Scripture: Luke 3:1-18 (NIV)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ”

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

We’ve talked in the past about how Qui-Gon Jinn is probably the closest thing to John the Baptist in the Star Wars universe, but I want to talk today about a couple of other characters who also recognized that Anakin Skywalker was going to be very important in the ways of the Force.

Obi-Wan Kenobi didn’t necessarily think that Anakin was a huge deal at first.  When Qui-Gon was returning to Mos Espa after Anakin won the podrace, Obi-Wan said, “Why do I have the feeling we’ve picked up another pathetic life form?”  Granted, he didn’t know that it was Anakin his Master was going after, but still it’s hard to believe he was really thinking this kid was going to be something special.

However, after training him for a decade and then serving with him in the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan came around to that line of thinking.  When talking with Yoda and Mace Windu in the middle of Revenge of the Sith, he asks “Is he not the Chosen One?”  In their final goodbye as friends, Obi-Wan tells Anakin he has “become a far greater Jedi than I could ever hope to be”.  Seeing Anakin up close, seeing his mastery of the Force, made Obi-Wan a believer.

Someone else that recognized the greatness of Anakin, in a more nefarious way, was Palpatine.  At the end of The Phantom Menace, he says that he will watch Anakin’s career “with great interest”.  He continued to build up Anakin, continued to take him into his confidence, continued to try to mold him into a controllable Jedi because of his connection to the Force.  Palpatine didn’t try to do this with anyone else.  He didn’t make a habit of trying to seduce Jedi to the dark side of the Force.  (A recent audiobook indicates that Count Dooku was already on that path before Darth Sidious got his hands on him.)  Even as he battled Yoda in his office, Palpatine spoke of Anakin being greater than either one of them.  He knew what Anakin was and wanted to control him.

In Jesus’s case, Peter knew that Christ was a great teacher from the first moment he left his nets to follow Him.  However, in the years he walked alongside Jesus, he became more and more certain of what He was.  Peter was the first to claim that Christ was “the Messiah”.  On the flip side, Satan himself tried to derail Jesus’s mission, first with tempting him in the desert, then by the Crucifixion itself.  Unlike Palpatine, Satan was unable to deviate Christ from where He was to go.

Where are you with your walk with Jesus?  Are you understanding that you are unworthy to unfasten His sandals?  Do you acknowledge His Godhood in all of your ways and actions?  Strive for that in all that you do!