24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)
25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John 1:24-28 (ESV)
Questions continue
The questions keep coming. They wanted to have a clear answer of who John is which they could take back to the Jewish religious leaders who had sent them. But John didn’t want to talk about himself, but about Jesus. He came to point people to the Messiah.
John’s baptism
John was baptizing and making disciples. Was this a new concept started by him? “Jewish people in John’s day practiced baptism. It was an outgrowth of ceremonial washings, but only for Gentiles who wanted to become Jews. In submitting to John’s baptism, a Jew had to identify with Gentile converts. This was a genuine sign of repentance.” (Enduringword.com)
Repentant heart
Picking up on this idea, Jews had to confess that they were really not behaving like Jews, but as unbelieving Gentiles. They had to repent – turn away from their “Gentile-like” way of living and return to the Lord. This demonstrated a heart of repentance and trust that God would forgive and restore them as His chosen people. This is exactly what John’s ministry was intended to do – to prepare the hearts of the people to accept the Messiah.
John’s authority
John didn’t answer their question, but pointed them to Jesus. John knew his authority came from God. The accounts of his birth and manner of life seen in the other gospels clearly indicated this (Luke 1:5-24, 57-66, 3:2-3). He knew he was the fulfillment of OT prophecy (see verse 23 from yesterday). Yet even John wasn’t worthy to serve Him in the humblest of ways.
Below is a map that shows where John was baptizing. It was the traditional place where Joshua led Israel across the Jordan with the arc and the water separated (Joshua 3:14-17).
<- Reflection ->
Trying something new today. Leave comments with your thoughts.
- Are you doing the work of God? Are you pointing people to Jesus?
- By what authority do you do these things?
- Is this a task or a joy?
That’s new – I didn’t know the purpose of the baptism by John was for the Gentiles to become Jews. So, does it mean they didn’t need to go through the circumcision as the Jews did? In other words, is the baptism in place of the circumcision?
Thoughtful question. John’s baptism was of repentance, to prepare heats of people for the comming of Messiah. Messiah came primarily for the Jews so his baptism was primarily for Jews (and Gentile proselytes). Do Gentiles need circumcision? Not like the Jews did. Rather, everyone (including Jews) needs a circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:28-29).