1Start
Crowds came from all over Judea to hear John, and he kept telling them about someone greater (Mark 1:5–7).
2Read Together
John was the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the baby we read about at New Year’s. He lived plainly in the wilderness, wore camel’s hair, and ate locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6).
Mark 1:6–8 · King James Version
6And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 7And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
3What It Teaches
John said, “There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose” (Mark 1:7). A latchet is a sandal strap. Untying someone’s sandals was a servant’s task.
John was famous, and many people wondered if he was the Christ (Luke 3:15). He could have kept the attention for himself. Instead he pointed every crowd to Jesus.
Jesus later said that among those born of women there was no greater prophet than John (Luke 7:28). The greatest prophet of his time saw himself as a servant.
John’s whole mission was to make the Savior easier to find. The Lord still does great work through people who keep him at the center.
4Talk About It
John could have kept the crowds for himself, and he sent them to Jesus. Where do you see people today pointing others to the Savior?