And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites that they might ask him, Thou, who art thou?
John's Gospel has just carried us through eternity, creation, and the Word becoming flesh. Now it drops into history. A group of officials leaves Jerusalem, walks out to the Jordan, and asks a man in the desert who he is. His answer points away from himself.
Behind this official visit stands more than curiosity. One commentator sees God's own hand at work, long before the delegation set out.
So God took care to stir up a general expectation of the Messiah in the minds of His people, and to send them the fullest witness. There was never a more strictly independent witness than John. He was born, brought up, and kept back until the right moment to testify of the Messiah. The detailed questions of those sent by the Jews from Jerusalem show how much this occupied people's minds at the time. They wanted to find out the real character and aim of this mysterious Israelite. He himself came from a priestly family, and that, as they should have known, ruled him out of the title of Messiah. There was no vagueness in his reply. John was not the Anointed. That was the main aim of their search.
The verse names the senders as "the Jews," yet a few verses later the same group turns out to be Pharisees. One writer explains the title:
"The Jews." In verse 24 it is said that the Pharisees sent them. The name "Jews" also has a special use for the Lord's opponents — those who were Jews only in name. Apart from that, the distance of time and place called for the title, even from a writer who was himself a Jew by birth.
Jerusalem sent priests and Levites — temple officials. The man they questioned belonged to that same priestly family, yet he had never taken up its work.
Though he was the son of a priest, he carries out no priestly duties. We never even find him at Jerusalem. Even his clothing speaks of the desert, being made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food is locusts and wild honey.
Their question — "Who are you?" — was a fair one. John had arrived with nothing that would satisfy an official inquiry.
Of course the Jews could not ignore this strange and powerful witness. They sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to question John. Without human credentials, with no authority from either Jews or Romans, no advertising, no public display — who is this man? But John briefly answers, "I am not the Christ." He had no interest in talking about himself. What did it matter who he was? He was not the one Man of importance. Christ was the burden of his testimony, not himself.
The key word in this verse is "testimony." One writer counts how often this chapter comes back to it.
Five times in this chapter we read that John bore witness. First in verse 7 — this section runs down to verse 14 and is mainly occupied with the Lord's coming into the world. Then verses 15 to 18 mention another witness, mainly concerned with His pathway. In verses 19 to 31 we have his witness concerning the death of our Lord.
This section has a shape of its own. John starts by saying what he is not.
Verses 19-28 give us John's testimony, given while he was baptizing in the Jordan. It is a completely different side of it from what the other Gospels record. First came the negative side. The religious leaders were curious about him. They wanted to know whether he was the Christ, or Elijah, or the prophet Moses had spoken of. His testimony was steady: he was none of these, only the voice crying in the wilderness that Isaiah had spoken of.
Questions about yourself are an invitation to talk about yourself. John turned it down, and that refusal is the measure of the man.
I would like everyone to notice what it is that makes a man great in the moral sense of the word. In John 1:19-27 we get a record of conversations between John the Baptist and those sent to examine him on behalf of the Pharisees. We find that John persistently refuses to talk about himself. He prefers to speak of the great One who was to come.
- Stirred — the crowds around John were no accident. God was rousing His people to expect the Messiah, and He sent them the fullest witness.
- Sent — Jerusalem's religious leaders sent priests and Levites to question John. The challenge came from the top.
- Separate — John came from a priestly family, yet he held no priestly office and never appears at Jerusalem.
- Silent about self — John had no credentials to defend. His first answer said what he was not, and pointed past himself to Christ.
- Standard — this is the pattern of real greatness: a servant says little about himself and much about his Master.
And he acknowledged and denied not, and acknowledged, I am not the Christ.
The men sent from Jerusalem came with one question: "Who are you?" John answered by pointing away from himself. The verse records his reply twice over, and commentators find in that doubling both the honesty of a witness and the shape of his whole ministry.
These officials were not just curious. Expectation of the Messiah was running high, and they wanted one point settled above all.
So God took care to stir up a general expectation of the Messiah in the minds of His people. He also sent them the fullest witness. There was never a more independent witness than John. He was born, brought up, and kept until the right moment to testify of the Messiah. The detailed questions of those sent by the Jews from Jerusalem show how much men's minds were stirred at the time. They wanted to find out the real character and aim of this mysterious Israelite. He came from a priestly family, and that, as they should have known, ruled him out of the Messianic title. But there was no vagueness in the reply. John was not the Anointed. This was the main aim of their search.
The verse repeats itself: he confessed, and confessed again. One writer finds the weight not in what John said, but in how he said it — before anyone had raised the subject.
They came to ask him, "Who are you?" "He confessed, and did not deny," says the exultant Spirit; "but confessed, I am not the Christ." Was that, after all, only a small thing to say? Yes; but it was the way he said it, unasked, as one who knew in his soul that Christ is the One men need, so that they need nothing else. What did it matter what he himself was? He and they were standing in the presence of His glory — though in very different ways — and they did not know it.
Nobody had mentioned the Christ. John named Him anyway, and that shows what filled his mind.
With his heart full of Christ, John very beautifully replies, "I am not the Christ." This seems a remarkable answer, since no one had said or asked anything about Christ. It is as if John said, "You have come to me, but I am not the One you need, I am not the Christ." As a true witness he presents Christ and hides himself. The more they press him to speak of himself, the shorter his answers become.
The moment gave John an easy chance to make something of himself.
His fame had spread. The Jews of that city had heard his name, and wanted to get his own account of himself. And how favourable the opportunity now offered for self-exaltation! How easy to satisfy the taste of these interviewers with a little self-assertion! But John was proof against it. Indeed, one of the most striking features in this remarkable man of God was his humility. His unawareness of self was plain and lovely.
One writer links the doubled confession to what men were offering him at that moment.
He was not the Christ, as he confessed and did not deny, when men were ready to give him the glory due to the Master.
When they made him speak about himself, he said as little as he could. One writer sets that against all he was.
Here was a man of real power and dignity. He was one of Christ's most distinguished servants, holding the very highest position. His preaching had stirred the hearts of thousands. Angels had announced his birth. Prophets had foretold his ministry. He was the herald of the kingdom, the friend of the King. Yet when forced to speak of himself, this remarkable man will only say, "I am a voice." Not even a man, but only a voice.
John's humility is more than an attractive trait. One writer calls this the hard part of all true testimony.
Let us not suppose that to give true testimony to Christ is an easy or simple thing. It is not. Even the best and greatest of God's servants have carried the flesh within them, with all its deep-rooted tastes and habits. So a dangerous tendency is always there. It puts self in the foreground and Christ in the background, even while seeming to bear witness to Him. John the Baptist was remarkably proof against this.
- Asked — the officials came to settle one question: was this man the Messiah? His answer left no vagueness.
- Answered — he named Christ before anyone asked about Christ. That shows what filled his heart.
- Offered — men were ready to hand him glory that belonged to his Master. The doubled "confessed" marks his refusal, and taking the honour would have been easy.
- Emptied — a man announced by angels and foretold by prophets would say of himself only "I am a voice."
- Applied — every servant faces one danger: pushing self forward while seeming to speak of Christ.
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he says, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.
Priests and Levites have come from Jerusalem to ask who this preacher in the wilderness is. Their questions run down Israel's list of expected figures, and John's denial that he is Elijah has puzzled readers ever since.
Neither question was random. Each came out of an Old Testament promise.
Every godly Jew expected the two figures named here to appear at some point in connection with Messiah. So when John came on the scene, the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him three questions. Was he the Christ? Once he had confessed that he was not, they then asked, with reference to Malachi 4:5-6, whether he was Elijah. He denied that too. Then they asked, now with Deuteronomy 18:17-19 in their minds, "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."
Their knowledge of Scripture did not help them.
Knowing Scripture only blinds those who are not in present communion with the mind of God. In that case, the light a person has becomes darkness.
John's "no" answers what the questioners meant. It does not deny what Jesus would later say about him.
They press him further about whether he is Elijah (v. 21), no doubt with Malachi 4:5 in mind. "I am not" is his blunt answer. Does this contradict the Lord's words in Matthew 11:14? No. In a spiritual sense John was Elijah — that is, a prophet of similar spirit and power (Luke 1:17). But the Jews had in mind a literal reincarnation, and that was in no way true. John was not Elijah himself.
Jesus' own words carry an "if". The name fits John for those willing to receive it.
The key appears to lie in Matthew 11:14: "And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come." Such a word, however, needed ears to hear. The Lord Himself is Son of Man as well as Messiah. So John's testimony and his lot were to match a coming in shame and sorrow, as well as one in power and glory. The Jews cared only for the coming in power and glory.
Put plainly: John was Elijah to those who received him, and to those who followed the Lord afterwards.
The Lord, speaking of John, said, "Elijah has come," Mark 9:13, which seems to clash with John 1:21; another passage, however, explains it: "If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come." Matthew 11:14. He had come in the spirit and power of Elijah, as Gabriel had foretold.
The denial leaves room for a forerunner still to come.
The difficulty had to do with the truth of the two comings, which the disciples did not yet understand. The Lord came in humiliation. He will come again in power and glory. A forerunner preceded the first coming. A forerunner will appear before the second. So the Lord replied to the disciples' question: "Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognise him, but did to him whatever they pleased." The scribes were right about the coming of Elijah. He will come and restore all things. Nothing like that has been seen down here yet.
The third question reaches back to Moses. God told him to announce a Prophet like himself.
Before Moses died, God commissioned him — the mediator of the first covenant — to tell Israel of a Prophet who would come like himself. All were to listen to Him (Deuteronomy 18:15)... The people were taught to expect a Prophet who would teach them, as well as a Messiah who would save them. That expectation had not died out in fifteen hundred years. For people asked John the Baptist whether he was the Prophet who was to come (John 1:21). So Israel was still looking for the Prophet. Soon after the word of God came to John, it became clear that the Prophet and the Messiah were one Person.
Watch what John does with each answer.
With his heart full of Christ, John gives this blessed reply: "I am not the Christ." The answer seems remarkable, since nothing had been said or asked about Christ. It is as if John said, "You have come to me, but I am not the One you need, I am not the Christ." As a true witness he presents Christ and hides himself. The more they press him to speak about himself, the shorter his answers become. They say, "Are you Elijah?" He replies, "I am not." They ask, "Are you the Prophet?" He answers with a single word, "No." John is decreasing so that Christ may increase.
- Three questions. The delegation ran through Israel's three expected figures: the Christ, Elijah of Malachi 4, and the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18. John refused all three titles.
- One denial. He was not Elijah returned in person. The Jews expected a literal reappearance. John came in Elijah's spirit and power.
- One condition. Jesus' "if you are willing to accept it" is the key: John was Elijah to faith, to those who received him.
- Two comings. A forerunner came before the first coming in humiliation. Malachi's Elijah is still to come before the coming in power, when all things will be restored.
- Fewer words. Five words, then three, then one — the witness shrinks as the One he points to fills the view.
They said therefore to him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
A delegation from Jerusalem has run out of questions. John has told them what he is not. Now they press for something positive — a name they can carry back to the men who sent them.
The men in front of John were important, and their support was worth having. He would not take it.
His preaching caused a great stir in the land, so much so that priests and Levites came from Jerusalem to find out who he could be. But he was a faithful witness, and he would not let the support of these great and influential men turn him from his mission. He had come to speak of Christ, to prepare the people for their Lord, and he refused to talk about himself... He was a blessed and faithful servant. He kept himself out of his own message, so that his Lord might be everything in it.
The question narrows to the one subject John avoids.
It is unwelcome to any right-minded person to be asked to speak about himself. So, I have no doubt, John found it... But they wanted a positive answer. He had little indeed to say about himself. "I" had a very small place in John's thoughts.
Pressed for an answer, John names himself with a word that has almost nothing in it.
They were determined to have an answer, and he gives them one. They would compel him to speak of himself, and he does so. But look at his answer! Who or what was he? Nobody. He was only "a voice." Here was a man of real power and dignity, one of Christ's most honoured servants, in the very highest position. His preaching had stirred the hearts of thousands. Angels announced his birth; prophets foretold his ministry. He was the herald of the kingdom, the friend of the King. Yet force this remarkable man to speak of himself, and the most he will say is, "I am a voice." Not even a man, but only a voice.
A voice fades as soon as it speaks — and that is what fits it for the work.
A "voice" — barely a person. Its whole value lies in the message it brings. A voice must pass away, but it may do a work that will not pass. Here is a voice that would bring to the souls of men the imperishable Word which remains for ever... What are men, that a name among them and a following from them should be worth wanting?
To accept a title would have been to collect a following. John declines both.
He replies that he is only a "voice"... the voice Isaiah spoke of. He refuses to take a place as a gathering centre for the people of God; he refuses to take a name, to exalt himself among the people of God. He is simply a voice to speak of Jesus in obedience to the Word of God.
John's small word about himself points to the greatness of the One behind him. (The older translation reads "Jehovah" where the ESV has "the Lord.")
John does take his stand as a witness to Jesus, to His personal and divine glory. So when they challenged him about who he was, he used of himself the prophetic word attached to him in every Gospel: "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'" Jesus was Jehovah. John was no more than a voice in a desolate earth — indeed, in a desolate Israel — to prepare the way before Him.
They asked so they could report. John gave them far more than a name.
These priests, sent by the Pharisees in Jerusalem, should have hurried back to those who sent them. What a message they had to carry! The man they had enquired about was none other than the forerunner of the Lord... What would they do? Sadly, the announcement did not move them at all. They were a generation without faith. They could not even see past John's message, and they went on asking him about himself.
Christ described the man who refused to describe himself.
Listen to His testimony to John — the one who said of himself that he was nothing but a voice. "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist." How much better to hear this from the Master than from the servant! John said, "I am a voice." Christ said he was the greatest of prophets.
- Pressed. Officials wanted a label to report; John gave them the one word no one could turn into a title.
- Empty. "I" had a very small place in his thoughts — he was not even a man in his own account, only a voice.
- Passing. A voice fades; its whole worth lies in the message it carries, and that message does not fade.
- Pointing. By refusing a name, he refused to become a gathering centre. He left Jesus, whom he announced as Jehovah, as the one to follow.
- Praised. The servant who called himself nothing heard his Master call him the greatest of prophets — better said from that mouth than from his own.
He said, I [am] [the] voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the path of [the] Lord, as said Esaias the prophet.
John's questioners want a name and a title; his answer gives them neither. He answers with one line from Isaiah. That line says three things at once: who he is, what the nation had become, and who was about to arrive.
Pressed to define himself, John chose the smallest word available. That is startling, given all he could have claimed:
They were determined to have an answer, and he gives them one. They would compel him to speak of himself, and he does so. But mark his answer! Who or what was he? Nobody. He was only "a voice." … Here was a man of real power and dignity. He was one of Christ's most honored servants, holding the very highest position. His preaching had stirred the hearts of thousands. Angels had announced his birth. Prophets had foretold his ministry. He was the herald of the kingdom, the friend of the King. Yet when this remarkable man was forced to speak of himself, all he would say was, "I am a voice." Not even a man, but only a voice.
That word fits the Gospel it appears in. This Gospel opens by calling Christ the Word, and a voice exists to carry a word:
A "voice" — hardly a person. Its whole value lies in the message it brings. A voice must pass away, yet it may do a work that will not pass. Here is a voice that will bring to the souls of men the undying Word that lasts forever. We cannot help seeing that the voice in John stands in fitting relation to the Word, who is Christ, and of whom the Gospel speaks in this way.
A name gives people something to gather around. John would not give them one.
He replies that he is only a "voice." … He refuses to take a place as a gathering centre for the people of God. He refuses to take a name, or to lift himself up among the people of God. He is only a voice to speak of Jesus in obedience to the Word of God.
In the line John quotes, "the Lord" stands for God's own name, Jehovah. So his answer is a witness to Jesus, not just a description of himself:
Still, John does take his stand as a witness to Jesus, to His personal and divine glory. To this end, when they challenged him about who he was, he applies to himself the prophetic word attached to him in every Gospel: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of Jehovah." Jesus was Jehovah. John was no more than a voice in the desolation of the earth — yes, of Israel — to prepare the way before Him.
John also stops the quotation short. The prophet's line goes on, "make straight in the desert a highway for our God," but John leaves that part out:
It means that the One he brings in is Jehovah. But he leaves out the prophet's words, "a highway for our God." Though He is acknowledged to be Jehovah, He comes in as a man in humiliation. Besides, Israel in its present state could not be put in the position of saying "our" God.
The setting is not just geography. It is a verdict on the nation, and it changes the kind of preaching John does:
This is why John the Baptist does not appeal to the people as a whole, like the prophets who had preceded him. He says, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness." Israel was a wilderness for God. From now on his appeal rests on their ruin beyond recovery. The appeal of the older prophets always assumed that the nation could still return to Jehovah.
The road work here is moral, not literal. It is about whose paths the people walk in:
In preparation for receiving Jehovah their King they were to make His paths straight. As His people they were to walk in His paths and not paths of their own choosing. What counted was reality and the evidence of it, not natural claim and empty words.
Repentance had a purpose beyond itself:
If they listened to John and repented, they were ready in heart to receive the forgiveness of sins through the One who was about to come. So the path before the Lord would be made straight.
- Voice — Asked for a name, John gave a sound. He was "not even a man, but only a voice."
- Word — A voice exists for the message it carries. John's whole worth lay in bringing men the Word who lasts forever.
- Jehovah — The line he quotes announces the arrival of God Himself. He leaves out Isaiah's "our God." The One coming came in humiliation, and the nation could not yet say "our."
- Wilderness — He preached in the desert because Israel had become a wilderness to God. His call to repentance rested on ruin, not on hope of a national return.
- Straight — The road-work is repentance: walking God's paths rather than one's own, so that hearts are ready to receive the One coming after.
And they were sent from among the Pharisees.
This short note tells us who sent the men who questioned John the Baptist. Why does the Gospel add this detail, and what does it explain about their next question?
Earlier the Gospel says "the Jews" sent them; here it says the Pharisees. Both names point to the same senders.
"The Jews." Verse 24 says that the Pharisees sent them. Apart from a special use of the name "Jews" for the Lord's opponents — those who were such only in name — the distance of time and place called for that name, even from a writer who was himself a Jew by birth.
Behind their questioning stood a purpose larger than their own.
So God took care to stir up a general expectancy of the Messiah in the minds of His people. He also sent them the fullest witness. And there was never a more independent witness than John. He was born, brought up, and kept until the right moment to testify of the Messiah.
John had just refused to make anything of himself. Naming his audience explains why that answer sounded so strange.
Now this was a very remarkable answer to fall on the ears of the Pharisees who were the messengers sent to question the Baptist. Surely it is not without meaning that this fact is stated. Pharisees know very little of self-hiding or self-emptiness. Such rare and lovely fruits do not grow in the withering air of Pharisaism. They only grow in the new creation, and there is no Pharisaism there. Pharisaism, in all its phases and at all its levels, is the direct moral opposite of self-denial. So John's reply must have sounded strange in the ears of the questioners.
The lesson is not only for them.
This contains a volume of deep practical instruction for the heart. It is exactly what is needed in this day of busy self-importance — needed by each, needed by all. For do we not, each and all, have to judge ourselves for our strong tendency to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think? So we deeply need the wholesome teaching given by the lovely self-emptiness of John the Baptist, who when challenged to speak of himself could step back into the shade and say, "I am only a voice."
Their blindness was not for lack of information.
But those who had been sent were of the Pharisees, and they saw nothing. They did not heed the testimony as men who knew their need. They had misread the ages past, and here was the voice of those ages. It was strange and distant. And the light in the eyes of the man who spoke — had they not seen it before in many a fanatic?
They should have run back with what they had just heard.
These priestly delegates from the Pharisees in Jerusalem should have hurried back to those who sent them. What a message they had been given to carry! The man they had asked about was none other than the forerunner of the Lord. His Master's footsteps were already sounding behind him... What would they do? Sadly, the announcement did not move them at all. They were a generation without faith. They were ritualists. They cared much about the outward form of baptism and about who had authority to perform it. But they had neither ears nor hearts for the word of God which John spoke among them.
Their next question is about baptism. They knew what the water stood for.
If, however, John refuses to become a new gathering centre, why does he baptize? The Pharisees knew well that baptism meant death, and therefore separation, for death is the great separator. If John baptized, it meant separation from the old order of things, to have part in something entirely new. What, then, the Pharisees ask, is the new centre of gathering, seeing that John refused to be a leader or centre?
They could not argue with his message, so they went after his credentials.
In fact, it was an unheard-of boldness to impose such a baptism on Israelites. Here was a man with no miracle to back him, with nothing but his own life, lived apart from the world, and that fervent appeal to the conscience which woke it up to its work. They could not meet him on the ground of Scripture or of fact; but it was easier to question his personal right to baptize, of which they themselves were the accepted judges.
- Sent — this verse names the Pharisees as the party behind the men who questioned John. Through them God gave His people the fullest witness.
- Sect — they were ritualists, focused on the outward form of baptism and on who authorised it.
- Strange — John's self-emptying answer sounded strange to them, because self-emptiness does not grow in Pharisaism.
- Sightless — they had misread the past ages, so the voice of those ages sounded to them like one more fanatic.
- Separation — baptism meant death and separation from the old order. If John was not the centre, they had to ask who was.
And they asked him and said to him, Why baptisest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?
The men sent to question John have run out of titles. He has said he is not the Christ, not Elijah, not the Prophet. So they turn from who he is to what he does. What gives a man who claims no title the right to call Israel into the water?
The previous verse says the Pharisees sent these men. On John's own words, their question was fair.
But the men who had been sent were Pharisees, and they saw nothing. They did not take in the testimony, as people aware of their need would have done. They had misread the ages past, and here was the voice of those ages, and it was strange and distant... But they were sharp ritualists, and now they had a rightful question for him, founded on his own confession. If he was neither Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why did he baptize?
Each of the three titles came from a known Scripture. And by that time the Jews had taken the third one away from the Messiah.
They further ask why he baptized, if he was neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. Elijah means the immediate forerunner of the kingdom in power and glory over the earth (Mal. 4). The prophet means the one promised in Deut. 18. The apostle Peter in Acts 3 applies that promise just as clearly to the Lord Jesus, though the Jews seem by then to have taken it away from the Messiah.
The wording is precise. The definite article rules out a popular guess about the old prophets returning.
The Greek article, here as in verse 21, excludes the idea some have had that behind the Jew's question lay the superstitious notion (referred to in Luke 9:19) that the old prophets would rise from the dead when Messiah came.
Baptism was not a neutral act. The questioners knew what it meant. It pointed to a new gathering centre, and John had just refused to be one.
The Pharisees were well aware that baptism signified death, and therefore separation, for death is the great separator. If John baptized, it meant separation from the old order of things, to have part in something entirely new. What, then, the Pharisees ask, is the new centre of gathering, seeing that John refused to be a leader or centre?
The demand itself was startling. John called Israelites to be baptized, and nothing outward backed him up.
In fact, it was an unheard-of boldness to impose such a baptism on Israelites. Here was a man with no miracle to back him. He had nothing but his own life apart from the world, and that burning appeal to the conscience which woke it up to its work. With it came the startling announcement that heaven's Kingdom and its King were at hand. They could not meet him on the ground of Scripture or of fact. It was easier to question his personal right to the privilege he claimed, since they were its recognised judges.
Pressed about his ceremony, John makes it small. Water is only water, and he points away from himself.
But John answers them in his own strange way, by attacking all ritualism at its very root. Baptize? Yes, he baptized — with water! As a symbol, water might carry the deepest meaning. Otherwise it could only wash dirt from the body. Water does water's work, the work its Maker appointed for it. Why make much of this, while One stood in the middle of them, unknown and unnoticed? He was so great that the Baptist declares he was unworthy to do a servant's task for Him, and had received from Him all the significance he had.
The ignorance he exposes is not the crowd's but the religious leadership's.
The religious Jew had no appreciation of Christ. He was standing among them, but as One unknown. Not only was He unknown by the world, but unknown by the priests and Levites of Jerusalem. Yet so great is this unknown One that John can say His "sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
They press John twice — about himself, and about his work. Each time he makes himself smaller.
So the more this dear servant of Christ is forced to speak of himself or of his work, the more he withdraws into the shade. When asked about himself, he says "I am a voice." Then asked about his work, he says, "I am not worthy to untie my Master's sandal strap." There is no swelling or exalting of self, no fuss about his service, no parading of his work.
He makes no effort to defend himself... His single-heartedness in testimony is an example for every servant of Christ.
Asked where John's authority came from, the leaders had no safe answer.
Honesty would have admitted that John's authority came from heaven. But they had not accepted his testimony, and admitting the truth would have embarrassed them badly. On the other hand, saying John's baptism was from men would have angered the common people they wanted as followers. The people knew that John was a prophet. And what men could they point to who had given John such authority? No Jewish authorities had done this (compare John 1:19-27). They answer, "We cannot tell."
- Question. On his own confession he was none of the three. So why was he baptizing at all?
- Meaning. Baptism meant death, and so separation from the old order. They wanted to know what new centre John was gathering people to.
- Offence. It was unheard-of boldness to press such a baptism on Israelites. John had no miracle behind him, only his life and his call to the conscience.
- Answer. John reduces his rite to plain water. Then he points to the One standing among them, unknown.
- Verdict. Asked where John's authority came from, the leaders could only say, "We cannot tell."
John answered them saying, I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know,
Priests and Levites came from Jerusalem to ask John by what right he baptized. His answer says nothing about himself. He points to Someone already standing in the crowd, then tells these men that they do not know Him.
The wording marks a shift in John's message.
In the other Gospels, John gave his testimony about the Lord before the Lord was baptized, and so before John knew Him. In this Gospel, John, the son of Zechariah, speaks after the baptism of Christ. That is why his language differs. He could now say that One stands among them. In Matthew, Mark and Luke he always speaks of the coming One. Here he speaks of Him as come, and in the middle of the people.
The tense of the verb matters here.
"Stands." This does not mean the Lord was in the crowd in front of John at that moment (compare verse 29). The word means "there has stood." Bengel renders it: "has taken his stand."
John's baptism carried a demand — a break with the religion of the day. It also exposed how little the men questioning him knew Christ.
In his reply John admits that he baptizes with water. This implies that to gather around Christ you must separate from the corrupt religious system of that day. The religious Jew had no appreciation of Christ. He was standing among them, but as One unknown. The world did not know Him, and neither did the priests and Levites of Jerusalem. Yet this unknown One is so great that John can say His "sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
Their questions show where their interest lay. They kept asking about the outward act and about who had authorised it.
They were a generation without faith. They could not even see behind John's message, and they continued to ask him about himself. They were ritualists. They cared a great deal about the outward form of baptism and about who had the right to perform it. But they had no ears and no hearts for the word of God that John spoke among them.
John does not defend his baptism. He names its limit, and that limit is the point of his answer.
"And I did not know Him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that He might be revealed to Israel." There you have John's part. All he could do was to baptize with water. That was a kind of token or sign to Israel that the Christ was about to be revealed.
So John's baptism is not the same as Christian baptism.
Scripture is just as plain that it is quite distinct from Christian baptism. It is so distinct that disciples who had already been baptized with John's baptism had to be baptized to Christ when they received the full truth of the gospel (Acts 19). Confessing a coming Messiah is very different from confessing His death and resurrection. This is the root of differences that carry weighty consequences.
John was asked about himself, and then about his work. Both answers shrink him to almost nothing.
The more this dear servant of Christ has to speak of himself or of his work, the more he steps back into the shade. Asked about himself, he says, "I am a voice." Asked about his work, he says, "I am not worthy to untie my Master's sandal strap." There is no puffing up or exalting of self. He makes nothing of his service and does not parade his work. The greatest of prophets was, in his own eyes, only a voice. The most honoured of servants thought himself unworthy to touch his Master's shoe.
Once John had spoken, the men from Jerusalem could no longer plead that no one had told them.
In his witness to the truth he witnesses to the greatness of Jesus, and to his own unworthiness next to Him. It was a wonderful testimony to the Son of God. He was there among the men the Pharisees had sent, and the testimony left them without excuse. They did not know Jesus, but John's testimony should have led them to seek Him and to accept Him.
- He stands. The word means He has taken His stand. Christ is no longer only coming; He is already here. This testimony comes after His baptism, unlike John's words in the other Gospels.
- He stands unknown. The priests and Levites from Jerusalem had no appreciation of the One in their own crowd. His baptism called men out of the religious system they served.
- He stands behind water. John's baptism was a sign to Israel that the Christ was about to be revealed. It is not Christian baptism, which confesses a Christ who has died and risen.
- He stands above the voice. Asked about himself, John says he is a voice; asked about his work, he says he is unfit to untie a sandal. The greatest of prophets keeps retiring into the shade.
- He stands, so no excuse remains. Ritualists with no ears for God's word still heard enough. The testimony should have sent them looking for Him.
he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose.
John's questioners wanted a label for him. His answer turned their attention away from himself and onto Someone already standing in the crowd. A sandal strap is a small detail. Yet writers treat John's words about it as one of the strongest claims made about who Jesus is.
The men questioning John were religious, and they were sent from Jerusalem. They had missed Him. One writer explains what John's answer about water baptism implied:
In his reply John admits that he baptises with water. This implies that to gather round Christ, you must separate from the corrupt religious system of that day. He then shows that this separation is necessary. The religious Jew had no appreciation of Christ. He was standing among them, but as One they did not know. He was unknown not only by the world, but by the priests and Levites of Jerusalem. Yet this unknown One is so great that John can say, "I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal."
Untying a sandal was a real job. One writer names who did it:
Archaic, 61-word sentence at grade 29; split and modernised
John came first, yet he puts the One who comes after him above himself. One writer traces this back to the prophecy John had applied to himself:
He is the voice Isaiah spoke of, the one who was to prepare the way of the Lord before Him. He does not go exactly before the Messiah, though the Lord was the Messiah. Nor is he Elijah going before the day of Jehovah. He is the voice in the wilderness, going before the Lord (Jehovah) Himself. Jehovah was coming. So this is what John speaks about. John's baptism was indeed a baptism of repentance. But One was already among them, unknown, who came after him and yet was greater than he was — the One whose sandal strap he was not worthy to untie.
Great men have always had servants. So if Jesus were only a man, John could have served Him. One writer follows that thought:
If He were only a man, John would certainly have been worthy to be His servant, however great that man might be. But He was God, come among His people with good news.
This confession appears five times in the Bible. One writer sees a purpose in that:
But there was one moment in John's life that all four Gospels record, and the book of Acts records it again. In it John confesses that he is completely unworthy in the presence of this glorious Man — so unworthy that he is not fit to untie the sandals of Jesus. By pointing to these words five times, the Holy Spirit seems to be underlining the greatness of Christ as Man.
Later in this same Gospel, Jesus takes the servant's place Himself:
How wonderful it is to read of Him in this same Gospel washing the feet of His disciples. No one greater than John was ever born of women. Yet John was not worthy to untie this One's sandal strap — and this same One tied a towel round Himself and washed His disciples' feet.
Thousands came to hear John preach. Pressed to say who he was, he gave four words:
Here was a man of real power and dignity, one of Christ's most famous servants, holding the very highest position. His preaching had stirred the hearts of thousands. Angels had announced his birth, and prophets had foretold his ministry. He was the herald of the kingdom, the friend of the King. Yet when this remarkable man was pressed to speak about himself, all he would say was, "I am a voice."
- Present — He was already standing among them. The problem was not distance but blindness: even "the priests and Levites of Jerusalem" did not know Him.
- Lowest — Untying a sandal was "the job of the lowest slave." John said he was not fit even for that.
- Highest — Only God explains the gap. Any great man could have been served by John; this One could not.
- Reversed — The One John felt unfit to serve later tied a towel round Himself and washed His disciples' feet.
- Voice — The greatest man born of women called himself only "a voice," and spent it all on Christ.