And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” John 1:19–23
I have the same name as John, who baptised in the wilderness.
I wish I had his character. Maybe more than that, I wish I had his piercing, focused love.
John (the writer of the Gospel—there are too many John’s in this study!) set the scene dramatically. The priests and Levites have travelled out from Jerusalem because they want to test John (the baptiser). They are possibly intrigued, but more likely annoyed, by this wild and strange wilderness preacher. Their question is blunt: “Who are you?” (v. 19).
We are then told that “he confessed, and did not deny, but confessed.” This is clearly going to be a huge statement—it is a confession, not a denial; it is emphatically a confession. So what is this great revelation, this important confession, this blazing truth? Simply “I am not the Christ.”
John the Baptist is happy to identify himself in relation to Jesus Christ and by comparing his stature to Jesus Christ. He is not about himself; he is all about Jesus. And he is not putting himself up there with Jesus but simply saying that he is not the Christ. John is incredibly, beautifully, making himself nothing so that Jesus may be his everything, and the sole focus for his hearers—friendly or hostile.
In verse 21, he denies that he is the second Elijah (as prophesied in Malachi 4:5) or the great prophet who was to come in the line of Moses (see Deuteronomy 18:15 for this promise). This is strange, as Jesus himself later says that John is the Elijah, and the greatest prophet the world had seen (Matt. 11:7–14). And that gives us an insight into why John is answering like this. He is not downplaying his ministry or the work of God in him. He is simply setting himself next to Christ, and gladly concluding that he is not.
These verses are an invitation to glorious freedom. I tie myself in knots trying to please people, to subtly ingratiate myself to friends and to gently manipulating brothers and sister into thinking I am amazing! I am a people-pleaser and need to keep repenting. John shows me the simplicity of how to do so: keep looking to Jesus.
In Christ there is a well of love too deep to plumb, a mountain of mercy too high to climb, and a platter so laden with kindness that we will never eat our fill. To see him, speak him, live for him, and be consumed by him is peace and joy. And an extra blessing of having my gaze captured utterly by him is that I am blotted out of sight.
John is very happy to own the ministry the Lord has given him and to see how eternally important it is: “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” (v. 23). He simply has the wisdom not to fall into the trap of thinking that he is important just because his ministry is important. No, his significance lies in Jesus. In the way his Lord gives him good works to walk in, but far more, in the way his Lord loves him. In Jesus.
O Lord, make us like John in the wilderness, with our gaze, hearts, and lives consumed by Jesus, your glorious Son.
Part 1: The Brilliance of the Light
Part 2: The Witness to the Light
Part 3: The People of the Light
Part 4: The Glory of the Light
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