This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but he confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 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. John 1:19-23, NRSVue
…tell us something – anything!- about yourself.” [John said] “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I”m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.” John 1:23, The Message
John didn’t need to pretend to be what he was not – a Messiah or a prophet returned to life. It seems that being himself was enough, more than enough for John to say what he was put on the earth to say.
I am a voice crying out, thunder in the desert. Make the road straight for God!
All of us have a voice. All of us are a voice. The question is: do we know ourselves well enough, who we are and who we are not, to say what we were put on this earth to say?
Imagine how seductive it was for John to hear people asking “Are you the messiah?’ And, failing that, “Are you Elijah” the last great prophet who did not taste death. Those are pretty heady identities. I would fall for it. Every time.
I suspect I would as well…and I imagine it would be a little hell on earth once I did…thanks, David! peace, Johnna