could have easily been in banquets and as a guest of honour on Jewish events and snuck up his nose for being a true “blue blood”,  Instead he chose clothes made of Camel hair and leather belt (Hmmm.. in hindsight he probably didn’t realise he made leather belts a trend!).The food he ate ain’t the best either – Honey and Locusts, anyone?

He introduced Christ to the world as the Lamb of God, who came down to take away our sins. He was unique, taught and led people to walk in the right way leading to the true Light. He led many into his discipleship and sent them to Jesus when he had to depart from this world. Being a cousin of Christ, one filled with the Holy Spirit I can confidently say that he was the first disciple of our Lord even before Christ commenced His ministry life.

Both people and Pharisees regarded John to be one of the prophet of God. Pharisees of his time weren’t welcoming John; much because he exposed the lies and hypocritical way of the leaders, yet they all knew he was  a righteous one before God. We don’t see any miracles or signs being accorded to John, yet he is the greatest of all who is born in this world. His father Zachariah prophesied about his son  John, saying Luke 1:76  “And you child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” Though a prophet, John goes on to say about himself this way, John 1:26-27 “John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

He says he is unworthy to untie Christ’s sandal strap. He also goes on to say Christ must increase and I decrease. He always humbled himself at the service of the Lord. He always put Christ Jesus first, His kingdom above all things, and worked only to fulfill what he was called to do i.e., to bear testimony to the Light of the world and prepare the way to his Lord. As the life giving Word says in Matthew 23:12  “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Truly, God exalted John as the greatest man ever lived on earth. John set an example by living a life that glorified Christ.  This humble cousin of Christ gives us all  a message; to Glorify Christ  in all that we do!