John 1:22-23 Then said they to him, Who are you? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What say you of yourself?… I. WHERE THE VOICE CRIED. In the wilderness. 1. Locally: (1) Generally, the wilderness of Judaea (Matthew 3:1); (2) Particularly, Bethany beyond Jordan. 2. Metaphorically: in the moral desert of Judaea Israel was a wilderness, and Zion a desolation. The Hope of Israel survived only in the breasts of a few (Luke 1:25). The deepest corruption and the basest hypocrisy reigned among the priesthood (Matthew 23:13, 39). The people were sunk in social and moral degradation (Matthew 3:8; Luke 7:7-14). The intellectual classes were ostentatiously sceptical (Matthew 22:23; Acts 23:8). II. THE PROPHETIC VOICE IS SUITABLE FOR AND DEMANDED BY THE SPIRITUAL WASTES OF SOCIETY. There the prophet should cry aloud and spare not (Isaiah 58:1). III. THE QUALITY OF THE VOICE. 1. Lonely. 2. Authoritative. 3. Directive. 4. Arrestive. (T. Whitelaw, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? |
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