Religious Leaders Question John the Baptist, ‘Who are you?’
John 1:19-28 NCV
Here is the truth John told when the Jews in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He answered, “No, I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” they asked. He answered, “No.” Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I am the voice of one calling out in the desert: ’Make the road straight for the Lord.’” (Isaiah 40:3) Some of the Pharisees who had been sent asked John: “If you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet, why do you baptize people?” John answered, “I baptize with water, but there is one here with you that you don’t know about. He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing people.
The priests, Levites, and Pharisees had been questioning John over and over if he is the Christ whom they were waiting for. Everyone in Israel was expecting the Messiah and they had assumed that John was the Christ. He kept telling them over and over that he is not the Christ. John quoted Isaiah 40:3 that he was ‘the voice’ to introduce the coming Messiah, the Christ. Jesus grew up among them and they didn’t know He was the one. Can you imagine that? Jesus was among the people all His life and they had no clue that was really HIM! Even Jesus’ own brothers didn’t know it. It was like they would say, ‘Him? Nah, He’s too human. We grew up with Him. He ate with us. He slept with us. He played with us. He teased us. He gets tired. He works as a carpenter. Him, the Messiah? No way!’ [Note: Jesus appeared to His brothers later and they finally believed that He was the Christ before He ascended to heaven.]
John 1:29-34 NCV: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I was talking about when I said, ‘A man come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ Even I did not know who he was, although I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel would know who he is.” Then John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven in the form of a dove and rest on him. Until then I did not know who the Christ was. But the God who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; he is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen this happen, and I tell you the truth: This man is the Son of God.”
It took John’s testimony to tell the people about Jesus. The whole 39 books of the Old Testament foretold the coming of Christ and He was finally ‘here.’ The whole books of the Bible were all about Christ. Boy, doesn’t that blow your mind? [To be continued]
