Good Thursday morning! Thank you for all your kind prayers; yesterday went very well. Right now you are probably wondering whether some great event happened in my life such as a surgery or a publishing deal, but no, just one of those good days that come from our prayers for each other. The truck went in for a checkup and had no problems, which proved my anxieties unfounded as usual, and the dental bill that I feared was not as bad as my fear made it. Our fears are often proven unfounded and only reflect how far we have to go in our learning to trust in God completely.
Today, what if you were assigned to guard something or more specifically, to watch for someone? In my time in the military, I stood guard duty at times, my job was to keep watch. When I failed to keep watch for an officer or got a little sleepy on post, I usually got a surprise. There are worse things in military guard duty than failing to recognize an officer until he is standing right in front of you, but most of them involve courts martial, destruction, or even death; officers just remember the incident forever and ever.
The Pharisees knew Ezekiel and his words about the watchman. The job of the priests was to watch for the coming of the Messiah. In today's verse, John the Baptist gives our junior Pharisees one of those surprises you get when you fail to see what you are assigned to watch for.
John 1: 26 - John told them, "I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize."
The junior Pharisees were probably taken aback by this statement. More than likely they didn't recognize many of the people there, but one among the crowd was obviously the one they were watching for. John gave them a hint, a clue to help them, a "look around you, He is here!" kind of hint. Perhaps the translation should be "some ONE you do not recognize" for the Pharisees knew their mission. The questioning of John was a part of watching for the Messiah. However, the Pharisees had fallen into the trap of pride.
Each time they found a false prophet, the group said something like, "look how smart we are in the scripture; no false prophet can fool us!" In counting on their own strength and taking pride in it, the one they should have seen stood right there in the crowd and they didn't recognize him. Many is the time that I stood in my own strength on guard duty, alert and ready for anything...only to find myself rudely startled by someone or something. The cold hour just before the dawn is the hardest to stay awake in, and I assure you that it is quite possible to fall asleep on your feet. We stand in that hour even now. Awaken! Watch for Jesus and don't be caught as the junior Pharisees were.
God's blessings go with you on this day,
Bucky
No comments:
Post a Comment