Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, January 6, 2014 Read John 1:19-28 As John begins his narrative in earnest he begins with a story of John the Baptist confronted by the religious authorities from Jerusalem. They have become aware of his activity and of his baptism. The story is told in such a way that readers are led to understand that the religious authorities are wondering just who John the Baptist is – is he perhaps the coming Messiah? Their question of John the Baptist is, “Who are you?” In a very skillful way, John turns John the Baptist into a prime witness for Jesus. John tells us that John the Baptist rejected three distinct identities all of which are connected with the coming Messiah. John the Baptist is not the Messiah. He is not Elijah. He is not “the prophet.” We need to unwrap each of these three identities. The Messiah is perhaps the easiest to grasp. At the beginning, during the time when David was king, the idea of the messiah had a much more common and ordinary meaning – the messiah was simply the one who was anointed with oil as a sign that they were the king. As time passed the concept grew into the hope of an “Anointed One” who would be the “Messiah” in a way that went far beyond an earthly king like David. The identity of the Messiah was still closely connected with the idea of kingship but now the Messiah was an ideal king who would reign on God’s behalf defeating God’s enemies and setting up God’s ideal kingdom. John the Baptist confesses that he is not this one. That John the Baptist might be Elijah adds a new dimension. As the book of Malachi proclaimed, there grew within the people of God the idea that before the Day of the Lord, God would send Elijah, the OT prophet who was taken up in to heaven in a chariot of fire, to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. This is precisely the role that Mark and, following him, Matthew and Luke give to John the Baptist. In fact, as Jesus and his disciples are descending from the Mount of Transfiguration both Mark and Matthew make it clear that John the Baptist is Elijah. Matthew says it the most directly – “As they were coming down the mountain … the disciples asked him, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ He replied, ‘Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist” (Matthew 17:9-13). The synoptic gospels are in direct contradiction with the Gospel of John. John makes it clear that John the Baptist is not Elijah (John 1:21). How are we to deal with this discrepancy? We have run into these conflicts before and we will encounter them again. The answer lies in attempting to understand how each gospel writer understands the role of “Elijah.” The synoptic gospels understand Elijah as the one who come to prepare the way for the Messiah and thus John the Baptist can be cast in this role since that is what he did. John, on the other hand understands “Elijah” as somehow the Messiah himself. For John, Jesus plays the role of Elijah, the one who makes all things right. It is because John sees the role of the figure of “Elijah” differently than Mark, Matthew, and Luke that he says what he does. John’s point is that John the Baptist is in no way the coming deliverer and since he understands the figure of “Elijah” as the deliverer John the Baptist cannot play that role. The image of “the prophet” is also a way of speaking of the coming deliverer. The root of this idea goes back to Deuteronomy 18:15 – “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.” These are the words of Moses – the main OT character in John’s gospel. “The prophet” is another way of speaking of the same concept as the “Messiah” or of “Elijah” in John’s understanding. While each has a distinct meaning for John, in a way all three mean the same thing – the “Messiah” and “Elijah” and “The Prophet” are three ways of speaking of the same coming deliverer. And John’s point is that John the Baptist is none of the three. Jesus is. Perhaps Mark’s, Matthew’s, and Luke’s community did not know of the figure of “Elijah” as a code word for the coming deliverer – the Messiah. John’s community did. What appears to be a contradiction evaporates upon closer examination and a better understanding of what each writer likely understood. John the Baptist’s denial has another powerful function in John’s gospel. Not only does John the Baptist deny that he is the “Messiah,” “Elijah,” or “The Prophet,” his denial is told in such a way to lower John the Baptist and exalt Jesus. That will continue to be the case as the Gospel of John moves forward. All of this points to a tension that likely existed between the followers of John the Baptist and the followers of Jesus – a tension that likely existed long after the death and resurrection of Jesus. We find hints of this tension in the book of Acts – in Acts 19 Paul encounters followers who know only of the baptism of John the Baptist. While we do not know much about this group there likely existed a persistent group of followers who once were disciples of John the Baptist. John’s community was aware of these disciples and the threat that they posed. So John goes out of his way to portray John the Baptist as demoting himself in deference to Jesus. Of course there may have been a basis for this within John the Baptist himself – but John emphasized it far more than the other gospel writers and in such a way that it becomes obvious that it is important that we recognize what John is doing.