John the Baptist heard the Lord perfectly.
Luke 3 describes the precision of John’s hearing. “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar — when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene — during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert..” Luke 3:1-2
John heard, and he acted…
So powerful and convincing was John when he spoke some thought he might possibly be the Messiah they were awaiting. “John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.'”
Luke tells us what happened next. “But when John rebuked Herod the tetrach because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.” Luke 3:19-20
John heard the word of the Lord. John preached the word of the Lord. John was arrested. John was beheaded. And if you want to read that part of the story go to Matthew chapter 14:1-12.
John obeyed when God spoke but it didn’t end like you might think or certainly not how John the Baptist thought it would. I am pretty sure it was not the script he or Jesus’ disciples anticipated.
Welcome to the journey of faith…
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