Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?

 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 known as the Prologue to John's Gospel:  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 who 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?"  He said:  I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  Having begun his Gospel with in the beginning, John gives us seven consecutive days that begin the ministry of Jesus.  Today's reading covers the first day, in which John the Baptist bears witness to the Light that is coming into the world.   This day parallels the creation of the light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  John is a  prophet but not the Prophet, the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3.  He is the herald of Christ's coming to Israel.

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 makes his role clear:  he baptizes in preparation for the one who is is coming.  His baptism is one of repentance, but the Christ who comes is the one who can remit sin.

One of the first things we might notice in John's Gospel is the appearance of the authorities.  We must first remember that throughout John's Gospel the term the Jews is most frequently used to indicate the religious authorities at Jerusalem.  All the characters, with very few exceptions, in the story of Jesus as told by John are Jews, including Jesus and the Evangelist himself.  But by the time this Gospel was written, persecution for the followers of Jesus had become severe, particularly in the synagogues all throughout the regions in which the disciples were preaching.  So for John the term is used more like a political party affiliation.   That the "first day" of the story of Jesus' ministry would include authorities coming from Jerusalem to inquire who exactly John the Baptist is gives us a strong suggestion of what is to come.  The work of God is engaged in a struggle with those who demand to assert their authority as religious leadership.  They are the "regulators" of their time and place, so to speak, and are sent down from Jerusalem to inquire just who John the Baptist is (or perhaps claims he might be).  That John also tells us they were sent by the Pharisees is also a hint of what is to come for Jesus as well.  There is already present the tension between the religious authorities and those whom God has sent.  We should also note that this tells us about the popularity of the ministry of John the Baptist himself.  He was a widely revered religious figure, and the Gospels indicate the great esteem in which the common people held him (see for example this reading).  The Gospels remain true to that vision, as he's praised by Christ (Matthew 17:11-13).  John's Gospel teaches us most explicitly over the next few readings how John's ministry and Jesus' is linked; many of Jesus closest disciples come to Him as disciples of John the Baptist.  The tension is here already:  we know who the Son is, who Jesus is, as the Gospel has told us.  He is Logos.  The question is, how is this reality received and understood in the world?  The Baptist is considered to be the greatest and last of the Old Testament prophets, as noted above.  How will he be received by the authorities?  Thus we begin the story, and in this context is the great history of our faith and its culminating act of Passion Week.  Let us remember paradox as we read and consider.