Sep 04 2024 2
The Testimony of John the Baptist (John 1:19-34)
Instead of telling us John the Baptist’s life story, author John focuses on the evidence John the Baptist provided about the identity of the Christ. John the Baptist gave two kinds of testimony: negative and positive.
The Testimony of John the Baptist Key Points
* The Pivotal Testimony of John the Baptist: confirming Jesus is the Messiah
* Distinctly different from other Gospels, John focuses only on the fact that, as a prophet, John the Baptist testifies Jesus is the Messiah.
Negative Testimony:
* With resolute clarity, John the Baptist denies he is the Messiah.
* He also denies he is the prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15) or the return of Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6).
* John the Baptist confirms he is a herald who announces the coming Messiah (Isaiah 40:3-5).
Positive Testimony:
* John the Baptist confirms that before him stands "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." He is the Messiah.
* John the Baptist testifies God revealed to him how he would recognize the Messiah with prophetic certainty.
* John the Baptist confirms he saw that sign when he baptized Jesus.
Baptism: Water vs Spirit
* While Jews practiced water baptism of converts, Jews were not baptized.
* Even though John the Baptist is doing something new with his baptism, it paled compared to what was coming next: baptism with the Holy Spirit.
* Water baptism is about repentance while baptism by the Spirit is necessary to receive eternal life — a theme further unfolded throughout John’s narrative.
A Vision that Confirmed Everything
* God told John the Baptist when he baptized the Messiah, he would see the Spirit descend on him and remain.
* John the Baptist saw that sign when he baptized Jesus.
* John the Baptist can now say with prophetic certainty that Jesus is the Christ.
* John is the only author who describes Jesus as "the Lamb of God".
* The Lamb' imagery could stem from various scriptural paths from Isaiah’s suffering servant prophecy (Isaiah 53:4-7) to the Passover. In Passover, a symbolic lamb rescues the people from God’s judgment, which is what the Messiah came to do.
In his gospel, John explores the question: why should we believe Jesus is the Christ?
The first reason John gives us is the testimony of John the Baptist. A man named John the Baptist — who claimed to be a prophet from God and who the people of Israel accepted as a prophet — testified that he knew through personal revelation from God and as an eyewitness that Jesus is the Christ.
Further Study:
Isaiah’s Servant Songs
60 Matthew 11:7-15 John the Baptist’s role
Next: 04 Jesus calls His First Disciples (John 1:34-51)
Previous: 02 In the Beginning was the Word (John 1:1-18)
