Bible Society of South Africa

Advent: Third Sunday of Advent

Gospel

6God sent his messenger, a man named John, 7who came to tell people about the light, so that all should hear the message and believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came to tell about the light.

John 1:6-8GNBOpen in Bible reader

John the Baptist's Message

19The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John, to ask him, “Who are you?”

20John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying: “I am not the Messiah.”

21“Who are you, then?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”

“No, I am not,” John answered.

“Are you the Prophet?” they asked.

“No,” he replied.

22“Then tell us who you are,” they said. “We have to take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23John answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah:

“I am ‘the voice of someone shouting in the desert:

Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!’ ”

24The messengers, who had been sent by the Pharisees, 25then asked John, “If you are not the Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”

26John answered, “I baptize with water, but among you stands the one you do not know. 27He is coming after me, but I am not good enough even to untie his sandals.”

28All this happened in Bethany on the east side of the River Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John 1:19-28GNBOpen in Bible reader
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