The voice of one crying in the wilderness

 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 what is called the Prologue to the Gospel of John (verses 1-18 of chapter 1):  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the  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, for He was 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?"  Here, suggests my study bible, the theological Prologue concludes with verse 18 (in yesterday's reading), and the Gospel focus shifts over to the beginnings of the ministry of Christ.  This includes several sections.  Here we begin with the witness of the Baptist.  The Gospel will then take us to the calling of the first apostles, Christ's first sign at Cana, and then His rest at Capernaum.  It says that as John (the Evangelist) began his Gospel similarly to the opening of Genesis (In the beginning), so he parallels Genesis in this opening account, which covers seven consecutive days.   Today's reading covers the first day:  John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of the Jews.  This parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  It's not just Christ who must be defined here, the questions asked by the leadership at this time begin with John the Baptist.  Who is he?  He's a prophet but not what they are calling "the Prophet."  This would be the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deut. 18:15-19).

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.   My study bible suggests here that the call for repentance was traditional for prophets.  John's baptism doesn't grant remission of sins once and for all, but instead "prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come."    A note says, "John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (literally, 'put away') sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin." 

So here we begin the story of the ministry of Christ with "the voice of one crying in the wilderness."  It's almost a sad and ironic beginning -- although in truth John's ministry became very popular. (Hence the interest of the religious authorities.)   He was widely known as a holy man, who began in the wilderness, stripped of everything, so to speak, but his love of God.  This beginning befits a prophet of Israel, one who is wholly dedicated to God.  This voice crying in the wilderness (and the quotation is from the prophet Isaiah 40:3) is like the call of the light that stretches out from someplace far away.  It's the light that begins to shine in the darkness, that dawns from where the Christ is, and has been brought to us repeatedly by the prophets.  But now that light is coming into the world and actually becoming one of us.  This is John the Forerunner's good news.  He's calling everyone to "wake up" and to "be prepared" by making the paths of the Lord straight, just as light shines through darkness in a straight beam.  He's preparing people to receive this Light, because it's coming closer than it's ever been.  At the end of Matthew's Gospel, which we finished reading in Saturday's reading, Jesus says, "I am with you always."  This light will not leave us, but do we still retain our understanding of this tremendous news?  What does it light up in your life today?  How does it dispel darkness?