The Testimony of John the Baptist: 1

The Testimony of John the Baptist: 1
The Period of Consideration: Who are you?
John 1:19-28

Introduction
Fresh on the heals of the glorious prologue to his gospel, the Apostle John now moves into a section of his gospel, which I call the period of consideration. This section moves from ch. 1:19 to the end of chapter 4 and it includes such events as the testimony and calling of Jesus’ disciples, the clearing of the temple, the testimony of Nichodemus, and the meeting with the Samaritan woman.

Today, as we draw near to Christmas day, I think it will be helpful to reflect on the testimony of one of the people who were closest to Jesus- his forerunner, John the Baptist. (Read John 1:19-28)

I. The Inquisition
Verse 28 provides the background for this Pharisaical inquest into the ministry of John the Baptist: “These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was Baptizing.”

Some of the newer translations may read that this event took place in Bethany, but that is a needless interpretation of the text because it might suggest that it was Bethany, just east of Jerusalem; the place where Jesus raised Lazarus.

But John was on the other side of the Jordan- outside the Jurisdiction of the Pharisees who preferred to restrict all religious activity to their brand of man-made deism. They were unrelenting fault-finders of ministries that infringed upon their trademarked Judaism.

John’s location may very well have been the source of the problem here because John was not placing his ministry under the conventional religious hierarchy. And the authorities must have wondered if he was in fact starting a new religion- after all, baptism was as an initiation rite for Gentile converts to Judaism. But John was not baptizing Gentiles, he was baptizing Jews; the remnant of Judaism. He was preparing a people for the coming King.

Bethabara, the place where this tribunal occurs means house of passing. It was very far from Jerusalem and the temple maybe because God had long ago deserted His temple to become a sanctuary among the scattered tribes of Israel.

The repentant who were coming to John to be baptized were passing from the dead system of external righteousness to the living system of faith.

In addition to being a house of passing, verse 19 puts this conversation into context of a court of law. “Now this is the testimony of John….” Testimony is the Greek word “Martyria” which carries the same judicial overtones as the word “witness” would if it were used in a modern court.

For these unrepentant inquisitors this was no house of passing, but a courthouse. And their aim was to incite John through their tactic of pharisaic inquiry designed to expose John’s apostasy.
This was the part of the job they loved because they got to impress the simple multitudes with their proficiency at verbally mauling less educated religious upstarts like John. How they must have hated John and especially Jesus.

The choice ours too! Will John’s call to repentance be a place of passing into a new life, or will it be a court of law. In the case of the latter choice, Jesus came not to condemn us, but he who judges and does not believe already stands condemned (3:18).

1. V. 19: “Who are You?”
Now maybe these Religious authorities were to be applauded for their diligence in investigating this maverick. After all, they were the shepherds of Israel. How sad that they had the testimony of Moses and the Prophets, but it was this nonconformist who was able to discern the times.

For if these inquisitors had known the times and who it was that stood among them, I do not think that they would have had time for such naval gazing.

You can imagine the hush among the throngs who came to John as the Pharisees walked through them and came to John. Most would have lowered their heads in reverent fear.

“Who are you?” they asked. The author of the gospel does not go into as much detail as the other gospel writers about the identity and origins of John the Baptist.
If these Pharisees only knew that seven hundred years earlier Isaiah wrote this about John the Baptist:
1 "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. 2 "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord's hand Double for all her sins."
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."…. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."….
10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young. (Isaiah 40:1-11)
Or what if they knew of the miraculous intervention that led to his birth (Read Luke 1:5-25).

According to Luke 1:15, John was to be great in the sight of the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Indeed, John can truly attest to being the first witness to Christ. His testimony began when he was only six months in his mother’s womb. For when his mother Elizabeth heard the voice of her cousin Mary, the babe leapt for Joy in her womb.

I know how proud the human heart can be. I know it because I know how proud my heart can be. For the least triumph we glory in ourselves. We want everyone to look at us- “Look what I did!” But how many could claim for themselves what John the Baptist could claim? Seven hundred year old prophecies; a miraculous birth; the first witness to Christ; Baptized in the Holy Spirit from the womb; mentioned in the prologue to John’s gospel, forerunner to Jesus…

If that were me I would probably begin to think I really was the Christ. Knowing how I glory in small things, how much more if I were John the Baptist? I would probably have said something like, “well, I am something… maybe I am the Christ.”

But look at John’s humility. As if in anticipation of their intent to expose him as a heretic, John replies to their query, “I am not the Christ.”

John must have had low self esteem because, in spite of all that he could claim for himself and there is likely not another human being who could claim nearly as much, John did not even count himself worthy to tie his younger cousin’s shoe laces. No wonder he feared baptizing Jesus- he wasn’t worthy.

Maybe it is his accurate self assessment- his true self esteem that caused Jesus to say that “among those born of women there has not risen one greater then John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). But why did he say that those who are least in the Kingdom of God are greater than John the Baptist? What does that mean? Maybe it means that anyone who would desire to be great must become servant of all.

“What then (v. 21), are you Elijah?” “No.” “are you the prophet?” “No?” But wait a minute, back up here a second. Why did they ask John if he was Elijah?

Maybe they had been studying their Bibles. It is a worthy question, after all, John appeared to be starting some type of revival of religion in Israel and he wasn’t the Christ so he has to be Elijah, or the prophet, otherwise he had no legal precedent for his ministry and this is a court of law remember.

Turn to Micah 4 (Read 4:1-2a and 5-6). Can you imagine if John had said “yes, I am Elijah.” There would have been mayhem and Chaos. People would have been coming to be baptized for the wrong reasons.

And besides, John wasn’t Elijah…. Not in the sense that the Jews were expecting- i.e. the literal return of the prophet Elijah who is one of only four known people in the history of man who have ever ascended to heaven without having first died. In fact, Elijah is still in heaven.

But Luke 1:17 does say that, John “…will also go before [his cousin Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke obviously viewed John as the fulfillment of Malachi 4.

Jesus did too, he even told his disciples “’…Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished….’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist” (Matt 17:10-13).

But there is no contradiction. “No!” he wasn’t Elijah. But Yes, he did perform the function of Elijah in preparing the way for the Messiah so that all things would be fulfilled in anticipation of the Kings advent. That is how John is and is not Elijah. And just for you literalists, Elijah did come bodily during the life of Jesus- at the mount of Transfiguration. So either way, Malachi 4 has been fulfilled.

Conclusion:
As much as I would like to draw more out of John’s testimony this morning, I am afraid that time will not allow me to do justice to this text so I will have to return to it next Sunday.

What relevance is there in John’s denial of being the Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet? How can we apply these six verses? Maybe this Christmas, as we go out and celebrate with friends and we glory in our new possessions we can also reflect on the humility of people like John the Baptist- missionaries, reformers and prophets.

They are often lonely men and women, having few possessions and regularly living at the periphery of society where we respectable folk like us seldom travel. They are people God set aside to call His people to reformation. Let us remember that their greatness was in their littleness. Their prominence was in their inconsequence. Let us try to be like them.

Let’s also remember that God can and does do things that don’t always line up with our traditions. Let us walk humbly in the truth that God has given us so that we don’t become like those Pharisees: swallowing a gnat and straining out a camel by focusing on superfluous rites and traditions while all the while missing the fact that Christ is in our very midst and we know him not!