19-23. And this is the record of John, when the Jews
sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he
confessed and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they
asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou
the prophet? And he answered, No. Then said thy 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
Not "I am the Word," but "I am the voice." Christ is the essential Word;
we are but the voice to make that word sound across the desert of human
life.
23. Of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the
Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
You see, even as a voice, John was not original. That straining after
originality, of which we see so much to-day, finds no warrant among the
true servants of God. Even though John is only a voice, yet he is a voice
that quotes the Scriptures: "Make straight the way of the Lord, as said
the prophet Esaias." The more of Scripture we can voice, the better. Our
words, what are they? They are but air. His Word, what is it? It is "grace
and truth." May we continually be lending a voice to the great Words of
God that have gone before!
24-27. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked
him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ,
nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize
with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is,
who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not
worthy to unloose.
Ah! Dear friends, although it was a lowly expression that John used,
you and I often feel that we want something that goes lower even than that.
What are we worthy to do for Christ? Yet there are times when, if there
is a shoe-latchet to be unloosed, we are too proud to stoop to do it. When
there is something to be done that will bring no honour to us, we are too
high and mighty to do it. O child of God, if you have ever been in that
condition, be greatly ashamed of yourself! John was first in his day, the
morning-star of the Light of the gospel, yet even he felt that he was not
worthy to do the least thing for Christ. Where shall you and I put ourselves?
Paul said that he was "less than the least of all the saints." He ran away
with a title that might have been very appropriate for us. Well, we must
let him have it, I suppose; and we must try to find another like it; or
if we cannot find suitable words, God help us to have the humble feeling,
which is better still!
28, 29. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where
John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and
saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John preached a sacrificial Saviour, a sin-bearing Saviour, a sin-atoning
Saviour. You and I have nothing else to preach. Let each of us say-
"Tis all my business here below
To cry, Behold the Lamb!"
