John the Baptist Declares Jesus the Messiah

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Tuesday June 04, 2024}

John 1:19-34

Father, after considering the temptations Jesus endured in the wilderness, we return our attention back to the Jordan River, near Bethany . Priests and Levites have been sent from the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem to interrogate John the Baptist. They want to know if John is the long-desired Messiah.

“No, I am not.”

“Are you Elijah?”

“No, I am not.”

“Are you a prophet?”

“No, I am not.”

“Well, who are you then? There are people back in Jerusalem who want to know.”

“Do you want to know who I am? Read Isaiah 40. I am the voice calling in the wilderness, saying ‘Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

“Why are you baptizing people? Who gave you the authority? You aren’t the Messiah, Elijah, or a prophet.”

“I’m only baptizing with water. However, there is someone here who has the authority to baptize. He is so pure and holy that I cannot even come near His sandals to untie them. He is greater than me.”

Apparently, Jesus was not in the immediate area and John couldn’t point to Him. Unable to locate Him, the priests and Levites left for the day. However, they were back again the following day. They approached John again and asked Him where this Messiah was whose sandals he isn’t worthy to untie. John replies:

“Look, there He is! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I was talking to you about yesterday, the one who I said is greater than I.”

Father, John the Baptist then says something a little peculiar.

“I myself did not know him.”

What? Of course he did. John jumped in his mother’s womb when he recognized Jesus in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:44). Their mothers, Elizabeth and Mary, were close, having shared supernatural pregnancies. Was John lying? Did he have a falling out with Jesus?

Father, I don’t believe that the man who called the Pharisees and Sadducees “vipers” is now intimidated by them, denying that he knows Jesus. I also don’t believe that the man who is, for lack of better words, “marketing” and “selling” the belief that the Messiah has come, and that He offers forgiveness of sins, now denies knowing the very Messiah that he is selling. How can you talk about how amazing the Messiah is but then deny knowing Him? That would not make for a convincing “sale”.

Instead, I believe there is something hidden in the text here that is awesome. I think what John is saying is this: “Jesus has changed dramatically, so much so that I don’t recognize Him anymore. He is a new man, not the old friend that I knew before.”

Father, what happens to someone when they become filled with the Holy Spirit? They become transformed, radically different than who they had been before. I can think of my dear friend from Culbertson Elementary School who used to be an angry child who could wallpaper a classroom with obscenities. He came to Christ in the summer between 7th and 8th grades and he was a changed young man. Calm. Peaceful. Gentle. He had been filled with the Holy Spirit and his heart had been transformed. He remains to this day a gentle man of peace.

We read in Luke 3:22 that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus after He was baptized. Was the Son of God transformed by the Holy Spirit? If not, why not? Why was the Holy Spirit necessary for Jesus if the Holy Spirit would not have an impact upon Jesus? If so, how did Jesus change? If Jesus were sinless and perfect, which He already was, what difference would the Holy Spirit make in His life?

Father, what don’t we have a record of in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John about Jesus’ life prior to His being descended upon by the Holy Spirit at His baptism?

1. His preaching and teaching.
2. His declaring that He is the Son of God, the Messiah.
3. His statements that He will die on the cross as the Lamb of God and be raised again on third day.
4. His performing miracles.
5. His boldness in confronting the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Prior to this moment, it is others who are speaking about who He is and what He will do. The only things we read about the character of Jesus prior to His baptism in Bethany are:

1. He was full of grace and truth (John 1:17).
2. He grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him (Luke 2:40).
3. He was obedient to His parents (John 2:51).
4. He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor of God and man (John 2:52).
5. He was a carpenter and He had four brothers and at least two sisters (Mark 6:3).

However, immediately after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a “dove”, Jesus began to boldly preach and teach. He declared Himself to be the Son of God, the Messiah. He told us that He would be crucified and on the third day He would be raised from the dead. He performed miracles and He confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees.

I believe that John the Baptist’s statement in John 1:31, that he did not know Jesus (the transformed Jesus), is a clue that Jesus was radically transformed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism. He was the perfect humble child and young adult, but now, thanks to the Holy Spirit, He has become the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in His character and in His demeanor.

John continued his testimony about Jesus, sharing that he was baptizing at the Jordan River so that Jesus might be revealed to Israel. John admitted his baptism was merely symbolic. He shared that he had been told, presumably by the Holy Spirit, that the person to whom he sees the Holy Spirit come down from heaven and rest upon was the Messiah who would baptize people by the Holy Spirit. John shared that it was his testimony that he saw this happen to Jesus and, therefore, Jesus is the “Chosen one” . Amen.