John begins chapter one by settling the fact of Jesus divinity and that he is ruler over all. Then he finishes off the chapter by giving John the Baptist’s testimony.
The Jewish leaders are fascinated with John the Baptist. That is not surprising since John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair held together by a leather belt. His diet was also strange. He ate locusts and wild honey (Mt 3:4). That means he didn’t go to the market to buy his food but caught the locusts in the deserts and had to pull down bees’ nests in the wild to get his honey.
The man drew crowds. He was a blunt man, not afraid to call a spade a spade (Mt 3:7-8). The leaders were insulted and asked who he thought he was to dare address them in such an outrageous manner. John answers, “I am not the Christ.”
They wanted to know if he thought he was Elijah or the prophet both had been prophesied would come before the Messiah. John told them he was simply “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord (John 1:19-23).
We too are to cry out in the wilderness around us that the path of the Lord is straight.
