Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21 And they asked him, “What then?

Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you?

We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?”

23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

19 And this is the testimony of Johnwhen the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21 And they asked him, “What then?

Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

22 So they said to him, “Who are you?

We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?”

23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

ESV

Title: The powerful and humble testimony of John

Introduction

Question: What makes for a powerful/biblical testimony?

By testimony I mean verbal evidence of a witness by which something is affirmed to be true.

Meaning an oral account of a witness that affirms the truth of what is communicated.

The term testimony is used 14 times in the gospel of John.

It is important to note that in all 14 instances it is directly speaking of Christ as true.

John’s testimony of Jesus as greater than Himself

Jesus speaking of Himself as the Son of Man

John’s testimony of what he has seen and heard

When receiving the testimony of Christ this speaks of God being true

The women at the well.

Her testimony of Jesus caused many Samaritans to believe.

With more examples we can easily see that a testimony here in the gospel of John is always out to affirm Jesus as true.

Question: What makes for a powerful/biblical testimony?

Answer: One that seeks to affirm the already truth that Jesus Christ is true.

The antithesis of a biblical testimony is a verbal account of self that does not display God as true and glorious.

We are not called to give testimonies of ourselves.

This does not mean that we cannot give an account of what God has done in our lives.

But we must guard ourselves from creating an awe of someone’s testimony because of how bad their past was.

Prior to salvation we have all fallen short of the glory of God.

Whether you were in prison or in a rich family, without Christ everyone was imprisoned in sin.

A biblical testimony must be given with the desire to make Christ known and gloriously true!

Just as every time this gospel does.

The powerful and humble testimony of John is no exception.

His testimony is not about himself.

It is about Christ as true!

He seeks to affirm the already truth that Jesus Christ is true.

Outline

1. Who John is not (v.

19-21)

Verse 19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

Verse 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

21 And they asked him, “What then?

Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

Verse 21 And they asked him, “What then?

Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

In verse 19 John the apostle writes that this is the testimony of John.

We see that it was the Jews who sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to question John.

According to verse 24, we see that the Jews were Pharisees.

Pharʹi-sees, a religious party or school amongst the Jews at the time of our Lord, so called from perîshîn, the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word perûshîm, “separated.”

The Pharisees were members of a Jewish party that exercised strict piety to the Mosaic law.

The Pharisees

Thomas J. Shepherd, The Westminster Bible Dictionary (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1880), 404.

Bradley T. Johnson, “Pharisees,” ed.

John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Throughout the gospel of John they sought to arrest and trap Jesus through arguments.

In we see an example of what they do throughout the gospel of John.

Since they only sought to trap Jesus, we know then that sending the priests and Levites to John, it was no different.

The pharisees sent priests and levites on purpose.

Priests and Levites.—[The

two classes of persons employed about the temple service, Josh.

3:3.

In the wider sense, Levites designates the descendants of Levi; in a narrower sense, as here, the subordinate officers of the Jewish hierarchy, as distinct from the priests of the family of Aaron.—P.

S.] The Levites as an attendant body were designed, under certain circumstances, to arrest the Baptist, and at any rate to add state as a convoy of police, or to enhance the official dignity of the priests.

It is a touch of historical accuracy.

Notice who they sent.

They sent those who were employed in temple service.

They were servants to the Jewish hierarchy.

Their role was to attend to the temple and they were act

They were the ones familiar with Jewish ordinances

This makes sense since John was baptizing people.

According to verse 28, These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan.

28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

They traveled about 2 miles west from Jerusalem to Bethany.

This is not the Bethany that is 2 miles east of Jerusalem.