Wisdom's Corner
Not Worthy to Bear His Shoes

John the Baptist is known as a great Bible character. He was responsible for preaching and preparing the way for Jesus. John was not scared to preach what needed to be said. He was willing to do what ever was necessary to preach the good news of the coming Christ.

Jesus said that no man had ever been born who was greater than John the Baptist (except for Jesus himself, Matthew 11:11). That means Jesus considered John greater than Abraham, and Moses, and Elijah. This makes John a very great man indeed.

Yet, as great as John was, John did not think he was great. John considered himself as very, very low compared to Jesus. In Matthew 3:11, John said he was not worthy to bear the sandals of Jesus. That is a very important statement.

In New Testament times, people wore sandals. The lowest job a person could have was carrying the sandals of someone else (and/or washing their feet). Many times the lowliest servant went with a master to carry his sandals. The lowliest servant would take the sandals off for the master when he arrived home.

John said he was not even worthy of bearing the sandals of Jesus. So even though Jesus said that no man had ever been born greater than John, John says he is lowlier than the lowliest servant when compared to Jesus. This tells us how great John considered Jesus to be.

Do you think of yourself as that low compared to Jesus? Many people think more highly of themselves than they should. But no one should think that way, especially when they think of Jesus.

Study God's word. Learn the wisdom of God. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 1999

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)