From the beginning, he had known he was destined for greatness. The circumstances surrounding his birth were enough to prove that fact to most. And since he was old enough to walk, his parents had whispered the words angels had spoken to them: “You are going to be great in the sight of the Lord, John; the Spirit of the Most High dwells in you, my son; you will bring the people of Israel back to their God; you will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah of old; you will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John had served God his whole life, never once turning, never once stumbling, but walking straight forward like an arrow to hit the mark set for his life. He knew the call like he had heard it spoken by God himself. He knew he was to be a voice crying in a desert land among a thirsty people, making a way for the coming of the King. It was his destiny – the pinnacle of his life would be the moment he would step aside and bow low to make known the one true King of Israel. So he spent his life preparing for that one moment. Studying, living a life of the strictest asceticism and devotion to God, becoming an outcast as he preached a word of righteousness and repentance among a people who did not know their own sin.

His message caused quite a stir, to say the least. Some responded; many did not. Some came for hunger of truth; most came to see the spectacle of a man clothed in camel skin who ate locusts and preached a radical new religion that flew in the face of establishment. He was gaining quite a reputation. Indeed, he lived up to the prophetically announced resemblance to Elijah. He was bold, radical, and undaunted by proud and powerful religious leaders. But with every confrontation, with every repentance, with every baptism – still he waited to see the day of the Lord’s coming. More than all the other people who waited in hopeful silence, he longed to see the day his Lord would come and John’s own purpose would be fulfilled.

That day the religious leaders sent people to question John. They wanted to know who he was. John, of course, knew the answer to that question like he knew his own name – it was as much a part of him as his own heartbeat. He was a messenger of the Almighty, the one chosen to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. Their initial question was if this fiery preacher in the desert was indeed the Messiah they all waited to see. John did not hesitate to confess he was not. They then wondered if he was Elijah come back – at this John smiled inwardly; he probably could say yes and they would believe him. But he did not lie. “No,” was his answer. “Then who are you?” John gave careful pause before answering them, knowing whatever words he answered with could easily be twisted and used against him if he did not put thought into his phrasing. The words of his answer came out of his mouth almost of their own volition: “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” As the words left his mouth, John suddenly knew.

The testimony of his life was making known the coming of the King, not being known himself for announcing that arrival. It wasn’t about his destiny being fulfilled in and of itself, but about what that destiny was fulfilled in doing. His voice caught in his throat as almost for his own sake, the Baptist murmured, “I am not even unworthy to untie his sandals…”

How had he imagined that moment before? Himself, John, sharing center stage with the Messiah when He came? Being lauded and adored as the Way-Maker for the King? With special accolades and perhaps even position in the new Kingdom the King would bring for being such a faithful servant? It all seemed so utterly ridiculous. Once the King was there, there should be no one to distract from His glory being revealed. How could he even think of himself as worthy of sharing in that glorious appearance? His only purpose was to open blind eyes and hearts so that the King could be seen. His purpose was found in losing himself in God’s purpose. John left the Jordan that day humbled, and knowing now that the day of his destiny’s fulfillment was not any longer about him. It was about the Messiah.

And the next day, He came. And John stepped aside, as the carpenter from Nazareth was revealed as the Son of God who would take away the sins of the world. His purpose was found. The King had come. The people had seen, at least those with eyes to see. He would find his inglorious end in a dungeon, with his head on a golden platter delivered to a weak-willed king at the order of his malicious wife by request of a capricious daughter. He only heard rumors of the Kingdom coming to earth and never saw it. But his purpose was found. The way was made. And John was remembered not for falling away on account of the seeming ingloriousness of his task, but rather for illustrating with his life his prayer to decrease, that He might increase.