John was preaching and baptizing at Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where the memories of Israel's crossing of the Jordan and the overthrow of Jericho stirred hope that God would again deliver Israel, amid growing public interest in him and expectation of a new display of God's power.
Those sent to question him were Pharisees. They had been sent from Jerusalem by the Jewish leaders, from the highest authority in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, and included priests and Levites. They belonged to the religious authorities who regarded his public work as subject to their jurisdiction, though he had not sought their approval and had reproved Pharisees and Sadducees as well as the people and rulers.
They came to investigate the great agitation he was creating by calling whole cities and towns to hear his warning, to learn by what authority he claimed public attention, and to demand an answer to carry back to those who sent them. They pressed him about his identity, whether he was the Christ or Elijah or that Prophet, why he baptized if he was none of them, and compelled him to declare plainly whether he was the Messiah. John served as God's prophet joining the witness of the law and the prophets to the Christian dispensation, pointing back to them and forward to Christ the Saviour. When attention turned to him and men wondered whether he himself was the Coming One, he cut off that hope and directed all attention to One mightier than himself standing among them whom they did not know, whose work was so exalted that he was unworthy to untie His sandal.
The Jerusalem messengers expected the Messiah to come as a great conqueror, so Jesus's plain appearance and different mission disappointed them and turned them away from Him. The Pharisees were part of the Sanhedrin deputation that heard John testify about Jesus. That delegation investigated John and reported his testimony about Jesus' baptism and the divine manifestations there, and their report gave Jesus' hearers evidence they already knew about John's witness to Jesus.
John was preaching and baptizing at Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where the memories of Israel's crossing of the Jordan and the overthrow of Jericho stirred hope that God would again deliver Israel, amid growing public interest in him and expectation of a new display of God's power.
Those sent to question him were Pharisees. They had been sent from Jerusalem by the Jewish leaders, from the highest authority in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, and included priests and Levites. They belonged to the religious authorities who regarded his public work as subject to their jurisdiction, though he had not sought their approval and had reproved Pharisees and Sadducees as well as the people and rulers.
They came to investigate the great agitation he was creating by calling whole cities and towns to hear his warning, to learn by what authority he claimed public attention, and to demand an answer to carry back to those who sent them. They pressed him about his identity, whether he was the Christ or Elijah or that Prophet, why he baptized if he was none of them, and compelled him to declare plainly whether he was the Messiah. John served as God's prophet joining the witness of the law and the prophets to the Christian dispensation, pointing back to them and forward to Christ the Saviour. When attention turned to him and men wondered whether he himself was the Coming One, he cut off that hope and directed all attention to One mightier than himself standing among them whom they did not know, whose work was so exalted that he was unworthy to untie His sandal.
The Jerusalem messengers expected the Messiah to come as a great conqueror, so Jesus's plain appearance and different mission disappointed them and turned them away from Him. The Pharisees were part of the Sanhedrin deputation that heard John testify about Jesus. That delegation investigated John and reported his testimony about Jesus' baptism and the divine manifestations there, and their report gave Jesus' hearers evidence they already knew about John's witness to Jesus.