February 6, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,. ” (Matthew 4.12-13a)

“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. He went teaching in synagogues along the way. Everyone praised Him. News about Him spread through the whole countryside. He even went so far as Nazareth, where He had been brought up.” (Luke 4.14-16a)

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” (Mark 1.14)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

John told some of his disciples who came to him in prison, “I must decrease so that He will increase.” The time had come when the “awakening,” the challenge John put before all of Israel to get right before God (Repent and be baptized all of you), became empowerment. We might say that for hundreds of years, Israel had been “sleep walking” through life and not power walking. We are told that it had been nearly four hundred years since a prophetic voice was heard in Israel. Malachi was the “last” prophet that was known to have delivered a word from God to the people of Israel. Symbolically, it reflects the four hundred years Israel spent in exile in Egypt following the time of Joseph because they were delivered out of Egypt by God through Moses. Such a period of “silence” suggests a season of moral and spiritual injustice, oppression and an eventual call for change. [Interesting to note a similar theme, though not a biblical assent, in the song “400 Years” written and performed by Bob Marley. Refer also to a similar theme in his “Redemption Song.”] The voice of one calling in the wilderness was the vocal declaration that such a time of exile had come to an end. Just as Aaron, the voice of Moses before Pharaoh, presented the argument for the end of the exile, “God says, Let My people go,” so then was John the voice to the “rulers of this age” to do the same. It was a call to submit to the sovereignty of God. Moses was the oracle of deliverance in the wilderness moving away from Egypt and toward the Promised Land. Jesus was not only the oracle but the vehicle by which God’s people (Jew and Gentile) would be known as “the people of God” and enter into His Kingdom on earth as it was in Heaven. The baptism of Jesus by John was the dividing line between the past and the future. John was that “day of the Lord” which Malachi had prophesied four hundred years earlier. Jesus was the new “day of the Lord.”

If John was the “shadow” cast across the land to highlight the tragedy which had befallen Israel in those “dark years,” then it was a shadow caused by him standing in the light of Jesus who was filled with the glory of the Lord. He was and is the Son of Righteousness. He is the light of the world sent into the darkness to demonstrate that the darkness could never consume the light of truth concerning God. There was always a spark, a glimmer and a small light akin to the still small voice of God as that which spoke to Elijah. It was Elijah whom Malachi referenced as the beginning of a new season of life for Israel and for the world (Malachi 4.5). For some, it would be a blessing and a renewal of hope and life. For others. it would be a fearsome and terrible day when what had been in secret would be brought into the light. John did so railing against Herod and Rome. Jesus did it, as exemplified in the “storming” of the Temple. John took his word to the Wilderness beyond Jerusalem to the east across the Jordan. Jesus took His word into Galilee beyond Jerusalem to the north. There are hints of biblical significance for both directions which speak of redemption, reconciliation and renewal. The message is clear: God’s purpose is to engage, instruct and empower the people to choose life as it was always meant to be. In His infancy, Jesus had journeyed south of Jerusalem to Bethlehem and Egypt. In His adulthood, Jesus journeyed north to Nazareth and Capernaum. It was clear that, as His earthly ancestor David had done, Jesus was uniting the people of God into one nation and one people. Where David had brought the Northern and Southern Kingdom together, Jesus was uniting the kingdom of humanity and the Kingdom of God. It would also be clear that the leadership in Jerusalem was put on notice because while they held “power” over the purse strings, they feared the power of the people were tied together in righteousness and faith.

So, as John threw down the gauntlet, it was more like a baton passed on to Jesus who would run the next leg of the race. He would give His all for the sake of our victory. The Church would then experience the gauntlet being thrown down as a baton passed on to it to run the next leg of the race for victory knowing the victory was already won. They were not to take a victory lap with ease but follow the course which Jesus had laid out before it and us all. Like John, Jesus would lay down His life for God’s people and for the truth which was for all the world. The Church is called to do the same knowing that there is one more lap to be run. It is the true victory lap when Jesus returns and claims His true prize, His bride- the Church.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.