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John the Baptist - The Gospels · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. Others said that it is Elias, and
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  Speaker 1: others said that it is a prophet or one of
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  Speaker 1: the prophets. Mark 6.15 Through the life of John the Baptist,
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  Speaker 1: I see that the ultimate sign of a life well
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  Speaker 1: lived is to say that no matter where I end up,
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  Speaker 1: I can with full confidence say that I lived and
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  Speaker 1: represented Christ in everything I did. In the face of persecution,
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  Speaker 1: I will praise you. In the face of ridicule, I
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  Speaker 1: will praise you. Even when my head is on the
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  Speaker 1: chopping block and I could lose everything, I know that
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  Speaker 1: in Jesus, He'll restore what the enemy has stolen from me.
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  Speaker 1: My strength comes from the fact that Jesus conquered sin
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  Speaker 1: and death. And because He did, Conquering the trials and
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  Speaker 1: obstacles on the journey to my destiny is a given.
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  Speaker 1: For greater is He who is in me than he
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  Speaker 1: that is in the world. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for praying with us today. Continue your time with
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  Speaker 1: God by listening to today's Bible story. Brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: John the Baptist. In our last story, Jesus healed a
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  Speaker 2: man who had been lame and sick for over 38 years.
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  Speaker 2: The man had been sick for so long that he
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  Speaker 2: lost all hope of being healed. More so, he fell
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  Speaker 2: into a cycle of bitterness. He felt helpless, alone, and
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  Speaker 2: angry at the world. Yet one moment with Jesus changed
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  Speaker 2: his life forever, and the Pharisees continued to hate him
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  Speaker 2: for his mighty works. Now, We learn about the fate
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  Speaker 2: of John the Baptist. The man who prepared the way
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus meets a bitter end. However, John's story does
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  Speaker 2: not end without hope. It ends with a promise inspired
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  Speaker 2: by the Gospels.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of The
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year. Thank you for joining us. In
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  Speaker 3: yesterday's episode, we heard how Jesus healed a man who
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  Speaker 3: was crippled and helpless, even hopeless. Years of being overlooked
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  Speaker 3: by society and left alone to fend for himself had
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  Speaker 3: left this man stuck and bitter, plagued with a sense
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  Speaker 3: of scarcity and hopelessness. But Jesus changed it all with
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  Speaker 3: his words of healing and comfort. Still, the religious crowd,
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  Speaker 3: led by the Pharisees, hated Jesus for challenging their tight-fisted
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  Speaker 3: rule over the people's hearts. Today, we'll discover how John
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  Speaker 3: the Baptist's earthly story ends. This man who heralded the
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  Speaker 3: coming of the Messiah will die at the hands of
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  Speaker 3: an evil, hateful king and his wife. Let's listen to
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  Speaker 3: the word of God now.
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  Speaker 2: Blood sprayed across the stone walls of John's jail cell.
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  Speaker 2: Herod's guards drove their fists into his stomach, then across
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  Speaker 2: his head. John's grunts echoed through the prison halls as
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  Speaker 2: they relentlessly beat him. He fell to the floor, unable
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  Speaker 2: to prop himself up. Before he could take a breath...
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  Speaker 2: A guard's foot went upward and cracked a few of
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  Speaker 2: his ribs. He screamed in agony and closed his eyes.
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  Speaker 2: All he could hear were the guards leaving his jail cell.
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  Speaker 2: Then all went black. John had been captured by Herod.
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  Speaker 2: He was taken because he called out against Herod, who
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  Speaker 2: stole his brother's wife, Herodias. Out of anger, Herod captured
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  Speaker 2: John to silence him. So he wrought in his cell
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  Speaker 2: until Herod decided what to do with him. Even though
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  Speaker 2: John was captured, Herod still feared him. He knew that
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  Speaker 2: he was a righteous man, and John held the quiet
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  Speaker 2: strength of a prophet. However, Herodias, Herod's stolen wife, teemed
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  Speaker 2: with hatred against him. She wanted his head rolling off
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  Speaker 2: his shoulders. She wanted him hung from his own entrails.
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  Speaker 2: Her contempt for him ran deep. It was Herod's birthday,
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  Speaker 2: and a large party was held in his honor. Drinks
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  Speaker 2: flowed endlessly. and Herod grew loud and boisterous. Herodias watched
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  Speaker 2: Herod laugh among his friends. She knew that he was
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  Speaker 2: in prime condition to manipulate. Herodias sent out her daughter,
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  Speaker 2: a beautiful young woman, to dance before Herod and his guests.
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  Speaker 2: She moved sensually to the erotic music. Herod locked his
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  Speaker 2: gaze onto her young hips. He was mesmerized and aroused.
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  Speaker 2: Dull of thinking, Herod blurted out,' Ask me anything!' His
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  Speaker 2: words slurred and his cheeks blushed. Ask me anything and
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  Speaker 2: I will do it. I will give you up to
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  Speaker 2: half my kingdom. The room was hot and the daughter
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  Speaker 2: moved sensually towards Herod. Her fingers wrapped around a few
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  Speaker 2: strands of his hair. She leaned her lips closely towards
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  Speaker 2: Herod's ear and whispered, Give me the head of John
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  Speaker 2: the Baptist. Herod's eyes widened at the request. Her words
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  Speaker 2: sobered him. He looked at his friend's. They were expecting
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  Speaker 2: him to keep his word. Additionally, he thought there may
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  Speaker 2: be a chance for him to sleep with his stepdaughter.
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  Speaker 2: Out of embarrassment, drunkenness, and foolishness, Herod sent for his
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  Speaker 2: men to execute John. John's cell doors opened abruptly. He
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  Speaker 2: saw the silhouette of two guards holding chains and an axe.
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  Speaker 2: John sighed deeply. He knew it was time. He stood
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  Speaker 2: to his feet and walked towards them. They bound him
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  Speaker 2: and drug him out to the back of the palace.
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  Speaker 2: John thought about his life and purpose. He had proclaimed
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  Speaker 2: and prepared the way of Jesus. Thousands had followed him
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  Speaker 2: and then left him to follow the Messiah. As John
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  Speaker 2: was shoved to his knees, he remembered the words he
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  Speaker 2: once spoke on the Jordan River. He must increase and
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  Speaker 2: I must decrease. The words held much more weight now.
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  Speaker 2: As John's head was shoved under the cold stone table,
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  Speaker 2: he thought about the Christ. His joy was complete and
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  Speaker 2: his purpose was fulfilled. Death would be a welcomed friend,
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  Speaker 2: for the one who came after him would prove death
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  Speaker 2: to be powerless. He would strip away its sting, and
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  Speaker 2: life everlasting would follow. John smiled, closed his eyes, and
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  Speaker 2: allowed the axe to fall on his neck. John's head
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  Speaker 2: was handed to Herodia on a silver platter. Her pupils
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  Speaker 2: widened at the sight of it. However, the momentary pleasure
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  Speaker 2: was replaced with sickness. She thought John the Baptist was
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  Speaker 2: the source of her embarrassment and shame. However, looking at
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  Speaker 2: his lifeless head laying on a platter offered her no solace.
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  Speaker 2: She still felt empty. Her revenge fell flat, as all
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  Speaker 2: revenge does. Her soul would not be satisfied, and her
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  Speaker 2: sins would eventually find her out. The next day, John's
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  Speaker 2: friends gathered his body and laid it in a tomb.
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  Speaker 2: Months had passed, and Jesus' name had become so well
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  Speaker 2: known that even Herod's servants were talking about him. He
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  Speaker 2: heard of his miracles and words of power. Herod's heart raced,
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  Speaker 2: for he had a feeling that Jesus was John himself
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  Speaker 2: risen from the dead. He was wrong, of course. John
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  Speaker 2: was buried into dirt and would not rise again. However,
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  Speaker 2: Jesus would one day die, and unlike John, he would
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  Speaker 2: rise again. He would rise above the sting of death.
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  Speaker 2: He would rise above the power of sin and darkness.
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  Speaker 2: He would rise where all men fell, and those who
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  Speaker 2: believed in him.
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  Speaker 3: Today's reading begins in a prison cell. John the Baptist,
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  Speaker 3: the prophet who foretold the coming Messiah, had angered the
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  Speaker 3: Jewish ruler, King Herod. This was the son of the
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  Speaker 3: maniacal Herod the Great who tried to have an infant
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  Speaker 3: Jesus killed. And like his father, this Herod was not
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  Speaker 3: opposed to spilling the blood of those who challenged him
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  Speaker 3: or spoke out against him. And that's precisely what John
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  Speaker 3: the Baptist had done. He'd called out Herod for stealing
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  Speaker 3: his own brother's wife, a wicked woman named Herodias. The
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  Speaker 3: rule of these two and their persecution of John is
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  Speaker 3: reminiscent of some of Israel's evil kings and queens, like
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  Speaker 3: Ahab and Jezebel. They had no regard for men of God,
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  Speaker 3: so as John sat in a cell, they were still
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  Speaker 3: not satisfied. He needed to be disposed of, canceled. But
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  Speaker 3: Herod was also fearful of the people who loved John,
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  Speaker 3: so he was reluctant to have him killed. His wife, Herodias, however,
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  Speaker 3: had no interest in such caution. So she hatched a plan,
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  Speaker 3: an evil plot, to ensure that John would be put
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  Speaker 3: to death. She sent her daughter, Salome, to dance for
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  Speaker 3: Herod and his court on his birthday. Herod, surely intoxicated
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  Speaker 3: from his partying, was pleased with Salome's dance and vowed
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  Speaker 3: to give her whatever she asked. This is always a
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  Speaker 3: dangerous promise to make. And Herod would soon regret his offer.
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  Speaker 3: For at her mother's direction, she made her request. She
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  Speaker 3: wanted the head of John the Baptist on a platter.
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  Speaker 3: And so John, after having served God's purpose for him
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  Speaker 3: on earth, went quietly into death that day. His head
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  Speaker 3: was cut off without any ceremony or dignity for this
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  Speaker 3: man of God. But there is no doubt that when
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  Speaker 3: he entered eternity, He was in the presence of God immediately,
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  Speaker 3: rejoicing in heaven. and heard the words, Well done, good
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  Speaker 3: and faithful servant. He had announced and made a way
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  Speaker 3: for the coming of the Lord the Messiah, Jesus, who
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  Speaker 3: was going to take away the sins of the world.
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  Speaker 3: In Matthew 14 verses 13 to 14, here's what we read.
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  Speaker 3: Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in
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  Speaker 3: a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when
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  Speaker 3: the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from
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  Speaker 3: the towns. And when he went ashore, he saw a
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  Speaker 3: great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed
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  Speaker 3: their sick. Jesus mourned the death of his forerunner and
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  Speaker 3: friend and family member, John the Baptist. This man had
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  Speaker 3: meant so much to the Lord Jesus. And though he
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  Speaker 3: isolated himself in grief for a while, He soon saw
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  Speaker 3: the need of the people who followed him. Christ had
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  Speaker 3: compassion and mercy upon each one. It's another sign of
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  Speaker 3: God's unending grace and mercy and his willingness to hear
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  Speaker 3: and answer the cries of his people. You see, Jesus
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  Speaker 3: is God, and in his deity he can heal. He
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  Speaker 3: is also man. In his humanity, he had compassion for people.
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  Speaker 3: So as God and man, he loved each one. Jesus
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  Speaker 3: knew that soon he also would die. He would be killed, crucified,
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  Speaker 3: and Herod himself would also have a hand in it.
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  Speaker 3: But unlike John, whose body remained in the ground, Jesus
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  Speaker 3: would rise victorious, conquering sin and death as the Savior,
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  Speaker 3: the Redeemer of all who would call upon his name.
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  Speaker 3: John's life was well lived because he fulfilled his purpose.
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  Speaker 3: He served with courage and boldness and faithfulness all the
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  Speaker 3: way to heaven. Oh, that the same might be said
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  Speaker 3: of each of us as we live and die and
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  Speaker 3: then experience the eternal reward of our Savior and our God.
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  Speaker 3: Dear Lord, we thank you for the tremendous example of
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  Speaker 3: John the Baptist and how his bold, courageous, faithful life
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  Speaker 3: shows us how to live and how to die. May
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  Speaker 3: we live in your grace and may we die in
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  Speaker 3: your peace. And all along, may we fulfill your purpose
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  Speaker 3: for our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
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  Speaker 3: listening to today's Bible in a Year. I'm Pastor Jack
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  Speaker 3: Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the Pray.com app
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  Speaker 3: and make Bible study and prayer the priority of your life.
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  Speaker 3: And if you appreciate this podcast, please share it with
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  Speaker 3: someone else. I also want to encourage you to go
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  Speaker 3: to jackgraham.org. That's jackgraham.org for we have resources that are
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  Speaker 3: free and available for you so that you may know
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  Speaker 3: Christ and grow in him. God bless you.