Key Verse: “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord—just as Isaiah the prophet said.” (John 1:22-23 CSB)
Who are you? This is the question that the priests and Levities who had been set by the Jews from Jerusalem wanted answered by John. Who was this guy living on locusts and wild honey, and wearing camel-hair clothing (Matthew 4:4)? Who was it that was drawing crowds of people and baptizing them in water? Was he the Messiah, the promised One from God?
When the Jewish officials asked him to tell them who he was, John the Baptist stated plainly, “I am not the Messiah” (v.20). So they continued to press him for an answer. If he wasn’t the Messiah, was he Elijah? Was he the Prophet? John told them no. “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?” (v.22).
Put yourself in John’s shoes. How would you have responded in this situation? There he was surrounded by a group of Jewish officials who were hanging on his every word trying to understand his true identity. He was someone with a large following. He had people from all over Jerusalem, Judea and the surrounding region flocking to him to be baptized in the Jordan River. John was the one who had leaped for joy inside his mother Elizabeth’s womb, when Jesus’ mother Mary spoke to her while they were both pregnant. He was the one about whom Jesus would later say, “I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John” (Luke 7:28). Who was he? There was a lot that John could say about himself in this moment.
But rather than elevating and turning the spotlight on himself in this moment, John the Baptist put all of the focus on Jesus. “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord,” (v.23), John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah. From John’s perspective, he was simply a voice called to point people to Jesus. It wasn’t about him at all. It was all about Jesus who was coming next. “He is one coming after me,” John said, “whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie” (v.27).
John’s humility in this moment is notable. He could have been focused on building a ministry and a following, and making a name for himself. But instead, he was motivated by the simple but important mission of being a voice to others about Jesus. At the end of the day this is what mattered most – that people would hear about Christ and choose to turn and follow Him. John had come “as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him” (John 1:7).
Is this how you see yourself today? Do you look at yourself simply as one who is called to be a witness and a voice for Jesus? Who are the people around you that still need to hear about Him? Pray and ask God for the courage and the opportunity to be a voice for Him today.
Prayer: Jesus, I want to be a voice that you use to tell others about you. Grant me the humility I need not to promote myself, but rather to turn all of the focus on you. Fill me with courage and give me opportunities today to speak of you. Amen.
Author: Jonathan Miller has served in pastoral roles for more than 13 years in churches in Barrie, Oakville and Burlington, Ontario. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Prison Fellowship Canada, a ministry that mobilizes and equips local churches to engage in the restorative work of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims across Canada. Jon holds degrees from McMaster University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife Adrienne have been married since 2004, and live in Burlington, Ontario with their 4 children. Jon’s greatest passion is to know Jesus and to see lives transformed by Him and for Him.
