John could have continued to stir up the crowds. They were already looking to him, wondering and waiting to see if he would be the Messiah. He could have taken the mantle of Messiah upon himself. Several other men already had done it. Many had come, claiming to be the Messiah, but none up to that time had been the one that had been sent by God.

The people were watching and waiting. They wanted to believe. John, in fact, had many disciples himself. He looked the part and he was speaking forcefully to the religious leaders, to the political leaders, and to many others, calling them to repentance and to faith in God. To the people in that time, John sounded like he could truly be the Messiah. It was the perfect time for John to come forward and become what the people were all expecting him to be.

John, though, knew that he was the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. His place was to call people to repentance. The only way that Jesus could come would be amongst a people who were humble enough to hear him, so John completed his role as the one calling in the wilderness, calling the people to repent and turn to the Christ.

However, John also knew that the people wondered if he himself was the Messiah, and so although he had an important role, John answered the people directly:

I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Luke 3:16-17

John was simply a man, but the one who would come would come from on high, directly from God. John was simply a man, but the one who would come would bring the Holy Spirit of God with him. John was simply a man, but the one who was to come would judge the people as only God is able to do, separating the wheat from the chaff, gathering the wheat and sending the chaff to burn within an unquenchable fire.

There is no doubt that John knew who he was and what role he was to play. And looking back, it is easy for us now to praise him and easily express how he had done well to speak directly and forcefully about the need for repentance while at the same time being humble enough to know that, despite the expectations of the people and the crowds that gathered around him, he was simply a man and the messenger, calling people to come to repentance in preparation for the Messiah.

In reality, though, it isn’t that simple. How often today do we see people begin to have others tell them that they are doing well or begin to experience some success and instead of pointing them to Christ in both word and action, they instead call the attention to themselves? It is a great temptation, at the point that we begin to do the work that we have been given to do, to begin to build up our own selves instead of glorifying God and pointing people to Christ, the one created us and who gave us the work in the first place.

Jesus is the one whose sandals we are not worthy to untie and John was a great example of how we must remain focused on him. Jesus is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus is the one who will judge. For all of the value that we each have, we have that value only because of the identity that Christ has given to us as the one who created us and has saved us. Let us, simply men and women, remain like John, always pointing others back to Christ, the one who has baptized us with not only water, but also with the Holy Spirit and with fire.