Jn. 1:19 Now this is the testimony of Yochanan, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
What we learn from this segment is that the first delegation from the Sanhedrin, when they returned to Jerusalem, told the Sanhedrin that this movement was significant. Because what we have in this segment is the beginning of the second stage, the stage of investigation. They are an official delegation and have begun asking questions.
Notice a small detail here that is not of great importance, but does demonstrate the difference in the Gospel writers. Yochanan calls the men making up the delegation “priests and Levites.” The other Gospel writers call them scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. Yochanan, the Gospel writer, is a priest and he writes his Gospel from that perspective.
Jn. 1:20 He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”
Jn. 1:21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No!”
This is the first, but not the last, time that we see the term the Prophet. In this context, it is a Messianic term based on Deut. 18:15, 18. God told Moses: I will raise up a prophet for them among their own people, like yourself; I will put My words in His mouth and He will speak to them all that I command Him.” They were asking Yochanan if he was the Second Moses (Messiah).
Source: Deut. 18:15-18
Jn. 1:22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
Jn. 1:23 He said, “I am ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
When they finally ask Yochanan simply who he is, he quotes Isaiah 40:3. He is the forerunner of the Messiah. It is because of this verse that the Dead Sea Sect migrated to the wilderness , thinking the Messiah would first appear there around Qumran. They would not be disappointed. Just about all our modern translations of the Bible misquote the verse in Isaiah. It should read, "The voice of one crying, in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord." Sine the original Hebrew Scriptures didn't have any punctuation marks, the translators, did not know the Hebrew context and misquoted the original meaning.
Source: Isaiah 40:3
Jn. 1:24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
Jn. 1:25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
Jn. 1:26 Yochanan answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.”
This verse tells us that Yeshua has returned from the wilderness temptation and is standing there in the crowd. But, the Pharisees did not know who He was. How many religious people attend church meetings today, but do not know that Yeshua is in their midst?
Jn. 1:27 “It is He, who coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
Jn. 1:28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where Yochanan was baptizing.
Bethabara is also known as Wadi El-Kharar.
No comments:
Post a Comment