When I was an 18-year-old, I set off for college to Boyce College in Louisville, Kentucky. I drove the route from Lakeland, Florida, to Louisville, Kentucky, many, many times.
I can tell you that the best place to stay the night is I-75, exit 333 in Dalton, Georgia. I can tell you that I-24, just west of Chattanooga, has some fun mountain climbs. I can tell you that, despite what people think, Nashville traffic is actually worse than Atlanta traffic.
I can also tell you that my family has relatives all throughout Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, between here and Kentucky. Because I was raised to be frugal, and because my mom was raised to be frugal, she used to encourage me to call up one of my distant cousins and ask them if I could stay at their house for the night, in order to split up the 14-hour trip. I would always say, “Mom, I don’t even really know them.” She would say, “Well, they’re your cousin!” Even though we were related, I didn’t really know them well.
John the Apostle is writing his account of the life and ministry of Jesus in what we know as the Gospel of John, which is what we’re studying at this time.
In our passage today, John the Apostle writes about John the Baptizer, who was actually a blood relative of Jesus.
However, like me, John didn’t necessarily know everything about every one of his relatives. John said that he did not know who Jesus really was until God revealed it to him.
In John 1:19-34, John is asked who he is. John tells those questioning him not only who he is, but also who Jesus is.
Today, we’re going to hear “The Testimony of the Baptizer.”
Let’s pray together before we go any further.
(prayer)
Ok, as we journey through our passage today, listen well, think well, and be open to what God will have you learn and how He will have you change your life.
Notice this first bit of information from the testimony of John the Baptizer:
I. Who John is not.
Remember, we’re talking about John the Baptizer, or John the Baptist, here, not John the Apostle, the author of the Gospel of John.
Let’s see what the passage says. Look at verses 19-21:
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?”
“I am not,” he said.
“Are you the Prophet?”
“No,” he answered.
There were likely some questions among the Jewish leaders about whether or not John was the Messiah, or the Anointed One who was to come to save Israel.
The reason is that John was preaching and baptizing a great number of people who were turning their lives over to God.
John was also pointing out the evil and injustice of those in power.
So, some thought that because John was a revolutionary figure doing great work, perhaps he was the Messiah.
These priests who came to investigate John, and those in power who sent them, likely did not actually think John was the Messiah.
In fact, they may have even said, “You’re not the Messiah!”
If they did, that fits with what verse 20 says. It says, “He didn’t deny it but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’”
Well, there you go. He’s not the Messiah. However, that left a question for the Jews: Well, then, who is John?
So, they try again: “Are you Elijah?”
Wrong again! John says, “I am not.”
They asked if he was Elijah because it was widely believed by the Jewish people that Elijah was coming back based on the prophecy found in Malachi 4:5–6, which says:
“Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.”
Further, Elijah didn’t experience death on the earth. Rather, he was taken up to heaven miraculously by God. So, he could seemingly come back to the earth.
Even more, John preached boldly in the wilderness as Elijah did, and even dressed similarly to Elijah.
Indeed, John had a very similar role and ministry as Elijah, but he wasn’t actually Elijah.
Jesus even hinted that John was the one prophesied to be like Elijah.
So, although the prophecies likely pointed to John as one who would be similar to Elijah, John said, “Nah, I’m not Elijah.”
“Well, then,” the priests asked, “are you the prophet?”
This prophet was predicted to come by Moses in Deuteronomy 18.
However, we learn from the Apostle Peter in Acts 3 that this prophet about whom Moses prophesied was actually Jesus.
To this question, John simply responded, “No.”
John is not the Messiah. John is not Elijah. John is not the prophet. John is John.
Well, what does that mean? Who is John?
That’s the second piece of information we gain:
II. Who John is.
Look at verses 22-28:
22 “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”
23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord,—just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. 27 He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” 28 All this happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Ok, let’s get a few things clarified here.
First, some of you know that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, who were friends of Jesus, lived in a town called Bethany just outside of Jerusalem.
The Bethany in this passage is not that Bethany.
We’re not sure where this Bethany is, but John was doing great ministry there.
Second, notice that we see who sent these men to question John: The Pharisees sent them.
The Pharisees were typically not friendly to Jesus and John the Baptizer.
So, they likely were out to get John and put a stop to his ministry.
However, as we see time and again in the Bible, and in the world today, you can’t stop the work of God, no matter who you are.
Third, notice that they were questioning why John is baptizing.
Baptism, up until this time, was not as common as it is today.
In the Old Testament, there was something called ceremonial washing, which someone would do to signify cleansing and submission to God’s law.
Also, a non-Jewish (or Gentile) person could become a Jewish person, in part, through baptism, as it symbolized their cleansing from sin and submission to God’s way.
John’s baptism has the same two main points behind it: People were repenting, or turning from their sins, and turning to God. Their baptism symbolized cleansing and submission to God.
So, John is out here baptizing people, but they want to know who he is.
This is who John says he is. Look at verse 23:
He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord,—just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
John is quoting from the ancient prophecy found in Isaiah 40:3.
This is a prophecy of which the Jewish people of that day, particularly the Jewish leaders, would have been very familiar.
John was the one who came to prepare a straight path for the Lord to come to His people.
That is who John was.
John goes on to say to the religious leaders (in verses 26 and 27) that he was baptizing with water, but someone is coming that they don’t know about; someone special.
In fact, though John was doing a great work, John said he was not even worthy to untie the sandal straps of the one who was coming.
Basically, John is saying, “I’m not even worthy to touch His shoes.”
That’s a little bit about who John isn’t and who John is. But who’s this other one? Who’s the one about whom John is speaking?
That takes us to our last point:
III. Who Jesus is.
Look at verses 29-34:
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. 33 I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
Listen to these two powerful titles that John the Baptizer used to describe Jesus: John calls Jesus the Lamb of God and the Son of God.
John says in verse 29:
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
A lamb was very significant to the Jewish people. You see, a significant event for the Jewish people was passover. At the very first passover, the blood of a sacrificed lamb was applied to each home so that the Angel of Death would pass over that home and spare God’s people.
The Israelites were faced with death at the time of the first Passover. People today have a very similar problem. We have the problem of sin, which, if not taken away from us, will lead to our deaths. We need the blood of a lamb to take care of our sin, so that we can also be spared from death.
John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
Brothers and sisters, this is who Jesus is. He is the Lamb of God who can take away the sin of the world.
On Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, we remember that Jesus came into Jerusalem and was welcomed as the Messiah by those waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Hosanna means “save us!”
People were celebrating that Jesus had come to save them.
However, they thought Jesus would save them as a conquering king. Instead, He saved them as a suffering servant.
When He was in Jerusalem, Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, and crucified on the cross. He did so willingly as the sacrificial Lamb of God, to take away sins.
John also spoke of Jesus being the Son of God.
Jesus was not just a sacrificial lamb; He was and is divine. He is eternal. He is holy. He is our God.
In fact, I mentioned this last week; John was actually an older relative of Jesus. John was about six months older than Jesus.
Yet, John says in verse 30:
“ . . . he existed before me.”
How could Jesus exist before John if Jesus is the younger relative? It’s because Jesus is the eternal Son of God!
John didn’t even realize all this about Jesus at first, but God revealed it to him.
John said in verse 33:
“I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’”
John continues in verse 34:
“I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
John knew who Jesus was, and He testified to who Jesus was.
That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: John testified that Jesus is THE ONE!
John had an important role, but he was more concerned with getting the attention off of himself and on to Jesus, the Lamb of God and the Son of God.
Jesus was the Word. Jesus was the Lamb of God. Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was the One anointed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the One John came to proclaim. Jesus was the One who brought the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the One carrying out the way of the Lord on the earth.
Jesus was THE ONE!
That’s the message of John 1:19-34.
Challenge yourself this week in this one way:
Weekly Challenge: Testify about Jesus.
Do you know who Jesus is? Tell others about Him, as John did.
Do you know what God has done in your life? Tell others about it, as John did.
Testify about Jesus.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.
