Now, the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him. But they’re thinking… “Well, if you are the one Isaiah prophesied, if you are the voice of one calling in the wilderness making straight the way of the Lord, if you’re not the Messiah, if you’re not Elijah, if you’re not the prophet, then why do you dare baptise people?”
John’s answer is to quote Isaiah 40:3 and to say it’s about him. It’s striking that Isaiah is so clear on it being the Lord whom this future prophet in the wilderness would make straight the way for—and John is fully aware of this.
This highlights that John wasn’t just someone who ended up in the desert because he liked it or just happened to be there. No, the wilderness clearly has significance.
I want you to think of the fact that this was prophesied, because when we know that it makes sense. The wilderness has always been that place in the Old Testament of spiritual testing—as was the case with the people of God on the way to Moses.
John’s mission was to call people out, to release people from the desert, through the Lord Jesus Christ—pointing them to Him.
So, John is aware of who he is, but the Pharisees know that if John really is who he says he is, then it has some implications.
