Almost

"All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, 'What, then, will this child be?' For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel." - Luke 1:65-66

I wonder how many people thought John the Baptist was the Messiah? He certainly did his part to quell rumors of it, but given the extraordinary events surrounding his birth, it would be hard for anyone to think otherwise. Especially since, up to John's arrival, things had been business-as-usual for the Jewish population at the time.

But I think the people of Jesus' time needed an alarm. They needed someone to pave the way - not to make it easier on Jesus, but to make it easier for everyone else. We often take for granted Jesus's story - born in a manger, spreading the Good News, performing signs and miracles, dying and ultimately rising again. But (most of us) have been aware of these things for a long time, and gradually understood them at deeper and deeper levels as we grew closer to Christ.

The people of Jesus's time were not so lucky -- they were thrust in the middle of all of this in a relatively short period of time. Yes people knew of Jesus - but they knew him as the carpenter's son - the son of Mary and Joseph. It was John the Baptist that introduced him as something other than his trade through his baptism. And through that baptism, John passed the torch to the one true king, and quietly stepped out of the limelight, letting his cousin take his rightful place in history.

So as we continue to celebrate Jesus's life, give a thought (and a thanks) to John, who lit the torch, and summarily passed it on.