Context No. 3470 of 4322 · John
Context · Reflection
John 1:19-23: in context
19This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He declared, and didn’t deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.” 21They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
When the religious authorities press John the Baptist about his identity, what is remarkable is how much he denies. He is not the Christ. He is not Elijah. He is not the prophet. He refuses every grand title they hold out to him.
And when they insist, who are you then?, he gives the plain, humble answer of a servant: I am a voice, one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. John understood himself simply as a voice pointing to Another. He did not grasp at importance or accept honors that were not his; his whole identity was to prepare the way for Christ and then to fade from view. There is a deep humility in being content to be a voice and not the Word, a signpost and not the destination. John's true stature lay precisely in his willingness to be small, so that Christ could be seen; he must increase, and I must decrease.
Am I content, like John, to be a voice pointing others to Christ, willing to decrease so that he may increase, rather than grasping at importance for myself?