John - who stood on the banks of the Jordan proclaiming the impending arrival of THE ONE, who introduced Jesus when He came - who baptized Him...
is now in prison, in a desert of his own (Mark 1:14).
While Jesus goes on to Galilee, where He begins to proclaim the good news of God.
"The time has come..." Jesus says.
The time has come, but at this time John sits locked away while the world becomes acquainted with the One he proclaimed, with the One he made a way for.
I've wondered why. Why do circumstances sometimes make me unable to be involved, often just as what I have worked for finally starts to bear fruit? Removed from the game just as the game gets interesting? Not able to see what You're doing when You move AT LAST...
It seems ironic to be kept away, while You walk where I walked and proclaim the good news of God there where I am not any longer.
"The time has come," - but not for me, it seems.
But...John was never what the people needed. His freedom and later imprisonment is an illusion. John was always in a prison. He always was in a "desert of his own." Just as I am - as we all have been ever since that fatal moment ages ago.
These circumstances around me that look so bad are nothing compared to my true situation. Stuck at home or in a hospital bed or in prison? It's nothing, NOTHING when I think of being stuck in my sin.
Did I think I was "free"? I never have been.
The time HAS come for me, just like it came for John, too, and for everyone else. Because the good news is the good news, not "no matter what my circumstances," but BECAUSE OF my circumstances.
The prison is the reason I need the good news.
The desert is the reason I need the good news.
After John was put in prison...
Jesus
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit...
Jesus
After the whole world fell...
Jesus
After paradise was lost...
Jesus
Because of my desert,
because of my prison,
because of my spoiled heart -
Jesus