The Religious Authority and Formalism Firmly Established by Hypocritical Religious Leaders Must Completely Collapse Before the Powerful “Message of Repentance” of the Voice Crying in the Wilderness

The Religious Authority and Formalism Firmly Established by Hypocritical Religious Leaders Must Completely Collapse Before the Powerful “Message of Repentance” of the Voice Crying in the Wilderness

 

 

 

 

“Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.  He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Messiah.’  They asked him, ‘Then who are you? Are you Elijah?’  He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’  He answered, ‘No.’  Finally they said, ‘Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’  John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”’  Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, ‘Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’  ‘I baptize with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know.  He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’  This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing” (John 1:19–28).

 

 

(1)    After reading today’s passage, John 1:19–28, first in the Korean Bible and then in the Greek Bible, I began to wonder why “the Pharisees” (v. 24) had “priests and Levites” (v. 19) sent to John the Baptist to ask him twice, “Who are you?” [Σὺ τίς εἶ (Sy tis ei?)] (v. 19) and “Who are you?” [Τίς εἶ (Tis ei?)] (v. 22).  I think the reason may have been that John the Baptist was baptizing “at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan” (v. 28), while from the Pharisees’ perspective, they apparently believed that only “the Messiah,” “Elijah,” or “the Prophet” (v. 25) should have the authority to baptize.

 

(a)    Behind the Pharisees’ initiative in having the priests and Levites persistently ask John the Baptist twice, “Who are you?” lay the rigorous messianic understanding of the law within Judaism at that time, particularly as it related to the ministry of baptism in the Jordan River.  The following explains in three dimensions the underlying intentions of the religious leaders concealed behind their persistent questioning and the meaning of their questions in the original language (Internet):

 

1.       Why did they press him twice, “Who are you?” — the nuance of the original language

 

The question in verse 19 — [Σὺ τίς εἶ (Sy tis ei?)]: The pronoun Σὺ (Sy, “you”) is explicitly stated and therefore emphasized.  John’s ministry in the wilderness was so unconventional that the leaders in Jerusalem, who held religious authority, approached him with intense suspicion, almost as though they were dispatching investigators.  Their question was essentially: “Just who exactly are you?”  They wanted to establish his personal identity and status directly.

 

The question in verse 22 — [Τίς εἶ (Tis ei?)]: After John denied that he was the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet (vv. 20–21), they now omitted the explicit subject Σὺ (Sy, “you”) and urgently asked: “Then who are you?”  As the following statement makes clear—“Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.  What do you say about yourself?”—they urgently needed an official title or designation by which they could classify John within their religious reporting system.

 

2.       Why John’s ministry of baptism provoked the Pharisees

 

From the Pharisees’ perspective, baptism was not something just anyone could administer. They believed that only eschatological agents of salvation possessed the authority to perform such baptism.

Authority over purification rites (baptism): Within Judaism at that time, ritual washing with water was practiced according to the law in connection with Gentile conversion to Judaism and purification before temple worship.  In other words, baptism and purification were understood as matters to be conducted within the religious authority and oversight of the temple priests and Pharisees.

 

The eschatological Messiah’s baptism — the background to verse 25: On the basis of Old Testament prophecies such as Ezekiel 36:25—“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean”—and Zechariah 13:1—“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity”—the Jews associated a great eschatological work of cleansing with the coming age of salvation.  They therefore associated such an extraordinary ministry of purification with messianic or eschatological figures such as the Messiah, Elijah, or the promised Prophet.

 

The Pharisees’ anger: But here was John, without authorization from the Jerusalem temple, baptizing not in the temple but out in the wilderness at the Jordan River—and calling not Gentiles but his fellow Jews to recognize themselves as sinners and receive baptism.  From the Pharisees’ perspective, their question was therefore essentially: “If you have not received messianic authority, by what right are you shaking our religious system and baptizing people?” (cf. v. 25)  They consequently felt compelled to examine and test John’s beliefs and authority.

 

3.       The sacred spiritual lessons this passage gives us

 

① The world continually asks about our “title” or “status,” but believers should answer with their “mission” and their “voice.”

 

The Pharisees kept asking John, in effect: “What is on your business card? What is your position?”  They wanted to identify his status within their established system.  But in verse 23 John quoted Isaiah’s prophecy and answered: “I am … a voice.”  The world still asks us: “What university did you graduate from?”  “What position do you hold?”  “How much do you possess?”  It continually destabilizes our identity by asking, “Who are you?”  At such times, we must not try to prove ourselves through worldly titles.  Like John, we should remain centered on our mission and confess: “I am simply a voice sent to prepare the way for Jesus’ return in the place where God has put me.”

 

② To reveal fully “the One who comes after me,” we must keep the boundaries of our own ministry.

 

When the most powerful religious authorities in Judaism came to John and raised the possibility that he might be the great Messiah, he could easily have fallen into spiritual pride and exalted himself.  Instead, he firmly denied himself and declared in verses 26–27: “I baptize with water … but the One who comes after me—I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.”  No matter how impressive the gifts and ministry entrusted to me may appear—John’s water baptism, for example—they are only stepping-stones pointing to the true central figure, Jesus Christ, who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.  This thorough awareness of his own limits was the true source of John’s authority, enabling him to stand boldly even before the religious attacks of the Pharisees.

 

Summary in one sentence

 

The Pharisees demanded John’s religious “title” while questioning the authority behind his baptism (vv. 19, 22, 25), but John the Baptist clearly declared that he was only a “voice” crying in the wilderness to make straight the Lord’s way and merely a channel preparing the way for Jesus Christ, the One in whom true baptism finds its fulfillment (Internet).

 

(i)                 Here, when I think from the Pharisees’ perspective about their attempt to examine John the Baptist’s beliefs—essentially asking, “If you have not received messianic authority, by what right are you shaking our religious system and baptizing?” (cf. v. 25)—I wonder whether even today hypocrites like the Pharisees may intensely attack Christians who, like John the Baptist, raise “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” (v. 23), whenever their words or actions disturb a religious system built upon human positions and traditions—for example, when human traditions are valued above the Word of God.

 

·         Just as the Pharisees in Jesus’ day valued their own “tradition of the elders” and religious system or vested interests above the Word of God, even today hypocrites who have lost sight of what is essential may become intensely suspicious of and attack Christians who live according to God’s Word and raise the true voice—the witness of Jesus Christ—that shakes a distorted religious system.  Reflecting on this painful spiritual reality, the following are three powerful spiritual lessons and practical weapons for becoming like John the Baptist in this generation and faithfully carrying out our mission without becoming discouraged by Pharisaic attacks (Internet):

 

a.       The essence of the Pharisees’ attack: the “voice of what is essential” demolishes the “system of what is nonessential.”

 

Their fear: The real reason the Pharisees challenged John the Baptist by asking, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (v. 25) was that they feared that the religious authority and formalism they had firmly established would collapse before John’s powerful message of repentance.

 

Today’s reality: Even today, there are Pharisaic groups that value human traditions, ecclesiastical authority, the outward size of a church, or institutional reputation more highly than the truth of God’s Word.  When someone within such a setting begins, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to raise the voice of what is essential, saying, “Let us abandon empty formalism and return to Jesus Christ alone. Let us empty ourselves of our pride and reflect the character of the true Light,” hypocrites who are comfortable within the established system may become uneasy and begin attacking that person by questioning his or her qualifications, titles, education, or office.

 

b.      John the Baptist’s weapon for overcoming Pharisaic attacks: “the spirituality of possessing nothing”

 

The reason John could remain completely unshaken and courageous under their intimidating examination and attack was that John possessed nothing the Pharisees could take away from him.

 

Authority that comes from emptying oneself: The Pharisees possessed vested interests—splendid temple garments, public honor, and religious positions.  John, however, lived in the wilderness wearing camel’s hair and eating locusts and wild honey, living a consecrated life that rejected the temptations of the world.

 

Practical application: One reason we are shaken by attacks from the world or from hypocritical people is that the Pharisaic desire to be recognized, honored, and treated importantly may still remain within us.  When people attack my title or status, I need to be armed with the thorough spirituality of self-denial displayed by John the Baptist: “I am only a voice that disappears. I am not the Light. My worth is found only in Jesus Christ, the One who comes after me.”  A person who possesses no reputation that can be taken away is someone the world cannot overcome.

 

c.       The spiritual perspective believers should have when attacked: “It is evidence that the way is being made straight.”

 

Confirmation of mission: As Ephesians 5:11, 13 teaches, when light comes, the sins and hypocrisy hidden in darkness are inevitably exposed.  Therefore, when a genuine Christian shines the light of the Word and raises his or her voice in daily life and attacks from Pharisaic people begin, paradoxically this may indicate that the voice of that Christian’s life is disturbing the darkness and making the Lord’s way straight.

 

Practical application: When attacked or misunderstood, do not fight back in the flesh or react with angry self-defense.  John did not lose his temper when they pressed him.  Instead, in verses 26–27 he quietly redirected their attention once again to Jesus: “The One who comes after me—I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.”  We should quietly walk with Immanuel God in the power of the Lord’s name and concentrate on reflecting His light through our character.

 

A sacred declaration and application for us today:

Do not live according to the approval of traditions and systems created by Pharisaic people.  When the world attacks you and shakes your identity by asking, “Who are you?” quietly erase your own name, depend only on the name of Jesus, the true Light who dwells within you, and faithfully continue your mission as a voice.

 

I believe that through us—people who keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the true central figure, and who quietly and faithfully live as channels cultivating the soil of human hearts even under the concentrated attacks of hypocrites—God will build most powerfully in this dark age the highway for our returning Lord (Internet).

 

(2)    Second, I consider John the Baptist’s answer “I am not” [Οὐκ εἰμί (Ouk eimi)] (John 1:20, 21) very precious.  When the priests and Levites asked him, “Who are you?” (v. 19), he did not conceal the truth but openly confessed: “I am not the Christ” [ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ὁ Χριστός (egō ouk eimi ho Christos)] (v. 20).  And when they asked, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” and then, “Are you the Prophet?”, he again answered, “I am not” (v. 21).  As I meditate on this, I am reminded of the verse we considered earlier: “He himself was not the Light” [οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖνος τὸ φῶς (ouk ēn ekeinos to phōs)] (v. 8).  Before John the Baptist said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said”
[ἐγὼ φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· Εὐθύνατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου, καθὼς εἶπεν Ἠσαΐας ὁ προφήτης (egō phōnē boōntos en tē erēmō; euthynate tēn hodon Kyriou, kathōs eipen Ēsaias ho prophētēs)] (v. 23), he first clearly declared: “I am not the Christ” (v. 20), and, “I am not Elijah or the Prophet” (v. 21).  I believe this gives us a precious lesson.

 

(a)    The questions asked by the priests and Levites could actually have been an enormous temptation for John the Baptist.  The people of Israel had experienced a spiritual famine for four hundred years without a prophet, and when they witnessed John’s remarkable ministry, they held him in great esteem (Lk. 3:15).  If John had taken advantage of that atmosphere and subtly agreed, “Yes, I am the Christ,” or, “Yes, I am Elijah,” he might have risen to the summit of the religious world of his day and perhaps even become king in the eyes of the people.  But before speaking about who he was and his mission—“I am a voice”—John staked everything on drawing a clear boundary concerning who he was not: “I am not the Christ” — self-denial.  The following are three powerful spiritual lessons contained in this thorough confession, “I am not” [Οὐκ εἰμί (Ouk eimi)] (Internet):

1.       The humility of standing before the Lord of “Ego Eimi—I AM” with the confession “Ouk Eimi—I am not”

 

The mystery of the contrast: Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the divine declaration Ἐγώ εἰμι (Egō eimi, “I am”) in revealing His identity, including in statements such as John 6:35 and 8:12.  In contrast, John the Baptist, a creature, thoroughly denies himself: Οὐκ εἰμί (Ouk eimi) — “I am not.”

 

Lesson: One of the greatest reasons spiritual leaders or believers fall is that they covet the position of sovereign authority that belongs uniquely to God—the place of “I am”—wanting themselves to be honored and glorified.  John the Baptist knew clearly the place and limits of a creature, exactly as verse 8 declares: “He was not the Light.”  He completely erased himself so that Jesus alone might be the great “I AM.”  For the Lord to be revealed, I must first go through the process of confessing: “I am not.”

 

2.       The honesty that rejects empty titles and labels

 

The nature of the temptation: The Jewish leaders repeatedly presented John with the greatest and most attractive titles associated with Old Testament expectation—“the Christ,” “Elijah,” and “the Prophet” (cf. Mal. 4:5; Deut. 18:15).

 

Lesson: The world continually whispers to us: “You are a great person. You accomplished all of this.”  It inflates spiritual pride and offers us worldly titles.  At such times we need the spiritual honesty to reject them firmly, as John did: Οὐκ εἰμί (Ouk eimi) — “I am not.”  Firmly refusing glory that does not belong to me, and praise that exaggerates the true measure of my ministry, is an essential discipline of a genuine servant of God.

 

3.       The authority of a “voice” begins with “emptying myself.”

 

The importance of the order: Before John identified his mission by saying that he was the “voice [φωνή (phōnē)]” in the wilderness (v. 23), he first made it unmistakably clear: “I am not the Christ” (vv. 20–21).

 

Lesson: If I raise my voice without first emptying myself, people will not hear God’s Word—the message. Instead, they will see the face and name of the person shouting—the messenger.  Just as a microphone must remain internally open so that it can faithfully transmit sound, John completely hid himself, enabling him to become a true voice through whom the heart of the gospel—Jesus Christ alone—could be heard clearly by the world.

 

Final application of today’s meditation to myself:

 

“Lord, do not allow me today to fall into the temptation of the ‘false light’ of people’s recognition and honor. Let me confess every day, ‘I am nothing,’ and make me a true voice that exalts You alone.” 

 

Declaring “I am not” in the different areas of my life: When I have worked hard and achieved a good result at home, at church, or in the workplace—or when others praise me—I should immediately confess inwardly: “I did not accomplish this by myself. I am not the central figure or the light of this glory. This is the work of Immanuel God alone.”

 

Living joyfully as a disappearing voice: Once a voice has interpreted and communicated the Father, it disappears into the air without leaving a trace.  Do not become discouraged even if the world does not recognize my labor.  The voice disappears, but Jesus Christ, the eternal Word whom that voice communicated, remains forever in the soul of the person who heard it.  I pray that I may live each day content that my name disappears and only the Lord’s name remains (Internet).

 

(3)    Third, I want to meditate more specifically on the words: “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” [φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· Εὐθύνατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου (phōnē boōntos en tē erēmō, euthynate tēn hodon Kyriou)] (Jn. 1:23), and receive the lessons they give us.  Here is a short meditation I wrote: As people sent by God like John the Baptist, we are voices crying out in this wilderness-like world, called to make straight the way for the Lord’s return. Therefore, we must testify about Jesus, the Light of the world, so that through us all people may believe in Jesus Christ (John 1:6, 7, 23, Korean Contemporary Bible).  How, then, should we as disciples of Jesus serve our calling to make straight the way for the Lord’s return as a “voice of one crying in the wilderness”?

1.       Accepting the wilderness [ἐρήμῳ (erēmō)] as the place of mission rather than fleeing from it

 

Meaning in the original language: The Greek ἔρημος (erēmos) refers to a desolate, barren, uncultivated place lacking water and human habitation.  Spiritually, it can picture this sinful world, which has rebelled against God and become dry through greed and selfishness.

 

Practical application: John the Baptist left behind the comfort associated with a priestly family and went into the rugged wilderness.  If we are to become voices preparing the way for the Lord’s return, we must not become discouraged or flee into a religious greenhouse merely because this world is spiritually dry like a wilderness, wounds us, or fails to recognize us.  Rather, we should honestly receive the barren places of daily life—our homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods—as the mission field to which the Lord has sent us as His voice, and remain faithfully at our post.  For it is when we stand in the wilderness that the voice finally begins to be heard.

 

2.       Becoming one who cries out [βοῶντος (boōntos)] and proclaiming uncompromising hope

 

Meaning in the original language: The expression βοῶντος (boōntos, “crying out”) does not merely describe emotionally shouting at the top of one’s voice.  It conveys the picture of a herald solemnly and boldly proclaiming important news to the people.

 

Practical application: We must not dilute the distinctiveness of the gospel or remain cowardly silent because we are watching the world for approval.  No matter how deeply worldly values and culture flow toward materialism and pleasure-seeking, believers must proclaim through both lips and life the absolute truth and heavenly hope: “There is no eternal life apart from Jesus Christ.”  “Our Lord will surely come again.”  Whether the time seems favorable or unfavorable, through the unmistakable direction of our lives and the bold confession of our lips, we should become heralds announcing to the world the return of Jesus our King.

 

3.       Becoming a voice [φωνὴ (phōnē)] that disappears completely, leaving only the Lord

 

Meaning in the original language: The Greek φωνή (phōnē) refers to the physical voice or sound by which content—a message—is communicated.  Once a sound communicates its message, it disappears into the air without leaving a trace.  If the sound refused to disappear and continued reverberating in the air, it would obscure the truly important voice of the King—the Word.

 

Practical application: If we are to become bridges or channels of faith through whom people are led to Jesus Christ (v. 7), we must thoroughly empty ourselves.  After I have labored and served diligently, even if my name is not recognized and no one acknowledges my contribution, I should be able to rejoice and say: “I am only a voice that communicates Jesus, the Word, and then disappears. If the Lord alone has received glory, that is enough for me.”  The perfect fulfillment of the mission of a voice is for me, the messenger, to disappear, while Jesus Christ, the Message, remains in the soil of the other person’s heart (Internet).

 

(4)    Fourth and last, I would like to understand in greater detail the meaning of John the Baptist’s response to the question: “Why then do you baptize?” (Jn. 1:25)  He answered: “I baptize with water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (vv. 26–27).  In particular, I want to understand how these words relate to the verse we considered earlier: “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me’” (v. 15).  For example, I want to understand the relationship between “He who comes after me” in verse 15 and “the One who comes after me” in verse 27.  Also, when I meditate on the words: “among you stands One whom you do not know” (v. 26), I am reminded of: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us …” (v. 14).

 

(a)    In John 1:25–27, John the Baptist’s answer to the Pharisees’ sharp interrogation is a magnificent defense of the faith, demonstrating how the enormous heavenly truths proclaimed earlier in the prologue—the mystery of the incarnation (v. 14) and Jesus’ eternal preexistence (v. 15)—were being demonstrated in an actual historical setting.  The relationship between verse 15—the proclamation in the prologue—and verse 27—the proclamation in the historical scene—is therefore very important.  So too is the connection between verse 14—“dwelt among us”—and verse 26—“stands among you.”  The following explains these central meanings in detail (Internet):

 

1.       The specific meaning of verses 26–27: true baptism and the posture of a complete servant

The contrast between water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit — “I baptize with water …”:

When the Pharisees pressed John by asking, “By what right are you baptizing?”, John honestly acknowledged the limits of the water baptism he administered.  Water baptism was a sign preparing people to receive the Messiah—a cultivation of the soil of the heart.  But the complete baptism that truly recreates the inner human soul and deals decisively with sin—the baptism of the Holy Spirit—could be given only by the One who comes after John.

 

“I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal” — verse 27

In ancient Jewish society, the relationship between a teacher and disciple was strict.  Yet even a disciple was not normally expected to perform the most degrading tasks associated with removing the master’s sandals or washing his feet.  Such tasks were associated with servants of the lowest social standing.  John therefore confesses that before the Lord he is not worthy even to occupy the position of the lowest servant.  By doing so, he magnifies the absolute divine dignity and authority of Jesus Christ.

 

2.       The relationship between verses 15 and 27: the redemptive-historical fulfillment of “He who comes after me”

 

The apostle John shows how John the Baptist’s proclamation introduced in verse 15 becomes concrete historical reality in verse 27 amid the intense questioning of the Pharisees.

 

Verse 15 → Ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος (Ho opisō mou erchomenos): “He who comes after me.”

 

Verse 27 → ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος (ho opisō mou erchomenos): “the One who comes after me.”

 

The mystery of the connection: Verse 15 declares that although Jesus was born after John and began His public ministry after John, He actually existed before John as the eternal Creator who existed before all things.  Verse 27 declares that this eternal One has now, within the sequence of historical time, actually arrived immediately after John’s ministry. 

 

In other words, John is effectively declaring before the Pharisees: “The eternal God about whom I cried out in the prologue—the One who existed before me—has now truly come in human flesh and is the very One standing here after me!”

 

3.       The relationship between verses 14 and 26: the Immanuel mystery of the One who “tabernacled among us”

 

The declaration of the incarnation in verse 14 and John’s revelation in verse 26 are connected in a profoundly striking way.

 

Verse 14 → ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν (eskēnōsen en hēmin): The Word became flesh and “dwelt among us”—literally, He pitched His tent or tabernacled among us.

 

Verse 26 → μέσος ὑμῶν ἕστηκεν (mesos hymōn hestēken): “Among you stands One whom you do not know.”

 

The mystery of the connection: Verse 14 proclaims from the heavenly perspective the enormous mystery that God came into the midst of the human world and pitched His tent among us.  Verse 26 reveals the historical reality of that mystery: Jesus, the true Tabernacle, is now literally standing with His feet on the ground in the midst of the Jewish crowd.

 

The tragedy of “whom you do not know”: God has pitched His tent among humanity and is standing right beside them (v. 26), yet the Pharisees—who were regarded as religious experts—are spiritually blind and fail to recognize Him.  Here the tragedy already proclaimed in verse 10—“the world did not recognize Him”—is concretely reenacted in verse 26.

 

The final lesson for us today:

 

Even in moments when we fail to recognize Him, Jesus, the true Light, has already come into the very center of our lives, pitched His tent among us, and quietly stands there (vv. 14, 26). And only when we, as believers, thoroughly empty ourselves before this great Creator Lord and humble ourselves even lower than a servant can we truly become a voice that most brilliantly reveals to the whole world the Lord who comes after us (vv. 15, 27).