I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know

 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

In yesterday's reading, we read the Prologue of the Gospel of John:   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, 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."  In the Prologue of John's Gospel (above) we were taught about the Person of Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of God, Second Person of the Trinity.  John's Gospel now shifts to give us the first week of Christ's ministry -- paralleling the seven days of creation in Genesis, just as the Prologue started with the words that began Genesis:  In the beginning.   In today's reading we're given the first day, in which John the Baptist bears witness to the Light declared in the Prologue; that is, the Christ.  He does so in the presence of the leadership from Jerusalem.  My study bible notes that this parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.    John the Baptist is a prophet, but he is not the Prophet, the Messiah, foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  In John's Gospel, we will repeatedly note, the term the Jews is used like a political appellation, referring to the leadership of the ruling Council.  It is very seldom used to mean the Jewish people as a whole.   We must keep in mind that nearly all of the people mentioned in the Gospel are Jews, including John the Baptist and Jesus and His disciples, one of whom is the author of this Gospel.  The very fact that the leaders have sent these men to question John the Baptist tells us about the popularity of his ministry, and the high regard in which the people hold him.

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.  These men who are from the Pharisees play their role as the regulators of the faith, the inquisitors who must report back to the ruling Council.  The Pharisees were one party of the Council, who studied the Scriptures and held also a body of oral teachings and traditions as well.  John's baptism is for the preparation of the people for the coming of the Messiah, who is already among the people, according to John's testimony.  John's baptism is one of repentance, the tradition call of the prophets, and a preparation for the baptism of the Christ, the Messiah. 

The great and consistent thing that we note about John the Baptist from this first passage about him is his remarkable humility.  It has been said that much in Christian teaching was also present in one form or another in other religious teachings of the ancient world.  But what truly distinguishes Christianity from the competing religions of the time is the elevation of humility to a high virtue.  It is here immediately present right at the beginning of John's Gospel, in the person of John the Baptist.  The first thing that the Evangelist notes about John is, He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  The Baptist is held in such high esteem by the people as a holy man that he has many disciples (indeed, it is in this Gospel that it becomes clear Jesus' first disciples come through the Baptist).  He is so revered among the public that he could claim that he himself is the Messiah.  But he does not do so.  John's confession is eminently true, and its hallmarks are those of humility before Christ, and personal identity given in relationship to Christ.  John says, of the One who is coming, "It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  It is the advent of Christ, the Incarnation, that sets us into place in humility before Him, and gives us identity within His family of faithful (see Matthew 12:46-50).  It is through humility that we find our place in this family, through relatedness to Christ and recognition of our need for a discipleship that transforms who we are to reveal the image and likeness of the One by whom we are created.  It is through humility that we become the persons Christ calls us to become, to take up our own crosses as He will teach (Matthew 16:24-26).  Christ will show us His own deep humility before the Father, His condescension to become one of us, to serve all of us through His sacrifice on the Cross, in sharing in our suffering.  But first there is John the Baptist, whose radical commitment to the kingdom of God, to his mission to serve the coming of the Lord, remains a prime example of holiness for each of us.  Let us learn to understand humility, that it is the prime virtue that secures all other Christian virtues; it would serve as the basis and model for all of monasticism to come.  Humility simply means that everything in one's life serves Christ; it is a way to simplify, to cut out all extraneous and unnecessary considerations, and to focus on mission and what really constitutes the meaning and basis of one's life, to cut out all that distracts.  Humility is a way to take up one's cross, to find the true path to who we are -- and to see the things we don't need.  Are we up to the task?  It remains the greatest of virtues, a proper focus for our Lenten journey.