151 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he confessed, and denied not,.... He freely, and without any reserve, declared, and in the plainest and strongest terms professed to the messengers before all the people, that he was not the Messiah; nor did he retract his confession, or draw in his words again, or drop any thing that looked doubtful or suspicious; but confessed, I am not the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they asked him, what then? art thou Elias?.... Elijah, the prophet; the Tishbite, as Nonnus in his paraphrase expresses it; who was translated, soul and body, to heaven: the Jews had a notion that that prophet would come in person a little before the coming of the Messiah; [See comments on Matthew 17:10] wherefore these messengers inquire,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice — Humbly he reduces himself to a voice; but he was not “a voice and nothing more.” There was...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias ? “Art thou Elijah come back to earth?” Joh_1:21. And he saith, I am not. For, though indeed he was the true spiritual Elijah who was to come as the forerunner of the Messiah, yet, in the sense in which they asked the question, the only truthful answer was, “I am not.” Joh_1:21. Art thou that prophet ?...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice – That is all; a voice and nothing more. John did not profess to be the Word; he was only the voice which vocalized that Word, and made it audible to human ears. He came to bear witness...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said they unto him, who art thou?.... Since, as yet, he had only answered in negatives, who he was not, that he was not the Christ, nor Elias, nor that prophet; they desire he would give them a positive account who he was: that we may give answer to them that sent us; that their labour might not be in vain; that they might not come so far for...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then said they unto him, who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice-- Not “the Word.”— Christ is that, but John was “the voice.”
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,.... These words are cited by the other evangelists, and applied to John the Baptist; but then they are only to be considered as their citation, and as an application of them to him by them: but here they are used by John himself, who both expresses them, and interprets them of himself;...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. You see, even as a voice, John was not original. That straining after originality, of which we see so much today, finds no warrant among the true servants of God. Even though John is only a voice, yet he is a voice that quotes the Scriptures: “Make...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. and they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. Who were the straitest sect of religion among the Jews; were very zealous of the traditions of the elders, and professed an expectation of the Messiah; and were famous in the nation for their knowledge and learning, as well as for their devotion and sanctity: and many of them were in the sanhedrim,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they asked him, and said unto him,.... They put a question, by saying to him, why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? since he denied that he was the Messiah, or Elias that was to come before the Messiah, according to the expectation of the Jews, or that prophet, or a prophet, they demand by what...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
John answered them, saying, I baptize with water,.... Or in water, so the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions render it. The sense of the answer is, that he indeed baptized persons in water, which was all that he could do, or pretended to do; and he owned, that this was a new rite, and that he was the administrator of a new ordinance; but...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He it is who coming after me,.... Both into the world, and into the ministry of the word; for John was before Christ, in both these respects, though greatly behind him in others, and therefore he adds, is preferred before me: being not only of a more excellent nature, the Son of God, and of an higher extract, the Lord from heaven; but in an higher...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
These things were done in Bethabara,.... That is, this testimony was bore by John; and this discourse passed between him and the Pharisees, at the place here mentioned; which was a passage over Jordan, where much people walked to go on the other side, beyond Jordan; and where also John was baptizing; which brought a great concourse of people...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordon, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: “When first I saw him,” —