The Being of “Not”

I’ve always been fascinated by what John the Baptist said when someone asked him if he was the long-awaited promised Messiah. “I am not the Messiah,” he said (John 1:20).

Why does his answer fascinate me?

First, since they asked him the question, some in the crowd obviously thought he might be the Messiah. The gospel writers don’t tell us whether it was his dress, his demeanor, or his preaching, but evidently some saw this as a possibility.

John could have claimed the title easily enou...