Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for his Word and ask him to give understanding, apply it to our hearts, and work in us.
Read
Scripture Passage
John’s Witness to the Priests and Levites
Matt. 3:1–12; Mark 1:2–8; Luke 3:3–16
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: “I am
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’
as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 1:19–28.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
John humbly denies being the Christ and testifies that he is the promised voice preparing the way for Jesus, the greater one already standing among the people.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
John 1:23
i am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness makes make straight the path of the lord as the prophet isaiah said
Bryan explicitly underlines verse 23 as John's testimony that he is the promised voice preparing the Lord's way; he also underlines verses 26–27 about the greater one among them.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Believe John's testimony, humble yourself before Jesus, and follow him as the Messiah, Christ, and Prince of the universe.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
hey hey welcome to coffee and devotions this thursday morning november 12th that's where every weekday morning at 9 00 a.m and on the weekends when i get a spare moment from my kids you and i we get together we get into god's word and we grow in our love for the lord together and this year 2020 we'll make it through all the gospels well this morning we are at john chapter 1 verses 19 through 28 why don't we go ahead and have some coffee pray and get into god's word let's pray father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word we pray that we would understand it and that you would apply it to our hearts please lord work in us this morning in jesus name amen well let's go ahead and jump into god's word hey paula good to see you this morning now this is the testimony of john when the jews sent priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him who are you he confessed and did not deny but confessed i am not the christ and they asked him what then are you elijah he said i am not are you the prophet and he answered no so they said to him why are you that we may give who are you that we may give an answer to those who sent us what do you say about yourself he said i am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness make way this make straight the way of the lord as the prophet isaiah said now those who were sent from the pharisees and they asked him saying why then do you baptize if you are not the christ nor elijah nor the prophet john answered them saying i baptize with water but there stands one among you whom you do not know it is he who coming after me is preferred before me whose sandal straps i am not worthy to loose these things were done in beth arba beth sorry beth abara beyond the jordan where john was baptizing well we need to ask ourselves what did we just read right a what is this about b what's the best verse to summarize this section and see what are we called to do in response to this so first a what is this about well pharisees send a an envoy to john they try to figure out you know who is this dude what's he doing out there beyond the jordan what's going on is this guy the christ and what does he say nope nope i'm not elijah nope i'm i'm not i'm not who you think i am are you the prophet nope nope okay so who are you right we got to give message back you say you're not the christ we don't know why you're baptizing and stuff what are you doing who are you and he says oh hold on here i baptize with water but there stands one among you whom you do not know it is he who coming after me as preferred before me whose sandal strap i am not worthy to lose and so uh what is this about this is john bat or this is john preaching a baptism of repentance and preparing the way for jesus christ he is the voice crying out in the wilderness that has been prophesied beforehand and he is the one who is he is humbling himself because he knows that jesus christ is there he knows that there's one greater than himself and so what is this about in one sentence i would say uh john testifies that he's preparing the way for jesus maybe you would summarize it a different way what would you write in the margin of your bible what would you say that is in one sentence this is this is getting at well the best verse to summarize this i think i think i might underline too i would underline verse 23 here so i'm gonna go ahead and grab my pencil and my journal bible and i'm gonna underline verse 23 i am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness makes make straight the path of the lord as the prophet isaiah said so that's what i'm going to underline there i'm also going to underline verse 26 and 27 i baptize you with water but there stands one among you whom you do not know it is he who is coming after me who is preferred before me whose straps sandal strap i am not worthy to lose i think those are the key verses that this is getting at see calling what are we called to do in response to this well who is jesus christ do we believe the testimony of john do we know in our hearts that john was preparing his way and one was standing in his midst and his name was jesus he was a first cousin of john and that that was going to be the one who was greater than john preferred more than john to be followed it was he who would be the messiah the christ the prince of the universe and it's that jesus christ we get to follow so do we heed john's message that one who is greater than john has come and as we go through the book of john we'll see that it is indeed jesus christ who is the king let's pray father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word we pray that we would prefer jesus christ we pray that we would humble ourselves and look unto the lord we pray that we would believe and that we would have hope and the only begotten one who is eternal from before the foundations of the world and yet entered into time and space to love sinners like us thank you for your grace in jesus name amen well may god bless you today and may you go about your day with joy and peace as you labor as unto the lord bye