Not the Guy

John 1:19-34

¹⁹And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²²So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He 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.) ²⁵They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³I 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.’ ³⁴And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John the Baptist is certainly one of the weirdest people in the story of God’s people. His birth is miraculous, as he is born to an older woman past her childbearing years. He lives out in the wilderness, eating locusts and honey, wearing camel hair. He spends his days on the banks of the Jordan River baptizing people who want to repent of their sins. Today many would call him a kook and cross to the other side of the street. And I think he had much the same effect in the days of Jesus. But, he is a priest by descent and so he garners the attention of the temple hierarchy. They send out a delegation to investigate just exactly who this guy is and what he’s doing out there on the river.

In his conversation with the Jewish leadership he denies three “titles”. They wonder if he is claiming to be the Messiah. “I am not the Christ.” That’s pretty plain. He’s not the Messiah. Next they ask if he is Elijah reincarnated. There were some among the Pharisees who believed in reincarnation, so this was a logical question for them to ask and there is an Old Testament prophecy (Malachi 4:5 - “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”) that they interpreted to mean he would return. (God did not invent reincarnation in that moment – but that’s another study.) John denies being the reincarnated Elijah. Finally they ask him if he is “the Prophet” which he also denies. John knows exactly who he is and why he’s here. He’s here to announce the arrival of the Messiah, nothing more, nothing less. And really, once Jesus has been baptized by John, John’s ministry disappears for his mission is complete. He encourages his followers (for he had his own set of disciples) to now turn their attentions toward Jesus.

John’s “oddness” serves to bring attention to his message of repentance, for the true Messiah had indeed arrived and it was time to follow Him. He also bore witness to the moment when Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all present in the baptism of Jesus. In that moment, his entire life comes together in one blinding example of living in your purpose. Fairly soon after the baptism of Jesus, John is imprisoned by Herod and beheaded at the whim of Herod’s wife who didn’t like John’s message. (See Mark 6:14ff)

John will be one of those people you’ll want to at least lay eyes on once you come into God’s presence at the end. He may have been a little weird, but then God can use weird.