By Beverly Caudell
John 1-2
Did you ever turn on the TV to see a clip of a reporter talking to an eyewitness? “I understand you were here to see it firsthand. Can you tell us what happened, in your own words?” and the person being interviewed gathers their thoughts as they begin to recount their story. “Well…you see…” Have you seen a tense press conference with a roomful of reporters eager for juicy soundbites, flashbulbs going off, voices talking over one another?
For a modern twist, imagine John 1:27-28 in that way:
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?
He said “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered “No.”
Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”
Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him:
“Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
Imagine then, those same reporters catching John the Baptist later on the street – the microphones thrust in his face, the camera lights bright in his eyes.
‘When he saw Jesus passing by, he said “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36) Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said…“Where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him.’ (v. 38-39)
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and followed Jesus.
The first thing Andrew did was find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah.” (v. 40) and they became followers of Christ.
They told two friends, and they told two friends… (this is way before Facebook likes) but looking at that story from a modern point of view allows us to put ourselves in the place of John and the apostles.
You are a believer and a follower of Christ, tell your story of salvation in the hopes that those whom you tell will tell your story to someone else, that they might Google “Who is Jesus Christ?” That they will seek Him out because you were brave enough to stand up and tell your account of how Jesus came into your life and forever changed it – for the better!
There were ashes on my forehead in the shape of a cross that day. “Uh, you’ve got something on your face…” she said. “Yes,” I said. “Can I tell you about it?” “Yes.” she replied.
So use your 15 minutes in the spotlight to share Jesus!
