The Testimony of John the Baptist Concerning Himself: John 1:19-28
We looked at verse 18 last week, and saw that Jesus is the only one who has ever seen the Father, and He is the witness of the fullness of the Father’s character and essence, having always existed with Him. Since ONLY God is eternal, and Jesus existed eternally with the Father, and that He and the Father are ONE, the Father and the Son exist as God, along with the Spirit of God. If you want to know God, listen to the revelation about the Father from the Word and Life of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we pick up at John 1: 19-21 ESV, examining the witness of John the Baptist concerning himself: “This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."
Negative answers to a very pointed question: “Who are you?”
In today’s passage, John, the writer of the Gospel, begins to relate the first week in the ministry of Jesus through chapter 2:11 (It resembles the beginning of Genesis, which narrates the first week of Creation) and the apostle begins by turning his attention to the testimony of John the Baptist, who was born into a priestly family. (His father, Zechariah, was a priest, belonging to the tribe of Levi, and the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus. Both John the Baptist and Jesus were “miracle babies”, babies of promise, born six months apart; Both died in their early 30’s: John’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, like Abraham and Sarah, were older and had never had children; Mary was a virgin and conceived the Son of God miraculously by the Holy Spirit.)
The “Jews from Jerusalem”, here mentioned, most likely refer to the Jewish religious leadership in general, which no doubt included the Pharisees as mentioned in verse 24. They sent representatives to ask “John the Baptist”, who was a very “stand out figure” a very pointed question: “You’re certainly not like the everyday son of a Levite: you’re a non-conformist who teaches and preaches in the desert, you dress like a prophet, you sound like a prophet (you’re baptizing, rebuking and exhorting), and you’re very influential, attracting large crowds wherever you go. WHO ARE YOU? ”
The nation of Israel was longing for liberation from the Romans, and so the leadership, no doubt thought: Maybe this Baptist guy, dressed like a prophet, is the one who will free God’s people, redeem the land and Israel from the Romans. And so they ask John: Who are you? And he immediately admits openly and frankly: I am DEFINITELY NOT the Christ. (Literally, It is NOT I who am the Christ!) With the longing for freedom and the high Messianic expectations that were in the air, John immediately confesses that he is not the long-promised Messiah. the Redeemer of Israel.
They immediately ask: “What then? Are you Elijah? Thinking that perhaps John was the fulfillment of the promise in Malachi 4:5 where it said: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” John again says: “No! I am not Elijah even though I may resemble Elijah!” I am ministering in the desert regions LIKE ELIJAH. I wear the clothing of a prophet and I live a paltry life like a prophet, but I’m not Elijah. I am LIKE Elijah in a spiritual sense, in that I am calling sinners to repentance before the Holy God, but I am not Elijah, not in the bodily physical sense. Remember that Elijah was a prophet who did not die a natural death but was whisked up to Heaven in a fiery chariot ride. (2 Kings 2:11)
Later Jesus says this about the Baptist in Matthew 11:10-14: “This is the one about whom it is written: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” 11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.”
John also says: Neither am I “THE PROPHET”; In Deuteronomy 18: 15-18, God had given this promise through the words of Moses: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (Moses) from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen-- 16 just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' 17 And the LORD said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”
The ONE who would fulfill the Moses-like prophet would be the Lord Jesus. This promise was clearly a messianic prophecy and so John again says NO, I’m not that prophet! If he firmly denied that he was NOT the Christ, he certainly was not the messianic fulfillment to THE PROPHET, but the One whom he would announce, HE IS THE CHRIST, He’s the fulfillment! Concerning the fulfillment of Deuteronomy, Jesus would say about Himself in John 12:49: “I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. Jesus would explain His own fulfillment in John 15:15: “for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (Later, Elijah and Moses actually DO APPEAR with Jesus and several disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:3.)
The positive responses to: “What do you say about YOURSELF?”
Look at John 1:22: “Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" (Look at John’s response to this question;) 23 He said, "I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,' as Isaiah the prophet said."
John says: “I am not the fulfillment of the Messiah. I am merely A VOICE: The ONE I am announcing it THE WORD. Earlier earthly prophets of God pointed to THE PROPHET who is to come, and they have no prominence at all. I am the one who is announcing the arrival of the Preeminent One, the One that all the prophets and scripture before me have anticipated.”
John the Baptist is”crying”, but he is not weeping. The word here means “to speak with a high, strong voice, to cry to one for help, to implore for another’s help.” It’s the word used in Luke 9:38: "Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy.” In Luke 18:37-38, we read this: “They told him (the blind man, Bartimaeus) that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" It is the word that is used in Mark 15:34: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out (from the cross) with a loud voice, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" The Baptist’s cry is one of extreme urgency.
John’s Message is this: “Make Straight (Prepare, make smooth, clear) the Way of the LORD.” (John quotes from Isa. 40:3: A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.” “Make smooth” is the OT word “yashar”; It means “to be right, be straight, be level, be upright, be just, be lawful, be smooth”.) It is not a small or insignificant message in the least. Through John, God is calling for people to ready themselves for the coming of the Deliverer from the LORD: Clear the Way for the Lord. Prepare yourselves for His long-awaited Arrival. John’s deep concern is that God’s People are NOT prepared to meet the Salvation of their God. In the Old Testament, God was bringing His Children out of captivity pointing to His redemption and NOW God was COMING to His People with His redemption. He is coming to accomplish that task in the Flesh. The LORD of Heaven and Earth is making His appearance! Be Prepared!
If Jesus were merely a man, His arrival would not necessitate any significant preparation, but that is NOT the case. The fact that God’s Christ and HEAVENLY KINGDOM are coming to His people on this earth means that the obstacles of your life that work against the ACTION OF Almighty God must be leveled and removed. This call was given to God’s people many times before: Listen to Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge him, and HE will make straight your paths.” Habakkuk 2:4: “Behold, as for the proud one, (pride is the greatest enemy of man) his soul is not right (not made straight) within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.” The prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 5:8 is: “Lead me, O LORD, in YOUR righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.”
Consider this: If you were expecting the arrival of an important guest into your home, would you prepare in any special way? Sure you would! How much more if you are expecting the arrival and working of “YHWH”, the name for LORD in the Old Testament, or “KURIOS”, the name for LORD in the New Testament. In reality, John the Baptist is the voice who is declaring the arrival of our LORD and Christ in the Person of Jesus. As John quotes the coming of the LORD (YHWH), He is simultaneously pointing to Jesus Christ, making the connection of the beginning of the Gospel, that Jesus is God in the same sense as YHWH of old! Here is the God of your Salvation!
There is an addition to John’s declaration in Matthew 3:1-2: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." John is preparing the way in similar fashion to the prophets of Old: Remove the trash from your life, any sin that would obstruct the coming of your salvation: REPENT! Repentance (metanoia, 'change of mind') involves a turning with a sorrowful heart FROM sin TO God; the repentant sinner is one whose heart falls in sorrow before a Holy God, recognizing the need for forgiveness outside of oneself, that forgiveness has nothing whatsoever to do with our ability but God’s ability. The repentant person sees the need for SELF to die, for pride to be removed because self stands in the way of THE WAY. Empty your life of the false God of Self-worship and pride because the LORD IS COMING. John the Baptist is the voice from God crying, “REPENT!”
“Why are you BAPTIZING?”
Look at the last question from John 1:24: “Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, "Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”
It is a reasonable question from the Pharisees; after all they were the religious authority of the Jews: “Why are you BAPTIZING?” The underlying question which isn’t asked is: Where do you get your authority? On what authority do you undermine the religious traditions of Israel? Paul later clarifies this in Acts 19:4-5: “And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” And so John’s Baptism stood as a Preparation for entrance into the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God. The command was given by Jesus and was issued by Peter as well in Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized every one of you (Jews and Gentiles) in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
What was unusual with John’s baptism is that Jews were being baptized; Although ceremonial water washings had occurred in the Old Testament, in the first century, baptism was typically a practice reserved for people who were converting to Judaism, not for Jews. Through John’s baptism, he was declaring that repentance and entrance into the Kingdom of God did not depend on your heritage or blood line but it had to do with a heart condition. John’s baptism was incomplete in the absence of Messiah. (Matt. 3:11 and Luke 3:16 include the words which John includes later in John 1:33: “He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”) John’s baptism unto repentance was preparing the way for the One who would soon be coming.
True repentance should always be accompanied by deeds that attest to repentance. There was a general UNawareness by the Pharisees that genuine piety and humility begins and centers in the inner man, in an allegiance to LOVE THE LORD YOUR God WITH ALL YOUR HEART, and with all your soul and with all your mind and to love your neighbor as yourself, that change begins in the heart, not on altering outside behaviors alone.
John basically avoids answering the question directly concerning his authority, but instead reverts to his own humble position before the Savior: "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." John’s answer suggests the Infinite Greatness of the Savior sent from Heaven, to say that I am not even worthy, it would not be FITTING for me to even untie the Master’s dusty, dirty sandal. He is unworthy to perform the most menial of tasks on the ONE whom he is about to announce, let alone worthy in any way to receive the Salvation of our Glorious God.
John’s heart response reminded me of the return of the Prodigal Son when faced with the reality of the extravagance of the Father in Luke 15:21, when he said: “I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” “Clear the way for the LORD in YOUR wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for your God.” Amen
(Copyright 2015, Ronald W. Tuit, All Rights reserved)
OUTLINE:
I. The negative answers to a very pointed question: “Who are you?”
A. I am DEFINITELY NOT the Christ.
B. I am not Elijah even though I may RESEMBLE Him. (Elijah-like) (Mal 4:5)
C. I am not the Moses-like Prophet. (Deut. 18:15-17)
II. The positive answers to a second question: “What do you say about YOURSELF?”
A. I am a VOICE announcing the arrival of Messiah: I am announcing the arrival of the Preeminent One, THE WORD.
B. My Message: “Make Straight (prepare, clear) the Way of the LORD.” (Isaiah 40:3, Psalm 5:8: Proverbs 3:6 (OT–yashar-) “to be right, be straight, be level, be upright, be just, be lawful, be smooth”)
C. I am a voice crying the LORDSHIP of Christ.
D. I am a voice crying, “Repent”! (Matthew 3:1-2)
III. Sets the stage to answer yet another question: “Why are you BAPTIZING”?
A. An UN-ASKED question is posed: Where do you get your authority?(Acts 19:4)
B. Preparation for entrance into the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God.
C. John’s baptism unto repentance was preparing the way for the One who is soon coming.
D. John’s Testimony is that he is unworthy to perform the most menial of tasks on the ONE whom he is about to announce. (vs. 27)
