They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

John 1:25

After 400 silent years—the period between the last Old Testament prophet and the appearing of John the Baptist—there was now quite some uproar. Here was a man who lived in the wilderness, “wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist,” and ate “locusts and wild honey” (Matt. 3:4).

     He cried out to the people about the kingdom of heaven and called for repentance. When the religious leaders came to his baptism, he said: “You brood of Vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7). It’s an understatement to say that he didn’t fit the religious mold. That was the main reason they asked him about his baptism and gathering disciples.

     In their mind, only the Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet was able and allowed to make such a religious change. John had already given them the Biblical answer about his mandate and mission: “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said” (John 1:23). Yet, they didn’t receive that.

     Here’s a solemn warning: we need to be careful to not reject anything that is fully grounded in God’s word, while not fitting within our religious mold. It’s so easy to place our religious convictions over God’s own word.

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Jan Blonk
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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?”

John 1:22

The religious leaders had “sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’” John the Baptist had given them a “negative” answer, not being the Christ, Elijah, or one of the Old Testament prophets. Since they needed an answer, there was only one question left: “What do you say about yourself?”

     As we’ll see in the next verse, John gave them a Biblical answer. He knew who He was based on God’s word. While John is specifically mentioned in Isaiah, there’s also a definite principle for us. To be a witness for Jesus also means that we truly know who we are and where we came from.

     In order to illustrate this, let’s read what Peter wrote: “That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Paul wrote something similar: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1:13).

     In order to be a true witness for Jesus, we need to state who we were by nature—living in sin and darkness—and what He has done. It goes like this: “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). We’re to ascribe our salvation to God alone. If we were to attribute even the smallest part to ourselves, we’re not testifying of Him but ourselves. We are to proclaim His excellencies!

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Jan Blonk
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And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

John 1:21

After having stated that he is not the Christ, they asked John the Baptist whether or not he was Elijah or the Prophet? John denied both of them: “And he answered, ‘No.’”

     God had foretold that Elijah would come: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes” (Mal. 4:5). Why would John deny being Elijah, while Jesus confirmed it: “Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. . . . Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist” (Matt. 17:12-13). The best explanation seems that John certainly operated in the spirit of Elijah, fulfilling God’s promise, while not actually being Elijah himself.

     The Jews also had a concept that one of the prophets would rise again (see Luke 9:8). John clearly told them that he is not one of the Old Testament prophets. Some believe that “the Prophet” is a reference to Deuteronomy 18:18, but that Prophet is a clear reference to the coming Messiah, which John already had denied he was. Therefore, it seems more probable that it was a reference to a prophet.

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Jan Blonk
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He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

John 1:20

John the Baptist clearly knew his mission and mandate: “He came as a witness to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him” (John 1:7). Paul wrote something similar: “Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (Rom. 1:5).

     While John the Baptist and the apostles were certainly unique in their calling and role, they expressed the essential mission and mandate for all believers: to bear witness about Christ so that others will believe in Him.

     When the religious leaders had sent the “priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’” John made it very clear that He wasn’t the promised Messiah—God’s Anointed One. While not wanting to press the point too much, there’s an important lesson we can learn from his “negative” answer: to be a true witness is to truly point to Jesus instead of oneself.

     When we claim something “as coming from us” (2 Cor. 3:5-6)—from our own sufficiency—we are not a witness to Christ and His sufficiency. Jesus said: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). To truly witness about Christ is to ascribe nothing to ourselves but everything to Him.

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Jan Blonk
The Devotional Writer
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And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

John 1:19

It must have been quite a sight to see and hear John the Baptist. What’s known as the 400 silent years—the years between the last prophet of the Old Testament and the start of the New Testament—had ended. God was clearly speaking once again. While God may have been silent for centuries, everything was working toward “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4).

     Matthew wrote of John: “Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” Isaiah had already clearly stated his mission and mandate: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight’” (Matt. 3:3-4). Jesus would say of him: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11).

     The religious leaders took obvious notice of him. They “sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem” with one question: “Who are you?” Some wondered whether or not John was the Messiah. John would give them a clear and Biblical answer.

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Jan Blonk
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No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

John 1:18

Jesus said to Philip: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). The author of Hebrews wrote: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3). There’s only one way to know God—through Jesus. All other ways are false and misleading!

     Jesus revealed who God is, being God Himself. Whether it was His condescension to being born in a manger, His fellowshipping with known sinners, His provision to thousands of hungry people, His delivering and healing of the afflicted, or forgiving of sins, Jesus perfectly expressed God’s nature.

     John also emphasized, once again, the plurality of the God-head: “The only God, who is at the Father’s side.” Jesus left heaven’s glory for a manger and, ultimately, for a cross. That is who God is! Whatever our perception of God, we should carefully study the person and work of Jesus Christ. He made Him known through His words and actions.

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Jan Blonk
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For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

Having just stated that our sole experience as believers in Jesus is the fullness of His continuous grace—grace upon grace—John emphasized God’s law in order to highlight and contrast it to Christ’s grace.

     Why did God give His law? Paul gave the answer: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). Later on Paul illustrated that as follows: “For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Rom. 7:7). Since the law discovers our sins, it also “brings [God’s] wrath” (Rom. 4:15). We don’t deserve anything but God’s righteous indignation.

     However, that’s not the ultimate goal of God’s law. The goal of His Law is the simple confession: Jesus is my righteousness. Paul stated that as follows: “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:3-4). He is the One who truly fulfilled the Law (see Matt. 5:17). Consequently, “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

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Jan Blonk
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For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace

John 1:16

Whenever someone has a position of authority, the danger of abuse is often only a matter of time. One has certain requirements for those who are under him and can easily use abuse to make everyone fall in line. Jesus isn’t like that. He never abuses his authority. Today we’ve a connection with the previous verse—“for”—showing, once again, that Jesus is God and expressing His nature.

     In Mark we read: “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). That was expressed by Jesus’ opponents. There was no doubt in their mind that Jesus made a definite claim, including by forgiving sins. Here we’ve a similar scenario. Who alone can be gracious to us? No one can rightfully extend grace to fallen mankind except God.

     When we meditate on Him, we cannot find any boundary. There’s no limit to who God is! Is He loving? He is infinitely loving! Is He good? He is infinitely good! Is He gracious? He is infinitely gracious! He has limitless and boundless fullness. There’s no beginning or end to His grace. We are its eternal recipients.

     Lastly, it’s “grace upon grace.” God can never relate to us any other way. From God’s very first thought, humanly speaking, of our salvation till endless ages of glory, it’s always “grace upon grace.” There was no beginning and there will be no end in the annals of grace.

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Jan Blonk
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John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me’”

John 1:15

The gospels emphasize both Jesus’ deity and humanity, being the God-Man. Jesus often referred to Himself as the “Son of Man.” Yet, that never diminished the reality of His deity. He did not lay down His deity, as if that were possible, but took on a physical body. It was an addition, not a subtraction.

     One of John the Baptist’s testimonies was that Jesus “ranks before me.” In Biblical culture, the firstborn was the one who was most privileged and had the highest standing among the siblings. We know from Luke that John was born before Jesus, which means that he would have a higher standing.

     However, He truly knew that Jesus ranked infinitely higher than anyone born prior to Him, “because he was before me.” Jesus pre-existed from all eternity. His “coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). Jesus’ higher ranking doesn’t only apply to John, but to all mankind.

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Jan Blonk
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