I am "the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make straight the way of the Lord'"

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Make straight the way of the LORD,"'

as the prophet Isaiah said."

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."   These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

- John 1:19-28

Yesterday, we read the Prologue to John's Gospel.  John teaches us:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

  Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  The Gospel shifts its focus from the theological Prologue to several successive days of events, a narrative.  On this first day described, we read about John the Baptist and his ministry.  The first thing we read about is the questioning by representatives of those in authority in the temple.  "Who are you?" becomes an important understanding of the role these religious authorities, representing power, will play -- both in John the Baptist's life and in Jesus' life.  This question is set as a backdrop against the faith of the people, who recognize John as a holy man.  John's character is immediately displayed in his humility:  "I am not the Christ."  Neither is he Elijah who was to return (although Christ will say he is Elijah returned in spirit).  He is not "the Prophet," who, as my study bible puts it, was a "messianic Moses-like figure expected by the Jews (Deut. 18:15, 18)."

He said:  "I am 'the voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  The Baptist quotes from another prophet, Isaiah, who spoke not only of the Christ who was to come, the Suffering Servant, but also of this herald, John the Baptist, the prophet who was to announce His coming, to prepare the people.


Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."   These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.  John's baptism is with water, for repentance, for "turning around" in preparation for the Christ.  It is Jesus who will bring baptism with the Spirit.  Already we are given to understand that the Pharisees do not understand, do not see.  They "do not know."  John's demeanor is one of humility.

As a prophet, John the Baptist is considered by the church to be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.  In the Gospels, Jesus testifies to this characterization of John (Matthew 11:7-11).  I think it's important that we ask ourselves what makes a prophet.  Certainly there is the work of the Spirit.  But John's humility on display in the Gospel teaches us something about him.  In the mold of the Old Testament prophets he is radically ascetic, leaving behind the "cares of the world" to radically love God, and thus he becomes the herald of the Christ.  He is "more than a prophet" and the last and greatest of the prophets.  He will guide his own disciples to Christ, in another gesture of his complete humility before God, his devotion to spiritual truth.  So, in John we have a figure who puts love of truth and love of God before all other things, before even consideration of himself in a very personal sense.  He is truly a servant of God, and this is his role that he plays.  This radical love of God becomes an example in the sense that his choice is to be a true servant.  While Jesus will say that "among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist," He will also add:  "But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."  And so, John forms this great figure in the transition to something new, something awesome in its potentials and dimensions, something uncontainable and unexpected.  Once again, as in the Prologue we read in yesterday's reading, the Gospel is taking us to the truly great and awesome news of the Kingdom:  that the world is prepared for baptism in Spirit, for the Kingdom itself, among us and within us.  John the Baptist is a figure pointing the way, teaching us about repentance so that we turn and face and embrace the light, teaching us about a gift.  Just as in the Prologue, in yesterday's reading, we learn of the Light coming into the world, which the world fails to receive, so John the Baptist prepares everyone for this Light.  We know of his radical lifestyle of holiness in preparation for this Light.  It begs us to ask how we prepare and receive it.  His life asks us, what do we love most of all?