Matthew Henry's Commentary
on the GospelJOHN 1:19-29
John's Testimony to Christ; John Examined by the Priests.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and
denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him,
What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet?
And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we
may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight
the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. 24 And they which were
sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why
baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that
prophet? 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there
standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after
me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
We have here the testimony of John, which he delivered to the messengers
who were sent from Jerusalem to examine him. Observe here,
I. Who they were that sent to him, and who they were that were sent.
1. They that sent to him were the Jews at Jerusalem, the great sanhedrim
or high-commission court, which sat at Jerusalem, and was the representative
of the Jewish church, who took cognizance of all matters relating to religion.
One would think that they who were the fountains of learning, and the guides
of the church, should have, by books, understood the times so well as to
know that the Messiah was at hand, and therefore should presently have
known him that was his forerunner, and readily embraced him; but, instead
of this, they sent messengers to cross questions with him. Secular learning,
honour, and power, seldom dispose men's minds to the reception of divine
light. 2. They that were sent were, (1.) Priests and Levites, probably
members of the council, men of learning, gravity, and authority. John Baptist
was himself a priest of the seed of Aaron, and therefore it was not fit
that he should be examined by any but priests. It was prophesied concerning
John's ministry that it should purify the Sons of Levi (Mal. iii. 3), and
therefore they were jealous of him and his reformation. (2.) They were
of the Pharisees, proud, self-justiciaries, that thought they needed no
repentance, and therefore could not bear one that made it his business
to preach repentance.
II. On what errand they were sent; it was to enquire concerning
John and his baptism. They did not send for John to them, probably because
they feared the people, lest the people where John was should be provoked
to rise, or lest the people where they were should be brought acquainted
with him; they thought it was good to keep him at a distance. They enquire
concerning him, 1. To satisfy their curiosity; as the Athenians enquired
concerning Paul's doctrine, for the novelty of it, Acts xvii. 19, 20. Such
a proud conceit they had of themselves that the doctrine of repentance
was to them strange doctrine. 2. It was to show their authority. They thought
they looked great when they called him to account whom all men counted
as a prophet, and arraigned him at their bar. 3. It was with a design to
suppress him and silence him if they could find any colour for it; for
they were jealous of his growing interest, and his ministry agreed neither
with the Mosaic dispensation which they had been long under, nor with the
notions they had formed of the Messiah's kingdom.
III. What was the answer he gave them, and his account, both
concerning himself and concerning his baptism, in both which he witnessed
to Christ.
1. Concerning himself, and what he professed himself to be. They asked
him, Sy tis ei--Thou, who art thou? John's appearing in the world was surprising.
He was in the wilderness till the day of his showing unto Israel. His spirit,
his converse, he doctrine, had something in them which commanded and gained
respect; but he did not, as seducers do, give out himself to be some great
one. He was more industrious to do good than to appear great; and therefore
waived saying any thing of himself till he was legally interrogated. Those
speak best for Christ that say least of themselves, whose own works praise
them, not their own lips. He answers their interrogatory,
(1.) Negatively. He was not that great one whom some took him to be.
God's faithful witnesses stand more upon their guard against undue respect
than against unjust contempt. Paul writes as warmly against those that
overvalued him, and said, I am of Paul, as against those that undervalued
him, and said that his bodily presence was weak; and he rent his clothes
when he was called a god. [1.] John disowns himself to be the Christ (v.
20): He said, I am not the Christ, who was now expected and waited for.
Note, The ministers of Christ must remember that they are not Christ, and
therefore must not usurp his powers and prerogatives, nor assume the praises
due to him only. They are not Christ, and therefore must not lord it over
God's heritage, nor pretend to a dominion over the faith of Christians.
They cannot created grace and peace; they cannot enlighten, convert, quicken,
comfort; for they are not Christ. Observe how emphatically this is here
expressed concerning John: He confessed, and denied not, but confessed;
it denotes his vehemence and constancy in making this protestation. Note,
Temptations to pride, and assuming that honour to ourselves which does
not belong to us, ought to be resisted with a great deal of vigour and
earnestness. When John was taken to be the Messiah, he did not connive
at it with a Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur--If the people will be
deceived, let them; but openly and solemnly, without any ambiguities, confessed,
I am not the Christ; hoti ouk eimi ego ho Christos--I am not the Christ,
not I; another is at hand, who is he, but I am not. His disowning himself
to be the Christ is called his confessing and not denying Christ. Note,
Those that humble and abase themselves thereby confess Christ, and give
honour to him; but those that will not deny themselves do in effect deny
Christ, [2.] He disowns himself to be Elias, v. 21. The Jews expected the
person of Elias to return from heaven, and to live among them, and promised
themselves great things from it. Hearing of John's character, doctrine,
and baptism, and observing that he appeared as one dropped from heaven,
in the same part of the country from which Elijah was carried to heaven,
it is no wonder that they were ready to take him for this Elijah; but he
disowned this honour too. He was indeed prophesied of under the name of
Elijah (Mal. iv. 5), and he came in the spirit and power of Elias (Luke
i. 17), and was the Elias that was to come (Matt. xi. 14); but he was not
the person of Elias, not that Elias that went to heaven in the fiery chariot,
as he was that met Christ in his transfiguration. He was the Elias that
God had promised, not the Elias that they foolishly dreamed of. Elias did
come, and they knew him not (Matt. xvii. 12); nor did he make himself known
to them as the Elias, because they had promised themselves such an Elias
as God never promised them. [3.] He disowns himself to be that prophet,
or the prophet. First, He was not that prophet which Moses said the Lord
would raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him. If they meant
this, they needed not ask that question, for that prophet was no other
than the Messiah, and he had said already, I am not the Christ. Secondly,
He was not such a prophet as they expected and wished for, who, like Samuel
and Elijah, and some other of the prophets, would interpose in public affairs,
and rescue them from under the Roman yoke. Thirdly, He was not one of the
old prophets raised from the dead, as they expected one to come before
Elias, as Elias before the Messiah. Fourthly, Though John was a prophet,
yea, more than a prophet, yet he had his revelation, not by dreams and
visions, as the Old-Testament prophets had theirs; his commission and work
were of another nature, and belonged to another dispensation. If John had
said that he was Elias, and was a prophet, he might have made his words
good; but ministers must, upon all occasions, express themselves with the
utmost caution, both that they may not confirm people in any mistakes,
and particularly that they may not give occasion to any to think of them
above what is meet.
(2.) Affirmatively. The committee that was sent to examine him pressed
for a positive answer (v. 22), urging the authority of those that sent
them, which they expected he should pay a deference to: "Tell us, What
art thou? not that we may believe thee, and be baptized by three, but that
we may give an answer to those that sent us, and that it may not be said
we were sent on a fool's errand." John was looked upon as a man of sincerity,
and therefore they believed he would not give an evasive ambiguous answer;
but would be fair and above-board, and give a plain answer to a plain question:
What sayest thou of thyself? And he did so, I am the voice of one crying
in the wilderness. Observe,
[1.] He gives his answer in the words of scripture, to show that the
scripture was fulfilled in him, and that his office was supported by a
divine authority. What the scripture saith of the office of the ministry
should be often thought of by those of that high calling, who must look
upon themselves as that, and that only, which the word of God makes them.
[2.] He gives in his answer in very humble, modest, self-denying expressions.
He chooses to apply that scripture to himself which denotes not his dignity,
but his duty and dependence, which bespeaks him little: I am the voice,
as if he were vox et præterea nihil--mere voice.
[3.] He gives such an account of himself as might be profitable to them,
and might excite and awaken them to hearken to him; for he was the voice
(see Isa. xl. 3), a voice to alarm, an articulate voice to instruct. Ministers
are but the voice, the vehicle, by which God is pleased to communicate
his mind. What are Paul and Apollos but messengers? Observe, First, He
was a human voice. The people were prepared to receive the law by the voice
of thunders, and a trumpet exceedingly loud, such as made them tremble;
but they were prepared for the gospel by the voice of a man like ourselves,
a still small voice, such as that in which God came to Elijah, 1 Kings
xix. 12. Secondly, He was the voice of one crying, which denotes, 1. His
earnestness and importunity in calling people to repentance; he cried aloud,
and did not spare. Ministers must preach as those that are in earnest,
and are themselves affected with those things with which they desire to
affect others. Those words are not likely to thaw the hearers' hearts that
freeze between the speaker's lips. 2. His open publication of the doctrine
he preached; he was the voice of one crying, that all manner of persons
might hear and take notice. Doth not wisdom cry? Prov. viii. 1. Thirdly,
It was in the wilderness that this voice was crying; in a place of silence
and solitude, out of the noise of the world and the hurry of its business;
the more retired we are from the tumult of secular affairs the better prepared
we are to hear from God. Fourthly, That which he cried was, Make straight
the way of the Lord; that is, 1. He came to rectify the mistakes of people
concerning the ways of God; it is certain that they are right ways, but
the scribes and Pharisees, with their corrupt glosses upon the law, had
made them crooked. Now John Baptist calls people to return to the original
rule. 2. He came to prepare and dispose people for the reception and entertainment
of Christ and his gospel. It is an allusion to the harbingers of a prince
or great man, that cry, Make room. Note, When God is coming towards us,
we must prepare to meet him, and let the word of the Lord have free course.
See Ps. xxiv. 7.
2. Here is his testimony concerning his baptism.
(1.) The enquiry which the committee made about it: Why baptizest thou,
if thou be not the Christ, nor Elias, nor that prophet? v. 25. [1.] They
readily apprehended baptism to be fitly and properly used as a sacred rite
or ceremony, for the Jewish church had used it with circumcision in the
admission of proselytes, to signify the cleansing of them from the pollutions
of their former state. That sign was made use of in the Christian church,
that it might be the more passable. Christ did not affect novelty, nor
should his ministers. [2.] They expected it would be used in the days of
the Messiah, because it was promised that then there should be a fountain
opened (Zech. xiii. 1), and clean water sprinkled, Ezek. xxxvi. 25. It
is taken for granted that Christ, and Elias, and that prophet, would baptize,
when they came to purify a polluted world. Divine justice drowned the old
world in its filth, but divine grace has provided for the cleansing of
this new world from its filth. [3.] They would therefore know by what authority
John baptized. His denying himself to be Elias, or that prophet, subjected
him to this further question, Why baptizest thou? Note, It is no new thing
for a man's modesty to be turned against him, and improved to his prejudice;
but it is better that men should take advantage of our low thoughts of
ourselves, to trample upon us, than the devil take advantage of our high
thoughts of ourselves, to tempt us to pride and draw us into his condemnation.
(2.) The account he gave of it, v. 26, 27.
[1.] He owned himself to be only the minister of the outward sign: "I
baptize with water, and that is all; I am no more, and do no more, than
what you see; I have no other title than John the Baptist; I cannot confer
the spiritual grace signified by it." Paul was in care that none should
think of him above what they saw him to be (2 Cor. xii. 6); so was John
Baptist. Ministers must not set up for masters.
[2.] He directed them to one who was greater than himself, and would
do that for them, if they pleased, which he could not do: "I baptize with
water, and that is the utmost of my commission; I have nothing to do but
by this to lead you to one that comes after me, and consign you to him."
Note, The great business of Christ's ministers is to direct all people
to him; we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. John gave the
same account to this committee that he had given to the people (v. 15):
This as he of whom I spoke. John was constant and uniform in his testimony,
not as a reed shaken with the wind. The sanhedrim were jealous of his interest
in the people, but he is not afraid to tell them that there is one at the
door that will go beyond him. First, He tells them of Christ's presence
among them now at this time: There stands one among you, at this time,
whom you know not. Christ stood among the common people, and was as one
of them. Note, 1. Much true worth lies hid in this world; obscurity is
often the lot of real excellency. Saints are God's hidden ones, therefore
the world knows them not. 2. God himself is often nearer to us than we
are aware of. The Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. They were gazing,
in expectation of the messiah: Lo he is here, or he is there, when the
kingdom of God was abroad and already among them, Luke xvii. 21. Secondly,
He tells them of Christ's preference above himself: He comes after me,
and yet is preferred before me. This he had said before; he adds here,
"Whose shoe-latchet I am not worthy to loose; I am not fit to be named
the same day with him; it is an honour too great for me to pretend to be
in the meanest office about him," 1 Sam. xxv. 41. Those to whom Christ
is precious reckon his service, even the most despised instances of it,
an honour to them. See Ps. lxxxiv. 10. If so great a man as John accounted
himself unworthy of the honour of being near Christ, how unworthy then
should we account ourselves! Now, one would think, these chief priests
and Pharisees, upon this intimation given concerning the approach of the
Messiah, should presently have asked who, and where, this excellent person
was; and who more likely to tell them than he who had given them this general
notice? No, they did not think this any part of their business or concern;
they came to molest John, not to receive any instructions from him: so
that their ignorance was wilful; they might have known Christ, and would
not.
Lastly, Notice is taken of the place where all this was done: In Bethabara
beyond Jordan, v. 28. Bethabara signifies the house of passage; some think
it was the very place where Israel passed over Jordan into the land of
promise under the conduct of Joshua; there was opened the way into the
gospel state by Jesus Christ. It was at a great distance from Jerusalem,
beyond Jordan; probably because what he did there would be least offensive
to the government. Amos must go prophesy in the country, not near the court;
but it was sad that Jerusalem should put so far from her the things that
belonged to her peace. He made this confession in the same place where
he was baptizing, that all those who attended his baptism might be witnesses
of it, and none might say that they knew not what to make of him.
John's Testimony to Christ.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
We have in these verses an account of John's testimony concerning Jesus
Christ, which he witnessed to his own disciples that followed him. As soon
as ever Christ was baptized he was immediately hurried into the wilderness,
to be tempted; and there he was forty days. During his absence John had
continued to bear testimony to him, and to tell the people of him; but
now at last he sees Jesus coming to him, returning from the wilderness
of temptation. As soon as that conflict was over Christ immediately returned
to John, who was preaching and baptizing. Now Christ was tempted for example
and encouragement to us; and this teaches us, 1. That the hardships of
a tempted state should engage us to keep close to ordinances; to go into
the sanctuary of God, Ps. lxxiii. 17. Our combats with Satan should oblige
us to keep close to the communion of saints: two are better than one. 2.
That the honours of a victorious state must not set us above ordinances.
Christ had triumphed over Satan, and been attended by angels, and yet,
after all, he returns to the place where John was preaching and baptizing.
As long as we are on this side heaven, whatever extraordinary visits of
divine grace we may have here at any time, we must still keep close to
the ordinary means of grace and comfort, and walk with God in them. Now
here are two testimonies borne by John to Christ, but those two agree in
one.
I. Here is his testimony to Christ on the first day that he saw him
coming from the wilderness; and here four things are witnessed by him concerning
Christ, when he had him before his eyes:--
1. That he is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world,
v. 29. Let us learn here,
(1.) That Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, which bespeaks him the great
sacrifice, by which atonement is made for sin, and man reconciled to God.
Of all the legal sacrifices he chooses to allude to the lambs that were
offered, not only because a lamb is an emblem of meekness, and Christ must
be led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isa. liii. 7), but with a special reference,
[1.] To the daily sacrifice, which was offered every morning and evening
continually, and that was always a lamb (Exod. xxix. 38), which was a type
of Christ, as the everlasting propitiation, whose blood continually speaks.
[2.] To the paschal lamb, the blood of which, being sprinkled upon the
door-posts, secured the Israelites from the stroke of the destroying angel.
Christ is our passover, 1 Cor. v. 7. He is the Lamb of God; he is appointed
by him (Rom. iii. 25), he was devoted to him (ch. xvii. 19), and he was
accepted with him; in him he was well pleased. The lot which fell on the
goat that was to be offered for a sin-offering was called the Lord's lot
(Lev. xvi. 8, 9); so Christ, who was to make atonement for sin, is called
the Lamb of God.
(2.) That Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the
world. This was his undertaking; he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself, Heb. ix. 26. John Baptist had called people to repent of their
sins, in order to the remission of them. Now here he shows how and by whom
that remission was to be expected, what ground of hope we have that our
sins shall be pardoned upon our repentance, though our repentance makes
no satisfaction for them. This ground of hope we have--Jesus Christ is
the Lamb of God. [1.] He takes away sin. He, being Mediator between God
and man, takes away that which is, above any thing, offensive to the holiness
of God, and destructive to the happiness of man. He came, First, To take
away the guilt of sin by the merit of his death, to vacate the judgment,
and reverse the attainder, which mankind lay under, by an act of indemnity,
of which all penitent obedient believers may claim the benefit. Secondly,
To take away the power of sin by the Spirit of his grace, so that it shall
not have dominion, Rom. vi. 14. Christ, as the Lamb of God, washes us from
our sins in his own blood; that is, he both justifies and sanctifies us:
he takes away sin. He is ho airon --he is taking away the sin of the world,
which denotes it not a single but a continued act; it is his constant work
and office to take away sin, which is such a work of time that it will
never be completed till time shall be no more. He is always taking away
sin, by the continual intercession of his blood in heaven, and the continual
influence of his grace on earth. [2.] He takes away the sin of the world;
purchases pardon for all those that repent, and believe the gospel, of
what country, nation, or language, soever they be. The legal sacrifices
had reference only to the sins of Israel, to make atonement for them; but
the Lamb of God was offered to be a propitiation for the sin of the whole
world; see 1 John ii. 2. This is encouraging to our faith; if Christ takes
away the sin of the world, then why not my sin? Christ levelled his force
at the main body of sin's army, struck at the root, and aimed at the overthrow,
of that wickedness which the whole world lay in. God was in him reconciling
the world to himself. [3.] He does this by taking it upon himself. He is
the Lamb of God, that bears the sin of the world; so the margin reads it.
He bore sin for us, and so bears it from us; he bore the sin of many, as
the scape-goat had the sins of Israel put upon his head, Lev. xvi. 21.
God could have taken away the sin by taking away the sinner, as he took
away the sin of the old world; but he has found out a way of abolishing
the sin, and yet sparing the sinner, by making his Son sin for us.
(3.) That it is our duty, with an eye of faith, to behold the Lamb of
God thus taking away the sin of the world. See him taking away sin, and
let that increase our hatred of sin, and resolutions against it. Let not
us hold that fast which the Lamb of God came to take away: for Christ will
either take our sins away or take us away. Let it increase our love to
Christ, who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Rev.
i. 5. Whatever God is pleased to take away from us, if withal he take away
our sins, we have reason to be thankful, and no reason to complain.
