John 1:26Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

How so? They regarded John as worthy of all faith and so truthful that they believed him not only when he testified about others, but also when he spoke about himself. If they had not held this opinion of him, they would not have sent to learn from him about himself.

It is known that we believe only those people when they speak about themselves whom we regard as most truthful. Yet this alone does not close their mouths. So too does the disposition of soul with which they approached him.

They came to him with particular zeal, although afterward they changed. Pointing to both things, Christ said: "He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light" (Jn 5:35).

John's own answer showed still more that he was a man worthy of faith. It is said, "He who does not seek his own glory is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him" (Jn 7:18).

John did not seek his own glory, but sent them to another. Meanwhile those sent were trusted and honorable men. Thus no refuge or excuse remained for their unbelief in Christ.

Why did you not receive what John said about Him? You sent your elders. Through them you questioned him. You heard what the Baptist answered.

They, for their part, showed all zeal and curiosity. They named all the persons whom you supposed him to be. Yet he confessed with complete freedom that he was neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet.

He did not stop with this. He also said who he himself was, and spoke about the nature of his baptism. He said that it was of little account, imperfect, and contained nothing in itself except water.

By this he showed the excellence of the baptism given by Christ. He also added the testimony of Isaiah the prophet, uttered long before. He called the one Lord, and the other His servant and slave.

What remained to be done after this? Was it not to believe in Him of whom John bore witness, to worship Him, and to confess Him as God?

That this testimony was the work not of flattery, but of truth, was shown by the character and philosophy of the witness. This is also intelligible because no one prefers his neighbor to himself.

When one can receive honor oneself, no one would willingly yield it to another, especially when the honor is so great. Therefore John would not have offered such testimony about Christ if He were not God.

Even if he had turned this honor away from himself as above his nature, he certainly would not have ascribed it to another being lower than himself.

"Among you stands One whom you do not know." He said this because Christ usually mingled with the crowd as a simple man, and He always taught against pride and vainglory.

By knowledge here John means exact knowledge, namely, who He is and whence He comes.

Perhaps someone may say that in another sense also the Lord stood among the Pharisees, though they did not know Him. Since they seemed to devote themselves diligently to the Scriptures, and the Lord was proclaimed in them, He was "among" them, that is, in their hearts.

Yet they did not know Him, because they did not understand the Scriptures, though they had them in their hearts. Perhaps it is also in this sense: since the Lord was mediator between God and men, He stood "among" the Pharisees, wishing to reconcile them to God. Yet they did not know Him.

If he had tried to persuade them and they had not believed, he would have remained rejected and cast down, despised among men and condemned by God. But he did not need to persuade them, for he saw that they already thought so.

He could have accepted their error and increased his own glory.

See how much less he would have been if he had been worthy to do this. See how much he would have humbled himself if he had spoken thus: "He is greater than I; I am worthy only to loose the strap of His shoe."

For he would have said that he was worthy to bend down to His feet. But now, how highly did he think of Him, when he considered himself unworthy even of His feet, even of His very shoe!

Therefore he came to teach humility to the proud and to announce the way of repentance.

For because He was full of humility, He was not noticed, and therefore the lamp was lit. See how John gives way, though he could have been accepted as another.

He who by birth preceded Him who was to be born also preceded by baptism the Lord who was to baptize. He who by preaching became the Forerunner of Christ became His Forerunner also by Baptism, through imitation of the Mystery.

Meanwhile, as he proclaims the Mystery, he affirms that this Christ both stands among men and is not known by them. For the Lord, appearing in the flesh, became visible according to the flesh and invisible according to majesty.

Among the ancients there was a custom: if a man did not wish to take the woman who sought him, the one who, by right of kinship, came to her as bridegroom would have his shoe loosed by him. See Ruth 4:7.

Who, then, is Christ among men if not the Bridegroom of the Holy Church? John says of Him, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom" (Jn 3:29). But because people thought John was Christ, which John denies, he rightly says that he is unworthy to loose the strap of His shoe.

Yet this can also be understood in another way. Who does not know that shoes are made from the skins of dead animals? The incarnate Lord, when He came, appeared as if shod, because in His divinity He assumed the deadness of our corruption.

But human sight is not sufficient to penetrate the mystery of this Incarnation. It is impossible to investigate how the Word becomes flesh, how the most high and life-giving Spirit is given life in a mother's womb, and how He who has no beginning both exists and is conceived.

Therefore the strap of the shoe signifies the bindings of the mystery. John cannot loose the strap of His shoe, because even the one who knew this through the spirit of prophecy cannot search out the mystery of His Incarnation.

John baptizes not with the Spirit, but with water. Since he cannot release sins, he washes with water the bodies of those baptized, yet he does not wash the mind by forgiveness.

Why does one baptize who does not lessen sins by baptism? It is so that, preserving the order of his precedence, he who by birth preceded Him who was about to be born might also precede by baptism the Lord who was about to baptize.

And he who by prophecy became Christ's advance soldier might in baptism also become His advance soldier through imitation of the Mystery.

When someone entered a house, slaves or servants removed this footwear from those who came in and washed their feet, dusty from walking. The duties of loosing the shoe straps, removing the shoes, and washing the feet were considered the most humiliating.

And so John, in comparison with Christ, places himself in the same position as the last slave in relation to his master.

It is unknown what consequences followed this embassy of the Sanhedrin. Unable to resolve this mystery for itself, the Sanhedrin most likely left the whole matter without any consequence for a time, reserving the right to intervene later, when it became clearer.

In this he indicates his right and duty to baptize, although this baptism is still only preliminary. Now those who were sent could understand more clearly who John was.

Yet he does not speak more plainly about himself and Christ, leaving room for their faith. For faith is needed first of all in order to come to the Messiah and enter His kingdom, which was beginning to be established.

"I baptize with water": see the note on Mt 3:11 and parallels. "Among you stands": this expression does not mean that at the present moment He is standing among you. Rather, it means that He has already appeared, has come to His people, and lives among them.

"Whom you do not know": this expression points to the question of those sent, "Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ?" This form of question assumes that they still do not know the Messiah who has appeared among them, Jesus of Nazareth.

If He had been recognized and accepted at His Baptism, it was only by some. In general, the Jews did not yet know Him.

This is not at all the Baptism that, according to the prophecies, the Messiah was to perform. Protestants, like the Pharisees who interrogated the Forerunner, have groundlessly confused John's baptism with Christ's Baptism. The result is that they understood neither one nor the other.

"Among you stands One whom you do not know." "He said this because Christ usually appeared among the crowd of the people as a simple man, and taught against pride and vainglory," with which the arrogant Jewish scribes appeared (Chrysostom).

The Jews awaited the Messiah, and awaited Him intensely. But they did not await the Messiah of whom the prophets spoke, the meek angel who by His sufferings redeems spiritual freedom for men.

They awaited a Messiah invented by their passions. Therefore it turned out that they did not recognize the Messiah who had come.

"He it is who comes after me, who was before me, the strap of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose." With what love the Forerunner uses the occasion to speak of the true Messiah, the Messiah of the prophets.

Behold, he says, the One whom the prophets promised: He is coming. He comes after me and appeared in time after me with His ministry. Yet how ancient He is! "He was before me": He existed long before me.

How exalted He is! "I am not worthy to loose the strap of His shoe." The shoe, or sandal, among Eastern peoples was fastened to the foot with a strap. Loosing the strap of sandals was the work of servants.

The disciples of a respected and beloved teacher considered it an honor if they fastened and loosed the straps of the teacher's sandals. John the Baptist does not consider himself a worthy servant and disciple of Him who came after him, Christ Jesus.

So great, so exalted is that Teacher, that Master!

See Jacob's prophecy to Judah in Gen 49:10, the numerous indications of the prophets, and compare the words of Symeon the God-receiver in Lk 2:30-32.

It is very remarkable that, when they hear that there is One "who is coming, who was before John," and "whose shoe strap John is not worthy to loose," the Pharisees do not grow curious to learn who this is, announced by such solemn words.

Apparently those who were sent do not want, and even fear, to enter into this mystery. They not only fail to investigate who this One is who stands among them, but apparently answer nothing and depart in silence.

Above, concerning verse 15, we said that the expressions "He was before me" and "He was prior to me" carry thought back into an indefinite depth of the past. This is like Jn 8:58, where the Lord said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

We are not entirely certain whether the Pharisees departed completely from the Jordan after this conversation with John, or whether they were present at John's other testimony concerning the Lord and the Holy Spirit, spoken on the next day (vv. 29-34).

The holy evangelist John says nothing about this. From studying Mt 3:7-12 together with John chapter 1, it is clear that the words addressed to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized by John were spoken before the Lord's Baptism.

In John's Gospel, however, the Lord's Baptism is spoken of as an event already accomplished. Therefore the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized cannot be confused with the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem to ask John, "Who are you?"

Therefore the testimony of Matthew does not clarify whether those sent from Jerusalem remained the next day and heard the second testimony of John the Baptist. We incline to the thought that, although they no longer disputed with the Baptist, they remained the next day.

They heard his testimony concerning Him who "baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (cf. below, v. 29 and following).

He reproves them for their low opinion of Christ and joins the Word who was in the beginning with His becoming man. He connects "whom you do not know" with "He who comes after me," and shows Christ's superiority over himself with the words, "I am not worthy" (Jn 1:27).