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The Prologue has now accomplished its purpose, and the Gospel which follows gives
us the Son's manifesting, revealing, interpreting the Father to His children.
The Beginning of the Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites
to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, `I am not the
Christ'." (1: 19, N.I.V.).
John's witness is now given in more detail. A deputation had come from the religious
establishment at Jerusalem to discover who he was. There was a general expectation at
this time. Pious Israelites were "looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2: 38).
"The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John
might possibly be the Christ" (Luke 3: 15). So the deputation asked him to explain
himself. His reply is in 1: 19 and is stated to be part of his witness. He said definitely "I
am not the Messiah". They pressed him further--"Who are you then?". He might have
been the prophet Elijah who had been promised in Mal. 4: 5, and he certainly bore the
marks of Elijah in his appearance and dress (Mark 1: 6), and at his birth it had been
declared that he would "go before Him (Christ) in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn
the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1: 16, 17). Anyone could imitate
John's dress, but his ministry was peculiar to himself. Are you Elijah? they asked him
and his answer was "No" (John 1: 21). Yet Christ said he was. "Elijah is come, and they
did to him whatever they pleased" (Mark 9: 13). In Matt. 11: 7-14 the Lord added a
condition to His statement, "If you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to
come". There is no "it" in the original. It could just as easily mean "if you are willing to
accept Me". And had the nation done so, the Baptist would have been counted as the
Elijah of Malachi's prophecy.
The deputation pressed John still further, for they said they must have an answer to
those who sent them (1: 22). Having told them he was not Elijah as foretold in Malachi,
he referred them to Isa. 40: 3 and declared he was nothing more than a voice preparing
the way for none other than the Lord (John 1: 23). Note he was just "a voice", not "the
voice" as the A.V. The Baptist had no inflated ideas of his own importance, yet Christ
declared he was the greatest of the prophets (Matt. 11: 11).
What was his authority for baptizing? The Pharisees who regulated the religious life
of Israel were anxious to know. John explaining that his baptism was only an
introductory ceremony. He was the forerunner of the Lord of Isa. 40:, and of the Lamb
of Isa. 53:, and his ministry was to prepare the people for His reception.