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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_1:19-23
19This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." 22Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" 23He said, "I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'make straight the way of the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said."
Joh_1:19 "the Jews" In John this refers to (1) the people of Judea who were hostile to Jesus or (2) the Jewish religious leaders only (cf. Joh_2:18; Joh_5:10; Joh_7:13; Joh_9:22; Joh_12:42; Joh_18:12; Joh_19:38; Joh_20:19). Some scholars have asserted that a Jew would not refer to other Jews in this derogatory way. However, Jewish opposition to Christianity intensified after the Council of Jamnia in a.d. 90.
The word "Jew" basically comes from someone from the tribe of Judah. After the twelve tribes split in 922 b.c., Judah became the name for the southern three tribes. Both Jewish kingdoms, Israel and Judah, were taken into exile, but only a few, mostly from Judah, returned under Cyrus' edict of 538 b.c. The term then became a title for the descendants of Jacob who lived in Palestine and were scattered throughout the Mediterranean world.
In John the term is mostly negative, but its general use can be seen in Joh_2:6; Joh_4:22.
▣ "priests and Levites" Apparently John the Baptist was also of priestly descent (cf. Luk_1:5 ff). This is the only occurrence of the term "Levites" in the Gospel of John. They possibly were the Temple police. This was an official group of "fact finders" sent from the religious authorities in Jerusalem (cf. Joh_1:24). The priests and Levites were usually Sadducees, while the scribes were usually Pharisees (cf. Joh_1:24). Both of these groups were involved in questioning John the Baptist. The political and religious antagonists joined forces to oppose Jesus and His followers.
▣ "Who are you" This same question is asked of Jesus in Joh_8:25. John and Jesus taught and acted in ways which made the official leaders uncomfortable, because they recognized in both men certain OT eschatological themes and terms. This question, then, relates to the Jewish expectation of end-time, New Age personages.
Joh_1:20 "And he confessed, and did not deny, but confessed" This statement is a strong, threefold denial that he was the expected, promised Messiah (Christ). For "confess" see Special Topic at Joh_9:22-23.
▣ "the Christ" "Christ" is the Greek translation of the Hebrew term "mâðîah," which meant "an anointed one." In the OT the concept of anointing was a way of emphasizing God's special calling and equipping for a specific task. Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed. It came to be identified with that special One who was to implement the new age of righteousness. Many thought John the Baptist was this promised Messiah (cf. Luk_3:15) because he was the first inspired spokesman for YHWH since the OT writers some four hundred years earlier.
At this point I would like to include my comments from Dan_9:26 on "Messiah."
Dan_9:26
NASB "the Messiah"
NKJV "Messiah"
NRSV "an anointed one"
TEV "God's chosen leader"
NJB "An Anointed One"
The difficulty in interpreting this verse is because of the possible meanings associated with the term Messiah or anointed one (BDB 603):
1. used of Jewish kings (e.g. 1Sa_2:10; 1Sa_12:3)
2. used of Jewish priests (e.g. Lev_4:3; Lev_4:5)
3. used of Cyrus (cf. Isa_45:1)
4. #1 and #2 are combined in Psalms 110 and Zechariah 4
5. used of God's special coming Davidic King to bring in the new age of righteousness
a. line of Judah (cf. Gen_49:10)
b. house of Jesse (cf. 2 Samuel 7)
c. universal reign (cf. Psalms 2; Isa_9:6; Isa_11:1-5; Mic_5:1-4 ff)
I personally am attracted to the identification of "an anointed one" with Jesus of Nazareth because of:
1. the introduction of an eternal Kingdom in Daniel 2 during the fourth empire
2. the introduction of "a son of man" in Dan_7:13 being given an eternal kingdom
3. the redemptive clauses of Dan_9:24 which point toward a culmination of fallen world history
4. Jesus' use of the book of Daniel in the NT (cf. Mat_24:15; Mar_13:14)
Joh_1:21 "'What then? Are you Elijah'" Because Elijah did not die but rather was taken up in a whirlwind to heaven (cf. 2Ki_2:1), he was expected to come before the Messiah (cf. Mal_3:1; Mal_4:5). John the Baptist looked and acted much like Elijah (cf. Zec_13:4).
▣ "'I am not'" John the Baptist did not see himself in the eschatological role of Elijah, but Jesus did see him functioning as a fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy (cf. Mat_11:14; Mat_17:12).
▣ "'Are you the Prophet'" Moses predicted that one like himself (whom he called "The Prophet") would come after him (cf. Deu_18:15; Deu_18:18; Joh_1:25; Joh_6:14; Joh_7:40; Act_3:22-23; Act_7:37). There are two distinct ways this term was used in the NT: (1) as an eschatological figure distinct from the Messiah (cf. Joh_7:40-41) or (2) as a figure identified with the Messiah (cf. Act_3:22).
Joh_1:23 "'I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness'" This is a quote from the Septuagint translation of Isa_40:3 with an allusion to the parallel in Mal_3:1.
▣ "'Make straight the way of the Lord'" This is a quote from (Isa_40:3) the literary unit of Isaiah (chapters 40-54) in which the Servant Songs occur (cf. Isa_42:1-9; Isa_49:1-7; Isa_50:4-11; Isa_52:13 to Isa_53:12). They initially referred to Israel, but in Isa_52:13 to Isa_53:12, the phrase has been individualized. The concept of straightening the road was used for preparation of a royal visit. The term "straight" is related to the etymology of the term "righteousness." See Special Topic at 1Jn_2:29.
This whole paragraph may have served John the Apostle's theological purpose of depreciating John the Baptist because of the development of several heretical groups in the first century that took John the Baptist as their spiritual leader.