Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 1-3.

I always have trouble writing my blog on this passage because there is so much here.  John manages to convey a lot of thoughts with few words in today’s passage.  I am going to start by commenting on John the Baptist’s self identification.  He denied being the Messiah, or Elijah, or “the Prophet”.  The only title he would claim for himself was “the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”   I think that John was doing this in the spirit of the teaching when Jesus told His disciples to call no one “Father”.  John was making clear that he was not better than others and that he was not an intermediary between them and God.  John was trying to tell them that it was the message which was important, not the messenger.  When I started this I intended to write on more than this, but I want to emphasize that point.  All too many have made the mistake which John the Baptist was avoiding: they thought that they, the messenger, were important.  John the Baptist was not important, his message was.  Billy Graham was not important, his message was.  There are preachers today, just as in the past, who have forgotten this.  They think that they are important, and as a result their message does not get through.  When preaching the Gospel, it is the message which is important, not the messenger.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.