John 1:19-28 English Standard Version

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 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?” 23 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.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither 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.

Let us not ignore the obvious. The Pharisees would never humble themselves in order to listen to a crazy man shouting at the rocks in the wilderness. The baptist was alone in the wilderness. Why was John the Baptist in the wilderness? He knew he was called to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah. If he was to be in the wilderness by the will of God, then as an obedient servant he did not question the prophecy, he simply obeyed.

What wasn’t in the wilderness? The temple, the priests, the ceremony or the leaders of the Jews at that time. Travelers on the trade routes saw this strange man shouting at the rocks and brought a tale of mystery to the cities on their route. People love a circus oddity and went to see for themselves about this wild man in the wilderness. They listened to what he had to say and began to question what their teachers had been saying in their synagogues. Since those teachers did not have a clear answer to their questions they sought the opinion of their leaders in the temple in Jerusalem, their higher authority.

What was John preaching that was different from what was being taught in the synagogues?

John 1:29-34 English Standard Version

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

This John proclaimed late in his ministry. What did he preach first? Ezekiel 18:30

Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

While we were attempting to begin again by studying the gospel of John, at this point it would be helpful to seek examples of what others did to discover this Christ and who is God and became flesh.

These are the words of Paul, who as Saul studied under Gamaliel, a teacher of renown in Torah. This Saul probably knew more about Jewish traditions and the law than any of us today. I cannot imagine what Paul knew. Paul threw that all away in order to know Christ.

That is not the whole truth in the matter. As Paul became aware of Jesus Christ all that he had learned from Gamaliet was seen with a clearer understanding about how those scriptures pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. That is how Paul could go into the synagogues and convince the leaders and teachers that those scriptures held all the secrets needed to identify Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah of promise.

Paul replaced the wrong message with the right message.

This is what we seek to do in reading the gospel of John as a roadmap to Christ. We must, like Sargent Schultz, see nothing, know nothing, and allow what is happening play out before us.

John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The Word, Jesus, came into the world to show us what living a life in the will of the Father would look like. We must remember that this is just a beginning and we must be patient to allow everything to play out with a new understanding. A new way to look at old information.

John 1:6-8 English Standard Version

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

This John is John the Baptist and was foretold by the prophet Isaiah 40:3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.