John 1:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

NIV: questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

NASB: They asked him, and said to him, 'Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?'

CSB: So they asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?"

NLT: asked him, 'If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?'

KJV: And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

NKJV: And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

Prior to the public ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus, baptism was already practiced in the region as a symbol of repentance. The Greek term is baptizō, which literally means "immersion." Converts to Judaism were sometimes baptized, so the interrogators (John 1:19–24) were already aware of what it meant. However, to the Pharisees, there was little reason for someone who was already a Jew to be baptized. In their minds, a person who was going to baptize others ought to hold priestly office or have prophetic authority.

But John the Baptist says he is not the long-awaited Messiah. He is not Elijah, who many believed would come back to life to tell others about the Promised One. Nor is he the prophet whom Moses promised (Deuteronomy 18:18). The Baptist hasn't made any claims to authority. In fact, he's made it plain that his mission is to make a path for someone else (John 1:23; Malachi 3:1). Since the investigators were out of ideas, they resorted to essentially asking John the Baptist, "Who do you think you are?"

As was his pattern, the Baptist will ignore questions about himself, and focus once again on the Messiah.

John 1:19–28 describes a conversation. On one side is John the Baptist, different from the author of this gospel. On the other are local religious leaders. Baptizing converts to Judaism was common, but the Baptist was calling on Jews to repent and be baptized. The Baptist makes it clear that he is not the "Promised One," but equally clear that his mission is to prepare the way for that One.

The first chapter of John introduces Jesus as "the Word," from the Greek logos. This chapter clearly describes Jesus as God. After this prologue, the chapter describes Jesus recruiting the first of His disciples, as well as a conversation between John the Baptist and the Pharisees. There are seven names or titles for Christ in this chapter, including "the Son of God," "the Word," and "the King of Israel."

The first chapter of the gospel of John equates Christ with God and introduces John the Baptist. The Baptist specifically points to Jesus as the Promised One. Jesus collects the first five of His disciples. In this chapter, Jesus is given seven descriptive names, including "the Word," "the Son of God," and "the King of Israel." This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the gospel, by giving the reader a sense of who Jesus truly is, and why He has come. The rest of the gospel is an exploration of the claims made in this initial passage.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.