Exploring John The Baptist

So recently I’ve been intimately reading the Gospel of John, asking God to reveal much of Himself to me and that I may remember His Word. I am awestruck from the First Chapter, the amazing things God has revealed and taught me.


I called this Exploring John the Baptist, because there is something in his words and actions that have greatly benefited me over the last few weeks. As John 1 speaks extensively about John the Baptist in relation to Jesus Christ and I received much correction and encouragement from reading and seeing his heart in a number of situations.

John 1:6-9 -

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Here we see an outline of John’s Call. He was a Witness through and through; The Bible even goes to say in verse 8 “He was not that Light”. Putting emphasis that he was a witness and separate from that which he was witnessing to. Now let’s compare this to John the Baptists testimony to the Priests and Levites to his call.

John 1:19-20 –

¹⁹ Now 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.”

Notice his response, He did not say “I am John, a man sent from God to bear witness to His Son, I shall be baptising with Water”, But what He said was this “I am NOT the Christ”. His first response knowing that they came seeking him, was to confess to them that he was not the Christ. His first reaction was to deny himself and deny himself any glory. They further asked him, whether he was Elijah or the Prophet, and when John did respond he quoted Isaiah 40:3.

Here’s what I strongly received as I read this. The reason why he had no intention of confessing of himself was that he was not sent to bear witness of himself but Christ. He was so certain of this; that he was there to point towards Christ. So that in this question of “Who are you?” Alone, his choice response was “I am not the Christ” Almost saying, “You should be seeking the Christ and I am not Him”.

The legal definition of a Witness is this -

“1) a person who testifies under oath in a trial (or a deposition which may be used in a trial if the witness is not available) with first-hand or expert evidence useful in a lawsuit. A party to the lawsuit (plaintiff or defendant) may be a witness.”

The role of a witness is to put forward any first hand evidence he/she has in relevance to the trial.

Now let’s look at John, John knew his calling because God had revealed it to him ( John 1:32-33 ). He knew from what God said, that he would see the Christ and that he was not the Christ. He knew that he was a witness to the Christ (John 1:33).

When opportunity came later in this same encounter with the Jewish Levites and Priests, He freely confessed to them further –

John 1:26-27

²⁶ John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. ²⁷It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

Encouragement

Here’s the encouragement for our lives. Most people are familiar with John’s famous testimony of this “³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30). The reality of this is what we see in John’s witness, He was so set on bringing glory to God, to living in His Call, to walking to bring glory to God. That when a simple question was asked of him, “Who are you?” his reaction was “I am not the Christ”. How glorious it would be that us as people would have a “I am not the Christ” attitude, that in everything we did, we did with excellence and a sense of purpose because “We are not the Christ but we know Him”. Beloved know this, that in everything we have this glorious gift bestowed on us, that we know Jesus Christ. The confession that we are not the Christ brings glory to Him, that He may be exalted in our lives and those around us. When we know we are not Jesus, we realise all the more how great and wonderful Our Lord Jesus Christ is.

Therefore know this, you are not Jesus Christ but by Him you are God’s Child and beloved. Let everything you do be done with excellence not because of who are you but because of who you are not. Do well based on the fact that you are not the Christ, He has done everything for you and we walk in the path of His Victory. So let your cry be this “I am not the Christ but I know Him! And through Him I can do all things!”. Then just as Peter writes ( 1 Peter 3:15 ), when people ask of you, what this great hope it is that you hold onto, this great difference about you, you may confess “It is not I but who I am not, It is He Jesus Christ who has done everything not just for myself but for everyone, that I may know God and through Jesus Christ I have been redeemed!”.