Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 4 Study # 6
January 1, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis:   Witness-John's initial response to the "who are you?" question was a "confession" that was a "denial" and a "non-denial" that was a "confession".

Introduction:   In our study two weeks ago, we considered the actual character of those who questioned John as to his identity. In that study we considered the fact that the "questioners" had their own agenda that did not include "believing" John's answers to their questions (Mark 11:30-33 and Luke 20:4-7). We also considered the fact that the "witness" of Witness-John was like unto the well-known "narrow gate" that leads to Life that most people never enter. The person, Witness-John, is not that "narrow gate"; but his "witness" is.

So far in our studies of the "witness" of Witness-John, we have discovered that The Word Who became flesh by way of his conception, apparently in Nazareth, and birth in Bethlehem is the Infinite God: He was, He is, and He shall always be -- completely without boundaries as we know them. Being, then, an element in the narrow gate metaphor, His identity as "Infinite God" is one aspect of the "witness" that, not believed, will keep us from the faith in Jesus that allows us to be accepted by His Father.

Now, we are involved with the second aspect of Author-John's description of Witness-John's "faith-inducing testimony". This second aspect has particularly to do with what John had to say about his own identity when the rulers of Judaism's doctrine sent representatives to him to ask, "Who are you?"

• I. It Is This "Identity" Issue That Is Critical.
  • A. The "identity" questions are four.
    • 1. Strongly implied in the first "answer" is this question: Are you The Christ?
    • 2. Then, plainly stated, the second question is this: Are you Elijah?
    • 3. At his disclaimer regarding the Elijah question, they asked a third question: Are you The Prophet?
    • 4. When he said "No" to that question, they asked the last question: What, then, do you say of yourself?
  • B. Because the issue is Witness-John's "identity", his answers are crucial (and somewhat problematic).
    • 1. Before recording his first answer, Author-John describes the answer in a problematic way.
    • 2. Author-John's record of Witness-John's second answer has its own "problem" as given by Matthew in 11:14 and 17:10-13.
• II. To Give The First Part Of The Answer To The "Identity" Question, Author-John Says of Witness-John That He "Witnessed" With The Words, "I Am Not The Christ".
  • A. Author-John does not simply record that this is what Witness-John said.
    • 1. Rather, he characterizes John's words as both a "confession" and a "non-denial", with a special focus on the "confession" part.
    • 2. In the original Greek, and in the more faithful translations into English, the wording is, at first blush, almost "contortionist".
      • a. The "confession" is stated as a "denial": I am not The Christ.
      • b. And the "non-denial" is left hanging as an actual "confession": What did he refuse to deny?
  • B. What did Witness-John "confess" that is actually a "denial"?
    • 1. He denied that he was The Christ.
      • a. This, obviously, is hyper-critical if Witness-John is the actual agent of the faith of all who become children of God by faith: we have to know and believe who is not The Christ (this is no small matter according to Mark 13:6).
      • b. His later words are "Whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose" (John 1:27) so that, not only was he not The Christ, he was not even worthy to loose the sandals off of the feet of The Christ.
    • 2. Author-John calls this a "confession".
      • a. The word for "confess" is a kind of sentence word that means "to say, and mean, the same thing someone else has said" as in, "If we confess our sins..." (1 John 1:9).
      • b. That John said, "I am not The Christ" means that he was declaring what God would have said if He was the One being questioned: John is not The Christ.
  • C. What did Witness-John "refuse to deny" that is actually a "confession"?
    • 1. He did deny that he was The Christ, but Author John characterizes that as a "non-denial".
    • 2. What did John refuse to deny?
      • a. Since "identity" is the issue, the non-denial had to be an "identity" issue (very much like Peter's "denial" that he was a disciple of Jesus; he really was, but "denied" it).
      • b. John's actual identity was established by Author-John in 1:6-7.
        • 1) He was a man specially created by God and sent from Him.
        • 2) He was a man whose name was given to him by God as a testimony regarding God as most fundamentally "gracious".
        • 3) He was a man whose message was in both his name and his words.
      • c. John did not deny any of these three Identity issues.
• II. What Must We Accept Of John's "Witness" If We Are To Come To Faith In The Word Who Grants The Privilege Of The Identity As Children Of God.
  • A. First, that The Word is Infinite God.
  • B. Second, that Witness-John's identity is critical as the agent of the faith that makes us acceptable to God and the first aspect of that identity is decidedly NOT THE CHRIST, but also decidedly God's "witness" through which all who believe in Jesus must come to God.

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This is article #019.
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