Who John B is

John 1:19-28 ... again
The author wants us to be clear here: John the Baptiser was important, but he was definitely not the person we were introduced to in the prologue.  
All very well, but in that case, who is he, and why is he in our story at all?

Fortunately the Jewish leaders who had been sent to ask him who he was didn't like a non-answer any more than we do.  In fact nobody is keen on uninformative replies.  So, they ask, and we get to hear John B's self-definition.

"I am the voice ..."
He uses a passage of the Bible (what we call the Old Testament, which was all there was at the time, since what we call the New Testament is all about Jesus) and continues his stand for humility.  He is just a voice; the only important thing is the message, the words that point to someone else.

Of course this does not satisfy the questioners.  John B is acting outside their paradigm; he is using a symbol (baptism) in a way that doesn't fit with their expectations.  They want to know how he dares to do this.  His answer is simple: Just wait till you see who's coming!

Right from the first of the events he records for us, our author is helping us to connect with the idea that Jesus is above and beyond what people were expecting.  They were waiting for God to send someone who would baptise.  So here comes a person doing just that ... but what they are hoping for is going to turn out to be more than they have bargained for.
"I baptise with water ..." yes, well that is what baptism is ... ceremonial washing.  Water.
'... but someone is coming after me who is much greater than I am.'  Someone is already here, but unrecognized by you.  I shouldn't even be allowed to serve him, he is so great.

This is an interesting slight on John's part.  These are important men in the social and religious life of the nation, but John refuses to give them a straight answer; more, what he does say implies that they have no understanding of what God is doing.

In telling us about this interaction, the writer does several things at once, and this is his usual style - multiple layers in every choice.  Most obviously, we are given information about Jesus and John - things we already know from the prologue, but placed here in their local context.  John is preparing the way for Jesus so that it will be easier for people to accept him.  Jesus is super-important in comparison to John.

But, we are also introduced to some important themes that will follow us as we read.  The leaders of the people are the very one who will misunderstand Jesus, who will be unable to let go of their preconceived ideas.  More than that, they are potentially hostile to God doing things outside their system; they want things nicely boxed.

It is rather intriguing to notice, before we leave off this part of the story, that John seems to purposefully refrain from telling these men anything useful.  " ... among you stands one you do not know."  It is only the next day that he identifies Jesus, and gives people any real information about him.  Any of yesterday's messengers who were genuinely interested might have stayed to hear, but the message to the leaders was enigmatic in the extreme!

It's like that for us readers too ... we have to come back for more, if we want it.

who John (the Baptiser) is not

The introduction section consists of four stories, and all of them revolve around two ideas: 

who is Jesus and how do various people respond to him.

John 1:19-28


The first story John (the writer) tells us is about John (the Baptiser).  This is one of his writing tricks, as he carries us forward into the story by catching onto something he has already put in our minds.  Here he is picking up the thread of the two ellipses in his cosmic prologue which were more down to earth.  So, we already know that a man called John was sent from God, and he showed people which person (Jesus) was the one from God.  Now we are going to hear actual records about events, days when he did these things.

People come to John here, specifically to ask who he is.  This clears out of the way any idea that perhaps John was the important one.  He is very clear, and a list emerges of who he is NOT.

• not the Messiah//  The Messiah basically means the one chosen by God.  Although "Messiah" is actually the Hebrew for "anointed one".  This translation still doesn't mean anything to most of us, so I may as well add that it means to have something (usually a fragrant oil) poured over one.  People were anointed when they were appointed to specific roles or tasks.  This was a physical ceremony (public or private) in appointing kings and priests, where oil was poured over the person's head.  It was full of symbolic meaning, and the idea of anointing came to carry a metaphorical meaning of being appointed by God.  The background idea of God's Spirit poured over the person (symbolised by the oil) carries the connotation both of authority and ability being conferred on the one appointed.  As God revealed that the appalling state of the world could only be dealt with by someone "super-special" sent direct from him, the word "Messiah" became associated with this person who was everyone's hope and prayer.
• not Elijah//  God had promised that a time would come when he would change everything.  People were expecting that God would send "Elijah" to prepare people for this time.   The original Elijah was a prophet, in other words, a person who gave messages from God to his people, especially the leaders.  Elijah was major character in the story of God's interaction with his people, and lived at a time when the other leaders were choosing to behave contrary to God's way, and even worshiped idols.  Elijah helped people see that God was real and the idols weren't.  (See 1Kings 18.)   Much later, during a time when people who said they belonged to God were living just like everyone else, God promised that he would send "Elijah" to turn people back to properly following him before he acted in a final cataclysm.  (See the last couple of verses of the Old Testament, Malachi 4:5-6.)   
• not the Prophet//  The Prophet was title for a person God was expected to send to finally sort out the world.  The phrase comes from where Moses was explaining to God's people that they were not allowed to use "magical" or "spiritual" practices to try to find things out.  He told them that God would send them 'a prophet like me', who would tell them anything God wanted them to know.  (See Deuteronomy 18:15.)  Later, at the end of Deuteronomy after the part Moses had had written down, a writer commented that 'since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses'.  This prophet was expected to 'show the mighty power' and 'perform awesome deeds' because God knows him 'face to face'.  (See Deuteronomy 34:10-12.)  Although in Moses was talking about 'ordinary' prophets who would help people to know how to follow God properly, the person who wrote the post-script was glorifying Moses as the super-prophet.  This combination of verses got people using the title "The Prophet" to mean the "super-special" person who God would send.

 John B is amazing here.  He has a huge following of people, and is so well known, and causing such a stir that the top leaders send people to try to find out 'who' he is.  Instead of using his fame to collect one of the titles currently up for grabs, he refuses any 'glory'.  It would have enhanced his standing enormously to claim just one of these titles for himself.  He could even have argued that it would do Jesus good if he claimed to be Elijah or the Prophet so that people would listen to him more when he told them about Jesus.

But he is so not into that.  He sees Jesus as in a completely different league, so he can't see himself as 'entitled'.  The role he has is enough, because Jesus is so beyond-words great to him ...

... but more of that next post!