Acts 13:25

As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

From Background Notes [BN] for June 23rd & 24th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Paul wants to stress that John himself denied being the Messiah (see Luke 3:16-17 and John 1:19-27 in this connection). Why was this important for Paul's audience to know?  Apparently, many diaspora Jews had known John from…

 
…previous visits to Jerusalem and its environs, but then returned to their homes in places like Antioch-Pisidia without ever hearing the rest of the story. Some good examples of this appear later in Acts: 1) the case of Apollos (18:24-25); 2) the Ephesian followers of John (19:1-4). We might go so far as the suggest the existence of a "John the Baptist Sect" within Judaism. Consequentially, one need of the apostolic message was to make certain that such persons heard the whole story and what part John played as the way-preparer for Jesus, but not as the Messiah. [BN, 14-15]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm