John 1:19-28

"...testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

Or perhaps, "Who do you think you are?". We cannot deny a sense of suspicion on the part of the interrogators. For John the Baptist has been preaching a radical message, as we have observed in other gospels. He has also been baptizing, hence the term the Baptist. Here, John, the author, narrates the events that took place prior to the first recorded public anointing of Jesus for His ministry, being baptized by John. Remember, that as recorded in Matthew, about 30 years ago, there was a huge massacre of infants by Herod, because he was afraid of the threat of the fulfillment of the messianic prophecy. So, we must wonder, perhaps people have been thinking all this while, with much tension, hope, expectancy, and for some, fear, about the big question - WHO? It is therefore no surprise that when people noticed the radical nature of John the Baptist's ministry, they suspected him of being the Messiah. The One whom the Jews have been waiting for. The One whom the Scriptures have foretold since Genesis 3:15 and throughout all the Old Testament. Even now, those who do not receive Jesus as the Messiah (Christ, in Greek), are still awaiting and wondering - WHO will save us?

Note, that John, the author, states that the priests and Levites were sent by the Jews. Recall that John was probably writing this gospel around the time of 70-90AD. And he was writing in the midst of two teachings that needed to be addressed, that were stumbling the Christians at that time (this gospel was probably circulatory to all the churches throughout all the Diaspora, as well as to Israel). The first was the teachings of agnosticism, who basically hold the idea that there is no God. The second teaching related to Christians, whether previously non-Jewish or Jewish, were reverting back to the old Jewish practices, tied to the practices of the Torah, such as circumcision. Thus, when John pinpoints here, that the Jews were one of the first to question John the Baptist, and how throughout the gospel, these interrogators are constantly referred to as being unable to accept the Messiahship of Jesus, we can see that if we were Jewish readers, this touched a sensitive spot. Let us be sensitive to this, therefore, and be open to hear what John, the author, is truly saying about the state of our hearts with respect to the identity of the Messiah. Perhaps, the question is, why do we react the way we do, when we hear that Someone is the Messiah? Do we doubt? Do we fear? Or do we not even care about such things? Or do we receive this information without due testing and consideration? Or do we receive it with joy, and righteous faith?

Nevertheless, it is the priests and Levites, sent by the Pharisees (v24), that ask "who are you?" Such a question! How would we answer if someone were to ask us that? The interested, should at this point look up background information about the Pharisees. Here, it is useful to know that, because of their religious leadership role and position in the Jewish society, it is no surprise that they would be the ones to first jump at outstanding people to test them about their teachings. Perhaps some Pharisees were truly concerned about what these outstanding people were teaching the average Jew. And so, they exercised a paternalistic approach to people such as John, and subsequently Jesus. Testing, questioning, suspecting.

"...I am not the Christ...(not) Elijah...(not) the Prophet..."

Malachi 4:5,6 talks about God sending Elijah, before the dreadful day of the Lord. So, people then probably took this to mean that Elijah (who was taken up into heaven 2Ki 2:11) would come back before the Messiah would come back. This is where the point may have been missed. The people were looking for the Messiah as a sign for deliverance. They may have had wrong ideas about what this deliverance entails. Regardless, they were focusing on the Messiah as a sign, and were deaf and blind to the message and truth of Who the Messiah is, and what He said and was doing. Thus, even if John was Elijah as foretold, is that really that important?

John the Baptist denied association with all these signs that the people were so eagerly attending to much like the way Jesus typically responded to the peoples' request for signs. But gave the answer from Isa 40:3. Which is both specific as well as generic. In a way, we are all voices crying out in this wilderness for people to make straight the way of the Lord. But John the Baptist probably knew this more clearly than anyone else, for to him was revealed that his cousin, Jesus, was indeed the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ. Where did he gain this knowledge? We are not told. But he expressed explicit knowledge, and declared it in the following verses.

John the Baptist's baptism
The word baptism has two related meanings. The first meaning is simply to immerse, or submerge, the second meaning is to wash, or clean. This word is used in the New Testament, but does not seem to occur in the Old Testament. However, we are reminded, when we think of cleansing, of the Old Testament commandments regarding purification rites during temple servies and sacrificial offerings. We are also reminded of submersion in the Red Sea crossing during the Exodus of the Isrealites from Egypt, the crossing of the Jordan river, when the Isrealites entered the promised land. The constant meaning that we obtain from these examples is the idea of being transformed from a previous old, dirty, inferior, unacceptable state, to one that is new, clean, perfected, and accepted. Thus, reading this into this section in John, it seems that the practise of baptism has become formalized as something done by a rabbi or teacher as a ritual representing the change of the baptizee from an old state to the new state, perhaps the state taught or recommended by that particular teacher.

Perhaps, the interrogators were questioning John's authority (see Mt 21:25, Mr 11:30, Lk 20:4) and teaching. What was he teaching the people, since he says he has no authority. And John's reply here was to indicate the baptism he performed was but a faint comparison to the true baptism to be performed by the Christ. So we are to think of our practice in church of earthly baptism with water as well.

Look also at Lk 12:50. Here Jesus talks about His own baptism, His immersion and purification by suffering on the cross. Was He not pure? Why did He need to be purified? Was He not God? How can He be immersed in anything? How can anything contain God? But recall, that Jesus was baptized by John the baptist (next section). And recall, that our sins were laid on Him. And recall, that He had to die on our behalf, the price of our sin, and the ultimate immersion, the ultimate containment from the rest of all creation, is death. Finally, the baptism we practise does not stop in immersion. For it is first immersion, then purification. This speaks of the resurrection to perfect life after the death to sin.

Going back to the Baptist. If we were so totally convinced about the identify of Christ, would we be as bold as John to declare publicly this truth? Reflect on John the Baptist's actions. How he behaved, remember his lifestyle previously mention, remember his message based on his knowledge of Christ. A voice in the wilderness, sometimes a lonely voice, sometimes unheeded, sometimes even ridiculed and mocked and placed under suspicion. Consider the Baptist's faith, in One who, at the time when he knew Him, had not yet died for his sins, but yet, he already had faith. Consider now, we who know Him in the fullness of His intentions and acts and words, our faith. And John, when ask who he was, his answer was always in relation to Christ. He never said I am John, these are my teachings, this is my thinking, that is why I do these things. Instead, it was always simply "I am His".