The Daily Office: John 1:19-28

This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." They asked him, "What then ? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet ?" And he answered, "No." (John 1:19-21)

"[John] is impatient at these enquiries concerning his personality. We see his growing irritation in the increasing abruptness of his replies. 'I am not the Christ'; 'I am not'; 'No.' It is not who he is, but what he says that matters. He is a voice...

"John is here the type of all Christian witness…If ever our witness begins to be about ourselves or to make ourselves very prominent something is going wrong with it. We may mention our own experience – 'O come hither and hearken all ye that fear God and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul' – but only a s a means of pointing men to Christ. It is not ourselves but our witness to Him for which we want to claim attention."

From Readings in St. John's Gospel, by Archbishop William Temple