First, let's look at how God's Kingdom sees power. When John the Baptist said, "Someone more powerful than I is coming," it means he viewed himself someone "powerful." Now that makes us wonder about what John meant, if we look closely from a worldly point of view, about being powerful.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. [Mark 1]
Doesn't look powerful to me and neither to the people back then, especially the religious elite. I can imagine John had only one set of wardrobe, which was camel's hair and leather belt, and that's no indication of power, whatsoever. Catching insects daily for dinner? I don't know.
Power presupposes wealth, influence, title and degree, high position and impressive scholastic achievement. John didn't have them, yet being a kingdom person, he knew something else, something better---in the Kingdom, the least is the greatest. That was why he saw himself "powerful."
This is something the modern church terribly lags behind in. It still cannot grasp true power. It sees power in terms of what the world values---money, possessions, titles, degrees, prestige, mundane connections, popularity, wearing altar (Pharisaical) robes for an aura of religious respectability, rituals, etc. Christ died to free us from all this but churches insist on having them back to please people, get respected and up their membership.
Respect from the world has nothing to do (zero) with Kingdom power.
And there was someone else coming, John said, carrying the same brand of power, only "more powerful" (to the nth level). The crowd must've wondered what kind of "power" that might be, seeing John had little to show for it, if any. John looked more pitiful than powerful in the earthy realms. He practically had nothing (and wasn't bothered one bit), and yet he talked about himself and the Messiah as powerful.
But the power of God is such that people start getting seriously curious about Kingdom power even if they see nothing substantial in the man of God declaring it. Even if God's prophet is a nobody. In fact, the more unknown and faceless, the better and the more potent, dynamic and dominant in the spirit realms. I mean, people started trooping like crazy into the wilderness where John was despite his odd and unimpressive looks and the fact that they'd get nothing material out of it.
Just imagine how uncomfortable the wilderness was, but people (even the elite) still went out of their way to get to where John was though he looked too ordinary, in fact even inferior and plebian. That's genuine Kingdom power the church should understand and possess today. Real power is perfected in weakness. Sadly, the church would have none of it.
Do you see this? It means the religious, demonic stronghold keeping people and holding them back from God's Truth was demolished so that people saw a glimpse of the God behind John rather than John himself. John didn't have to impress or lure them with anything but they willingly went to him to the desert---a most uncomfortable place to be in, listening to God's judgments about how wicked they were.
(Today, we dare not offend people with that, lest they boycott our evangelistic or revival meetings. So we appease and entertain them with our impressive choir and worship teams, programs, stage, music, sound system, prayers and preaching. We invite them to our meetings almost pleadingly or beggingly. John didn't have any of that, yet sinners pursued after him. That's genuine Kingdom power. Church must look at this seriously).
True Jesus stalkers (those who stealthily follow Jesus close behind, watching him really up-close) know that genuine Kingdom power (the supernatural kind that demolishes both earthly and demonic kingdoms) is granted only to the least. So they all the more gladly boast of their weaknesses that Christ's power may rest on them.
Now, notice that the Good News of the Kingdom starts with John's wilderness ministry. This is not accidental. God is showing something powerful here.
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God,[b] 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”[c]—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[d]
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. [Mark 1]
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SURRENDERING TO JESUS
‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4]
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