Worldwide Christmas December 9, 2025 Devotional

MATTHEW 11:18-19 | ¹⁸ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹ the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

John and Jesus had many similarities but they also had many differences. John preached in the wilderness, Jesus taught in synagogues and towns and the Temple. John dressed as an ascetic, Jesus in normal fashion. John gave warnings and commands, Jesus told stories and parables. John saw his ministry as a prelude, Jesus saw His as a culmination.

But most significantly, John preached judgment almost exclusively and although Jesus issued many stiff warnings, His preaching was centered on love, mercy, and sacrifice. John expected the Messiah to take control of history in a display of ultimate power, but Jesus chose the path of the Suffering Servant that Isaiah described (see Isaiah 53). Interestingly, John did call Jesus the Lamb of God, and this title has clear overtones of sacrifice. But as we shall see tomorrow, John did not understand why the Messiah's triumph was not more public and powerful. Jesus’ Resurrection was a triumph over the forces of sin, death, and evil, but this victory will only be universally known at the moment of His return, when John's vision of judgment and vindication will be fully fulfilled for all to see.

Jesus admired John, insisting "no one born of a mother is    greater than John" but He also insisted that "the least in the kingdom is greater than he". What do you make of this? (See Matthew 11:7-19)

Do we leave the judgment aspects of the Bible's teaching out of account too much?

Gracious God,

Help me appreciate both Your mercy and Your judgement, and how they are related.

Amen.