Chapter 141 of 404

Announcing the Coming One?

That John announced impending judgment is very likely; but did he also announce a coming messianic figure or associate that figure with Jesus?⁴² In support of the possibility, articulated in direct discourse in both Mark and “Q,” we may note that prophets of impending judgment, like many other Jewish people, could believe in a messiah or end-time prophet, or could speak of the coming of God himself. Likewise, given the undeniable connection of some sort that Jesus had with John, it is certainly plausible that John knew of Jesus. Given the greater movement that ultimately arose from Jesus, his potential historical significance even before his independent prominence should not be underestimated. If John announced a coming one, whether or not he specifically associated that expectation with Jesus,⁴³ we would expect Jesus’ early followers to have preserved this expectation as the confirmation of a reliable prophet. We thus examine some aspects of “Q”’s report of John’s prophecy about the coming one.

Although the Gospel writers portray John as the expected end-time “Elijah,” preparing the way for the Lord (Mal 3:1; 4:5-6), even John’s reported message about the coming one may reflect tradition earlier than the purpose to which the Gospel writers put it. John may proclaim no mere human “messiah,” but the expected intervention of God himself: “one is coming who . . . will baptize you in the holy Spirit and fire” (Matt 3:11//Lk 3:16). John was surely aware that in Scripture only God pours out the divine Spirit (e.g., Is 44:3; Ezek 39:29; Joel 2:28-29) and fiery end-time judgment. Because “Spirit” can also mean “wind,” which was used to separate wheat from chaff during threshing,⁴⁴ this image would also fit as part of the preceding context.⁴⁵ Because the earlier biblical prophets we have just mentioned announced an outpouring of the Spirit connected with Israel’s restoration, and because John was a prophet seeking Israel’s restoration, it makes sense that this promise of both the Spirit and judgment belonged historically to his message. That Jesus’ highly charismatic movement emerged in the context of John’s preaching is also consistent with this notion.

Moreover, the coming one appears to be somehow divine in the sandal image: “I am not worthy to handle his sandals” (Mk 1:7//Jn 1:27; probably also Q in Matt 3:11//Lk 3:16). In ancient Mediterranean thought, a household servant’s basest tasks involved the master’s feet, such as washing his feet, carrying his sandals or unfastening his sandals’ thongs.⁴⁶ Although ancient Jewish teachers often expected disciples to function as servants,⁴⁷ later rabbis made one exception explicit: disciples did not tend to the teacher’s sandals.⁴⁸ Whereas Israel’s prophets had called themselves “servants of God,”⁴⁹ John declares himself unworthy even to be the coming judge’s slave!⁵⁰

Others, however, object that God does not wear sandals (although the image appears figuratively in Ps 60:8; 108:9, John would not touch God’s figurative sandals). Webb suggests that the tension between the divine and human elements of John’s proclamation makes some sense in the setting of other Jewish expectations of some exalted, coming figures.⁵¹

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