John 1 Verses 19-28

John 1:19 “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.” 

John in his preaching, teaching, and baptizing had gotten the attention of the religious leaders of the day.  The leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him questions to ascertain who he was and why he was baptizing.  The first question they asked was “Who art thou?”  The leaders no doubt were aware of how the wise men had come to Jerusalem some 30 years earlier and asked “Where is he that is born king of the Jews.  They were expecting a king to come and restore Jerusalem and the land of their nativity to them.  However, John “confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.” Upon finding that he was not the promised King, they asked him “What then? Art thou Elias?”  This is in response to the prophecy in Mal. 6:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”  Obviously, John did not believe he was Elijah, as he answered, “I am not.”  However, the Lord declared that he was that spirit of Elijah and fulfilled the promise in Malachi. 

Next, they asked John, “Art thou that prophet?”  This is in response unto the promise that the LORD made unto Moses: Deu. 18:18 “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”  However, the prophet the LORD was speaking of was “Jesus Christ” who was a prophet like unto Moses.  John answered “no.”  “Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?” “He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” This was in fulfillment of the prophecy made by Isaiah the prophet in Is. 40:3 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:”   

“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.” John witnessed that Jesus was greater than he and was preferred before him and that he was an unworthy sinner not even worthy of unloosing the latchet of Christ’s shoe.