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A True Witness, September 30
John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.
And many believed on him there.
John 10:41, 42
.
In the announcement to Zacharias before the birth of John, the angel had
declared, “He shall be great in the sight of the Lord” (
Luke 1:15
). In the
estimation of Heaven, what is it that constitutes greatness? Not that which the
world accounts greatness; not wealth, or rank, or noble descent, or intellectual
gifts, in themselves considered.... It is moral worth that God values. Love and
purity are the attributes He prizes most. John was great in the sight of the Lord,
when, before the messengers from the Sanhedrin, before the people, and before
his own disciples, he refrained from seeking honor for himself, but pointed all to
Jesus as the Promised One. His unselfish joy in the ministry of Christ presents
the highest type of nobility ever revealed in man....
Aside from the joy that John found in his mission, his life had been one of
sorrow. His voice had been seldom heard except in the wilderness. His was a
lonely lot. And he was not permitted to see the result of his own labors. It was
not his privilege to be with Christ and witness the manifestation of divine power
attending the greater light. It was not for him to see the blind restored to sight,
the sick healed, and the dead raised to life. He did not behold the light that shone
through every word of Christ, shedding glory upon the promises of prophecy.
The least disciple who saw Christ’s mighty works and heard His words was in
this sense more highly privileged than John the Baptist, and therefore is said to
have been greater than he
It was not given to John to call down fire from heaven, or to raise the dead,
as Elijah did, nor to wield Moses’ rod of power in the name of God. He was
sent to herald the Saviour’s advent, and to call upon the people to prepare for
His coming. So faithfully did he fulfill his mission that as the people recalled
what he had taught them of Jesus, they could say, “All things that John spake
of this Man were true.” Such witness to Christ every disciple of the Master is
called upon to bear
[280]
47
Ibid., 219, 220
.
48
Ibid
.
289