-THE LIFE OF CHRIST - EARLY JUDEAN MINISTRY

 Additional Testimony From John

-John 1:19-34

-The Pharisees sent priests and Levites to inquire of John.  They wanted to find out more about John

  and who he was.  “He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way

  of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias” (John 1:23).  They then asked why he was baptizing people.

  It seems that they were asking by what authority had John introduced this new act of baptism? 

 -“Taken as a whole, the answer of John appears indirect and insufficient.  What was there in all this to

   authorize him to baptize?  This appears to be his meaning:  ‘You demand my authority for baptism. 

   It rests in him for whom I prepare the way.  It is a small matter to introduce baptism in water for

   one so worthy.  If you accept him, my baptism will need no explanation; and if you reject him, my

   rite and its authority are both wholly immaterial” (McGarvey, Pendelton, p104-105)

-In verse 29, we find that Jesus returned to John following the temptations of Satan.  Notice how John

 addressed Jesus when He approached, “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29).  There is a great deal of

 significance in that statement.  Jesus was a sacrificial lamb, sent to be a sacrifice for the sins of the

 world.

-John the Baptizer made reference to the Spirit descending upon Jesus.  (Of course this took place at

  the time of His baptism.)  When John witnessed that event, he knew that Jesus was the Messiah –

 “this is the Son of God” (vs 34).