In this video we pick up our Bible study in John chapter 1 verses 19 through 34, when John the Baptist declares his mission and proclaims Jesus as the Messiah. This time I’ll read from the ESV because I prefer this version, but the commentary will come from the NLT.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
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.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Okay so we just read two sections: when John the Baptist declared his mission and when he proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah.

In verse 19 we have the priests and Temple assistants (also called Levites) who were respected religious leaders in Jerusalem. Priests served in the temple, and Temple assistants helped them. The Pharisees were a group that both John the Baptist and Jesus often denounced. Many of them outwardly obeyed God’s laws to look Pious, while inwardly their hearts were filled with pride and greed. The Pharisees believed that their own oral Traditions were just as important as God's inspired word.

These leaders came to see John the Baptist for several reasons: 1. Their Duty as guardians of the faith included investigating any new teaching or movement. 2. They wanted to find out if John had the credentials of a prophet. 3. John had quite a following, and it was growing. They were probably jealous and wanted to see why this man was so popular.

1:21-23 In the religious leaders minds, there were four options regarding John the Baptist's identity: he was 1. the prophet foretold by Moses 2. Elijah 3. the Messiah or 4. a false prophet. John denied being the first three. Instead, he called himself, in the words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, “The voice of someone shouting, ‘Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord!’” The leaders kept pressing John to say who he was because people were expecting the Messiah to come. But John emphasized only why he had come to - prepare the way for the Messiah. The Pharisees missed the point. They wanted to know who John was, but John wanted to prepare them to recognize who Jesus was.

1:25, 26 John was baptizing Jews. The Essenes (a strict, monastic sect of Judaism) practiced baptism for purification, but normally only non-Jews (Gentiles) were baptized when they converted to Judaism. when the Pharisees questioned John's authority to baptize, they were asking who gave John the right to treat God's chosen people like gentiles. John said, “I baptize with water” - he was merely helping the people perform a symbolic act of repentance. But soon one would come who would truly forgive sins, something only the Son of God - the Messiah - could do.

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