John 1:19-23
Notes
Transcript
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.”
A few weeks ago we talked about the “I Am” wording used in scripture.
More specifically this scripture.
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
“I AM WHO I AM” is a name God gives Himself.
It’s a meaning of no one above, no one before.
Definitions are given, names are given.
No one has authority but God to define who He is!
He defines all things not the other way around.
Always has been, always will be.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
“I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.
“Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; I am the first,
and I am the last.
"I am the bread of life" (John 6:35)
"I am the light of the world" (John 8:12)
"I am the door of the sheep" (John 10:7)
"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11)
"I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25)
"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6)
"I am the true vine" (John 15:1)
We however are created, we however haven’t always been, we are limited, we are defined, we are named.
I am Tony. Can do some things well and some things not so well.
I am not Bob, I am not Justin. Just as they are not Tony.
All of us are limited, all of us are created, and all of us named.
God is the only “Great I AM”
So why start out this sermon this way?
Identity matters. It’s important when talking about eternal life and death.
It’s important because the very identity of our Christ is challenged every single day.
Let’s look at these verses and how the identity of who John the Baptist is and isn’t lays out the identity of our Savior Jesus!
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?”
The testimony of John...John who? John the Baptist. Not John the Disciple.
The testimony of John...testimony what is that?
You know that word you here in the court of law. You testify or you give your testimony about the facts of the case you witnessed or know about.
The same thing here. The testimony of John. I testify that I am not Christ, nor am I Elijah, nor a Prophet.
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
John the Baptist was known, there was a change within the country, a buzz so to speak.
He preached a powerful message of repentance and baptism.
A call to change their lives and to prepare for the coming Messiah.
Something the Jewish people were deeply looking for and anticipating!
He was looked upon as authentic, truthful, not self-seeking. Lived without the comforts of the world. Living minimally to greater serve the calling of preparing the way.
He also preached fearlessly, calling out sins of leaders and of the religious elite. Herod Antipas and his adulterous ways to calling the religious elite “brood of vipers”.
He was respected by many and know by many!
Outside of Jesus, he’s a great role model of what a Christian should be. Humble, pointing others to Jesus, authentic, living for Him, fearless in love and truth. Not self seeking but kingdom seeking.
So, John the Baptist was known and the Jews sent some priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
Priests and Levites were the caretakers of the temple and performed the sacrifices required by Old Testament law.
They were from the tribe of Levi and this was their sole role. Unlike the other tribes they had no land, livestock, or that type of worldly wealth. They were strictly provided for by the other tribes in their commanded giving.
Therefore the priests and Levites were deeply devoted to the truth of God’s law and truth.
Thus the Jews, to send them put a great significance of their interest on John the Baptist.
They’re sincerely taking notice and wondering who he is.
And they ask “Who are you?”
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
Right of the bat, he knew their thinking.
These powerful messages, the way people are being affected, the truth of the Word being spoken.
It’s something that as been baren for so long, that it’s striking a nerve.
He instantly and emphatically confesses that he is NOT the Christ, NOT the Messiah!
It is hard to translate this type of emphatic and clear statement from greek to english.
You could read it like this, “He confessed and never denied this confession of “I am not the Christ”
It’s a term of endearing truth to John and to others.
Never, ever wanting to pull the focus from the Christ. Just one pointing to Christ!
Again such a great lesson in this for us. His glory not ours!
And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
Then who are you!?
You’ve got to be something!
Are you Elijah, are you the Prophet?
You see with these very type of questions they believe he’s something to do with the Messiah.
John the Baptist has been that influential within the Jewish community.
Why do they ask these type of questions?
Prophecy of the Messiah to come.
They deeply desired this day and these prophecies.
You see the Jews had gone for over 400 years without hearing from God in the form of a prophet and they were starving for something from God in great anticipation of the prophesied Messiah.
The last prophet of the Old Testament Malachi lived around 400 bc and the last book of the Old Testament which is Malachi was written of course during his lifetime.
So to say the Jews were seeking with great anticipation is probably a bit of an understatement.
And what do we have in the last book of the Old Testament among other things? This very important prophecy of...
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
Elijah an Old Testament prophet that lived in the mid 800’s BC.
A prophet that taught the same things John the Baptist is teachings “repent, change your ways”.
A prophet that opposed the ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, King Ahab.
A King that worshiped foreign gods and a King that was leading Israel to do the same.
Elijah, the prophet taken up in a great whirlwind in the Old testament.
A prophet that is prophesied to return before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
John the Baptist says I am not he.
But what about Jesus’ talk about John the Baptist in Matthew?
and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
Is this a contradiction of Scripture?
No, first, John the Baptist is his own person. Born to Zechariah and Elizabeth.
Second, in Luke chapter one, is the foretelling of John’s birth to Zechariah by an angel of the Lord.
And within that foretelling, the angel of the Lord says this about John.
Luke 1:17a ESV and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
John the Baptist is a type of Elijah, not the Elijah.
He’s Elijah in the spirit and power.
The Spirit of truth in the face of false teachings.
And the Power of doing so unapologetically.
The false teaching in Elijah’s day of many Gods and being just as powerful, if not more powerful than God.
To combat this false teaching Elijah calls out these priests to these foreign so called gods.
Let’s see whos god can start the fire of sacrifice.
These priests done everything they could think of to get there gods to light this fire.
Elijah, even goes to the point of heckling them a bit by saying “maybe your god is relieving himself right now, keep trying”
And at the end, nothing, no fire.
Elijah’s turn. To prove the truth and the power of the one and only God. He pours water all over the wood, digs a trench around the wood, and fills it with water. There is no chance this wood is catching fire by accident.
Elijah prays and behold it lights and wicks away every bit of the water!
Mic drop!!
The spirit and power of the Truth of the One and Only God!
The same with John the Baptist.
The very one calling the religious elite “you brood of vipers”
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Elijah warned of false Gods and to repent, change direction back to the one and only.
John the Baptist is speaking the same message in spirit and power by telling the people to repent of putting their hope in themselves, their name, their religion, in anything but God.
Repent, prepare your heart for the truth in the flesh.
If you are willing to believe in Jesus as the Christ, John the Baptist is the Elijah to come in spirit and truth in preparation of the day of the Lord.
So then they say “are you the prophet” and he says no to that as well.
What’s up with this, when clearly John the Baptist is a prophet.
Again, the Jews are looking for the Messiah, the Christ. And what they ask is are you the prophet not a prophet?
A key difference and John picks up on this.
This is another reference to prophecy the Jews were hungry for!
This is Moses speaking here.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’
And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
Direct communication with God at Mount Horeb or another name for it, Mount Sinai was terrifying for the Hebrew people as you could only imagine.
Remember Moses coming off of Mount Sinai, basically glowing?
The holiness of God is death for sinful beings and they knew it.
This is a prophecy of the great prophet to come.
And John says no to this type of prophet they are seeking.
So, John the Baptist as we can see identifies as not a lot things.
But what he does identify as is just as important.
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.”
A-ha! This is who he is! This is the identity of John the Baptist!
In Messianic terms as the Jews were seeking, what John the Baptist just said resonates deeply!
Why?
A prophet of God named Isaiah who lived some 750 years before John the Baptist was commanded by God to write these words.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Let’s look at these in the context of Messianic prophecy as the Jews were seeking.
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
“warfare is ended”...Our redeemer is here, the war of sin, satan, and death has been conquered! Praise God!
“that her iniquity is pardoned” our wrong doings, our sin has been pardoned, not through “oh I just let it go” No our God is a just God. But our iniquity has been pardoned through the work of Christ!
And through this work of Christ, His life, death, burial, and resurrection, our sins have been abundantly paid for! Not just barely paid for but abundantly!
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Literally and figuratively
John the Baptist literally lived in the wilderness and was calling out these great messages of repentance.
Figuratively as well, wilderness brings that sense of wild, untamed nature of no law and order.
Sin in essence is this, no law and order, just every man for himself, no love, no care, just being, living for the day.
“make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
What do we think of when here the word “desert”? Dry, barren, hot, without water.
This is where we live. A world that is dry, barren, and in great need of the living water! The living water of Christ!
This is the announcing of our Savior entering the world!
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
All the peoples of less than, diseased, and frankly just looked down upon, brought up.
Those like the pharisees, the religious elite, or people of worldly power brought down.
No more segregation. All one people, with access directly to God through Jesus Christ.
All one in Christ! His power, His strength, His work.
Brings humbleness, brings love!
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
In all this, the truth of God and His son will be revealed. How we are to be made clean, how we are to be reconciled, and all will see it!
Jesus is the Messiah, the promised Christ!
This is the identity John the Baptist is trying to proclaim!
Quite looking at me!
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Pray: Thankful you entered the desert, thankful for your works, thankful for your Word, that we may know!
