Who is John the Baptist? (John 1:19-28)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:06.759 Let's turn our attention to John, Chapter One. Remain standing if you're able 2 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.550 and will give our attention to God's word in John One verses nineteen, beginning 3 00:00:12.550 --> 00:00:36.530 in Nineteen and through twenty eight. Let's hear God's word, and this is 4 00:00:36.649 --> 00:00:41.649 the testimony of John. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to 5 00:00:41.770 --> 00:00:47.130 ask him, who are you, he confessed and did not deny, but 6 00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:53.920 confessed I am not the Christ, and they asked him what then, are 7 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:57.759 you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the Prophet? 8 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:00.399 And he answered no. So they said to him, who are you? 9 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:03.909 We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you 10 00:01:03.989 --> 00:01:08.670 say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out 11 00:01:08.670 --> 00:01:14.069 in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as the Prophet 12 00:01:14.069 --> 00:01:19.819 Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, 13 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:23.659 then, why are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ, nor 14 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:29.340 Elijah nor the Prophet? John answered them. I baptize with water, but 15 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:34.409 among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, 16 00:01:34.530 --> 00:01:38.650 the strap of whose Sandal I am not on. I am not worthy 17 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:44.250 to untie these things. took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where 18 00:01:44.290 --> 00:01:51.280 John was baptizing. You may be seated well the gospel of John, we 19 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:57.280 have the account of the beginning of the Ministry of Jesus and we are reminded 20 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:04.750 right away that it Jesus is life coincides very much with this man named John, 21 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:08.909 John The baptist. It's one that John The evangelist, the author of 22 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:14.270 this Gospel, introduces to us to ride away, a one that the other 23 00:02:14.629 --> 00:02:19.900 gospels also tell us about. John, the cousin of Jesus, born about 24 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:25.860 six months before a Jesus was born, and and throughout their lives they very 25 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:34.169 much track together. And yet though John was born before, though Jesus came 26 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:40.210 after him. John says here that John The evangelist, the writer of this 27 00:02:40.409 --> 00:02:46.639 Gospel, says the about John The baptist, that he was confessing that Jesus 28 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:50.319 was one who was before him, even though he came after him. And 29 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:55.240 John now turns to return, turns. As we go through this chapter, 30 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:01.310 he returns to this testimony of John The baptist. Earlier, earlier in this 31 00:03:01.389 --> 00:03:06.229 book, we heard that John was a witness. This is how John was 32 00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:10.629 introduced. Remember, verse six, there was a man sent from God whose 33 00:03:10.669 --> 00:03:15.099 name was John, and he came as a witness to bear witness about the 34 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:22.819 light. Well, that witness is what John The evangelist now returns to in 35 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:28.050 talking about John The baptist. So what is John the Baptist as witness? 36 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:32.169 What is his testimony? Well, that becomes very, very clear in this 37 00:03:32.409 --> 00:03:40.250 passage and through this testimony we learned something very essential about Christ himself and about 38 00:03:40.250 --> 00:03:46.520 who we are as Christians. We learn these things through the ways in which 39 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:53.599 John Speaks and in what he says his inner his reactions to these questions from 40 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:59.150 his fellow Jews. But before we get to John's testimony, I want to 41 00:03:59.189 --> 00:04:03.030 make sure that we pay attention to the details of the scene. John, 42 00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:10.460 the writer of the this Gospel, often will give these very particular details that 43 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:14.580 we don't find another gospels. I suppose this is true of all the Gospel 44 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:20.420 Writers. Each of them have their own way of of telling these of telling 45 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:26.370 the history of Jesus and explaining that. Well, John gives us a particular 46 00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:30.610 details. He starts by saying in Verse Nineteen, he sort of reintroduces us 47 00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:33.810 to this what he's going to talk about. This is the testimony of John 48 00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:40.600 and then he says when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask 49 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:45.879 him. So they come to ask this simple question. Who Are you? 50 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.040 But before we get to that, in his response, do you know who 51 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:54.829 priests and Levites are? What are the priests and Levites these are? It's 52 00:04:54.870 --> 00:05:00.430 important to know this because they appear very often throughout the gospels. The priests 53 00:05:00.550 --> 00:05:05.910 were Levites themselves. Levi describes one of the tribes of Israel, one of 54 00:05:05.949 --> 00:05:12.939 the twelve tribes of Israel, descending from Aaron, Moses's brother, and these 55 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:17.180 priests are those who belong to that tribe who met certain and qualifications. They 56 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:21.610 were men, they were of a certain age. There were also laws regarding 57 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:28.170 deformities and other kinds of things. There was a set of requirements that made 58 00:05:28.209 --> 00:05:32.769 one a priest. Well, there were priests and then there were also levites. 59 00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:36.319 Sort of, we've got Levites who are priests in a way and Levites 60 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:41.199 who were not priests, and the Levites is, it is often described. 61 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:45.680 We're in charge of things like sort of being temple police, in a way, 62 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:50.829 gatekeepers. Levites were often in charge of other tasks around the temple, 63 00:05:54.110 --> 00:06:00.310 making music, for one, and they worked together side by side. The 64 00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:03.660 priests, however, were particularly in charge of sacrifices and other temple rituals. 65 00:06:03.699 --> 00:06:09.180 They were also teachers. The way this would work, as just a kind 66 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:13.899 of side note, I think is interesting. You might remember that the priests 67 00:06:14.019 --> 00:06:17.970 were divided all throughout the land. They were. They didn't have a place 68 00:06:18.129 --> 00:06:25.170 of their own, but instead there were levite cities placed throughout all Israel. 69 00:06:25.730 --> 00:06:30.930 So what would happen is each sort of family would be given a rotation in 70 00:06:30.970 --> 00:06:34.319 the temple. So twice a year you would travel up to Jerusalem and do 71 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:40.319 your priestly duties and then head back home. Of course, there were those 72 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:46.040 who lived near and even in Jerusalem, and often they there was a there 73 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:49.670 was a kind of social division that would happen between those that were kind of 74 00:06:49.790 --> 00:06:55.670 in the capital city and those that were sort of not, as often happens. 75 00:06:58.029 --> 00:07:02.379 The Levites were also divided up in this way and would have various rotations. 76 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:06.939 So when John says priests and Levites, what you want to think of 77 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:15.300 is basically the religious establishment, another words, those who were the religious leaders 78 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:20.089 and who was in charge in terms of temple worship and sacrifices and just the 79 00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:25.089 faith in a way, in the in all of in those those parts of 80 00:07:25.170 --> 00:07:28.449 it, well, it was these people. These are the people who were 81 00:07:28.529 --> 00:07:33.639 in charge, and so they have a question that they want answered, and 82 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:40.480 John is familiar with them. John himself was the son of a priest. 83 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:44.990 We know that from Luke and other places, and he seems to have known 84 00:07:45.110 --> 00:07:50.269 this priesthood very well. In Matthew Seven and Luke seven, John does not 85 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:56.269 greet them as welcome, brothers, I'm so glad you're out here in the 86 00:07:56.350 --> 00:08:00.939 desert. He says, you Brood of Vipers, who sent you and and 87 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:09.180 various other accusations. So why is John Feel this way? Well, John, 88 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:13.970 this particular Gospel, doesn't get it that and doesn't give us the answer 89 00:08:13.529 --> 00:08:20.410 directly and and right away. Eventually their intentions will be made clear and they 90 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:26.050 will largely be responsible for putting a Jesus to death. But here we are 91 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:33.480 given this detail that they come from Jerusalem. Why does John Mention this? 92 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:39.559 These the the the religious, these religious leaders, coming from Jerusalem to answer 93 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:43.950 this question? Well, one thing this does is it reminds us that this 94 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:50.830 story doesn't begin in the capital city, as is all is the case with 95 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:54.669 Jesus. Over and over and over again, he starts where you wouldn't expect 96 00:08:54.710 --> 00:09:00.460 him. He starts out in the Wilderness. is where his ministry starts. 97 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:03.899 This is where John Is. It's a good reminder, I think, that 98 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:09.340 this is often where God's grace begins. It's outside of Eden, in the 99 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:16.570 Wilderness, that God meets with them and promises them the good news that they 100 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:22.169 would live through a son of eve. It's in the Wilderness that Jacob meets 101 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:28.240 with God. It's in the wilderness that Abraham is called out to by God 102 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:33.240 and and it's in the wilderness that God establishes his people, Israel, as 103 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:37.440 after he calls them out of Egypt. And this is true of our lives 104 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:43.389 as well. God doesn't come to us in our power and in our strength 105 00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:48.429 and in our glory. If we are in power and strength and glory and 106 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:52.629 he's coming to us, you can bet that he's about to topple you. 107 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:58.059 That's usually how it works, though. When God meets us in His grace, 108 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:01.019 which is exactly what John has been testifying to hear, he meets us 109 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:09.289 in the Wilderness, in desolate places and lonely places, in biting places and 110 00:10:09.330 --> 00:10:16.009 due to Ronomy. It says that God carried Israel through the wilderness like a 111 00:10:16.129 --> 00:10:20.330 father carries a son. That's how it describes the Lord's care for them. 112 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:28.200 Is he led them by that pillar of fire and cloud. And this is 113 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.120 what God does for us here today in our lives, in this age where 114 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:35.950 we wander as pilgrims, where we live and this wilderness of sin and in 115 00:10:37.149 --> 00:10:41.830 a world that is cursed. God comes into the world and meets us. 116 00:10:41.950 --> 00:10:46.909 He's has met you and the Wilderness of this age and of your particular lives. 117 00:10:48.950 --> 00:10:52.419 Through faith and repentance. He meets us in the Wilderness and makes it 118 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:58.700 a place of glory, of wonder, of amazement, of protection and safety. 119 00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:05.809 Why? Because he comes to us there. So it's a significant thing 120 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:13.610 that these priests and Levites are coming from Jerusalem out to the Wilderness to figure 121 00:11:13.610 --> 00:11:18.799 out what John's doing and and what is what is going on, what this 122 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:24.879 Christ is that he's testifying to. The second thing to note that significant about 123 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:30.519 John's pointing out that they're coming from Jerusalem is that this is kind of far 124 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:37.750 away. It's a gigiographical detail that helps give shape to the story and eventually 125 00:11:37.789 --> 00:11:41.149 it it will close the scene as well. At the end of this passage, 126 00:11:41.190 --> 00:11:46.190 I read in Verse Twenty Eight. We read these things took place in 127 00:11:46.269 --> 00:11:50.860 Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing, so it says. Starts 128 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:56.740 out this this episode starts out by saying that they came from Jerusalem and where 129 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:58.220 were they going? Well, we learn at the end that they came out 130 00:11:58.299 --> 00:12:05.409 to Bethany across the Jordan. Now, Bethany is an unknown city, but 131 00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:11.490 a lot of good proposals have been made to suggest that it's perhaps not bethany 132 00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:16.919 a city, but Bashawn, this region that is northeast of the Jordan, 133 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.600 in the Sea of Galilee. I won't go through all of those reasons, 134 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:26.039 but they have to do with the background philology, various historic like a historical 135 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:31.669 preference that the Jews had for Baptizing near the Sea of Galilee, better waters, 136 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:37.629 pure waters, their number of other things. But I'll just say this 137 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:45.299 that this distance means that they traveled quite far to get from Jerusalem. It's 138 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:48.580 at least a hundred miles, depending on the route you take. Walking eight 139 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:54.139 hours a day, you're looking at a four to five day journey. I'm 140 00:12:54.139 --> 00:12:56.299 guess I'll have to ask Harold about that later. He knows about walking, 141 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:01.049 but I'm guessing. I'm estimating if they're walking about eight hours a day, 142 00:13:01.090 --> 00:13:07.129 about four to five days of walking. So this means that one John has 143 00:13:07.210 --> 00:13:09.490 been there a while. They've heard this news, they know what's going on. 144 00:13:09.929 --> 00:13:15.399 Something big is happening out there in the wilderness across the Jordan, and 145 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:22.679 something so big that these men are willing to travel a fairly long distanced to 146 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:28.309 just go and ask this question. Who Are you? So now we come 147 00:13:28.350 --> 00:13:33.629 to the question. Well, what's the big deal? Why would the Pharisees, 148 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:37.549 as we read later, send these priests and leavites all the way out 149 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:46.860 into the Wilderness to ask John this question? Well, messianic expectations were very 150 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:52.899 much in the air, with the Romans ruling over on over the people there 151 00:13:52.940 --> 00:13:56.769 are after the exile. There was hope. There were waiting for all of 152 00:13:56.889 --> 00:14:01.730 these promises that had been promised in the prophets. Where is the Christ or 153 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:05.610 where is Elijah, or where is the prophet or and a number of other 154 00:14:05.730 --> 00:14:11.159 people that the Jews were expecting, some of them that we see attested to 155 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:16.120 in scripture and some not. There was this hope and anticipation that was going 156 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.639 on. There was a lot of discussion about it, a lot of debate 157 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:24.710 about it, disagreement about it, and now something significant seems to be happening 158 00:14:24.789 --> 00:14:28.029 up there in the northeast and these men are going to go investigate. They're 159 00:14:28.070 --> 00:14:33.070 going to find out. Now, John Notes, that some of them came 160 00:14:33.110 --> 00:14:37.350 from the Pharisees, as we continue our introduction of these various people who were 161 00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:43.700 the Pharisees. Well, the Pharisees in distinction from another group called the Sadducees, 162 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:50.700 were, we're both of all say this, the both the Pharisees and 163 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:56.129 the SADDUCEES. You want to think of them as kind of like political religious 164 00:14:56.250 --> 00:15:03.570 movements that had differences and what they believed about the scriptures and a number of 165 00:15:03.649 --> 00:15:11.159 other things. After something called the maccabeean revolt, after this, this destruction 166 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:16.159 happened in in Israel. A number of things happened. Some people fled, 167 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:20.629 there was this, maybe you've heard of the Kumaran community, sort of escape 168 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:24.990 out into the desert, trying to just get out of a mess and wait 169 00:15:24.110 --> 00:15:28.230 for the Messiah out there. There are other people that say, well, 170 00:15:28.269 --> 00:15:30.950 well, we need to pay more attention to the law. We need to 171 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:37.940 follow after God's law. We have to be pious, we need to be 172 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:41.340 careful about these things, and you have various groups that pop up. The 173 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:46.779 sadducees thought that only the first five books of the Bible were canonical and had 174 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:52.450 a number of beliefs based on that. The Pharisees took the rest of the 175 00:15:52.529 --> 00:15:58.570 scriptures as scripture, and we're very they were known for being very diligent about 176 00:15:58.570 --> 00:16:03.649 applying those scriptures. So throughout the Gospel you hear about the Pharisees. Believe 177 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:07.320 this and believe that. Well, it's because they spend a lot of time 178 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:12.879 thinking about applications of the word, but not just applications in general. They 179 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:19.470 took those applications kind of as scripture itself. So you had the authority of 180 00:16:19.509 --> 00:16:25.429 the word but also the authority of the tradition of the elders. Unfortunately, 181 00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:29.230 we have churches like this today, that that treat the Bible like this. 182 00:16:29.789 --> 00:16:33.460 There's sort of the authority of the word, but it's put next to and 183 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:37.419 right alongside the authority of the tradition of the elders or the traditions of the 184 00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:42.820 church, doctrines and commandments that are the set and next to God's word and 185 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:48.169 made equal and even over it. Anyway, I point all this out to 186 00:16:48.250 --> 00:16:52.090 point it out why John says there are Pharisees, right. So why does 187 00:16:52.129 --> 00:16:59.370 John have this parenthetical comment that the Pharisees sent them? Well, the Sadducees 188 00:16:59.409 --> 00:17:02.759 were no doubt curious about John as well, but I think the reason John 189 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.680 Points out that the Pharisees sent them is because it makes sense of the questions 190 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:14.039 they're asking. They're asking questions that are not based on the first five books 191 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:19.069 exactly, but are trusting that they prophets that a prophet was to come from 192 00:17:19.109 --> 00:17:26.150 Deuteronomy and and Elijah from Malachi. Also, the Pharisees, as we read 193 00:17:26.230 --> 00:17:32.420 in the Gospels, are very concerned about washings, ritual purity and things like 194 00:17:32.539 --> 00:17:37.779 that. So here's this guy out in the desert seeming to be a kind 195 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:44.529 of Elijah prophetic figure who's baptizing a lot of people. This is like right 196 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:47.890 up the Pharisees Alley Right, and they want to know what's going on. 197 00:17:48.450 --> 00:17:52.849 What's this Guy Doing? Why are the crowds following him? The Pharisees were 198 00:17:52.890 --> 00:17:57.599 also very a kind of people's movement to they, the Sadducees, sort of 199 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:03.319 worked at the upper echelons of the Jewish government and troup, you know, 200 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.839 hobnobbed with those people. The Pharisees were more in touch, you might say, 201 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.950 with the with Alay people and had their influence there. So again, 202 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:17.670 all these crowds, these big this sort of populist movement out in the desert, 203 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:22.390 and this is something they need to know about if they're going to stay 204 00:18:22.390 --> 00:18:26.309 in power, if they're going to be influential, if they're going to keep 205 00:18:26.470 --> 00:18:30.259 things in control. They need to find out what's going on. So they 206 00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:34.460 send the priests and the Levites out to John to ask him this question that 207 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:40.700 we're finally at. Who Are you? Who Are you? What are you 208 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:53.210 doing? So what does John say? John says, well, he says 209 00:18:53.210 --> 00:18:57.119 I'm not the Christ. But actually before that the scripture says he confessed and 210 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:03.400 did not deny, but confessed I am not the Christ. I was struck 211 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.559 in reading this how sort of elaborate that opening is right. It doesn't just 212 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:12.309 say and John said or and John replied, or even and John testified vigorously. 213 00:19:12.789 --> 00:19:17.829 It says he confessed and did not deny but confessed. Right, it's 214 00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:21.990 just, you know, underline, underline, underline. I am not the 215 00:19:22.069 --> 00:19:32.019 Christ. I am not the Christ. This is a an interesting way to 216 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:37.500 ask answer a question. Who Are you? When I first read this many 217 00:19:37.539 --> 00:19:41.690 years ago, I remember thinking that John was being kind of snarky. You 218 00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:44.250 know, right, somebody ask you a direct question about who you are and 219 00:19:44.369 --> 00:19:48.890 you like, I'm not this right, but that's not really what John is 220 00:19:48.410 --> 00:19:53.720 doing. Before I answer that question, what it's John Doing, I want 221 00:19:53.720 --> 00:20:00.839 to ask you why are you here today? Why? Why are you here? 222 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:04.640 Or, like the priests and the Levites who came out to find who 223 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:08.190 John is, they had a reason for being there. They wanted to know 224 00:20:08.269 --> 00:20:12.869 what was going on. They wanted to find out about this message. What 225 00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:21.819 about you? Why do you come to hear this message about Christ, least 226 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:26.579 from a servant who is not the Christ? Why? It's very important, 227 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:32.299 because what John is going to do is he is not going to point to 228 00:20:32.420 --> 00:20:36.970 himself. What he does, what he says, is I am not the 229 00:20:37.009 --> 00:20:41.970 Christ. He points away from himself, A to Christ himself. That's who 230 00:20:41.049 --> 00:20:45.569 they need to find. They came out to find about John, but what 231 00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:51.240 they really needed was to find out about Jesus and that's true for you and 232 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:56.000 me as well, and I want to encourage you, even tell you what 233 00:20:56.119 --> 00:21:02.599 to do and say. Do not leave here satisfied if you have not found 234 00:21:02.599 --> 00:21:07.950 the Christ, if you have not found Jesus. That's what it all is 235 00:21:07.029 --> 00:21:12.829 about, and that's why John Answers the way he does. I am not 236 00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:18.109 the Christ. Well, this frustrates them right he says, I am not 237 00:21:18.269 --> 00:21:22.220 the Christ, and so they respond and I saying, well then, what 238 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:26.980 are you? Are You Elijah? He says, I am not. Now 239 00:21:26.099 --> 00:21:32.019 why did they ask about Elijah? Well, Elijah was one of the prophets 240 00:21:32.059 --> 00:21:36.930 in the Old Testament, one who didn't die very remarkably. Second Kings to 241 00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:41.970 eleven says that Elijah went up in a whirlwind into heaven. Very unique. 242 00:21:44.089 --> 00:21:48.319 There's only one other person like this in scripture. What they have in mind 243 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:55.720 in particulars a prophecy from Malachi four five, which predicts this. Behold, 244 00:21:56.519 --> 00:22:00.430 I will send you Elijah, the Prophet, before the Great and Awesome Day 245 00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:07.349 of the Lord comes. Now this prophecy and Malachi comes in the midst of 246 00:22:07.430 --> 00:22:15.349 a book where the danger of mocking God and pious living is very strong. 247 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:21.500 They are all these people sort of halfheartedly, fasting, halfheartedly, offering their 248 00:22:21.619 --> 00:22:25.900 sacrifices, and God says, do you think I do not know? When 249 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:30.170 you bring your your bad animal, your blemished animal, and offer it to 250 00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:33.890 me like it's the good one? You think I don't know, when you 251 00:22:34.130 --> 00:22:38.849 act as though you're praising me, but you're really not. Some what we 252 00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:41.049 could say today and apply it in this way. You think you know. 253 00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:45.880 I don't know when you you put on fancy clothes and you come to church 254 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:51.599 and you act like you follow me, but really you don't. And Malachi 255 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:56.839 says, I will not be mocked and I will make distinctions between the righteous 256 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:02.549 and the unrighteous. You say that serving God is in vain. I will 257 00:23:02.630 --> 00:23:07.670 show you that is not vanity and that those who serve the Lord, though 258 00:23:07.750 --> 00:23:11.509 God, will be lifted up and those who do not serve him will be 259 00:23:11.630 --> 00:23:15.539 put down. And before that Great Day of the Lord, I will send 260 00:23:15.619 --> 00:23:19.140 you Elijah, is what he's saying. Before that Great Day of judgment, 261 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:26.329 this great apocalyptic day, I will send you this prophet, before the Great 262 00:23:26.410 --> 00:23:33.849 and Awesome Day of the Lord comes. So right they are looking at their 263 00:23:33.049 --> 00:23:37.369 times and they are trying to read the signs and they see this guy doing 264 00:23:37.410 --> 00:23:41.160 these things and they got Elijah. He's Elijah. Well, it's interesting is 265 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:48.839 the Bible says that he was. Actually he was this Elijah. We read, 266 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:52.519 for example, in Luke one hundred and seventeen, this prophecy about John. 267 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:57.750 He will go before Jesus in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn 268 00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:03.230 the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of 269 00:24:03.309 --> 00:24:07.349 the just, to make ready for the Lord of people, prepared that John 270 00:24:07.670 --> 00:24:12.460 Is this Elijah figure is testified also, and if you're taking notes, matthew 271 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:21.500 fourteen and Seventeen, twelve, also mark thirteen. So if the Bible testifies 272 00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:26.690 that John Is this fulfillment of the prophecy, and Malachi for five that he 273 00:24:26.890 --> 00:24:32.210 is Elijah, why does John Stand there and say I am not all right? 274 00:24:32.250 --> 00:24:37.170 Why does John Say I am not? The reason is is because they 275 00:24:37.289 --> 00:24:44.920 were asking the sort of formally right question, but he knew that. It's 276 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:52.680 not that they were not asking it with a correct understanding. This is just 277 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:56.509 a little bit of wisdom we might learn from the scriptures. When somebody asks 278 00:24:56.549 --> 00:24:59.390 you a question, you have to add, not just take their words. 279 00:24:59.509 --> 00:25:02.990 If to know, like what's the intent behind the question? What are they 280 00:25:03.029 --> 00:25:10.420 asking? Because if John Simply said yes and affirmed all of their presuppositions, 281 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:14.500 all of the things that were behind that question, he would end up denying 282 00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:18.339 the thing that he was trying to do, which was affirm that he was 283 00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:22.490 not the Christ. That was his whole point, his whole ministry, and 284 00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:30.170 they were thinking of this Elijah figure in some way as disconnected with Christ or 285 00:25:30.250 --> 00:25:36.680 or equal with him perhaps, but he's not that Elijah. He's not that 286 00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:41.000 Elijah. He's not a reincarnation of Elijah, the tissue bite, the Old 287 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:45.279 Testament prophet come back to life or anything like that. He is this particular 288 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:51.670 Elijah, the one who points to Christ in that great and Awesome Day of 289 00:25:51.710 --> 00:25:57.829 the Lord, a day of Judgment and of reckoning that begins first with this 290 00:25:59.069 --> 00:26:04.819 amazing grace as the Lord Jesus, as the son of God, becomes incarnate. 291 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:11.140 Well, John doesn't want them to think that he is somehow equal to 292 00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:15.740 Christ, or that he's Elijah and reincarnated or come back to life, or 293 00:26:15.940 --> 00:26:22.970 that he's even just disconnected in any way from Christ. Now he is intimately 294 00:26:23.210 --> 00:26:29.450 connected with him in the fulfillment of this prophecy and so he says no, 295 00:26:30.650 --> 00:26:34.279 I'm not. So they respond by asking another question. I say, are 296 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:38.759 you the Prophet? What do they mean by that? Well, they're referring 297 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:45.200 to these prophecies that Moses makes a Deuteronomy Eighteen, where Moses, this great 298 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:55.269 and paradigmatic Prophet, says a Greater Prophet will come one day, a prophet 299 00:26:55.349 --> 00:27:00.630 greater than Moses himself. And so like these anticipation for Elijah, there is 300 00:27:00.829 --> 00:27:06.940 also for a very long time, been anticipation about this prophet, this prophet 301 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:12.460 who would come in. Again, John Says No. Why? Well, 302 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:18.769 because that Prophet that Moses testifies about is ultimately Jesus himself. And what is 303 00:27:18.849 --> 00:27:25.009 John? Who is John? John is not the Christ, right, that's 304 00:27:25.049 --> 00:27:29.049 who. John is not the Christ, and so it would be exactly the 305 00:27:29.609 --> 00:27:33.720 wrong answer and opposite answer to say yes, I am the Prophet, I 306 00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:40.759 am Christ, who fulfills that office? So they're frustrated. Right, he's 307 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:44.000 not giving them the answer they want. We had a simple question for you, 308 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:45.349 John. Who Are you? I am not the Christ. Are You 309 00:27:45.390 --> 00:27:49.390 Elijah? No. Are you the Prophet? No. We did to give 310 00:27:49.430 --> 00:27:55.670 an answer to those who sent us. We're important people were came all the 311 00:27:55.750 --> 00:28:00.099 way from Jerusalem, where Levites were priests were in charge. We were sent 312 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:03.140 by the Pharisees. Who Are you? We need to give an answer to 313 00:28:03.299 --> 00:28:12.210 those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? Now? John 314 00:28:12.369 --> 00:28:18.009 isn't trying to be coy now. He does want to undermine their presuppositions, 315 00:28:18.130 --> 00:28:26.089 he does want to not affirm their bad theology, but he does want to 316 00:28:26.210 --> 00:28:29.640 give them an answer, and he does. In fact, he's given it 317 00:28:29.799 --> 00:28:33.640 through some various denials already, and now he gives it in a positive way. 318 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:37.680 He says I am the Voice of one crying out in the wilderness. 319 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:42.109 Make straight the way of the Lord, as the Isaiah, as as the 320 00:28:42.190 --> 00:28:48.950 Prophet Isaiah says. So John says I am the fulfillment of a prophecy, 321 00:28:49.710 --> 00:28:53.589 and he points to one in particular, this one in Isaiah forty three. 322 00:28:55.819 --> 00:29:02.220 It's amazing that the what John Finally testifies to is this kind of depersonalized identity. 323 00:29:02.420 --> 00:29:04.380 Is Sort of how I'm thinking about it. They're asking, are you 324 00:29:04.539 --> 00:29:07.900 this sort of future person that we're all expecting, and he says no, 325 00:29:08.539 --> 00:29:11.450 like well, how about this person? And we're all expecting no, well, 326 00:29:11.490 --> 00:29:15.289 who are you? And he says a voice. He set jaws, 327 00:29:15.329 --> 00:29:22.849 sort of constantly downplaying himself. I am just a voice of one crying out 328 00:29:22.809 --> 00:29:30.440 in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord. I'm to quote a little 329 00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:36.680 bit from some commentators about this particular point in Isaiah, but I read this 330 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:44.109 from this is Da Carson and greg deal. After all the judgment and condemnation 331 00:29:44.430 --> 00:29:49.029 sounded in Isaiah one through twenty nine, the opening of Chapter Forty marks a 332 00:29:49.269 --> 00:29:56.180 major shift in orientation. It introduces the theme of comfort and represents a Lightmotif 333 00:29:56.259 --> 00:30:00.019 for the remainder of the book. So basically, what they're saying is that 334 00:30:00.059 --> 00:30:04.339 this prophecy that John is referring to is right in the middle of the book 335 00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:10.009 of Isaiah, sort of this key turning point where, after tons of prophecies 336 00:30:10.089 --> 00:30:15.130 about judgment and wrath of God, there's kind of a switch that happens where 337 00:30:15.170 --> 00:30:19.049 God now starts promising him His grace. There's going to be this movement into 338 00:30:19.049 --> 00:30:26.000 the world and it begins with this voice crying out into the Wilderness. In 339 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:30.440 other words, is saying even the structure of Isaiah in a way is testifying 340 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:37.509 to what's happening here in the history with John and this is what he testifies 341 00:30:37.670 --> 00:30:44.509 to, he says. He goes on to say, I baptize with water, 342 00:30:44.670 --> 00:30:48.829 but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes 343 00:30:48.910 --> 00:30:53.539 after me, the strap of whose Sandal I am not worthy to untie. 344 00:30:56.059 --> 00:31:03.460 He puts himself really low, like a slave, like a servant. I'm 345 00:31:03.500 --> 00:31:08.329 not even worthy to do the most low even like physically low to the ground, 346 00:31:08.369 --> 00:31:17.529 right eye. untying someone's Sandal, a dirty affair, right, especially 347 00:31:17.609 --> 00:31:25.079 on dirty roads, bad sanitation. I'm not even worthy to untie, to 348 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:30.839 take off the shoes of this one who comes after me. You think what 349 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:34.829 I'm doing is impressive, you think these crowds are impressive, you think I'm 350 00:31:34.910 --> 00:31:40.109 some Great Guy Out in the Wilderness doing this amazing thing that you've come to 351 00:31:40.269 --> 00:31:45.190 see. Come to figure out you're asking the totally the wrong question. I'm 352 00:31:45.309 --> 00:31:48.980 just a voice. You want to know who I am. I'm not the 353 00:31:49.059 --> 00:31:59.940 Christ. Why does John Answer in this way? Because John's doing his job 354 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:05.490 to give testimony to Christ, and I don't think any one of us could 355 00:32:05.490 --> 00:32:10.089 have done any better than this. It's striking that John Chooses to answer with 356 00:32:10.210 --> 00:32:16.200 this negative response, but it's indicative of as I said at the very beginning 357 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:24.880 the Christian way, as well as John's message. Christianity, you have to 358 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:30.990 understand, is very much about self denial. It's about seeing Christ foremost, 359 00:32:31.029 --> 00:32:40.029 above all things and ourselves in relationship to him. He is above all, 360 00:32:40.509 --> 00:32:45.579 he is everything, he is all that you ever would want. He has 361 00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:51.859 all of your hopes, he is the source of your very being. He 362 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:58.420 is the most important thing and we are always be understanding ourselves in relation to 363 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:04.730 him. This is why idolatry is a perpetual problem throughout the whole Bible and 364 00:33:05.049 --> 00:33:10.730 our lives. We are constantly choosing to know and to serve ourselves are desires, 365 00:33:10.970 --> 00:33:15.640 the things of this world. That's not what we were made for, 366 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:20.759 though. We were made to know and to serve and love our God. 367 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.920 Our goal, then, always ought to be as close to him as we 368 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:31.910 could possibly be, to think of ourselves and our identities constantly in relationship to 369 00:33:31.990 --> 00:33:39.269 him. Who Are you? I am not the Christ. It's a way 370 00:33:39.349 --> 00:33:45.380 of affirming immediately both the most important thing, the thing that you should always 371 00:33:45.420 --> 00:33:49.900 be asking about, the thing that you should be seeking, the one, 372 00:33:51.339 --> 00:34:00.410 as well as affirming our relationship to him. John Calvin puts this aspect about 373 00:34:00.450 --> 00:34:05.250 self denial in this way. He says. Let this therefore be the first 374 00:34:05.250 --> 00:34:09.920 step that a man depart from himself in order that he may apply the whole 375 00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:17.320 force of his ability in the service of the Lord. Summarizing John Calvin's thoughts, 376 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:25.550 current theologian, Michael Allen, he writes this. In other words, 377 00:34:25.630 --> 00:34:34.469 the renunciation of self possession expressed here in Calvin makes sense only amidst a transcendent 378 00:34:34.750 --> 00:34:39.579 claim of possession by the Triune God of grace. Were saying is that this 379 00:34:39.699 --> 00:34:45.539 sort of emptying of oneself and giving oneself only makes sense in the light of 380 00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:57.250 union with God, who is, above all things, a continuing Allen's quoting 381 00:34:57.329 --> 00:35:00.130 of Calvin, he says, as we sum up Calvin's description of the space 382 00:35:00.250 --> 00:35:07.199 for self denial, the first thing to note must be its Christallogical location. 383 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:14.199 How does John Deny Himself? Is he just some kind of random guy who 384 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:19.559 beats himself and, you know, is down on himself and leads this kind 385 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:30.110 of Downer life with no identity and confusion? No, John's self denial is 386 00:35:30.869 --> 00:35:40.820 related to his affirmation of Christ. Who Am I not the Christ? The 387 00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:45.699 first thing we denote must be it's Christological location. In Union with Christ. 388 00:35:46.059 --> 00:35:51.610 As part of the promise of the Gospel, we are led away from ourselves 389 00:35:51.969 --> 00:35:58.170 and led further into the life of Christ. So this is what I say 390 00:35:58.210 --> 00:36:02.690 when I say John's testimony to the Gospel, John's testimony to Christ. This 391 00:36:04.090 --> 00:36:07.159 this, that's this fat, this way that he's saying. I am not 392 00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:12.039 the light, but he's the light. I'm not the Christ, but he 393 00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:15.960 is the Christ, and everything that I do and say an act as in 394 00:36:15.079 --> 00:36:22.429 relation to him, not only testifies to Jesus, but it stifies to the 395 00:36:22.469 --> 00:36:25.789 way of faith. It testifies to how we ought to all be living our 396 00:36:25.909 --> 00:36:30.710 lives as we think about ourselves, as we think about who we are, 397 00:36:30.190 --> 00:36:37.219 and as we think about who Jesus is and what he is promised. When 398 00:36:37.300 --> 00:36:44.820 Jesus came, he came not to testify to anyone greater, but to be 399 00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:49.650 the Christ, to be the light, to be the life and the men. 400 00:36:50.690 --> 00:36:53.610 And that's why John will say later in his book that all who believed 401 00:36:53.809 --> 00:37:01.840 on him and trusted him find life in Him. Let your life be like 402 00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:08.360 John's because of Christ and who he is. Christ came into this world, 403 00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:13.920 in the Wilderness and this humble place, and eventually gave himself on the cross 404 00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:20.150 in order to bring you closer to him, not to establish you sort of 405 00:37:20.269 --> 00:37:23.550 outside of him, separate from him, somewhere and your, you know, 406 00:37:23.670 --> 00:37:31.699 little autonomous kingdom somewhere. Christ came to draw you into himself, into his 407 00:37:32.019 --> 00:37:38.619 life, into his light. Learn to see yourself in that way and, 408 00:37:38.780 --> 00:37:43.900 even better, learn to not even look at yourself at all, but to 409 00:37:44.019 --> 00:37:47.369 look and to find everything in Jesus. Let's pray