A Voice in the Wilderness

Join in giving your testimony to the active presence of God in your life and in the world

Commentary on John 1:19-34

Gennifer Benjamin Brooks

One might well approach this text with an expectation that what follows will be a continuation of the focus of the prologue of John and will provide a description of the Messiah in clear and substantive terms. Instead, the writer diverges immediately from the testimonial claim made in the opening statement, to an interactive conversation between John and his interrogators that focuses on the messianic identity. From the standpoint of the preacher called to address this pericope, the text may be divided into two distinct sections, and in fact the activity occurs on two separate days. The first (verses 19–28) contains John’s proclamation of his identity, and the second (verses 29–34) records John’s proclamation of Jesus’ identity.

The gospel writer presents the focus of those questioning John as being centered on John’s possible identity as the Messiah, the prophet Elijah, or the unnamed prophet expected to appear as the precursor to the Messiah. In his dialogue with the priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees, John identifies, affirms, or perhaps seeks to authenticate his status as one who has the authority to speak of and confirm the identity of the Messiah. John is questioned because of the activity with which he is involved, and it is noteworthy that he begins by saying who he is not, before offering a definitive description of himself.

John’s response reminds us that as important or even critical as it is to know who one is, it may be just as or even more important to know who or what one is not. The reality is that there may be as many directives or strictures about what one is permitted to do depending on who one is as there are about what one is required to do given one’s recognized identity. John’s interrogators had been sent by the religious establishment mainly because he was actively baptizing his followers, and although there is little background information on the expectations of the Messiah with respect to such activity, the text leads one to think that the act of baptizing others was limited to specifically authorized persons.

Although this pericope begins with the assertion that it is a testimonial of Jesus as the Messiah, John’s interrogators make no mention of Jesus. They are concerned only with John and the activity with which he is engaged in their midst. John describes himself using language that would be understood by priests and Levites, who would have studied the Torah and the prophets as part of their training. And even as he protests any attempt to name him as the promised Messiah, John does not name Jesus as the long-awaited one. He decries his own situation as of less importance or value than that of the Messiah and simply asserts that the Messiah is already present among the people.

It is, thus, difficult to consider the first section of the pericope as a testimonial to Jesus as the Messiah. However, the second section meets the expectation engendered by the first verse and its promise of a testimonial with respect to the fulfilment of the messianic promise.

The first hearers of this gospel are presented with information that they have been awaiting as to the proof of Jesus as the Messiah. John’s testimony of his own experience of the Holy Spirit instructing him about the identification of the Messiah is a two-pronged testimonial. Through it, the Holy Spirit is seen as working with John to confirm him as the harbinger of the Messiah, and also to confirm Jesus as the Messiah.

This paves the way for the preacher to bring to the forefront the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the people of God. Although the present-day preacher may not be able to testify to the descent and work of the Holy Spirit in the same way as John, the fact that the presence and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit are not limited to Jesus the Messiah—that the Holy Spirit was as present to John as to Jesus—is witness to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the people.

Preaching this text requires careful selection of what the preacher hopes to bring to the forefront as the focus of the message. Is the message about the call of the Christian to testify to the substance of their call and the activities in which they have engaged in the name of Christ, which give glory to the saving grace of Jesus for all people? Or is it about witnessing to the presence of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and in the lives of the people of God?

John speaks of himself as a voice crying out in the wilderness, which implies that he was simply speaking into the air with little hope of getting a response. And perhaps, given the high level of discontent being experienced by so many people, including Christians, because of the ills of the world, it may be that many Christians see themselves and their witness as being of little or no effect in today’s society.

Certainly, the development of this text for preaching cannot be simply about John, the harbinger of the good news of the Messiah. Both preacher and hearers are called and commissioned as human beings, made in the image of God, redeemed by Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to join in giving their testimony to the active presence of God in their lives and in the world.

Based on their Christian identity, the task of every Christian—both preachers and lay people—is, like John, to proclaim the presence and work of Christ in their life and in the world, reclaiming their oneness with God, to the praise of God’s glory. And it is significant that this text comes on the heels of the text where the shepherds—human beings—join with the angels—heavenly beings—in spreading the word about the fulfillment of the messianic promise: that, as John said, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.