90 Days with Jesus, Day 3: He was Nobody

John 1:19-28

Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ. ” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 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.’ “Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
It takes a great deal of courage and restraint to confess to being nobody. John did not say he was a nobody, but that he was nobody. His was a relative comparison. Jesus certainly thought John was somebody. He said, according to Matthew: “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” That’s high praise, but John took no note of it. He claims no mantle for himself. He claims no identity for himself. He simply says, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert.” How many of us can say with such certainty that we are willing to stand unadorned (voice), alone (one), and without audience (desert) in order to accomplish something for someone else—especially Jesus! John says he was one; how many ‘ones’ of us should there be?

John pointed away from himself. He ‘freely confessed…’ that he was not the Messiah, the Prophet, or Elijah. But clearly he was someone because the people were going to him, questioning him, plying him for answers about his activities. John could have made a show. John could have claimed something for himself. John could have attracted large hordes of disciples to himself. He could have went to Jerusalem or some big city nearby and stood on the temple steps and preached his Gospel. Instead he freely confessed to being nobody in comparison to Someone. Instead, John stood out in the desert and if people came, they came; if they didn’t, they didn’t. It takes a lot of restraint to remain anonymous. It takes a lot of restraint to do bunch of work for someone else to get all the glory. And so John stayed out in the desert, in the wastelands, in the barren, void where he was only a voice blowing on the wind.

John had a testimony but it was not about himself. I think this must be our role also. We point away from ourselves to Jesus just like John did. We can claim no disciples. We can claim no title. Our work is very much like that John: We are preparing the way of the Lord, we are preparing this place for his arrival, we are making straight paths in these deserts where we live. We are make preparations for the day when Messiah will be here, but we certainly make no effort to claim to be Messiah ourselves. Our ambition must always be to point away from ourselves to Him. And when we are brave enough to make ourselves nothing, to be mere voices in desert places, then I think we are doing all we can to exalt Christ. This is clearly John’s point. He will do nothing for himself that might detract from the glory of Jesus. Neither must we.

I hope the 3rd of your 90 Days with Jesus is Blessed!

jerry