John 1:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He knew well that destruction everywhere follows not the one who suffers evil, but the one who does evil.

I say all this because of the envy of the Jews.

The people who streamed from the cities to John and, in repentance for their sins, received baptism, are the very ones who, after baptism, as if reconsidering, send to ask him: "Who are you?"

Truly offspring of vipers, serpents, if not something worse.

Evil, adulterous, and corrupt generation, after baptism you investigate and curiously seek to know about the Baptist? Can there be anything more foolish than this foolishness?

How then did you come to him? How did you confess your sins? How did you hasten to be baptized by him? How did you ask him what you must do?

Were all these things done by you without reason, without knowledge of their cause and foundation?

Yet blessed John said nothing of the kind. He did not cry out and did not begin to rebuke them. He answered with all condescension.

It is worth knowing why he acted in this way, so that the wickedness of the Jews might be plain and obvious to all.

John often bore witness before the Jews concerning Christ. When he baptized, he frequently reminded those who came about Him, saying: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who comes after me is mightier than I. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Mt 3:11).

But they showed human weakness in relation to John. Having worldly glory in view and looking at outward appearance, they thought it unworthy for John to subordinate himself to Christ.

Many things exalted John in their eyes. First, he had a distinguished and noble origin, for he was the son of a high priest.

Second, there was the strictness of his life and his contempt for all human things. Despising clothing, home, and even food itself, he had spent all the preceding time in the wilderness.

In Christ everything was the opposite. His origin was lowly, as the Jews often pointed out, saying: "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James and Joses?" (Mt 13:55).

His supposed homeland was in such dishonor that Nathanael said: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (Jn 1:46).

His way of life was ordinary, and His garments were no different from those of others. He did not wear a leather belt, had no garment of hair, and did not eat honey and locusts.

He lived like everyone else. He was present at the gatherings of corrupt men and publicans, only in order to draw them.

The Jews did not understand this and reproached Him, as He Himself says: "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say: Behold, a man who loves to eat and drink wine, a friend of publicans and sinners" (Mt 11:19).

So, since John often sent them away from himself to the One who, in their opinion, was lower than he, they were ashamed and irritated by this. They preferred to have John as their teacher, but did not dare say this openly.

Instead they send an embassy to him, hoping by flattery to dispose him to declare himself the Christ.

They do not send to him contemptible men, as they did to Christ, when, wishing to seize Him, they sent servants, then Herodians, and others like them.

They send priests and Levites, and priests from Jerusalem at that, that is, the most honorable ones. The Evangelist did not note this without reason.

They send them to ask John: "Who are you?"

Yet his birth was known to all, so that everyone said: "What then will this child be?" (Lk 1:66). The report about him spread through all the hill country.

Again, when he came to the Jordan, inhabitants of all the cities hastened to him. From Jerusalem and all Judea they came to be baptized by him.

So now these same men ask, not because they do not know him. How could they not know a man who had become so famous?

Rather, they wanted to lead him to the point I have indicated.

He first came in a humble and hidden form. He was hidden because He was humble. Men who, through their pride, despised the humility of God crucified their Savior and made Him their Accuser.

But shall He, who came in hidden form because He came full of humility, not come openly when He is great?

You recently heard the Psalm: "God will come openly, our God, and will not keep silence" (cf. Ps 49:3).

He kept silence in order to be judged. But He will not keep silence when He comes to judge.

It would not have been said, "He will come openly," if He had not first come hiddenly. It would not have been said, "He will not keep silence," if He had not first been silent.

How did He keep silence? Ask Isaiah: "As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth" (Is 53:7).

"But He will come openly and will not keep silence." How openly? "Before Him will be fire, and around Him a mighty tempest" (cf. Ps 49:3).

This tempest must carry away all the chaff from the threshing floor, whatever is produced during the threshing. The fire will burn what the tempest carries away.

Here He is silent. He is silent as Judge, but not silent as Teacher.

For if Christ is silent, what is the purpose of these Gospels? What is the purpose of the apostolic voices, the songs of the Psalms, and the sayings of the prophets?

In all these Christ does not keep silence.

But now He is silent so as not to avenge, and He does not keep silence so as to admonish.

Yet He will come full of glory for vengeance, and will be revealed to all, including those who do not believe in Him.

But now, since He appeared hiddenly, He had to be despised.

For if they had not despised Him, they would not have crucified Him. If they had not crucified Him, He would not have shed the blood by whose price He redeemed us.

To pay the price for us, He accepted crucifixion. To accept crucifixion, He had to meet contempt. To be despised, He showed Himself humble.

Nevertheless, since He manifested Himself in a mortal body, as in the night, He lit a lamp before Himself so that He could be seen.

This lamp was John (cf. Jn 5:35), about whom you have already heard much.

Today's Gospel reading concerns the words of John, and above all, what is very important, his confession that he was not the Christ.

John was so great that one could believe he was the Christ. His humility was shown in this, that he said he was not the Christ when one could believe he was the Christ.

"And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him: Who are you?" (Jn 1:19).

They would not have sent if they had not been moved to do so by the exceptional authority he possessed, for he dared to baptize.

"He confessed and did not deny." What did he confess? "He confessed: I am not the Christ" (Jn 1:19).

Then they heard that John was saying many great things about Jesus Christ to those who came to be baptized. They understood that John was saying all this about Him. They were still more troubled and sent priests and Levites, that is, ministers, from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

They did this not because they did not know. Everyone knew what had happened at his birth, circumcision, and naming, when all said, “What then will this child be?” (Lk 1:66). Rather, they craftily pretended not to know.

They do not say, “Who are you?” but, “You, who are you?” By this they express the following thought: if the One whom you preach is greater than you, then who are you? You are the one to whom we all have flocked, of whom we have formed a lofty opinion, and before whom we have shown such great reverence.

They foolishly supposed that, although John despised glory in every other respect, he too, as a man, would experience what belongs to man. Through vainglory he would say that he was the Christ, and in this way the report about Jesus Christ would be diminished. Against that report every measure was being taken.

For this reason they did not send just anyone, but priests and Levites, and from Jerusalem besides, as being more hostile and crafty than those from any other city.

So it sends a solemn embassy to John, with instructions to question him formally: who he is, and what are the intentions and purpose of his appearance and activity.

The testimony of the Baptist set forth here by the Evangelist John is not the same as that transmitted by Matthew (Mt 3:7 and following), although in both cases Pharisees were among his listeners (Jn 1:24).

In both cases his testimony concerning Jesus Christ and himself is essentially the same.

As is evident from Lk 3:7, in the testimony of the Baptist described by the first three Evangelists, the Pharisees were among the crowd of the people as ordinary listeners.

John, however, reports an official deputation of the Sanhedrin.

They also ask how this testimony of the Baptist relates to the one of which the Evangelist John speaks in the preface to his Gospel (Jn 1:15), which is also essentially the same.

We think that in the preface the Evangelist is not speaking about any single testimony that took place on a particular occasion. Rather, he conveys the essence of all the Baptist's testimonies concerning Christ.

In verse 28 the Evangelist notes that this took place beyond the Jordan in Bethabara. This reading has a smaller number of less authoritative manuscripts.

In ancient manuscripts, however, the reading is Bethany, and scholars regard this latter reading as authentic.

This Bethany is not the one located on the Mount of Olives (Jn 11:1). It was at the Jordan. Περαν του Ιορδανου can mean both beyond and on this side of the Jordan.

In any case, this Bethany was near the Jordan.

It is thought that the reading Bethabara entered the text from Origen. In his time he found no place near the Jordan called Bethany, but found on the eastern side of the Jordan, almost directly opposite Jericho, a village called Bethabara.

There tradition indicated the place of John's baptism.

It is also observed that, just as Bethany in Hebrew can mean a place of boats or ships, so Bethabara means a place of crossing.

This Bethabara is probably identical with Beth-barah (Judg 7:24) and Beth-arabah (Josh 18:22). That name probably arose from the crossing of the Israelites through the Jordan during the conquest of the land of Canaan (Josh 3:11-17).

From this it follows, first, that the supposition is probable that one and the same place near the Jordan was called in different times by different names similar in meaning.

Second, it is clear that John chose for his preaching and baptism a place where the movement of the people was especially vigorous.

The Evangelist simply calls those who sent the delegation Jews, Jews from Jerusalem.

The tribe of Judah, according to the divinely established order, was the tribe from which the Messiah was to come. Within its territory, therefore, stood the capital of the people of God, Jerusalem, and the center of Old Testament worship, the temple.

Historically, as is known, things developed so that the Jews, together with the Benjaminites, alone remained fully faithful to the religion of the fathers.

From ancient times they were distinguished from the members of the kingdom of Israel as members of the kingdom of Judah.

After the Babylonian captivity, the Jews, as pure descendants of Abraham and true believers, were distinguished from Samaritans and Galileans.

Christ also acknowledges this dignity and significance of the Jewish community (Jn 4:22). In the sense of this distinction, the expressions "Jews" and "Jewish" are often used by the Evangelist John (Jn 2:13; 5:1 and elsewhere).

But, as is also known, the outward and fleshly direction of Jewish orthodoxy made the zealots of the law into hardened opponents of Christ.

Therefore the Jews in the Gospel of John often appear precisely as a class of people hostile to Christ (Jn 5:10; 7:1; 6:31; 10:24 and elsewhere).

Consequently, the meaning of the name "Jews" differs somewhat in different places, depending on the context.

In the present case, the addition "from Jerusalem" points to the Sanhedrin. The solemnity of the embassy and the official tone of the interrogation point to the same thing.

Those sent consisted of priests and Levites. The former were indeed members of the Sanhedrin.

They are sent as experts and interpreters of the law and the prophets, since the question was religious in character.

The latter probably accompanied them as a police guard or, in general, as attendants of the priests.

John’s answers and his testimony about Jesus as the Messiah.

But John, discerning the purpose for which they had come, does not answer their question directly. Instead, he declares that he is not the Christ.

It seems that those sent questioned and urged John very insistently. According to the Evangelist, he first declared to them that he was not the Christ, and then did not deny these words.

If the Evangelist says that he did not deny his words, this means that those sent by the Sanhedrin asked and urged him to deny them and declare himself to be the Christ. Then, probably in response to new proposals and persuasions, John finally declared once more that he was not the Christ.

The Sanhedrin that sent them probably very much wanted John to declare himself the Christ. Otherwise it is difficult to explain the importunity with which they pressed John.

According to Chrysostom, the members of the Sanhedrin wished to dispose John by flattery to declare himself the Christ, and then to bring him under their influence.

“He confessed and did not deny, and confessed” (Jn 1:20) means that he openly declared it.

They gave themselves over to a disgracefully secular life and to greedy gain at the expense of suffering Israel, which was distressed both religiously and materially.

For such a Sanhedrin, the rumor of the Messiah’s appearance could not fail to be troubling. It judged it necessary officially to question John by what right he appeared as a teacher of the people.

They considered the religious and moral instruction of the people to be their exclusive privilege. In their proud self-opinion, they occupied the seat of Moses and held in their hands the key of knowledge of the Law (Mt 23:2; Lk 11:52). Later, Christ exposed their arrogant claim to the exclusive right of teaching.

Thus they regarded as an encroacher on their rights anyone who, without their consent and official authorization, undertook the office of teacher of the people. With precisely such a question about authority, the chief priests and elders of the people later approached Christ (Mt 21:23).

Therefore a special delegation from the Sanhedrin was sent to the banks of the Jordan, where John was preaching and baptizing. It consisted of priests and Levites, who were to interrogate the newly appeared teacher and demand from him explanations concerning his person and his authority for the ministry he had undertaken.

The delegation put a decisive question to him: “Who are you?”

The Jerusalem Sanhedrin had the duty of overseeing the religious affairs and movements of the land and the people. In view of the great movement produced by the Baptist’s appearance, it judged it necessary to find out more precisely what sort of person John was, and specifically whether he was the expected Messiah.

That this is the exact meaning of the question, “Who are you?” is clear from John’s answer, that he is not the Christ (Jn 1:20), and from the further questions and answers.

“The Jews sent”: by “the Jews” here are meant the members of the supreme tribunal, or Sanhedrin. This is clear from the character of the questions proposed to John. They were almost official interrogations, which could only have been proposed on behalf of the Sanhedrin and by those sent or authorized by it.

“Priests and Levites”: priests were members of the Sanhedrin, but this is not known about Levites. Perhaps in this case they were something like a police guard attached to the priests who had been sent and authorized as members of the Sanhedrin.

Perhaps these men were chosen because the members of the Sanhedrin had special confidence in them, though they themselves were not members of it. In any case, it is clear that this was an official delegation to John from the supreme tribunal in Jerusalem. It was not without a certain solemnity and was specially sent to John to learn from him about his person and his work.

He begins specifically with John’s testimony about Jesus before those sent from Jerusalem (Jn 1:19-28), then his testimony before the people (vv. 29-34), and before his own disciples (vv. 35-56).

Verse 19. Those who sent to the Forerunner were “the Jews from Jerusalem.” By this the Evangelist means the Jerusalem authorities (Jn 18:12, 14), members of the supreme tribunal called the Sanhedrin.

Those sent were priests and Levites, as educated men capable of judging matters of faith with inward concern. The Forerunner’s powerful preaching, the strictness of his life, and the multitude of his disciples drew the attention of the Jewish authorities to him.

The duty of watching over the purity of faith and morals, prescribed by the Law (Deut 17:8; Deut 19:17; Ezek 44:15, 24), suggested to the well-intentioned a fear that harm to the faith might arise from John’s preaching.

At the same time, the hope of seeing an end to civil calamities with the appearance of the Messiah moved the majority to approach the son of Zacharias with the supposition: is he not the Messiah?

For John, answering them (Jn 1:26, 32 and following), already bears witness that he saw the Spirit descending upon the Lord Jesus. As we know from the Synoptic Gospels, this occurred during the Lord's Baptism (Mt 3:16-17; Mk 1:10-11; Lk 3:21-22).

Immediately after the Baptism, the Lord was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Mt 4:1; Mk 1:12; Lk 4:1).

At that time, when the Lord had completed the days of fasting and prayer and, after the temptation, was returning from the wilderness to the Jordan, those sent by the high priest of the Jews appeared at the Jordan.

To them John pointed directly and without hesitation, saying that the Great One had appeared, whose sandals he was unworthy to carry: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Mt 3; Mk 1:7; Lk 3:16).

But the heart of those who sent and those who were sent was unclean. They were convinced that John was a true prophet, and they did not believe him (Mt 21:24-27; Mk 11:29-38; Lk 20:3-8).

They did not believe him because he exposed the uncleanness of their heart, their greed, and their thirst for power.

They did not believe him also because John bore witness concerning the Lord Jesus.

"You sent to John," the Lord said to the Jews, "and he bore witness to the truth" (Jn 5:33).

The holy Evangelist John places this testimony of John the Baptist before the account of events, because it took every justification away from the leaders of the people.

They themselves had sent to John. If they rejected his testimony, it was only because it did not agree with the desires of their corrupted heart and distorted thought.

We have spoken above about the significance of John the Baptist, the prophet standing on the boundary of the two Covenants.

His words addressed to the representatives of the Old Testament Church, his report to them that he had seen the Spirit of God descending upon the Lord Jesus, and his testimony that this is the Lamb of God, are fearful witnesses against the Jews.

These words were carefully recorded so that Christians might remember that the leaders of the Sanhedrin committed their crime in full awareness when they killed the Lord Jesus.

"And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him: Who are you?

"And he confessed, and did not deny, but confessed: I am not the Christ."

The word by which the Slavonic text sometimes renders Ἰουδαῖοι, as we saw above, means that section of the once chosen people which had become hardened in narrow national fanaticism and, through malice, was incapable of receiving the light of God.

When John wrote his divinely inspired Gospel, the full and final separation of the Church of Christ from the Jewish Church had taken place.

The word "Jew," set against the name Christian, called to mind a corpse in the presence of a living organism that has eternal life before it.

These Jews send priests and Levites to ask the prophet who appeared in the wilderness: "Who are you?"

John's answer in verse 20 proves that John knew their thoughts. He foresaw that they had come with the definite purpose of finding out whether he was the Messiah.

Or perhaps they had come in order to create an accusation against him. John too was hateful to the Jews as one who rebuked them and shook the authority of the scribes and teachers of the people.

The unlearned people were called by the scribes the contemptible am ha'aretz. Contempt for the people was vividly expressed in the words of the Pharisees in Jn 7:49: "But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed."

The solemnity with which John declares that he is not the Christ is very remarkable: "He confessed and did not deny."

Answering the secret thought of those who questioned him, he solemnly proclaims: "I am not the Christ." For he is already preparing to declare that Christ stands in their midst (Jn 1:26).

That many considered John to be the Christ is evident from Lk 3:15-16: "As the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying: I baptize you with water. But One mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."