those who heard of them said, "What manner of child shall this be?" We must also

remember the testimony of the Acts to the fact that the ministry of John the Baptist had

had an effect outside the land of Palestine, for we find that Apollos of Alexandria, and the

twelve disciples at Ephesus had come under its influence (Acts 18: 25; 19: 1-4), the

greater must be the King he represents. If the forerunner therefore be so great, how great

must He be, Whose shoe-latchet John felt Himself not worthy to unloose!

John opens his testimony in verse 19 by recording the questions put to

John the Baptist and his answers to them. The priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem

simply asked the question, "Who art thou?" They did not actually say, "Art thou

the Christ?" but, knowing that this question was uppermost in men's minds (see

Luke 3: 15), John anticipates the enquiry by confessing--"denying not, but

confessing"--"I am not the Christ". Let us pause a moment here. John says that those

who asked the question were "Jews". Matthew refers to his own people as "Jews" only

once (Matt. 28: 15), his other four references being the statements of others. Mark

speaks of the Jews only once out of six occurrences, when he describes, apparently for

the sake of the Gentile reader, the Jewish custom of washing (Mark 7: 3). And Luke,

who has the Gentile reader in mind, has only two references out of a total of five

(Luke 7: 3; 23: 51).  John, on the other hand, uses the word "Jew" 68 times, an

indication that by the time he wrote his Gospel, his own people had ceased to be a nation,

and could only be referred to by the name commonly used among the Gentiles. In

contrast with John's 68 references to the "Jews" we must place his four references to

"Israel" (John 1: 31, 49; 3: 10; 12: 13), and Matthew's twelve references. These are

significant numbers, especially as we view them in the light of Israel's position before

and after Acts 28:

The Sanhedrin were well within their province when they sent to ask John the Baptist

who he was, for they were responsible for the religious life of the people. Seeing that

John so emphatically denied that he was the Christ, his questioners ask, "Art thou Elias?"

There is an insistent testimony in the Rabbinical writings to the expectation that Elijah

would appear just before the advent of the Messiah, an expectation justified by the

prophecy of Malachi (Mal. 4: 5). John answers this second enquiry with the words, "I

am not". The deputation then puts one more question, "Art thou that prophet?" This is a

reference to the promise fulfilled in Christ Himself. John answers with the one word,

"No". A mere negative, however, would not be a satisfactory answer to take back to the

Sanhedrin, and the Jews therefore put their question in another form: "Who art thou?

that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?" To

many, alas, such a question would open the door to pride, but John remains true. He

begins by saying, "I am a voice"--not even "I am the voice" for there is no article--and

then he goes on to explain that he is the forerunner promised by Isaiah, and that the One

Whose coming he announced was none other than the Lord.

This, however, raised further problems in the minds of the Jews. The teaching of the

Rabbis was that the world would be restored at the coming of the Messiah, and

Kimchi speaks of the Rabbinical tradition that Elijah would so purify the people at his

coming that even the illegitimate child would be restored to the congregation. If then