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“thou.” Jo h n th e B ap tist’s assum ing to th e sta tem e n t of th e facts th em selves, passing alm o st im p e rc ep tib ly from one to th e o ther. It seem s to teach, a n d a b o v e all, to b ap tiz e w ithou t first asking perm ission of th e ecclesiastical au tho ritie s seem s to h av e an g e red them . O ne can alm o st im agine th e sneer in th e w ay in which th ey p u t th e question. T h e inquiry o f e a rn e st h e a rts in th a t d a y was, H ow shall w e escape from th e w ra th o f G o d ? ” (M att. 3 :7 .) But th is comm ittee h a d no question of th a t kind, th e ir question was, “W ho a re you, a n y h ow ? ” T h e re is a large class o f p e o p le w ho tre a t G o d ’s p ro p h e ts in th a t sam e w ay to d ay . In ste ad o f listening to th e ir m essage a n d b eing b ro u g h t to rep en tan c e b y it, th e y sn eer a t th e p ro p h e t an d question his au tho rity . Jew s, G reek s an d R om an s a t th a t tim e w ere all in ex p e c ta tion o f th e com ing of som e g re a t person. T h irty y e a rs b e fo re w ise m en h a d com e from th e East, an d even H e ro d h a d b e e n g reatly excited (M a tt. 2 :1 - 7 ) ; th e re h a d b e en a t th a t tim e su p e rn a tu ra l w o n d e rs in th e h eav en s a n d th e se things h ad n o t b e en fo rgo tten . So th e re w as a ce rta in earnestness, as well as a sneer, in th e ir question— in all th e ir a rro g an c e th e re w as a feeling th a t J o h n th e B ap tist m igh t b e th e Christ. V . 20. “And he confessed, and denied not; but (ra th e r “and” ) con fessed I am not the Christ.” S eem ingly this comm itte e from Je ru sa lem cam e a t o r a b o u t th e tim e o f th e tem p ta tio n o f C hrist in th e w ilderness, an d h a d fo rm ed a tem p ta tio n fo r J o h n th e Baptist. It w ould h av e b e en v e ry easy a n d v e ry n a t u ral fo r him to h av e claim ed to h av e be en som e g re a t one. But Jo h n re fused to a c c ep t an y h o n o r fo r H im self, even th e h o n o r th a t h e m ight w ith a g re a t d e a l o f righ t an d tru th h av e claim ed, viz., th a t of b eing Elijah. But w ithou t a m om e n t’s hes-
co nn e c ted w ith th e p rologue. O ne passes o v e r alm o st im percep tib ly in to th e o ther. F rom th e do c trin a l ex p la n a tio n o f th e facts, J o h n p ro c e ed s qu ite c le a r th a t J o h n th e w rite r h ad him self h e a rd this testim ony o f Jo h n th e B ap tist which h e h e re records. P ro b a b ly his own faith b e g a n w ith this testim ony. T h ro u g h o u t th e G o s p e l J o h n re la te s th e facts which a re c a lcu la ted to p ro d u c e faith in Jesus as th e Christ, th e Son o f G o d ( 2 0 :3 1 ) , largely from th e s ta n d p o in t o f his own p erso n a l exp e ri ence, tak ing up th e step s in th e d e v e lo pm en t o f his own faith. This is one of th e m any in cid en tal p ro o fs th a t J o h n w as really th e a u th o r of th e Gospel. Jo h n th e B ap tist cam e fo r th e specific p u rp o se o f b e a rin g w itness of Jesus, th e L igh t o f th e w o rld (v. 7 ), a n d h e re his te sti m ony o r w itness is given. T h e first p a rt of J o h n th e B ap tist’s testim ony is con c e rn ed w ith th e expectation s which his p reach ing h a d arou sed in th e p o p u la r m ind (vs. 1 9 -2 8 ). T h e second p a rt gives his own recog nition o f Jesu s as th e L am b o f G od , th e Son o f G od . (vs. 2 9 -3 4 ). J o h n th e B ap tist’s m inistry h ad aw ak en ed so g re a t a n in te re st am ong all classes th a t th e le ad e rs a t Je ru sa lem felt com p e lled to ta k e official notice o f it. B o th classes of lead ers in th e ecclesiastical life o f th e n a tion, “priests an d L ev ites,” fo rm ed a comm itte e o f investigation, a n d th ey w ere sen t from th e religious c en te r o f th e peop le, Jeru salem . T h e v e ry ex act d escrip tion o f tho se sent ind icates th e p erson al know ledg e o f th e w riter. In th e o th e r G ospels we con stan tly m e e t th e d esignation “Scribes an d Pharisees,” b u t this is n ev e r found in th e G o spel of J o h n ex c ep t in c h a p te r 8 :3 , w h ere th e te x t is doub tfu l. T h e question th e com m itte e p u t to J o h n w as b rie f a n d to th e po int, “Who art thou?” In th e G re ek th e em phasis is all u p o n th e
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