DAY_2 Separation of the Waters

“I am not the Messiah”

“And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.” (Genesis 1:6-8)

“Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (John 1:19-23)

On the second day of Creation, Genesis describes God separating the waters of the sea from the waters of the sky. In other words, there is a distinction being made between what’s above and what’s below. On the “second day” in John 1:19-28, we see John the Baptist claim that he is not the Christ. He even says that he simply “baptizes with WATER” but that there is one above him he cannot reach. 

“He didn’t fail to confess this.” That’s a strange but important point to make. John the Baptist was causing a lot of commotion. He was making quite a “splash” with the religious leaders of the day. He was loud, larger than life, and lit with a fire of revival.  I’ve always imagined John as a black baptist preacher dunking people in the county river.

But even with throngs of people flocking to the river’s edge to see this spectacle, the Baptist didn’t make it about himself. John let the Billy Graham sized crowds know there was someone greater on the way! All he had was water, but there was something greater; something above all of their heads!