When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn’t evade the question. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?”

“I am not.”

“The Prophet?”

“No.”

22 Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.”

23 “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.”

24-25 Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”

26-27 John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.”

28 These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time. (The Message)

In order to fulfil God’s purpose for your life, you need a clear sense both of who you are and who you are not. John knew who he was (and wasn’t), and his sense of identity was shaped by Scripture. He saw himself through God’s eyes, and this is so important for us all. We don’t want the world around us to be dictating our self-image (or, for that matter, to be constructing it for ourselves). John had a ‘positive self-image’ in that it was God-given.

As we have seen before, John never confused himself as the messenger with the Message. His message was Jesus. He humbly proclaimed the Christ and glorified Him. We are going to see this repeatedly in the early chapters of this gospel. John’s was a ministry of utter humility. No wonder Jesus described John as ”a burning and shining light” (John 5:35).

I seem to remember someone saying something like this: ‘You cannot, at one and the same time, give the impression that Jesus is a great Saviour and that you are a great preacher.’ John was a great preacher, but he wasn’t trying to impress anyone. He wasn’t great in his own eyes. His greatness lay in his resolute commitment to glorify Christ.

PRAYER: Lord, please give to all who preach your Word the same burning heart John had, for your glory.