¹⁹ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He 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.) ²⁵ They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I 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.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

INTRODUCTION

You may have noticed last week that I passed over v.15. It reads, “John [that is, John the Baptist] bore witness about him [the is, Jesus the Christ], and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'” The apostle John included this in order to helpfully point back to vs.6-8 and forward to our passage for this morning.

In 6-8, as a reminder, John the apostle introduced John the Baptist as one sent by God to announce, or bear witness to, the coming of the Christ. In 19-34, John the apostle describes what that looked like in action. Again, v.15 reiterates that John the Baptist knew he wasn’t the main character and that his job was to announce the arrival of the One who was.

All of that is meant to cause us to wonder how, exactly, John would do that and better prepare us to understand his telling of it. This morning, then, we’ll look in on the manner in which John the Baptist bore witness to Jesus as the Christ.

The main points of this passage are that: 1) John the Baptist, although growing in influence and reputation, made it clear over and over that he was not the point, Jesus was!, and 2) Jesus was the point because He is the Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World and baptizes with the Spirit. And the main takeaways for us are that: 1) We must engage in ministry, and 2) We must constantly fight to remember that Jesus is the point of our ministry.

Let’s pray, then, that God would help us to see and live out all of that.

JOHN HAD BUILT A REPUTATION (19)

The narrative portion of John’s Gospel (and the book of signs) begins with John the Baptist already having built a significant name for himself. John gives us hints as to what was behind that, but details are sparse. As I just mentioned, in the simplest way possible, John stated that he came as a witness to the Christ (v.7) and claimed that Jesus was the Christ (v.15), but that’s about all that John records. Those things are certainly significant, but don’t quite seem to rise to the level that would cause “the Jews [to send] priests and Levites from Jerusalem” (v.19) to interrogate him. Certainly he wasn’t the first person to make dramatic claims, but something about John the Baptist’s message and ministry stood out such that the powers that be had heard of him in Jerusalem. And further still, what they heard was so concerning that they felt compelled to investigate.

The other three Gospels fill us in a bit more. Luke alone tells the story of John the Baptist’s miraculous birth. His father, Zechariah, was an Israelite priest. His mother, Elizabeth, was barren. Both were old. One day Zechariah was chosen to offer incense in the temple. While there, an angel of the Lord told Zechariah that God had heard his prayers for a child and that they would be answered. What’s more, the angel instructed Zechariah to name the child John, to have him take the Nazarite vow, and promised that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to prepare people for the coming of the Lord by speaking the Word of God.

Matthew joins Luke in telling us that John preached a message of repentance. He called on all who would listen to turn from their sins and be baptized because the kingdom of God was near. And Mark joined the other two in recording John the Baptist promising that the Christ was near and would baptize not with water, but with fire and the Holy Spirit. On top of all of that, Matthew tells us that he dressed and ate funny (wearing camel’s hair and eating bugs and wild honey).

And the result was that “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:5-6).

In short, John the Baptist had a remarkable birth story that had gotten around. In addition, when he was around 30 years old, the word of God came to him and commanded him to begin preaching to everyone who would listen. The main message he was charged to preach was one of repenting and readying one’s self for the coming of the Christ. By the Spirit’s power, this message cut to the heart of the Jews who came out in droves and responded in repentance and baptism. With all of that added to the little John gave, it’s quite a bit easier to see why things were the way they were in John 1:19, how John had caught the attention of the religious leaders.

WHO ARE YOU? (19-28)

Interestingly, as John the apostle records the account, the first question asked by the visiting, interrogating priests and Levites was, “Who are you?” They wanted to know who this man was that had risen up so powerfully among the masses. He hadn’t come up through the usual ranks (their ranks) and they didn’t know what to make of him.

Not the Christ (20-23)

John’s answer fills us in on the heart of the concerns of the Jewish leaders. They hadn’t traveled 20+ miles (one way, with the return trip being much more difficult), over a couple of days simply because of John’s popularity. They came to find out if he was claiming to be the Christ—which would be a really serious matter.

We saw John’s answer in principle in the introduction, “He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light” (v.8). We see it in narrative in v.20, “He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’” John the Baptist made no claim to be the Christ. He hadn’t come to make a name for himself.

²¹ And [so] they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

What a curious question? Why would they have asked if he was a prophet from centuries earlier? Where the initial question might have made sense, the follow-up question of the priests is curious, right? Imagine standing on the sidelines of your kid’s soccer game, decked out in team gear. It would make sense for one of the other parents to ask, “Are you the coach?” But if you said “no,” it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for them to follow up with, “Who are you, then, George Washington?” Is that what we have here? If you’re not the Christ, then are you a dead* prophet?

Well, as I’m sure you probably know, it’s not anything like that. Given the fact that their Christ-radar was up, and given the fact that John denied being the Christ, the next most logical question to the Jewish mind was whether or not he was Elijah. That is because in Malachi 4:5 God promised to send Elijah before the Christ, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes”. They were asking, if you are not the Christ, are you the one God has sent to announce His coming?

More curious than the question, then, is John’s answer. From what we saw in the introduction, and what Jesus said about John in Matthew 11:14 (“if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.”), we fully expect John to say, “Yes!” Instead, however, “He said, “I am not.”

The simple fact of the matter is that either John didn’t understand this aspect of the role he was filling or he was answering the question as the Jews meant it (believing that Elijah himself would literally return). Regardless of his reasoning, we can be confident that he wasn’t lying, but at the same time we can also admit that we just aren’t sure why he answered the way he did.

(This seems like a good time to remind you of a key aspect of narrative accounts in the Bible. A lot of serious errors have been made by missing what I’m about to say. Narrative simply tells you what was, not what should have been or what out to be. In other words, John the Apostle is simply recording what John the Baptist said. That doesn’t tell us anything about whether or not he was right. We have to go elsewhere (like the words of Jesus who is always true) to test his claims. This is equally true when we see what the early church leaders did. Just because a narrative account tells us they did something, that doesn’t mean that they should have done it, much less that we should imitate them perpetually. Again, we need something more to conclude that. Make sure you talk about this idea in your DGs this week.)

From there, the priests and Levites just worked down the list to the next likely possibility, ““Are you the Prophet?” It seems likely that they had Deuteronomy 18:15-18 in mind, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen… [and] 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” And to that question, John rightly “answered, ‘No.’” (This was a prophecy about the Christ.)

Fresh out of ideas and feeling pressure to have something to report, they circled all the way back to their initial question. “So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself’” (v.22)?

John’s reply was clear, decisive, and bold. “He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said’” (v.23).

This answer simultaneously communicated two crucial truths. First, John’s role was that of herald, not Lord. His job was to announce the coming of the Christ, not draw attention to himself. And second, he claimed the Isaiah prophecy (40:3) for himself and therein revealed that he was not the herald for any mere human figure. How about that, Jewish leaders?! Is that clear enough? We’re left wondering, then, how they would respond.

Preparing the Way for the Christ (24-28)

I remember meeting a man at the hospital many years ago. He wore strange clothes (like an all-black version of the priest’s robes in the Catholic church I grew up in). He also seemed to be praying constantly, but in a posture I’d never seen. One day we ended up in a common area together and I struck up a conversation with him to find out his story. He said he was a Jew and studying to be a lawyer within his Jewish community. After asking him a few questions in a vain attempt to figure out exactly what he was talking about, I quickly realized that I was asking questions that didn’t fit his system (like how wet is red, or why is seven angry).

Although John was clear, the Pharisaical delegation apparently didn’t get it. Therefore, (v.25) “They asked him, ‘Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’” The simple fact is, they could not understand who John was or what he was doing. His teaching, actions, impact, and mission didn’t fit into any of the categories they had.

His answer probably didn’t clear much up for them, even though it’s sweet for us.

²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

The main point John was making, ever more clearly, was that the Jewish delegation was making a big deal about the wrong guy. Whatever his mission, and whatever attention he’d garnered for it, he was merely a precursor to the real thing. Whatever significance John had was only to give more weight to his claim that his role was to announce the coming of one “whose sandal [he was] not worthy to untie.” His ministry was to prepare with water for the One who would come with the Holy Spirit and fire.

There’s a good lesson for us in this too, Grace. It seems that every few weeks another pastor or prominent ministry leader is stepping down or being removed from their ministry role because they forgot that they aren’t the point. The consistent theme is coming to believe the lie that their platform was for them. It’s often pretty subtle at first, but the problem is that even slowly, undetectably stepping into the spotlight eventually displaces Jesus from it. The temptation is to believe that Jesus’ shoes belong to us, rather than echoing the constant refrain, “[His] sandal I’m not worthy to untie.”

Grace, we must, must, must, settle on this. Untying sandals was the job of the lowest of the lowest servants (this is also what made Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet so scandalous). Our charge is to love God with all that we have, love our neighbor as ourselves, and lay our lives down to tell the world about Jesus.

The fact is, none of us are immune to the temptation to steal Jesus shoes, rather than wash His feet. Jesus described John the Baptist as the greatest man in history (Luke 7:28) and yet he clearly knew that was nothing compared to the one he was called to point to. When leaders fall it tends to make headlines in a way that the average Christian doesn’t, but that doesn’t make the fall any less likely or tragic for the person in the pews.

Guard yourselves, therefore, against the two ditches of Christian ministry. Guard against failing to do ministry on the one hand. And guard against doing it for your glory on the other. Tell people about Jesus and help them grow in their faith. Don’t be silent. But as you do, don’t let any amount of “success” or “failure” cause you to take your eyes off of Jesus as the center and the goal. If you are a Christian and you’re not sure what either or both of those mean, talk to someone today. The Christian life is about glorifying Jesus by telling others about Him, not about making you feel special. John the Baptist gives us a tremendous example of all of that in this passage.

Before turning to the final section, I want to point out something from v.28.

²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The encouraging aspect of this simple note is that it is another reminder of the historicity of the Christian faith. This is not a fairy tale. It is not a parable. It is a real story of what really happened to real people in real places for the salvation of the world. It’s a grave error to treat the historical/factual portions of Bible as if they were fictitious stories intended to make a spiritual point. They are spiritual as well, but they are actual first.

INTRODUCING THE CHRIST (29-34)

As we come to the final section of our passage, keep in mind the simple fact that Jesus hasn’t yet appeared yet in the story. John the Baptist had created quite a stir, but Jesus public ministry hadn’t even begun yet. In 29-34 we’re introduced to Jesus and given a brief glimpse of Him through the Baptist’s eyes.

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I 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.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

You have to picture the scene. You’ll never respond to this as you ought if you take everything you already know into it. You have to do your best to put yourself in the position of the skeptical Jewish delegation. Pretty much all they knew was that some guy was causing a ruckus among their people by claiming that God’s kingdom was near. They’d most likely been sent to get a reasonable explanation (unlikely in their minds) or sufficient reason to shut the whole operation down (likely).

Upon initial investigation, John the Baptist must have seemed a little kooky and a lot passionate. The next day, however, in the scene we just read about, things hit another level.

The idea here is that John had baptized Jesus at some point earlier and here, as Jesus approached, John cried out, “It’s Him! There He is. He’s the One I’ve been telling you about. He’s the One I came to bear witness to. He’s the One whose sandals I’m not worthy to untie. He’s the One that is preeminent. And even though I’m older than Him, He existed before me. He is the very son of God. More than all of that, He’s the one who has come to take away our sins! He is here to be the sacrifice God requires, the Lamb of God. I told you yesterday that I baptize with water, but the man you see coming towards us will baptize with the Holy Spirit of God. “

“I know you’re skeptical. I know you don’t like what I’m saying, but I’m telling you it’s true! And I know it’s true because God himself commanded me to baptize, announce that the Christ was coming soon, and wait for His sign. I didn’t know who the Christ was at first (I mean, I had my suspicions) and I didn’t know how long it would take exactly for Him to show up. But God told me He would make it plain to me by causing the Holy Spirit to descend upon the Christ in my presence…and He did. That’s exactly what happened. The Spirit came down on that man, the one right in front of your eyes, in the form of a dove, and it sat on him. Everything happened just as God said it would, and there He is. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Can you imagine, Grace Church? Can you imagine being among the priests and Levites? Can you imagine being the watching Jews? Can you imagine being John the Baptist? What a remarkable scene.

CONCLUSION

This is a man worth telling the world about. This is a man who deserves all the glory. John knew that and was eager to proclaim Him and get out of the way. He was eager to cry out the good news that this man brought into the world no matter the cost. John wasn’t concerned about his reputation or his comfort or his dreams. He was amazed enough by the Christ that all of that faded into the back as he lived out God’s commission on his life.

Again, so must we, Grace Church. Jesus is still the Lamb of God. He has taken away the sin of the world. He will take away your sin if you will trust in Him. He is still baptizing with the Holy Spirit. He will fill you with the Spirit to convict and empower and preserve and illuminate and bring peace and joy if you will trust Him. He is still the only Son of God. He is still the Christ. He is still preeminent. He is still the one whose sandals no one is worthy to untie. And we still have the commission to tell the world about Him, regardless of the cost, for the glory of God.

Behold, the Lamb of God.