John 1:19-23 Now this is the testimony of John

Now 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."

Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said: "I am The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said."

 

"I am not the Christ"

 

The emissaries of the priests did not ask specifically if John held himself out to be the Christ.  And yet his first response, "I am not the Christ", indicates that John fully anticipated the foremost matter to be settled was whether or not John the Baptist was the Messiah.  And indeed, about this time several leaders rose up and claimed to be the Christ.  Gamaliel mentioned two of these impostors in the fifth chapter of Acts.

 

For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him.  He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing.  After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him.

 

But in fact, the Messiah was expected to appear around the time of John's ministry.  Jewish Rabbinical tradition calculated the timing of Christ's arrival based upon the Genesis account of creation.  Below: we draw once again from the extensive research of Risto Santala.

 

[ THE SPIRIT OF THE MESSIAH IN THE CREATION ACCOUNT

Genesis begins with the creation of heaven and earth: the earth was without form, and void. Even in this description the Talmudic Sages scented the beginning of the plan of salvation for humanity:

"The tradition of Elijah teaches that the world is to exist for six thousand years; In the first two thousand desolation; in the next two thousand the Torah will flourish and the next two thousand are the days of the Messiah but on account of our sins, which were great, things turned out as they did." - Sanhedrin 97a.

It was essential to this traditional expectation that the sovereignty of the Torah -- the Law of Moses -- would last 2000 years, the same as that of the Messianic period. In the same far-ranging discussion from which the above citation is taken we find, in explanation, that:

"The seventh millennium will be war, and at the close of the millennium the Son of David will come".

In the discussion which follows mention is made of "The war of Gog and Magog and the remaining period will be the Messianic era, whilst the Holy One, blessed be he, will restore his world only when the seventh millennium is over." - Sanhedrin 97b.

 

This so-called "Elijah Tradition", which represents the understanding of the majority of the Sages, brings to mind the mainstream Christian teaching of the Last Days and the Millennial Kingdom. When six millennia have passed, there will follow, according to some, a thousand-year Sabbath, shabaton. This could be the "Messianic era" after which the "world" will be renewed. 1985 AD is equivalent to the year 5745 in the Jewish calendar, which means that the Messiah ought to have come already. ] - http://www.ristosantala.com/rsla/OT/index.html

 

Indeed, the Messiah ought to have come just over 2,000 years prior to the current Hebrew Calendar date, when adjusted for missing years during the Babylonian captivity.  So according to the Jewish traditions held at the time of Christ, those days were precisely when the Christ was expected.  In light of this research we understand why John's first response was to give assurance that he was not the Christ.  (We should also note that according to this same 7,000 year scheme, the millennium is drawing near!)

 

"What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not."  The Book of Malachi instructs that Elijah would come just before the Messiah.  Jesus also affirmed that Elijah would come first.  Coming down from the mount of transfiguration Jesus told His disciples to keep what they had seen to themselves until after He had risen from the dead.  (Remember that Peter had also just made his proclamation that Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the living God.)  At this point the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.” - Mark 9:11-13  Jesus said this referring to John the Baptist.

 

"Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."  See commentary on John 1:18 addressing The Prophet from Deuteronomy chapter 18.

 

"I am The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said."  John declared that his ministry of repentance and baptism fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah Chapter 40.

 

"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!"
Says your God.
"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."

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." - Isaiah 40:1-5

 

This call from the wilderness was given to prepare the hearts of the people for the revelation of Christ.

 

Her warfare is ended.  The way of perfect peace with God would be accomplished by Jesus.  But John's call to repentance provided an opportunity for those who truly sought peace to humble themselves before God by acknowledging their sins.  Those who seek the perfect peace that Jesus offers must also come to Him in humility.

 

Her iniquity is pardoned.  The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross: His death, and His blood was the propitiation that would take away our sins.  But the outward cleansing of John's water baptism represented the true regeneration of the mind, the soul, and the spirit that would come through new life in the risen Savior.

 

Prepare the way of the Lord.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. - 1st John 3:8b  A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. - Hebrews 1:8b,9a  Those who seek and follow God must be prepared to walk in paths of righteousness.  The people came to John and asked him, "What must I do?"  John the Baptist instructed them in practical ways so they might do what was right in the sight of God.  And so Paul instructs in Titus 2:11-14:

 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

 

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.  Jesus did not promote His own glory, but the Father glorified Himself along with the Son.  Jesus prayed on the night before His crucifixion; "Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." - John 17:1b-5

 

The revelation of the Lord, when all flesh shall see it together, will light up the sky from east to west; when Jesus returns in His glory.  But on that sacred night nearly 2,000 years ago, only a few lowly shepherds were present to behold the spectacle of the Lord's humble appearance.

 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

 

 

John 1:6-8 There was a man sent from God whose name was John

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  John the Apostle and author of this gospel refers to another man named John - John the Baptist.  This John was not sent from heaven as the Son of God was sent.  John was sent from God as a man who was set apart from ordinary life as the last of the Old Testament prophets.

 

Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, makes two references to the prophet who would be sent from God to prepare the way for the Christ.

 

Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me. - Malachi 3:1

 

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. - Malachi 4:5,6

 

John prepared the way for Jesus in several ways.  John fulfilled Malachi's prophecy as a type of Elijah by turning the hearts of the people from sin by his call to repentance.  We have no record of John addressing the father-child relationship.  But by turning people away from their sins he was aiding in the healing of broken relationships, because sin severs relationships.  Isaiah pointed out that the people's sins had separated them from their God.  Addressing the problem of sin is the first step in truly healing a torn relationship.

 

This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  John came preaching repentance - the turning away from sin.  But baptism was not the traditional way of recognizing and resolving the issue of sin.  The Old Testament prescribed the offering of sacrifices for the satisfaction of the debt owed for trespassing God's laws.  John's water baptism was a symbolic washing of the heart.  So John further prepared the way for Jesus by supplementing the legal requirements with the confession of a penitent and changed heart - recognized by the outward act of water baptism.

But foremost in preparing the way for Christ was John's role as a prophet.  John confessed that the water baptisms he was performing merely foreshadowed the perfect salvation from sin that would be provided by Jesus.  Doctor Luke states in Acts 19:4: John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.  Indeed, John's baptism unto repentance shifted the focus from the obligatory sacrifice of possessions such as bulls and goats, to the real and inward sacrifice of heart; that is, a sincerely heartfelt remorse and humility because of the wickedness within - which is the real cause of outward transgressions.  Thus John's water baptism prophetically prepared the way for the new covenant as stated in Hebrews:

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.  Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”  In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. - Hebrews 8:7-12

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  The objective of John's ministry was to lead those who came to him to faith in Christ.  We will see later in John's gospel that God, who sent John to baptize, had a greater purpose in his ministry than baptism.  As a prophet, John pointed to the greater One who would follow him.  And as a witness he would certify that the long awaited Messiah had come.  John the Baptist was happy to be a transparent conduit by which all who came to him might subsequently believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Lord, and the Son of the living God.