A Voice

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

A VOICE

John 1:19-28

19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." 21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'"   24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie." 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

NIV

Why did the Jews, who we have to believe were members of the Sanhedrin, perhaps Pharisees, send priests and Levites to ask who John was? He certainly was creating quite a stir among the people with his message as well as his physical appearance. He was a strange man, yet many came from all around to hear him and to be baptized in preparation for what was to happen. It is interesting that they questioned him wanting to know his name or title. He most certainly confessed he was not the Christ, so then they wanted to know if he was Elijah. The Jews knew their history and Elijah had not died in the normal sense, as he was seen by Elisha riding in the chariot of fire drawn by the horses of fire up into heaven. It is also recorded by Malachi that God would send Elijah before the dreadful day of the Lord. Of course, they might have thought he could be Elijah as his message was about repenting, preparing a way for the Lord. But alas, he confessed he was not Elijah. Well, then he had to be a prophet, but no, he confesses he was not that either. Well, who is he? John confessed he was but a voice. What do we glean from all this? It would seem we might be a bit obsessed with titles in our culture and yes, even in the church. It seems it is not enough to be a pastor, but we have to have special types of pastors. We have the Senior Pastor, the Worship Pastor, the Children’s Pastor, and the Christian Education Pastor, the Associate Pastor, the pastoral associate Pastor, or some other specialty pastor. Then we need all the other titles, worship team, deacon board, trustee board, elder board, Choir director, on and on it would seem that everyone in the church has some title for doing something. Oh Yes, we almost forgot, the Church Secretary, the Treasurer, the Church Administrator, and the Church janitors, and groundskeepers. This is not to say we do not need these various identifiers, just that we should not be obsessed over them. However, John was not going to have anything to do with titles, he only confessed to being a voice in the desert whose only task was to prepare the way for the Lord. It is true that throughout the scriptures God calls us a variety of names, such as a royal priesthood, a holy nation, saints, light, salt, new creatures, branches, servants, friends, as well as a host of other names, or titles, such as the Body of Christ or co-heirs with Christ. But the fact remains what we should truly be content with is being called a voice in the wilderness declaring the coming of Jesus and that people need to repent and make their hearts ready. Yes, if we are anything, if we should be called anything, if we should have a title, it should be a voice.