There were giants in those days: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea. Which one of these did Jesus nominate to be the greatest born of women? Not one. In stead he singled out a hairy, harassed desert preacher - John the Baptizer.

Why?

The clue is found in the fragment of the Baptizer’s teaching which Luke preserved for posterity. It revealed John as the pioneer of sharing.

Not only was this John preaching a God of revolutionary morality, based on sharing with the needy, but John had sensed a swiftly oncoming act of God for the redemption of his people. Messiah, God’s anointed one, was at hand. Not the longed-for national conquering hero, but one who came via a lowly manger to minister to the lost and needy.

When the Imprisoned Baptizer, surrounded by…