The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum The Prophet in John 1:21

After a bit of study on this passage, so far, the only reasonable exegesis I can conclude is that John is saying he is not the Prophet of Jewish expectation to those who asked, and that the Prophet is not identified as Christ in this passage.

Any input or resources (good commentaries on line - I am of the more or less poor sort)that anyone has on this would be immensely appreciated, with thanks to God.

-Bill

Bill,

William Hendriksen seems to have one of the best answers to your question, but unfortunately his commentaries are not available online. However, I will provide what he wrote on this passage below:

"Now, although John went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17), and was, therefore, called Elijah by Christ himself (Matt. 17:12), yet he was not literally Elijah, and it was the literal, personal forerunner Elijah whom the Jews expected, as the result of their erroneous interpretation of Mal. 4:5. Hence, John answers, I am not. This reply is immediately followed by the question, Are you the prophet? The reference is to Deut. 18:15-18. Some interpreted this passage as having reference to another forerunner of the Messiah; others, as pointing forward to the Messiah himself, which was correct (Acts 3:22; 7:37). The Baptist, accepting this correct explanation, and knowing that he himself was not the Messiah, answers, No."

Thanks, Pilgrim - that ended up being the consensus of the commentaries I could check, and makes the most sense, since they did misinterpret that the Prophet would be another type of forerunner.

Bless you, my brother. - Bill