John 1:24-34 – Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 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 meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
“Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” The Pharisees who had been sent were zealous to get the answers that they were sent to get. So after establishing that John said that he was not the Messiah, Elijah or the Prophet, they then asked him if he was not one of these, by what or whose authority was he preaching? After all, they thought of baptism as a ritual for gentiles to go through to become a Jew and find favor with God. They considered themselves children of God, natural born sons of Abraham which made God their Father through natural inheritance (John 8:39-41) and so in their thoughts they did not need to be baptized and as John was doing as part of his ministry. So they were saying, who are you to baptize us, as we baptize the gentiles?
Asking by what authority they did something that seems to have been what they did, after all they also asked Jesus by whose authority that He was speaking to the people. (Mark 11:27-28) Again, the idea that anyone who had authority to speak to the people must come through their teachers was firmly entrenched with them. To them, a teacher must have gone through their formal training. Even today people are trained to think that a preacher or teacher must be formally trained at a university or seminary. A calling from God is all too often not what is most important, but rather a diploma from formal education. All too often, especially in the western world today, Jesus and John would not have been qualified to preach and teach because they had not been formally trained by recognized teachers. So, let us not look harshly on the Jews. After all, they, like so many today, wanted to know that a preacher/teacher is speaking the Truth. It was and is good to make sure the person teaching is teaching God’s Word.
“John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’” As the New Testament reveals, the ones who were the sanctioned leaders did not even know that their long awaited Messiah was with them. The common people accepted John’s and Jesus’ ministry, but most of the leaders were blind. John told them that the Great One, the Messiah, that Emmanuel was already in the land among them. He was the one to be followed and honored. John related to them that he himself was not even worthy to untie the sandals of the Messiah. Family and Friends, though Jesus died for us we also are unworthy to even untie His sandals. How great is the love, the might and the humility of God! How faithful to His Master was John the Baptist!
“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 meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” The very next day, as He was coming toward them, John pointed out the Messiah Jesus. He told them that Jesus was greater than himself because Jesus was before him. John revealed to them that Jesus was God when He said that Jesus was before him. They may not have known the age of John or Jesus, but John was physically born before Jesus. So what did John mean when he said of Jesus “because he was before me.” Jesus was before Him because He was God in the flesh. Jesus was the second person of the Trinity and as being God was always God and eternally pre-existing before all of creation, which He Himself was the Creator of.
“I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” John told the Jews that “reason” he came baptizing was to reveal that Jesus was the Messiah. When John said that He saw the Spirt of God descend from Heaven onto Jesus He knew that Jesus was the Messiah because the Father had already told Him that the Messiah would be revealed when John saw that sign. Not only did the Spirit settle upon Jesus, but remained with Jesus and Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit (fully submerse, fully fill).
Jesus gives all who are His the Holy Spirit who fills us and eternally stays with us, just as He did with Jesus. Jesus gives to us what He has. And we are to give others what we have. We tell them about Jesus. They receive Him and He also gives them the Spirit of God as a seal of their salvation through Jesus. (Ephesians 1:13) The salvation of God comes through the love of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and our guider and caretaker God the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord!.
John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.