John begins his Gospel with his Prologue, a sequence of hymnlike creedal statements emphasising the divinity of Jesus and his humanity. Following his prologue John introduces John the Baptist in his ministry, he has previously referred to the Baptist, pointing out his importance in the coming of the Messiah whilst clarifying that he absolutely is not the Messiah himself.
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
John introduces the Baptist’s through an interaction he has with the elders and priests. These are those who operate the Temple cult and occupy or are connected to the governing seats of Sanhedrin, the religous ruling authority of the Jews. The evangelists articulates this as the Baptist’s “Testimony”.
This word in Greek is martyria, coming from the root word martys . Both serve as the origin of the word “martyr”. It means to give an official witness to something but with the advent of the New Testament we see martyr being expressed in the ultimate sense of giving witness with your life itself, not just verbal declarations. The Baptist will follow out this ultimate expression of martyrdom in his defence of marriage against Herod Antipas.
When making a case, you need witnesses and the evangelist is essentially in written form employing the Baptist as his witness. To what is he witnessing? To his own identity. The Levites will ask “who are you?” The Baptist’s fame proceeded him, so much so that Herod feared his influence. This means this question is not to do with the general “Who are you” that you would ask if you did not know someones name but a deeper question in the context of divine revelation. The Messianic fervour in Judea in the first century led many to assume the Baptist to be the Messiah.
20 He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
The repetitive structure emphasizes John’s clarity and unambiguous response. This phrase underscores his integrity and directness in rejecting any claim to be the Messiah. In Greek, the verb for “confessed” (homologeō) implies a public declaration, which aligns with John’s role as a witness. The more you dig into this first chapter of John’s Gospel the more apparent is the desperation on the author’s part to demonstrate that the Baptist is not the Messiah, using the Baptist’s own words as a witness to it. This may seem excessive but when you realise what the Evangelist was dealing with it makes a lot of sense. The Baptist’s fame was massive, he was likely the most famous Jewish figure outside the Temple cult and to this day there are still followers of John the Baptist who reject Jesus called the Mandaeans. After the destruction of the Temple this group would settle in communities based out of Ephesus, where John the Apostle would be the first Bishop. Now his emphasis should be making a lot of sense.
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
After stressing that he is no the Anointed one who is to come, now the Jews press him on whether he is one of the other significant individuals who were predicted to arrive..They ask if he is Elijah. He answers “I am not” because the substance of the question is ‘Are you the man who was taken up into in heaven in a whirlwind of fire that later prophets said would arrive to make way for the Christ?’ He is not literally this great prophet but he does arrive in his spirit, meaning he carries the mantle of Elijah, just like his successor Elisha did.
Then they ask if he is “the prophet”. This can be confusing with its Mosaic backdrop. Moses promised “the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren” Deuteronomy 18:15. By the Second Temple Period this prophecy was considered to be Messianic by many but based on the questioning of the Priests and Levites they perceive it to be a different figure to the Christ (Anointed one) and the Elijah who is to come. This helps us see the diversity of Judaic belief as it pertains to the Messiah, it was not a unified belief but all of these different beliefs contrast with modern understanding of what Jews actually expected because Modern Judaism abandoned these ideas many centuries ago. John does respond in the negative, he is neither Elijah or the Prophet predicted by Moses.
22 They said to him then, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
The Jews are getting impatient with John and demand him to tell them who he is. They decide to ask by his own words, how does he consider himself?
23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
John responds with the substance of the prophecy itself, he is the fulfilment of Isaiah 40:3. The Jews preoccupations with particular people and identities led them to much confusion and incorrect assumptions so the Baptist cuts to the point. I am the fulfilment of this prophecy from Isaiah, my name is not important, your perceptions are warped.
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
The Levites were sent by the Pharisees, the leading faction in Judea. By leading faction I mean purely by membership, they were the most populous group, followed by the Qumran Community, also known as the Essenes. The Pharisees occupied what Jesus calls the Seat of Moses, the rightful teaching authority position of the Jews. The Levites and priests occupied the seat of Aaron if such labelling existed.
25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”
They press further on the Baptist, asking if he is not any of the significant figures they are expecting then why is he baptising? Baptism was a ritual purification action used by Jews but in particular the type of baptism John was using was more like the introductory baptisms for proselytes (people being converted) but John was using it on people who were already Israelites. This meant he must be doing something significant. The Baptist also likely came from the Essene community which practised routine baptisms for purification which would have been confusing to the Levites. The general idea of their question is “you’re doing something new, if you’re not a significant figure who has the right to introduce a new ritual, why are you doing it?”
26 John answered them, “I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know,
27 even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
John now looks toward the future by explaining the presnt, “I baptize with water” implying “I baptise with just water” there will be a baptism to come that will be with spirit and fire in the future. He is merely preparing people for this future ritual.
Among the crowds observing this altercation is an individual that unknown to them. He will come after John but will be greater than John. The Baptist tells us that this individual is so great that he, the Baptist, is not even worthy enough to untie his sandals. The untying of sandals was a job for slaves and house servants, the Baptist is emphasising his position in contrast with the one who is to come. He is not even worthy to be a slave to him because he is so great.
28 This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The precise location of this “Bethany” has been debated:
This is a different place from the Bethany associated with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, located near Jerusalem (John 11:1). A Many scholars and archaeologists identify this Bethany with a site called Al-Maghtas in modern Jordan, east of the Jordan River. This aligns with descriptions of John’s wilderness ministry (Matthew 3:1).
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