Interrogation of John the Baptist

(Gospel of John 1:19 - 1:28 )

Here is the testimony of John given when he was summoned to appear before priests and scribes who were tasked by the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem to ascertain his identity:

John was direct and straightforward.  "I am not the Messiah," he admitted.

"Well then, who do you claim to be?  Are you Elijah?" they queried.

"I am not."

"Are you the long-awaited Prophet?"

"No," he answered.

"Who are you?" they insisted.  "We are obliged to take back some sort of response to those who have sent us.  What do you have to say for yourself?"

John replied, quoting the words of the prophet Isaiah, "I am a thundering voice proclaiming from the desert, 'Clear the way for the arrival of the Messiah!'"

Pharisees, who were among those in the delegation, demanded of him, "If you aren't Elijah or the Prophet, or the Messiah, by what right do you practice baptism?"

John replied, "I only baptize with water.  But here, among you, there is one greater than I.  You do not yet recognize him.  But he is the one who will succeed me, though I am not worthy even to unlace the straps of his sandals."

(This encounter took place in Bethany, east of the Jordan River, where John was engaged in baptizing.)

Notes
1.  We are introduced to John the Baptist in this Gospel, but minus his pedigree.  He was what we would regard as an evangelist who did not have the sanction of the religious establishment, but he had apparently created enough of a stir among the populace that the Jewish religious authorities wanted to learn what he was about.  (Religious authorities usually demand exclusive rights in dealing with the divine and resent competition.)  John would have been regarded as a challenge to them, a rival and possibly a dangerous, seditious heretic.  They were probably worried that he might claim to be the Prophet or an incarnation of Elijah, so much so that they sent this delegation to see the man himself and interrogate him.  It is interesting to speculate by what means they thought John could have been Elijah -- by spirit possession or reincarnation?  Did they believe in either?  Or were they merely speaking figuratively?

2.  The famous answer of John from the King James Version, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness," is, like most famous biblical quotes, misleading and misunderstood.  Firstly, the wilderness referred to is the desert, not expanses of forest lands, streams, and mountains we generally think of as "wilderness.".  And he did not claim to be what we mean by a voice crying in the wilderness, that is, a challenge to authority and the status quo, a moral conscience of society.  No, he is merely presenting himself as a herald.  He is simply saying one thing, "clear the way for the arrival of the Messiah."  (A word-for-word translation is "straighten the path,"  but this is an idiom best rendered by one more common to us, "clear the way.")  He is quoting or paraphrasing the prophet Isaiah.

3.  The Pharisees belonged to a Jewish sect that strictly practiced the rituals laid out in the Old Testament.  They were probably what we would term fundamentalists, although that is unfair to contemporary fundamentalists.  The Pharisees were obsessed with ceremonial detail to the detriment of moral values.  They were also seekers and persecutors of heresy -- witch hunters.   And they were notorious for their hypocrisy.

4.  John claims that he had a right to baptize with water, that is, to immerse in water, without church approval.  Later, he will acknowledge that a more significant baptism, baptism with the holy spirit, is the prerogative of the Messiah.