During the first wave of the COVID pandemic there was a big increase in the number of people dying without making a will.
In response to Freedom of Information requests, two hundred and fifty l
This seems odd, until you think about the process. To make a will you have to confront your own mortality, leaving behind your best 'stuff' ... and people living without God can find that quite challenging.
The trouble with a legacy is you have to LEAVE it!
The bottom line seems to be that we all want to leave a good legacy ... but very few people want to face losing it.
John the Baptist had put a lot into life, and made many big sacrifices to follow the Lord Almighty in his ministry. Huge crowds went out into the desert to hear what he had to say and, when they were persuaded, many of those were baptised by John in the Jordan River.
What was he going to have to show for all this? What would he leave and who would he leave it to?
Leaving your legacy might seem hard enough, but you certainly don't want to have it taken from you!
You don't want to have it taken from you
This question of John's legacy really rose in relevance when his younger cousin turned up on the preaching circuit and in no time was making even more disciples than John.
More than that, his younger cousin had things going on for Him that John the Baptist never had done ... Jesus was doing the works of the Messiah (Matthew 11:2-3).
That was the last straw.
John could wait no longer so he sent his disciples to get a straight answer from Jesus (it was easier for a disciple to question a teacher than another teacher ... Jesus had already been giving some pretty sharp answers to other religious teachers who came to question Him!)
Seeing what's coming down the track
What John needed to do was to see what was coming down the track.
Jesus pointed John's disciples to what they could see going on ...
"Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
the blind receive sight,
the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised, and
the good news is proclaimed to the poor."
Matthew 11:4-5
The signs of the Messiah are prophesied in the Old Testament and they were being done right in front of them.
The conclusions were inevitable and needed to be drawn.
More than that, the changing situation needed to be adapted to.
Jesus makes the necessary transition far easier
John would soon be leaving his legacy.
And Jesus knows how HARD that will be, so he does two very interesting things.
Firstly Jesus warns of the dangers inherent in John's situation ... John has served the Lord exceptionally and must now be careful to see that he finishes well:
Matthew 11:6
Stumbling is tripping over something so we basically get the point but the 'stone of stumbling' has a history in both Old and New Testaments going back to Isaiah 8 and forward through Peter's letters. You can read more about that if you'd like to right HERE.
Then secondly after He's delivered this positive warning, Jesus delivers a long speech in praise of John explaining his significance.
It's a tribute to his legacy from the Messiah's own mouth ... and it finishes on a high note like this:
"Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen
anyone greater than John the Baptist;
yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
Matthew 11:11
The Point
John, truly will have quite a legacy ... to have been the trusted forerunner of the Messiah, God's Saviour of the world.
But remember this, says Jesus:
To be a citizen of Heaven will be significantly greater.
We must be sure not to stumble on account of the challenging realities of Christ the Messiah, so as not to lose our grip on the great legacy He gives, which is to come.
The Takeaway
When God is at work it can challenge our pride, but it's far better for us that He should be at work.
This is the challenge of faith.
Will we stumble at that or will we trust Him, continuing to live in His way and looking not backward at what we have to lose, but forward towards what is yet to come for those who continue to live faithfully on His Way?
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