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John 1:19–34 The Voice in the Wilderness These verses are a record of the witness John gave to the priests and Levites that were sent from Jerusalem. 1:19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" The fame of John the Baptist had spread throughout all Judea and to Jerusalem (Matt 3:5). On hearing the substance of John’s fiery preaching, and that he was baptising people in water, the Sanhedrin sent priests and Levites to determine whether he was the Christ, the anointed one of God who had been promised in the Scriptures (Luke 3:15). Notice that they were very cautious in their question. They did not directly ask if he was the Christ, but ‘who are you?’ Other gospel writers reveal that John was critical of the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to see him (Matt 3:7; Luke 3:7). 1:20 He confessed — he did not deny but confessed — "I am not the Christ!" John, however, was did not shy away from the question but openly acknowledged that he was not the Christ, for he understood his own role to be that of the one who would prepare the way for the Christ. 1:21 So they asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not!" "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No!" When they further questioned him if he was the prophet Elijah (they doubtless had the prophecy of Malachi 4:5 in mind), he answered them ‘no’. 1:22 Then they said to him, "Who are you? Tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" They were still not satisfied with his answers, for he had not yet told them who he was and so they had no report to give to their superiors; so once more they asked him to give an account of himself.
1:23 John said, "I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said." John had no doubt about his role, quoting Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of a forerunner or herald of the Christ (Isa 40:3), the one who would prepare the way for Israel to welcome its Lord. 1:24–25 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. So they asked John, "Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" Those who were sent to question John were of the Pharisees, the group which composed a significant part of the Sanhedrin. It was not their practice for Jews to be baptised in water— this was something only repentant Gentiles were asked to do when they embraced the Jewish religion. If John was neither the Christ nor the prophet Elijah, then by what authority did he challenge this religious custom by baptising Jews?
The Humility of John the Baptist 1:26 John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not recognize John immediately turns their attention from his own baptism to the more important issue, which they seem to have missed. The Christ was standing among them, and yet they did not know him. Jesus had not yet revealed himself. Although not stated implicitly here, the inference is made that the Christ would baptise them with something more than water (Matt 3:11). John leaves it to verse 33 that state clearly that Christ would baptise with the Holy Spirit. 1:27 Who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal!" Although John appeared to Israel before the Lord Jesus Christ, this did not give him priority. His was the menial task of a slave, those who undid the thongs of their master’s sandals, and in his own opinion, he was unworthy to even perform so humble a task for Christ. 1:28 These things happened in Bethany across the Jordan River where John was baptizing. All these things were done in a place called Bethany on the east side of the River Jordan. Nearly all the best ancient manuscripts have Bethany and not Bethabara: but this should not to be confused with the Bethany just outside Jerusalem.
The Testimony of John 1:29 On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
The day following, Jesus came to John as he was baptising. The moment John saw him the Holy Spirit within John confirmed that Jesus was the Christ (Luke 1:15). John identified him to the crowds as ‘the Lamb of God’. The people should have been able to understand what John was saying, for they were accustomed to the twice-daily offering of a lamb in the temple (Exod 29:38–39), as well as the story of the Passover, and how a lamb was slain for each family; yet it seems they later found it hard to understand that the Messiah would be ‘led as a lamb to the slaughter’ (Isa 53:7). John further explains that as the lamb, Jesus would take away ‘the sin of the world’, linking him with the idea of sacrifice. Later in His ministry Jesus would declare that it was because God so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3:16), but we are unsure at this point whether John the Baptist fully understood that to fulfil his role, the Lord Jesus Christ would give his life on the cross as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. 1:30 This is the one about whom I said, 'After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.' John confirms that Jesus is the one about whom he had previously spoken, someone greater than him. Not only does he bear witness to the pre-eminence of Christ (Eph 1:21 and Col 1:18), but also by implication to his pre-existence, in keeping with the first part of this chapter. 1:31 I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel." Although (according to Luke) John and Jesus were related (through Mary and Elizabeth), John did not know him to be the Christ until he came to be baptised. The reason God had sent John to baptise the people was in preparation for the revealing of the Messiah to the people of Israel. 1:32 Then John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. He continued his witness to Christ with his own account of how the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus like a dove from heaven, and did not leave (Mark 1:10). And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God. 1:33–34 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining — this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' It was this manifestation of God’s glory that revealed Jesus’s identity to John; for the prophetic voice of God, when sending him to baptise, also told him that the one upon whom he saw the Holy Spirit descend and remain was the Christ, the Son of God (Matt 3:17). Later the believers were baptised by Jesus in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).
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Mathew
Bartlett
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Derek
www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk
Williams
2017.
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