I wonder what John felt. He wasn't your ordinary guy. Locusts and honey. Strange clothes. I suppose he wasn't alone though... he had disciples. I imagine he still felt sort of alone though. He bore a lot on his shoulders. He stuck out like a sore thumb, which is never easy.
I often hear about how God has a great plan for our lives. Unfortunately, "great plan" is somewhat ambiguous. He had a great plan for John. He got to be the one who proclaimed the coming of Jesus. He preached the coming of the kingdom. He also got imprisoned. Perhaps in prison he lost some of his resolve. I mean really, was this his lot? Is this what God had planned for him? He sent his disciples to Jesus, seemingly to make sure that he wasn't in prison for no reason. Did he want to know that his own sacrifice was worth it? Jesus lets him know that indeed, He is the Messiah, because all the signs are there. He healed the sick, blind, lame, etc. and preached the good news to the poor.
(On a bit of a side note, it seems more and more that is what Jesus was about. In Matthew 9:35, it says He went to villages "teaching in the synagogues". We hear that He did that, but not the substance of what He taught. It seems that the important part wasn't what He was teaching (although that was important), it was what He was doing. His ministry was about showing that He was Messiah, not telling us how to live our lives, although that was a part of it.)
So what awaited John? He got his response from Jesus, and I'm sure it comforted him a bit to be reassured that his suffering wasn't in vain. But we know how the story ends later... with his head on a platter. Seems like a great life, eh. It was and it wasn't. It wasn't a great life by our modern consumer culture standards, but despite the hardship, I think John would have felt his life to be very successful, because He did what really mattered. And Jesus was quick to point out John's importance, saying that no one in history was greater than he. High praise. I'd take that any day over a mansion in Malibu.
But it's not easy. Perhaps great never is easy. Great is extraordinary. Average is easy.
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