John 1:19-28 – The witness of John the Baptist

At the backdrop of these verses we know that John the Baptist had a large following in his ministry. He was sent here to baptize and call people into repentance. Here he was at Bethany beyond the Jordan doing exactly what he was sent to do, and had been proclaiming the Messiah and paving the way for His coming. In reading these verses, we also get the feel that the community of Jews were looking for the coming of the Messiah. The only problem, however, was that they had no inkling who the Messiah was. So they sent the priests and Levites from Jerusalem to John the Baptist to inquire if he was the Messiah. Coming to him, the delegate asked him point blank, “Who are you?” John did not deny, meaning he did not refuse to answer their question. In fact He emphatically told them that He was not the Messiah whom they were looking for. The word “confessed” was mentioned twice for emphasis. He confessed that He was not the Christ.

Being well versed with the Old Testament, the delegate pressed further. Could he be Elijah in whom the prophet in Malachi 4:5-6 said would come before the great and terrible day of the Lord? John’s response was in the negative. So they asked if he was the Prophet whom Moses had prophesized in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, saying that “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.” To this question, John’s answer was also no. Pressed with the need to return to the Jews with an answer, they then asked him to identify himself. John’s response to them in John 1:23-27, shows us what we ought to do in witnessing.

John clearly told them that he was just a voice and not the Word. John felt that he was just the channel that conveys the substance and merely the communicator of the news of the King. He pointed to Christ, saying that standing among them was the Messiah who had come. And the Messiah of course is greater than John. And he felt unworthy even to untie the straps of the Messiah’s sandals. What John was doing was to shift the focus away from himself to Christ. The task of untying the straps of a person’s sandals was done only by a servant.  In saying that he was unworthy even to untie the straps of the Messiah’s sandals, he had placed himself in a lower-than-a-slave positon in his relation to the Lord. What humility! What an attitude to emulate!

With what sort of attitude do we come to the Lord to relate with Him? How best can we be His witness? Let us live a life of humility in relating with Him. We are nothing, but Christ is everything. John’s attitude models for us what a genuine and authentic messenger of Christ should be. We must choose to be like him. We either walk in humility or ultimately walk in humiliation.