John was Jesus’s cousin. Can you imagine praising your cousin, calling him the Messiah, and worshiping him? Of course not. I have some cousins that I really love and admire, but that’s as far as it goes. Jesus was clearly special. It’s one thing for some random person to have a brief encounter with Jesus and come away knowing He is the Son of God (which happened a lot!). It’s a whole other thing for a cousin or even a brother (James), not to mention His mother, to believe and worship Him. They knew Jesus for His entire life! They saw Him as an awkward teenager. They saw Him when He was learning to walk. They saw Him as He was discovering interpersonal relationships for the first time. They saw His habits, likes, dislikes, and reactions to all of life’s joys and pains. It says a lot for John to have witnessed all that and to be convinced that this man, His cousin, is in fact God Himself. What an amazing witness! No wonder some of John’s disciples went to follow Jesus instead. They would’ve known John’s relationship to Jesus. One of those ‘defectors’ was Andrew who then invited his brother Simon (Peter) to follow Jesus. Peter went on to be one of the most effective leaders and founders of Christianity. John should get some credit for that witness, ha!
Dear God,
Thank you for the people in my life who pointed me to you! Some of them were relatives and were very influential in showing me how wonderful you are. Teach me how to be an effective witness to whoever you place in my path today. I trust you to do the rest.
CamDevo 