The Witness of John the Baptist (John 1:29-34)

Topic: The Witness of John the Baptist

Reading: John 1:29-34

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Introduction and Overview

Among the many things that John the Baptist was sent to do, witnessing to the appearance of Jesus as Christ was one of the most important. The witness of John the Baptist was essential. He was sent as the messenger to prepare the way of the Lord. But once that way was prepared, the witness of John the Baptist was necessary to make known that Jesus was the Christ.

The witness of John the Baptist was powerful. In his own life and ministry he showed the need to seek and follow God. He taught repentance and the need to live a repentant life. His work was meant to change the hearts and minds of the people to turn to God, in reparation for Christ.

But in the witness of John the Baptist we see so much more. He announced Christ and His ministry in ways that people did not yet understand. And even today, the words of the witness of John the Baptist are still not well understood. The power of the ministry of Christ was announced by John. But much teaching and learning was to follow before many would understand it. In fact even though Jesus preached the ministry and doctrine of salvation, for many of us today, it was not until the writings of the apostle Paul that the depth of the work of Christ was fully revealed.

And it was in the witness of John the Baptist that these things were first mentioned. It is clear that he understood what was coming. He knew the power that Christ would bring to the world, especially in the depth of salvation that would be revealed in and through Jesus Christ. We will look at the witness of John the Baptist today and see what he said and how his words still provide witness down to this day.

Key points from reading:

The witness of John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Christ
John showed that it was Christ who would take the foundations of John’s ministry of repentance, and take it to the fullness of salvation and life.
John showed that removal of sin and the receiving of the Holy Spirit would come through following the ministry of Jesus.

Discussion:

Scripture: John 1:29 – The Removal of Sin
- This is one of the most powerful statements in the Bible. It is also one of the least understood. The witness of John the Baptist spoken to the people of his day showed that Jesus would remove sin. Look at these few words and think on them carefully.
  
  The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
- John was pointing to the fact that this man, Jesus, would take away the sin of the world. The Jewish people more than any other were highly attuned to the fact of sin. Their law, given by Moses, defined right and wrong. And breaking the law was sin. For them, the only way to receive forgiveness of sin was through offering animal and blood sacrifices on the altar in the Temple.
- But here we see the witness of John the Baptist telling them that this man would not just forgive their sins, He would take them away. Sin would be removed, discarded, thrown away, and never to return. Jesus did not come to just offer forgiveness of sins, He came to defeat sin in all of its forms, right down to those things in human nature that lead people to sin. And not to simply forgive sin, but to forgive it, and remove it to a place where sin could never come back.
- And this was and is achieved today through faith and the process of baptism in water. The penalty for sin is death. When a person dies, the debt for sin is paid. But Jesus came and died in our place. God said that when we are baptised INTO the death of Jesus, by faith we take His death as our own, and so God looks at us as though we have died. And if we are dead, then sin is paid for and is taken away. Not through anything we do, but through what Christ did for us when He died in our place.
Scripture: John 1:30-31 – The Witness of John the Baptist
- John the Baptist knew who he was and what he was to do for the Lord God. He was a messenger sent by God to bear witness to the coming of the Christ. That was his role and one of his primary functions. And of course he had a preparation work to do to prepare the way for the Lord. John the Baptist also knew that the one to whom he was to bear witness was vastly greater and of more importance than himself. He makes that abundantly clear here, and in another scripture says that he was not even worthy to untie the thong of the sandal of the Christ. (see John 1:27)
- However, we see also that John the Baptist did not know who it would be that would appear as the Christ. He was given a sign that would reveal who the Christ was. And this is a fascinating insight when we understand that John the Baptist and Jesus were kinsmen in the flesh. Their two mothers were related and so John and Jesus were probably cousins of some degree. And yet John did not know that it would be Jesus who was the Christ until He was revealed through the sign God had shown to John that would identify the Christ.
- And in these verses the witness of John the Baptist by his own words was that he appeared to reveal the Christ to the people of Israel. This is why John came baptising people with water. He came in order to prepare the way, and especially to reveal Jesus as the Christ to the nation of Israel.
Scripture: John 1:32-33 – The Sign Identifying the Christ
- John the Baptist was given a sign by God to look out for. God had told him that he would see the Holy Spirit descend from heaven in the form of a dove and remain upon someone. That person would be the Christ.
- John the Baptist did not know who this person would be until it happened. But he was given this sign in order to bear witness to the first coming of the Messiah. And John bore witness that the Messiah, or Christ, was Jesus.
- We see also that John knew what the ministry of the Christ would lead to. He knew that Jesus would bring into being the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And John the Baptist knew the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit, for it was through receiving the Holy Spirit that people would be transformed and gain victory over the flesh. All of these things became apparent in the witness of John the Baptist.
Scripture: John 1:34 – The Fulfilment of the Witness of John the Baptist
- The last verse in this section completes the witness of John the Baptist. In these words we see that John saw and confidently bore witness to Jesus being the Christ. He bore witness that the Christ had come into the world, ready to do His ministry and to offer salvation to all who would believe and follow Him.
- Furthermore, we see that John the Baptist understood who Jesus was. He was not the son of the carpenter Joseph. He was the Son of God, and John bore witness to this fact that Jesus was the Son of God.
- The witness of John the Baptist was important in establishing and preparing the world to receive the ministry of Jesus. His witness opened the way for Jesus to begin His ministry with a people prepared to listen and turn to God. And the first verse in this section is critical to understand; that Jesus came to take away our sins. This was the witness of John the Baptist and it is as true today as it was when he spoke those words around two thousand years ago.

Prayer Points:

Pray and ask God to help you to see and understand the means by which your sins are taken away by Jesus. Ask God to teach you these things so that you can fully receive the salvation and freedom that exists in Jesus Christ.
Pray also for the baptism in the Holy Spirit that John the Baptist bore witness to, which would be received through the coming of Jesus Christ.