Advent resources to share with your worship community for use at home through the week

There was a man sent from God and his name was John. It was John’s job to tell people about the light that was coming into the world.

John was not the light, but it was his job to tell people about it.

The Jews sent men from Jerusalem to speak to John. They were important men, priests and Levites, from the Temple. ‘Who are you?’ the priests asked John.

John replied, ‘I am not the Messiah.’

And then the priests began to guess who John might be. ‘Are you Elijah, then?’

‘I am not,’ said John. Elijah had died a long time before.

‘Are you the prophet?’ the priests asked.

‘No,’ said John.

The priests began to get annoyed. They had come all the way from Jerusalem to the river Jordan and John would not answer their question.

‘We need something to tell the people who sent us,’ said the priests and Levites. ‘Who are you?’

John quoted to them from the book of Isaiah: ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘‘Make straight the way of the Lord”.’

The priests, who had been sent by the Pharisees, asked the man who had been sent by God, ‘Why are you baptizing people then, as you aren’t the Messiah, the prophet, or Elijah?’

John said to them, ‘I baptize with water, but someone else is coming. I am not important enough to unlace his sandals. He is already standing among you, but you do not know him.’

Glossary

Levites helped the priests in the Temple; 
Elijah an Old Testament prophet who received messages from God to pass on to the people.