Ok, get this...
The greatest prophet that ever lived finds himself confined to the solitude of a dungeon cell in Herod’s impregnable fortress... Yet, notwithstanding the darkness, the damp, his bodily suffering, his loneliness, his uncertainty, it is his heart that is pained most of all. And this time, it’s not because his followers have forgotten him, but rather because they haven’t...
I just read in Desire of Ages this morning that John the Baptist was pained because his disciples’ affection for him was slowing them up from receiving Jesus... It’s as if he would rather dispense with their love and die friendless than steal influence from the One he was about to give his life for... Oh, he was not always without questions of his own, but his loyalty never wavered...
That’s the ultimate self-sacrifice...
And how can I do any less? Oh Jesus, let me never accept affections that should be Yours...
