Asking 'Who is John the Baptist?' Part 1 (TMF:2982)
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
by Daniel Litton Listen to the Feature
“And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” At this point, our attention can be called to a few things. Apparently, some at the time thought that John the Baptist might actually be the Christ that they were looking for. With the words John spoke, as well as with the following he had attained, the thought was he must be the Christ. However, John made it clear that he was not that Person. Another thing to note is that the Old Testament had promised that Elijah would come first before God established his everlasting earthly kingdom for the Israelites, the one where the Messiah would reign as king (see 2 Kings 1:8).