John 1:24-28 There stands One among you whom you do not know

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  "Now those who were sent" does not refer to the those who were sent by the priests and Levites, discussed in the verses 19 through 23.  But another group accompanied those who had been sent from the Temple authorities; and these were sent be the Pharisees.  The question of John's authority to perform the religious act of baptism was in keeping with the independent philosophy of the Pharisees.

 

The Pharisees originated as a separatist group after the Maccabean Revolt of the second century B.C.  The name "Pharisee" comes from the Hebrew word "Parash", to separate.  The "Perushim" consisted of a pious group of Jews (perhaps related to the Hasidic order of purists) who judged the post-Maccabean leadership of Israel to be too Hellenistic, and too centered on the Temple services.

 

The Pharisees sought to distance themselves from the Grecian culture that had infected the Jewish lifestyle with pagan and humanistic practices.  The priesthood became enjoined with the Grecianized government of Israel; and a Jewish leadership rose up with a taste for the refinements of life associated with the Greek and Roman cultures.  As a result, a new affluent class of religious leadership, known as the Sadducees, took control of the priesthood.

 

"Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  The Pharisees distinguished themselves by their adherence to the laws of Moses and their acceptance of the Books of the Prophets.  The Sadducees questioned the religious authority of the Pharisees.  And the Pharisees also questioned the spiritual authority of the Sadducees.  So it was quite expected that they would also question John's spiritual authority to perform baptism.

 

John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."   Notice that John made no defense of his own authority.  Instead, John directed their attention to the One who would shortly become a much greater concern to them.  However, John did, in essence, prove his own spiritual authority by proclaiming that, as a prophet, God had revealed to him that the Messiah was already present among men.  John's credentials were established by the fact that God had entrusted to him, rather than the Pharisees, with the knowledge that they would soon see their Redeemer standing on the earth.  John exposed their own lack of authority by their ignorance of the One, "whom you do not know."

 

These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.  Please recall from our previous study that the Apostle John was present with John the Baptist there at the Jordon.  The gospel writer was there, standing on the banks of the river, when these examiners were sent from Jerusalem to interrogate The Baptist.  The religious leaders knew that God was doing a great work because everyone was going out into the desert to be baptized.  They certainly must have known in their hearts that their own religious ideals and efforts were about to be challenged.

 

Do you know the One whose sandals John was unworthy to loose?  John's gospel is written in such a way that the reader might come to his own Jordon; asking, "Who is this Jesus?"  Why have people been seeking, and finding, and worshipping Him for the last 2,000 years?  He is the Lord!  And God has promised, "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:12,13

 

Bethabara (house of the ford) shown on ancient tile map, Medaba, Jordan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madaba_Map