John 1:19-34 - John The Baptist’s Witnes - The Mysteries of God's Word

"The Jews" show up with credentials, questions, and an agenda: priests and Levites from Jerusalem press John the Baptist with one demand, “Who are you?” I love how blunt John’s answer is. He doesn’t build a brand or defend a platform. He simply clears space for Jesus.

We slow down in John 1:19–34 and trace why the Gospel of John refers to “the Jews” as specific religious leaders, how the Pharisees functioned in that world, and why John’s baptism of repentance was so disruptive. We also tackle the confusing part: John denies being Elijah, yet other Scriptures describe him as Elijah. By connecting Isaiah 40, Matthew 11, Deuteronomy 18, and even Revelation 11, we look at who John is and what Scripture teaches about him. 

Then the spotlight lands where John insists it belongs: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” We talk about Passover imagery, sacrifice, sin, and why recognizing a suffering Messiah was extraordinary. Finally, we follow John’s witness about the Holy Spirit descending and remaining on Jesus and why “Son of God” in this Gospel is a claim about Jesus’ deity and unity with the Father.

If you want a clearer grasp of the testimony of John the Baptist, a distinction between John's baptism and Christian baptism, and the identity of Jesus in the Gospel of John, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What part of John’s testimony do you find easiest or hardest to say out loud?

Transcript

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Welcome And Passage Setup

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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to send a special thank you out for all of you who have been joining me for going through the gospel of John. Today we pick up with the testimony of John the Baptist in John chapter one verse nineteen. And just for clarification for those who may be new to Scripture, this is testimony about John the Baptist written by John the Apostle. Two different Johns, beginning at verse nineteen. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed

Questioned By Priests And Levites

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I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And he answered No. So they said to him, Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. In verse nineteen we see that the apostle John is stating that this is the testimony of John the Baptist. And as we are reminded, John the Baptist came to bear witness about Christ. Starting here and following through verse thirty seven are the testimony of John the Baptist's witness about Jesus. These are statements of truth that John the Baptist testified about Christ. And we see that the Jews had sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem. Now throughout the Gospel of John and the Book of Acts, the Apostle John regularly uses this phrase the Jews. And that phrase the Jews refers to the Jewish leaders, refers to priests, Levites, members of the Sanhedrin, and people under their direct influence. The people who were opposed to Christ, those who plotted to kill Christ. And here we see that the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to confront John the Baptist about his teaching and ask him who he was. And John the Baptist says, I am not the Christ. As with many faithful messengers of God, people will tend to exalt them above their status. Some people surely believed that John was the Christ, but John continued to testify that there was one coming after him, that was far greater than he, whose sandals he was not even fit to touch. Here we see that they ask John the Baptist if he's Elijah, and he says no. And this is actually quite interesting, because we are told in multiple locations that John the Baptist was the Elijah to come.

Elijah, The Prophet, And Isaiah’s Clue

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Jesus himself told his disciples if they could accept it, John the Baptist is Elijah who is to come in Matthew eleven fourteen. Furthermore, the angel Gabriel prophesied to Zachariah that John the Baptist would go forward in the spirit and power of Elijah. So when John tells these priests and Levites that he's not Elijah, it would seem that what John is doing is misdirecting these Jews because John knows that they're up to no good. When they ask if John is the prophet, they're asking if John is the prophet that Moses predicted in Deuteronomy eighteen fifteen, when he said that God would raise up a prophet like him. And when John would not give these Jews a straight answer, they wanted to know why are you doing this? Who do you say you are? John answers by quoting Isaiah chapter forty verse three, which reads In the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. That prophecy that's found in Isaiah forty is about the very end of the age. The context is actually about the second return of Jesus Christ and a final restoration of Israel. While John just denied that he was Elijah to the priests and the Levites, he then quotes a verse that describes him as the voice of Elijah in the last days, just prior to the final coming of Christ. And I believe that this is describing how John the Baptist was the spirit of Elijah, and that same spirit of Elijah will come forth in the last days. Revelation eleven three reads I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days clothed in sack cloth. I believe Revelation and John the Baptist right here are describing how in the last days Elijah will come forth once again picking up in verse twenty four. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and why are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah nor the prophet? John answered them, I baptize with

Why John Baptizes At All

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water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. Verse twenty four confirms for us that these priests and Levites were sent from the Pharisees. The Pharisees at this time were the largest religious political party amongst the Jews, and they exercised considerable influence. Their leaders were called rabbis, and many of them were members of the Sanhedrin, or the Supreme Council of the Jews. And so these Pharisees, who are priests and Levites, have come and they ask John, why are you baptizing if you're not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? Baptism by immersion at the time of Christ was used to show conversion to Judaism when a foreigner would convert to the Jewish religion. And John the Baptist, who was the son of a Levite priest, was not acting in accordance with the traditions and rules that were set down by the Council of Sanhedrin, because he's baptizing everyone for the forgiveness of sins and repentance and faith in the Messiah to come. And John answered, I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. Even he who comes after me, the strap whose sandal I'm unworthy to untie. John baptized with water, calling everyone to repentance for the forgiveness of sin, pointing to the coming Messiah. For a Jew to be baptized by John meant that they were confessing that they had been acting like a Gentile, and they needed to be converted inwardly and become a genuine Israelite, a genuine people of God. This was the beginning of the gospel message. Both Jews and Gentiles were repenting in anticipation of the Messiah's arrival. Part of John's message to the Jews was do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, God is able to take these stones to raise up children for Abraham. John's baptism was a baptism of faith in the coming Christ, symbolizing turning from sin for the forgiveness of sin. We can read about that in Mark one four, where it says, John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Or Luke three three, which also reads, And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. So how is that different from Christian baptism? While Christian baptism is also an act of faith in the Messiah, it differs in its symbolism. Christian baptism symbolizes

John’s Baptism Versus Christian Baptism

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the believer identifying with Jesus Christ in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. As the believer goes under the water, he symbolizes the death of Christ, and as they come out of the water, they symbolize the resurrection of Christ. Verse twenty nine. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Verse twenty nine

Behold The Lamb Of God

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begins by saying the next day. The reason we're told that this is the next day is because this begins a second day of a week in the series of days described in the Gospel of John. It's referring to the day after the priests and the Levites came. The week that's being described here will end at the wedding feast where Jesus' first miracle takes place at Cana in Galilee. And John said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is extraordinary for people in the old covenant to recognize and understand the fullness of the suffering Messiah. Many understood God to be both their creator and redeemer, and they usually saw God's redemptive purpose as a rescue from their physical afflictions. Most, however, did not understand the need for the Messiah to suffer and die for sin. John's testimony that Jesus is the Lamb of God is a declaration that he both understood the requirement for the suffering Messiah to take away man's sin, and that he now understood that this was his cousin who was the Messiah. While all of the Jews would have been very familiar with the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, how a lamb was used in the Passover, and the use of a lamb in their sacrifices, very few put the puzzled pieces together. Furthermore, John's statement that this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world refers to how Jesus will die for God's creation in general. The context of John's statement here is telling us that Christ came to die for the sin of humanity, not specifically every person, but humanity in general. As first John 2 2 reads, He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also the sins of the world. The sacrifice of Jesus is sufficient payment for the sins of everyone. John's gospel makes it clear that in order for the effect of Jesus' sacrifice to be efficient or effective, one must receive and believe on Jesus the Christ. Verse thirty. This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks before me because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel. John's statement that after me comes a man who ranks before me because he was before me describes how John is declaring that Jesus existed as God even before he was born, and that Jesus ranks before him because he existed before him. And as we talked about last week, John the Baptist is six months older than his cousin Jesus. Like everyone else, John the Baptist did not realize that his cousin was the Messiah. A testimony as to while Jesus was growing up, he didn't take on any special appearance or personality that was so extraordinary that people automatically recognized him as God. But John the Baptist knew his purpose was to be the forerunner of Christ and to proclaim his coming. Verse thirty two And John bore witness I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him,

Spirit, Sonship, And Jesus’ Deity

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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, and I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. While the baptism of Jesus is not chronicled in John's gospel, the apostle John mentions the testimony that John the Baptist witnessed at the baptism of Jesus. And we see here that God had told John the Baptist that the sign of the Messiah would be when the Holy Spirit descended and rested on him. And when John saw this happen to his cousin in front of his own eyes, he knew this was the promised Messiah. So the final statement recorded of John the Baptist in verse 34 is that he has seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God. Again, this statement for bearing witness is a legal term, and it means that John is legally bearing witness under the law of Moses that this is the Son of God. This title, the Son of God, it's reserved in the Gospel of John to emphasize the deity of Jesus Christ. The title finds its background in the Davidic covenant, where God says I will be to him as a father, and he shall be to me as a son. That's Second Samuel seven fourteen. David also records this in Psalm two seven. The phrase points to the Trinity. It points to the intimate relationship that the only Son of God has with the Father. It points to what the apostle John has been highlighting throughout this entire chapter. The Jews rightfully understood when Jesus claimed to be God's Son, he was claiming divinity, and he was claiming to be equal with the Father. We're going to pause here, and we'll pick it up next week in verse thirty five when Jesus begins to call his first disciples. Thank you for joining me, and God bless you this week.