NOTES for Joh 1:19-28
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? |
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. |
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. |
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? |
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. |
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. |
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? |
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; |
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. |
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. |
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"The voice of one crying in the wilderness". These words, if torn from their context, sound like a cry of loneliness, desperate in tone. A person who cries out in the wilderness will most often be heard by no one. But John is not the one crying in the wilderness; he is its voice. A voice in the wilderness is lonely and cannot fail to be heard, if there is someone to listen.
Absolute loneliness is always waiting. John waits very intensely; in the wilderness of loneliness it is impossible not to hear the steps of the One who can fill any loneliness. Therefore John becomes a hermit, so that he may be the first to hear and prepare the way, so that he may become a voice for those who do not hear on their own.
These words can be a consolation for those who feel lonely. In loneliness one hears better. Maybe God gives us loneliness so that it will be easier for us, amid the noise and rush of modern life, to make out His quiet voice, His call, His knock at the still closed doors of our heart. And if we open, the wilderness will be filled with God's light and joy.
Readings for 2 January 2026
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