19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
After introducing Jesus as the Word of God, and light and life of the world, John turns his attention to the preparatory work of John the Baptist. We've already talked about his message from the perspective of the other Gospel writers, but John alone records this discussion with the representatives of the religious elite with John the Baptist. In this discussion, he emphasized who he was not. He was not the Christ. He was not Elijah reincarnated, though his ministry did have a lot of parallels with his. He was not the Prophet mentioned by Moses, who would be greater than any prophet before. "Well, John, who are you then?" He was the great announcer and pronouncer pointing the way toward the Prophet, the Christ, the Savior of the world. John the Gospel writer here is laying a different track for us to follow to Jesus - one not from the manger, or the genealogical lines of Mary or Joseph, or the shadows of Nazareth in Galilee, but straight from eternity past in heaven. He was, and is, inviting people to join him on that path, so when the time was right, he could point the way and say "there He is; follow Him." Are you are on that path?
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