There are two individuals who are being spoken of here
John the Baptist
Jesus
Both are exhibiting exemplary humility
John the Baptist
Jesus was going to speak to him later as no one greater than him was born.
He had the honour to play the Herald to the Messiah – God’s Son.
He was a Prophet, after a gap of approximately 400 years, where there was no prophecy or contact with God in a way of speaking.
He played the role of Elijah to come before the Messiah, in the rich tradition on the Prophets, reminding one and all of the Prophets, and especially of Elijah.
He was so impactful in ministry that far and wide people had heard about him, where Jesus himself was not heard of
Yet here is this man
Knows his place
Knows the place of fallen humanity
Knows that humanity needs to be filled with gratitude for God’s gracious mercy and love of it, and not rejecting it.
And for this he was humble.
He knew God’s Son, was righteous in his own right
Yet God’s Son choose to become man
To live among man
To rescue it
And set it free to love God back
For this he should his gratitude.
God’s son is among them
He is here to save
And he John, though honoured to be his herald
He knows that by his own right, he is not worthy of this gift.
Jesus
God
Creator of all existence
Became incarnate
Meaning he became a created being
He who always existed
To show that he has no problem to be human/created
He is all good
And righteous
As John said, even his righteousness was like a speck of dust before the creator.
And he comes and accepts John’s Baptism of Repentance…
What is Jesus trying to tell us by this?
The key to a life in God is Humility.
Humility to accept who we are.
Humility to know our limitations and incompleteness.
Humility to know that we require a saviour.
And in humility to approach God
And say all this.
Only then can God be able to approach us
And reveal himself to us.
Because if we do not acknowledge this
God is shunned away from us
By all the signs of Pride, Self-righteousness etc
And he is powerless to work in our lives,
Right away.
This is a requirement that needs to be there
Else God will need to take a detour,
and the detour may be long.
All the same, the detour will still bring us back to the gate of Humility.
If we do not take it – God cannot enter.
Know this Jesus says, let it be that I be baptised into repentance
