Religious Leaders

It was the Pharisees, Priests, Levites, Sadducees and Scribes that persecuted Jesus. These were the religious rulers. The Pharisees and Sadducees were religious political leaders. The priests and Levites served in the temple, offering sacrifices. The scribes were those who copied scriptures as a life time profession. They were all heavily involved with scripture but were far from God (John 5:31-47).

There are two dangers we all face. The first one is obvious. We can be involved in religious activity and still not know God. The second is not so obvious. We can make the mistake of presuming all religious leaders have wrong attitudes and are hypocrites. When you are tempted to jump to this conclusion remember that Jesus was a Rabbi (religious teacher). The eleven disciples and Paul were religious leaders, without whom we would know nothing about Christ.

The point is not to avoid leaders (Hebrews 10:7-8, 17; Romans 13:17). The point is to make sure your heart is right with God.

Our Voice

The Pharisees asked John the Baptist if he was Elijah or the prophet. The prophet Malachi had prophesied, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. (Malachi 4:5). He also prophesied, “"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty” (Malachi 3:1).

John thought of himself simply as a voice crying in the wilderness (John 1:20-23). But did you know Jesus himself said John was Elijah? (Mathew 11:14). This does not mean the literal reincarnation of Elijah (Heb 9:27; 2 Cor 5:8) but he was sent with the same anointing as Elijah. Elijah was the picture of John the Baptist in the Old Testament.

John did not fully understand his significance in God’s order of things. We also do not have a full grasp of what God may be doing through us. Take courage. God is at work in you (Philippians 2:13).

A Voice

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.

How to Know the Father

Some think of Jesus as so compassionate that he was willing to step in between us and his angry Father. People have loved Jesus, but feared God thinking of him as angry and vengeful. John addresses that very issue in his next statement.

“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him” (John 1:18). Notice Jesus is in the bosom of the Father. They are one in essence. They act as one unit (John 10:30, 17:10). Jesus is the exact representation of the Father (Hebrews 1:3). When we see Christ we see the Father (John 14:9).

When Jesus heals, the Father is healing. When Jesus speaks, the Father speaks. What Jesus says, the Father says. That is why John has written the Only Begotten Son has declared the Father.

Do you want to know the Father? Know the Son.