Bad News, Good News

Rudyard Kipling, in his story “The Jungle Book,” tells about the time when Mowgli, the man cub, asks the animals what’s the most feared thing in the jungle. He’s told that when two animals meet on a narrow path one must step aside and let the other pass. The animal that steps aside for no one would then be the most feared thing in the jungle. Mowgli wants to know, “what kind of animal would that be?” One tells him it’s an elephant. Another tells him it’s a lion. Finally, the wise old owl exclaims, “The most feared thing in the jungle is death. It steps aside for no one.”

Pain, suffering, heartache…and death are all bad news. When John the baptizer preached in the wilderness, he understood that sin was devastating to humans because it results in pain, suffering, heartache and death. Even the Apostle Paul later made this connection when he wrote, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). John the baptizer was the forerunner of Jesus, anticipating God’s salvation by calling people to repentance in order to prepare their hearts to accept the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29-30). Repentance is the expression of regret or remorse about sin, and it causes us to seek relief from God since he is the only one who can remove our sin and provide a new way of looking at life.

​When Jesus comes into John the baptizer’s presence as he is baptizing people in the Jordan River, John says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” This was in reference to the Old Testament Jewish festival called Passover, which remembered God’s rescuing of the Hebrew people who were enslaved to Egypt. In preparation for their exodus, God commanded his people to sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood on their doorframes so God’s judgment on Egypt would “pass over” those who demonstrated their allegiance to God (Exodus 12:1-14). Each year after that, the Jews continued to remember God’s saving work in the Exodus by celebrating Passover with the sacrifice of a lamb. John the baptizer understood that the symbolism of the Passover lamb in Exodus was coming to fulfillment in Jesus as God’s provision for our salvation from enslavement to sin and sin’s ultimate consequence of death.

As Easter draws near, let us prepare OUR hearts for this season we’re in. The bad news is that sin is devastating, resulting in spiritual and physical death. Let us repent of our sinful ways and return to God. The good news is that for those who give their loyalty to Jesus, they will be saved from their sin and given new life in Christ. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Tyler

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