John the Baptist — Preparing the Way

John's birth was itself an announcement: an angel told the elderly priest Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son who would "go before" the Lord "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17). He grew up to become the wilderness voice Isaiah had described centuries earlier — "prepare ye the way of the LORD" (Isaiah 40:3). John preached repentance, baptized crowds in the Jordan, and then did the one thing his whole life had pointed toward: recognized Jesus, baptized Him, and told his own followers to follow Jesus instead. "He must increase, but I must decrease" wasn't defeat for John — it was the entire point of his calling.