John 1
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
Here we find the wonderful testimony of John, preaching in the wilderness. He wasn’t like other preachers – his preaching had authority. His preaching shook the world. All sorts of people came from many places far and near to listen to him. It even got to the religious counsel that ruled over the religion of the Jews.
So they sent a commission to go and check on John. In that they did not do wrong, for even the Bible teaches us to do that – to test and prove things. After all they were the religious leaders of the Jews. If something strange happens in a church it is good to test it.
John also baptised. So he was an immediate subject for neither Elijah nor the prophets baptised people. They wondered what new teachings he taught. So they continued asking him who he was. He answered that he was ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord’. He was the one preparing the way for the Messiah.
He also said that “He who, comes after me, is preferred before me”. It sounds like a contradiction. Those without wisdom will not understand it. We read of the wise and foolish virgins. Each one of us should ask ourselves whether we are of the wise or foolish virgins. Yes there are many Christians but not all are wise. We need discernment to know whether people who claim to be Christians are wise or foolish virgins.
We might ask, who taught John the Baptist all these things. It was God the Holy Spirit. John was a wise man for he listened to the voice of God. We must take after people who listen to God’s voice. It is painful when a Christian doesn’t have an ear to hear. Jesus is without beginning or end. God also revealed the Messiah to David through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can reveal things to you without someone telling you. Remember that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
God the Holy Spirit also revealed to John the Baptist Who Jesus was, ‘the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world’.
In Hebrews we read that we are redeemed with Divine Blood (a lamb without spot or blemish), not the blood of sinful man. Imagine what manner of people we ought to be that we can be washed whiter than snow by the Blood of the Lamb!
Many preachers baptise people thinking they do the same as John the Baptist. But baptism means nothing if you do not turn away from your sins. John baptised them while they were ‘confessing their sins’.
May we have an ear to listen to the Spirit of God.