Holidays

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Although my parents urged me, I never joined the Boy Scouts, for a very silly reason: I was afraid to tell stories around a campfire! Now you can’t shut me up.

We all know the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared.” Centuries before the first Boy Scouts, a lone figure, who shares the Christmas story in Luke Chapter 2, preached a simple message to the masses: “Be prepared!”

John the Baptist was born six months before Christ (Luke 1:36). His birth and ministry were predicted over 600 years prior (Isaiah 40:3–5). John’s ministry purpose was to prepare the way for the Messiah by telling people to repent of their sins (Luke 3:4). His message, in a Biblical nutshell, was “Be prepared!”

John’s voice was an echo of an earlier prophet: “Prepare to meet your God, O Israel” (Amos 4:12). Just like Amos warned the rebellious nation 750 years earlier that judgment was coming, so did John warn his contemporaries that judgment was on the way (Luke 3:7). Jesus, the coming Messiah, God in the flesh, was coming to judge the nations unless they repented. John was the herald of the good news (i.e., gospel) that Messiah was also a Savior (John 1:29–34). “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe” (John 1:7).

John’s ministry is the archetype for the ministry that all Christians are given at salvation. Before Jesus left for heaven, he told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We, like John, are to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). We are to illumine the path to Christ by our lives and words.

John was a bold character. He bravely faced the multitude with his message of sin and repentance. He called the masses, which included tax collectors and soldiers, a “brood of vipers” (Luke 3:7). Not many of us could get away with that today, but it was an honest evaluation of his generation. He even rebuked Herod because he married his brother’s wife Herodias, and was locked up for being a bit too personal (Luke 3:19, 20). But then again, sin and repentance are deeply personal matters.

John’s boldness in confronting his culture was mirrored in the witness of the later disciples. For example, although Peter and John were “unschooled, ordinary men,” they preached with “courage” (Acts 4:13). Their boldness was not the result of a Doctorate of Theology or board membership—it was from an obedient heart and the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8).

Despite his calling, John struggled with doubts. Languishing in prison for doing what was right, he sent to Jesus to find out if he was really the Coming One, a Jewish term for the Messiah. Jesus, of course, verified his claims and said, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me” (Luke 7:23). Although things look bleak and didn’t turn out the way you expected, don’t lose faith in the Lord. Like John, take your fears and doubts to him, and he will strengthen you.

John’s experiences bring to mind Jesus’ own exhortations to “be prepared.” In the Sermon on the Mount, he said:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10–12).

The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12, NKJV). Be prepared!

Unlike the young boy who was too timid to tell stories around a campfire, John the Baptist broadcast his story to everyone he could, regardless of their status, rank, power or influence. And why not? He had the greatest story to tell! There is no greater saga than the story of the innocent Lamb of God bearing the punishment for our sins on the cruel cross. There is no other epic tale that assures eternal life. What other sonnet can extol the depths of the love God shows for us like the gospel (Romans 5:8)? This is no fireside ghost fantasy: “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16, NKJV).

John the Baptist’s life and lips proclaimed the message, “Be prepared!” As disciples of Christ, we should be prepared for preaching (“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” [1 Peter 3:15]), persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), and Paradise (“To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” [Revelation 2:7]).

Next time, an elderly couple teaches us about faith.

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