TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 3:1-10
John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, was the last of the “Old Testament” prophets. His words challenged those who heard him as he sought to prepare their hearts for Jesus’ arrival. Advent is a season, in the words of Fleming Rutledge, that “is designed to bring us face-to-face with reality—reality about sin and death, reality about the human race, reality about God. Something ultimate has entered our world, something or Someone that calls us to attention, calls us out of our daily preoccupations and our routine points of view.” That was the role of John the Baptist, and the task before us over the next five weeks.