John 1:6-8,19-28: Confessions of a Herald

Lectionary Cycle Year B: Third Sunday in Advent
John 1:6-8, 19-28 (Read it on Bible Gateway)
Confessions of a Herald
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For the Gospel selection this round we once more visit the Gospel of John and continue with its introduction of a figure we have seen a few times in this series: John the Baptist (see Devotions: Matthew 3:1-12 and Matthew 11:2-15 among others). This specific passage picks up from where we left off last year (see Devotions: John 1:1-18) after John is introduced and focuses on a dialogue between him and a group of Priests, Levites and Pharisees. It gives us a bit more insight into his ministry and mission, but it may also seem a little confusing. The Gospel of John is written from the perspective of one having an intimate knowledge of Jewish culture, beliefs and customs, so for those of us who don't have that kind of background, we may not understand all the dynamics going on in this passage. So, let's take this opportunity to explore that a bit and see what we find.

A good place to start might be in asking why John is getting all these questions to begin with. It almost sounds like an interrogation. Well, in a sense it was. The Sanhedrin was the governing body of the Jewish faith, overseeing the Temple and all associated religious functions. As such, part of their responsibility was to oversee religious teaching and practice. John was not a recognized or consecrated Priest or Teacher of the Law. When he appeared preaching and teaching in the desert, attracting large crowds, it was only natural that he attracted their attention as well.

The confrontation, in the context of the Gospel, serves as a pre-cursor to tensions that would grow between both John the Baptist as well as Jesus and these religious officials. However, in all fairness, such a visit could easily be seen as a genuine need. After all, if they were entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the teaching and preaching of the faith, then they should look into someone doing so that they did not know.

John first makes it clear that he is not the Christ. Since his message was clearly messianic, proclaiming a need to repent and the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God, there were many who wondered if John was the Messiah. We see this in the number of times John has to go out of his way to point out that in fact, he is not, as he does here.

Then they ask if he is Elijah, to which he says no. As you might remember, Elijah was the greatest Prophet of God and was taken up into Heaven, thus he did not die (see II Kings 2:11). According to prophecy (see Malachi 4:5) Elijah would return before the great Day of the Lord arrived, or the end time. When John is asked here and he denies it, he is no doubt denying that he was Elijah either returned from Heaven, or reincarnated by God. Interestingly enough, Jesus later says that John was Elijah (see Matthew 11:14). However, the context there shows that Jesus was not claiming John was the actual prophet, but that he fulfilled the prophetic role of Elijah in proclaiming the coming of Christ.

When John does identify himself, it is in the context of quoting the passage from Isaiah that we've discussed (see Isaiah 40:3 and Devotions: Isaiah 40:1-11), thus proclaiming "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"

At this point, the Pharisees, who were a far more conservative party within the Jewish religious hierarchy of the time, continued to challenge what John was doing, specifically asking him about him baptizing. As mentioned, baptism was a sign of conversion of a gentile to Judaism, yet John was baptizing Jews and gentiles, significantly altering the meaning of the symbol. John's response was to once more point the answer toward Christ, the coming Messiah.

All of John's mission was to proclaim the coming of Christ and even when questioned about himself, his background, his purpose, instead of answering directly, he more often then not simply redirected the conversation back to the coming of Christ. In this he was bound and determined to stay focused on his true purpose. In that we can find a beautiful testimony of dedication.

For the complete listing of our Devotions, see our Devotions Archive