Read Luke 3

Many readers skim over the word famine in the Bible. Few of us have any real experience of hunger. We might complain of “starving” when our blood sugar crashes, but this is not the desperate condition of mothers and fathers around the world before whose eyes children languish and die.

The Bible describes two kinds of famine: one is physical, and the other is spiritual. We can be famished for lack of food, and we can also be hungry for a word from God, especially when He seems to have long been silent.

Spiritual famine was the context for the nation of Israel when John the Baptist and Jesus arrived on the scene. It had been 400 years since a prophet of God had spoken words of hope, and hope was exactly what God’s people needed in their political wilderness. No Son of David ruled on the throne. Instead Caesar, Pilate, Herod, and Philip had consolidated political power, ruling the Jewish land and people to further their own interests. Had Israel, because of sin, been forgotten by God?

Into this wilderness and famine a prophetic voice cried out, and it belonged to the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who was now an adult. John the Baptist preached repentance, and it is clear that he aimed at more than making his Jewish compatriots so-called good people. John wasn’t preaching morality for its own sake—he was preparing for the Messiah (v. 15). John’s words anticipated the ministry and baptism of the Messiah, whose sandals he was not worthy to untie.

John was a faithful servant, preparing the way for the Lord. But he was not the Son. Jesus is the Son of Adam and Son of God who has come to bring salvation (vv. 22, 38).

APPLY THE WORD

John the Baptist wasn’t afraid to “tell it like it is.” Do we share his boldness in proclaiming the good news about Jesus? Do you have loved ones who suffer from a spiritual famine and need to hear the Word of the Lord? Consider how you can be a messenger of good news: sharing your testimony, inviting them to church, or giving them a Bible.

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