John 1:20

“He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’”

               The author John shows in this verse the response that John the Baptist has to the question from the priests and the Levites of “Who are you?” John the Baptist does not tell them who he is but who he is not and by doing this points them towards who they should be looking for—the Christ. John is showing a key character of the gospel but not the most important character and what does this character do but point towards the whole goal of the good news and that is Jesus. This answer puts the responsibility back onto the priests to ask the next questions which will help John the Baptist to assess where their hearts truly are. I imagine that he is hoping they will ask “Oh, who is the Christ, or do you know?” This would give him an opening to help them understand who is coming after him, God in the flesh.

               Why does John repeat that John “confessed” and specified that he “did not deny?” John the Baptist has an opportunity in this moment where he can deny where the real hope is coming from. John the author of the gospel is showing that the real center of the story has still yet to arrive. John, the author, is eliminating any doubt in the reader’s mind that this man can be considered the Christ or a Christ figure. This flies in the sensibilities of our day that we live in. People talk about being like Christ or that Jesus was a Christ figure, but the fact is we are not the Christ. Jesus is the Christ and that confession is what saves. John the author is showing how John the Baptist is a man declaring Jesus is coming and that he should not be looked on in another way than that.

               As Christians, our greatest victory in life will not be when we are seen as being like Christ but when Jesus Christ can be reached through us. What I mean by this is, just like John the Baptist, we cannot be the Christ in people’s lives. Instead, we must point to the Christ. It is really difficult for us get out of the way sometimes and let Jesus work in people’s lives, but just like John the Baptist, we need to know when to take away our own arrogance and allow Jesus to work. This really gets down to the purpose of why we are here is it to be like Jesus or is it to be his people, the people of God? When we think we need to be Christ to people, we tend to think simply that we have to be “good” where our goodness is the ultimate end. This is a false reality because the ultimate end as John the Baptist knew it was to serve God. Why do we believe in Jesus for salvation? It is not because of some perceived moral superiority. He is the only way to truly know God, and by knowing Him, be able to serve Him. We should not say “I need to be better before I can reach people with the gospel.” We need to say that the good in me is the gospel so that means I need to reach people with this good news.

               For those who are not Christians, the good news, the gospel, the story is not about John the Baptist. It is not about John the author. The good news is not about those who have hurt you in the past or people who you think are hypocrites. The good news is about Jesus, the only Christ who came down to save you from you evilness and to bring you to what is truly good, Himself.