January 16 & 20, 2008
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Text: John 1: 29-42a
Just Who Does He Think HE
Is?
You’re going to have to do a little
creative thinking today. I’d like you
to imagine you are one of the people who went do to the Jordan to hear John the
Baptist. Some who went were
curious…after all, the Baptist wore a coat of camel’s hair, ate locust and wild
honey. You just had to see that! Some went because they were priests and
Levities and wanted to question him.
Some went because they were ready, they were waiting, for the coming
Messiah, and this might be the time. I’d
like you to think you had some questions, and first and foremost is
JUST WHO
DOES HE THINK HE IS?
Any good Jewish man or woman would
have known what the Old Testament said regarding he events at the Jordan
River. Deuteronomy 18: “The Lord your
God will raise up for a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen,
and you shall listen to him.” Now John
the Baptist was certainly one of their countrymen, and there had not been any
prophets for hundreds of years, so they were going to listen to him. And he was prophesying about the coming
Messiah, so they needed to listen to him.
The second passage would come to mind
when the people truly began to wonder who is this guy? When the people did ask John who he was, he
told them who he was not. John says in
our text, verse 20, “I am not the Christ.”
Now that they knew he was not the Christ, they still did not know who he
was. So more questions get asked; “Are you Elijah?” Now this is where the second OT passage come
is…in Malachi 4: 5 it was promised: “Behold I am coming to send you Elijah to
prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.” But again John answered, “I am not
Elijah.” So the people were left to
wonder, “just who does he think he is?”
Then they asked another
question. “Are you the prophet?” To be sure, John must be the one prophet
talked about in Deuteronomy 18. He had to
be the prophet. Yet John again abruptly
says that he is not the prophet. So just
who does he think he is? And the priests
and Levities can’t go back to their superiors and report they don’t know any
more than before. More questions to
John: “Who are you then that we may give
an answer to those who sent us? What do
you think about yourself?” Hopefully,
now they’ll be getting some straight answers. And John does give them an
answer.
John replies in this way: “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.” The people would recognize this passage
too. A quote again from the Old
Testament, from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 3. The verse refers to the Lord appearing to the people of
Israel as they returned to Palestine after the Babylonian captivity. The Lord is telling them to make their paths
straight in the wilderness for the Lord.
It was the Lord’s voice that was crying out in the wilderness as the
children of Israel returned after many years in exile and came back to the Promised
Land. But why is John using this
scripture as an answer to their questions?
Why does he say he is a voice crying out in the wilderness? Just who does he think he is?
So there is still no answer to the
question the people had as they came out to see the Baptist. He says he is not the Christ. He says he is not the prophet promised in
Deuteronomy 18. And he is not Elijah
come back as was promised in Malachi 4:5.
But he does say he is voice crying out in the wilderness. So there are more questions as they try to
figure out his identity. “Why then are
you baptizing if you are not the Christ, or Elijah or the Prophet? Now we need
some answers.”
Again John replies in a puzzling way...”I
baptize with water, but among you stands One who you
do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not
worthy to untie.” Now this must have
really frustrated some of the people. Especially the priests and Levites, because john doesn’t give them
a straight answer. All he tells
them is who he is not and that he’s a voice in the wilderness and someone is
coming after him who John won’t even tie his shoes laces. What does that mean? And just who does he think he is?
It seems that by John not telling
them who he is, John is actually trying to draw attention away from himself. It’s as if
he is trying to appear unimportant. Instead, he draws attention to the One who
is coming after him. He himself says he
is just a voice announcing the One who is to come. But who is that? John says that the One coming after Him is so
important that John isn’t worthy to bow down and the privilege of untying His
sandals. Who is supreme that John would
devote his whole life to hollering in the wilderness? Just who does he think HE is?
Just who is so majestic, so supreme,
so kingly, so powerful, so all knowing, and so faithful, that He gives John the
privilege of announcing His coming?
It’s the One whose birth we just
celebrated. It’s the One that, as
prophesied in the Old Testament, would be born in Bethlehem and would be of the
house of David. It is the One who was
born of the virgin Mary, born in a manger outside in
the cold of night because there was no room in the inn. It is the One who lived on this earth some
thirty-three years perfectly, obeying every commandment of God’s law in the
place of you and me because we could not.
It is the One who out of great love for us,
gave up His life on the cross and rose again three days later, that we might
have forgiveness, life and salvation. It
is the One that sent us His Holy Spirit that through Him we might believe in
Him and all His promises given to us in the sweet and blessed Gospel. It is the One that gave us the gift of Holy
Baptism, a gift given to little Mallory this morning-new life in Christ her
Savior, and like Mallory that through this gracious gift, we become God’s own
dear children, have new life in Christ as we are baptized into His death and
made alive in His resurrection from the dead.
It is that One that gave us the Lord’s Supper, as we receive it we receive the true body
and blood of our Lord and the forgiveness of sins that He bought for us as the
price of His own life. It’s the One who
did this not because we deserve it or earned it or because we are entitled to
it. It is the One who died for us
because He just loves us so very much.
It is the One that while we were yet sinners, died and rose that you and
I might never ever suffer eternal damnation because of our wretched sinfulness.
Just who does he think He is? Just ask
John. He’d be glad to tell you.
Amen