Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 4 Study # 13
February 19, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis:  Witness-John's testimony was that his "Pharisaical interrogators" lacked the prerequisite "humility" to even begin to understand his "baptism".

Introduction:  In our study last week we considered the fact that water baptism was the chosen method for identifying one's "doctrinal position". To submit oneself to baptism with water by someone who represents a most fundamental "doctrine" is to make a public claim of one's own agreement with that "doctrine". In the setting of Witness-John's baptism with water, the "doctrine" in view was the answer to the question of how one comes into a "forgiven" state with God. The "doctrine" of the Pharisees was that "a forgiven status with God" was an earned status that was rooted in a meticulous adherence to His commandments. The "doctrine" of John was that "a forgiven status with God" was a result of "repentance" (as understood by Isaiah). These "doctrinal positions" were completely contradictory to each other. The Pharisaical doctrine was rooted in the belief that God actually does not forgive the repentant, but the obedient. John's doctrine was that God actually does forgive the disobedient who are willing to admit their disobediences. NOTE WELL Luke 18:9-14.

This morning I want to look into Witness-John's answer to the Pharisaical interrogators to see what he was saying in his answer.

• I. His First "Deflection".
  • A. The interrogators strongly implied that John was out of line by baptizing because he did not have the right "credentials".
  • B. John's answer to that had already been established.
    • 1. He told them he was Isaiah's "voice in the wilderness".
      • a. He did not need any other "credentials" because Isaiah's words had a profound context of meaning that he was fulfilling.
        • 1) Isaiah's words are addressing the "pride of man" (2:11 with 2:14 in view) and the "despairing unbelief of man".
        • 2) John's pronouncement that forgiveness was available through repentance was so thoroughly entrenched in Isaiah that his opposition could not reasonably argue against it.
      • b. This made the opposition of his interrogators adversaries of Isaiah, not his "voice".
    • 2. By this "self-identification", John made their question irrelevant.
• II. His Second "Deflection".
  • A. Given that the interrogators did not even understand Witness-John's self-identification with Isaiah, they persisted.
  • B. John's second response is singularly "odd".
    • 1. The opposition wanted to force him to admit that he didn't have a legitimate basis for making disciples by challenging "why" he was baptizing.
    • 2. The answer he gave is remarkable for its turning of the tables on his interrogators.
      • a. First, in Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; and Acts 11:16 the "baptism with water" is positioned in contrast to Jesus' "baptism with the Holy Spirit", but John does not do that in this text.
      • b. Second, in this text, John makes the contrast of his baptism with water collide with Jesus' already existing "standing in the midst" and the ignorance of his opposition.
        • 1) What he was doing here was making his adversaries a group who "did not know" One Who was already in their midst, having a dual characterization.
          • a) First, this Already Present One is characterized as "the One coming after me".
          • b) Second, this One coming after me is characterized as being so morally pure that John, Isaiah's voice, was not worthy of loosing the thongs of His sandals.
            • i. This is the root of John's message: because The Infinite God is Pure Light, all men, without exception, need forgiveness, or they will perish.
            • ii. Additionally, John's message offers the only method of forgiveness available to anyone who has sinned at any time, for any reason.
              • a) Any appeal to "forgiveness" rooted in behavior is a fool's errand.
              • b) Only the offer of "forgiveness" rooted in humility and faith has any legitimate foundation to give a hope of forgiveness.
        • 2) By declaring that they "did not know Him", John was charging them with having no relationship with The Word as The Light: they were grossly ignorant and significantly out of harmony with the demand that they make the "road in the wilderness straight".
        • 3) Thus, in 1:31 John ties his "baptizing" to the issue of "making the Lamb of God manifest to Israel".

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This is article #026.
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