5
John 1:19-28 JOHN QUESTIONED BY JEWISH AUTHORITIES
Introduction:
The John in this text is John the Baptist. In this
text he is investigated and
questioned by the Jewish
authorities.
This
is an official investigation and is somewhat
equivalent
to an investigation by a senate investigating
committee
in our day.
I.
The attitude of the Sanhedrin Council
In that day the Romans ruled
Romans allowed the Jewish Sanhedrin
Council to rule in all
matters
pertaining to the Jewish religion. There
was but
one limitation. They were not allowed to impose the death
penalty. Thus, the Romans ruled in all civil matters
and
the Sanhedrin ruled in all
religious matters.
Therefore,
when John the Baptist started preaching in the
wilderness
of
him. It must have bothered them that John never
asked their
approval
for him to preach. Their interest in him
became more
intense
as John became more popular. It bothered
them also that
people
from all over the land were going to hear a man whom they
had not endorsed and many were
being baptized by him. Matthew
3:5 says, "Then went out to him
the region round about
to investigate John and see
whether or not he should be allowed
to continue his ministry. But they didn't. They feared what the
multitudes
might do if they were to interfer with John's
ministry.
However,
the Sanhedrin became all the more interested in John
when people began to say that
John might be the promised Christ.
Luke 3:15, "And as the people were in
expectation, and all men
mused
in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or
not." The common people were expecting the Christ
at any time
and many began to suspect that
John is the Christ.
By this time the Sanhedrin decided that it was time for an
official
investigation of John. They especially
wanted to find
out if John claimed to be the
Christ. Somehow, those Sanhedrin
members
felt the same way Hanes lady does on television. She
says, "They are not Hanes
until I say they are Hanes." The
Sanhedrin thought, "He is not the
Christ until we say he is the
Christ." That is the way they felt
about John the Baptist and
that is the way they would later
feel about Jesus. They did not
understand
that God reserved for Himself the right to determine
who is the Christ.
II. A delegation finally sent to quiz John
the Baptist
So
finally they Sanhedrin sent a delegation from
meet with John the Baptist and
to question him. V. 19, "And this
is the record of John, when
the Jews sent priests and Levites
from
arrived
they did not at first ask John if he is the Christ. They
simply
asked, "Who art thou?"
What
they really wanted to know was whether or not he claimed
to be the Christ. But if they directly asked that question, the
Scriptures does not mention it.
V. 20, "And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am
not the Christ." John the Baptist knew what they reallyu wanteed
to know and answered their
question accrodingly.
He confessed,
"I am not the The
Christ. They wanted to know if he
claimed to
be the Christ. So John set them straight right off the
bat. to
The
Jewish leaders must have been relieved to hear this, but
that still did not settle all
the questions they had. V. 21,
"And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias?..." Elias is the
New Testament spelling of the Old
Testament word, Elijah. One of
the Old Testaments prophets had
said that before the great and
terrible
day of the Lord would come, that Elijah would appear on
the scene. This prophecy was not intended to mean that
Elijah
would
literally come back to life. Rather, it
was to inform them
that one like Elijah would
come. One would come in the same
spirit
and manner of Elijah. Later Jesus would
tell His
disciples
that John the Baptist is that Elijah who was to come.
He was not literally Elijah, but he did ocome in the spirit and
manner
of Elijah and he was the fulfillment of that prophecy.
But
the Jewish leaders had misunderstood the prophecy about
Elijah and they understood it to mean that
Elijah would literally
return
in the flesh. (V. 21), "...And he
saith, I am not..."
John was the fulfillment of the prophecy
in that he had come in
the spirit and power of Elijah,
but he was not literally Elijah.
So he answered, "I am not
Elijah."
(V. 21), "...Art thou that prophet?..." He had already told
them he is not the Christ and so
that is not what they are asking
here. In view of Matthew's account of this question
they must
have been asking if he was
Jeremiah. (V. 21), "...And he
answered,
No." He was not Jeremiah.
By
this time the Jewish leaders were very perplexed. V. 22,
"Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an
answer
to them that sent us. What sayest thou of
thyself?"
V. 23, "He said, I am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness,
Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the
prophet
Esaias."
John quoted from the Prophet Isaiah.
He said
that he is the voice crying in
the wilderness that Isaiah
prophesied
about. He was a messenger who had been
sent to cry
out -- to herald the arrival of
the promised King. Christ, the
King, was coming and John had been sent to
tell the people that
Christ the King is about to arrive. He would tell them that they
should
repent of their sin and get ready for the Christ to
arrive.
V. 24, "And they which were sent were of
the Pharisees." The
Pharisees were not the only ones in the
Sanhedrin Council. They
were not even the largest
group. The Sadducees by far
outnumbered
the Pharisees on the Council, but apparently the
Pharisees were the most outspoken. Apparently they were the ones
who had been kicking up most of
the fuss about John. So the
Pharisees were the ones who were sent to
interview John.
V. 25, "And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest
thou then, if thou be not that
Christ, nor Elias, neither that
prophet?" By this time the Pharisees were getting bold
with
their
questions and they were putting more and more pressure on
John with their questions. They asked, "Why then are you
baptizing
people? If you are not the Christ nor
one of the old
prophets,
what are you doing trying to change up the religious
customs
of the Jews without our consent?"
V. 26-27, "John answered them, saying, I baptize with water:
but there standeth
one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who
coming
after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am
not worthy to
unloose." In effect what John said
was, "The
Christ that I have been telling you about
is already living among
you and you do not yet know who
He is. I am sent to inform you
about
Him. You fellows do not have to worry
about why I baptize.
What you do need to do is get to know the
Christ."
Then
the John who is the writher of this book adds an
additional
note. V. 28, "These things were done in Bethabara
beyond
was baptizing in the
III. Questions in the minds of people today
Listen,
people today are somewhat like the Pharisees.
They
are filled with all manner of
question. They ask, "How can we be
sure that there is a
God?" They ask, "If there is a
God, where
was God before the world was
created?" They ask, "Why does
God
allow
such things as the bombing of the federal building in
Sunday and listen to preaching?" "Why did John the Baptist
baptize
and why do you Baptists baptize if it won't get you into
heaven?" "Where did Cain get his wife?" "When will Jesus come
back to this earth?" "When will the rapture take place? Will it
be before the Great
Tribulation, in the middle of the Tribulation
or at the close of the
Tribulation?"
The
answer that I have is this: I will never
in this
lifetime
be able to answer all the questions that men may ask.
But there are some things that I do know
for a certainty. I know
that God is real. I know that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
to
this world to be born in human
flesh. I know that Jesus died on
the cross of
that I trusted in Jesus when I
was sixteen years old and I know
that Jesus saved my soul. I know also that Jesus will save every
man, woman, boy and girl who
calls on Him, trusting in Him for
salvation. I know that every one who will not call on
Him and
trust
in Him will spend eternity in the fires of hell. I know
that if you want to be saved,
you had better stop wasting time on
endless
questions and get right God.
Conclusion:
What
unsaved person will come this morning and take Jesus
Christ as your Savior?
What
saved person will come this morning and place your
membership
in this church to serve the Lord?