Safe Haven

 John the Baptist sees Jesus on the next day, and we should understand some background about the title he gives Jesus. Lambs were often given to God in sacrifice, commanded by Him to signify the forgiveness of sins. Leviticus 1-7 describes many sacrifices for sins that the Israelites were aware of, both large and small. The Passover (Exodus 12) was a sacrifice, and arguably the most important one for the people. As each family ate their Passover Lamb, they were participating in the memory of God passing over the houses of the Israelites with the final plague, when he led them out of Egypt. One critical thing to remember is that sacrifice in the Bible is not about death, for the most part. Sacrifices are about the life of the animal (see also Leviticus 17:11). The death of an animal sacrifice is meant to teach us that sin causes death, just as it did for Adam and Eve (see Genesis 3). St. Paul will say later, "For the wages of sin is death…" (Romans 6:23) Therefore, John the Ba...

 The religious leaders asked John the Baptist who he was, because there were many ideas about who would come on the scene at the end of the world. Many thought Elijah would come again, before the end. The leaders also knew that John was preaching a bold message of repentance, that certainly challenged some of their lax attitudes. The "Prophet" is most likely the one spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:15-18. It also indicated to other people that maybe God was up to something new. The Messiah was supposed to take his place as King, and lead their armies in victorious battle over the nations of the Earth. Most probably did not think John was the Messiah, but he was interesting enough that they had to ask. John denied it, but the way he answered the question showed that God really was up to something new. John is not the Messiah, but he says he is the one to announce him. He quotes a prophecy from Isaiah, (Isaiah 40:3) and everyone should know that it will get very interesting from her...