Focus Passage: John 1:19-34 (NASB)
19 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 *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 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?” 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.”
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 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 saying, “I baptize *The Gr here can be translated in, with or byin water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day he *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.saw Jesus coming to him and *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing *The Gr here can be translated in, with or byin water.” 32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize *The Gr here can be translated in, with or byin water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
Read John 1:19-34 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
On discovering that John the Baptist was not claiming to be Elijah, “the Prophet”, or the Messiah, John the disciple’s gospel includes an amazing statement in this conversation between Jesus’ forerunner in ministry and the priests and Levites.
After John the Baptist has shared that he is simply the one who comes before, “They asked him, and said to him, ‘Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’” (v. 25)
This is a valid question. If John makes no claims to be special or significant, than what would give him the right to baptize?
While we learn the reason later on in this passage, the point in time when John shares why he baptizes happens the following day. In John’s direct reply to the priests and Levites, we find a surprising foreshadowing regarding how these spiritual leaders would react to Jesus.
John responds to these messengers by saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” (v. 26-27)
In this response, John the Baptist calls these leaders out that they do not know the One who God sent. In many ways this is true, however, Jesus had already subtly showed up on the scene. Jesus had already been baptized publicly by John, but even before this, Jesus had already spent three days in Jerusalem with some of these leaders about 18 years earlier when He was 12 years old.
John confidently challenges these leaders that the One God sent to Israel is alive among them, but also that they would not know Him. This man would follow after John and John admits that he isn’t worthy to even untie the sandal of the One God sent.
John’s statement is amazing foreshadowing, since all throughout Jesus’ ministry, the religious leaders – who should have been the ones to proclaim who Jesus was – were the ones who were standing in the strongest opposition to what He was doing.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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