The first witness is John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus Christ’s coming by calling people to repentance of sin and faith in the Messiah. It was customary in this culture to send a “forerunner” ahead of a king so he could remove any obstacles which may be in the king’s soon traveled path. In a spiritual sense, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ and the obstacle he was sent to remove was sin because it would get in the way of the people receiving the Messiah and inheriting eternal life.
The Jews sent priests and Levites to seek John the Baptist’s true identity asking, “Who are you?” (1:19) to which John responded, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord…” (1:23). The motive of the Jews sending these so-called religious leaders was to find out about this man, John the Baptist, who was preaching a message contrary to their own. The Jews were dependent on obedience to the law of Moses, as well as their additional man-made laws, in order to find favor with God; however, Scripture is very clear that no man can perfectly keep the law causing all to be under God’s condemnation (Romans 3:23; 5:18-21). The only one able to bring man the righteousness he needs is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who exchanged His righteousness for man’s sin on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21) and all who will believe in Him will be freed from the power and penalty of sin (John 3:16).
Since John referred to himself merely as a “voice,” the Jews questioned his authority to call people to repentance, which the Old Testament exclusively declared as a sign that the Messiah was coming (1:24-25; Ezekiel 36-37; Zechariah 13:1). John the Baptist answers their doubts by expressing humility and saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One [Jesus Christ] among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (1:26-28).
The next day, another group of Jews confront John and he recounts Jesus’ baptism as proof that Jesus was the Messiah. John refers to Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” which would have been a familiar image to the Jews. The Jews slaughtered a lamb on Passover in remembrance of God saving the Israelites from certain death (Exodus 12) and in the same way Jesus Christ was the “Lamb of God” sent to save mankind from the penalty of sin by dying in their place. John the Baptist continues to unfold the events surrounding Jesus’ baptism by declaring, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him [as the Messiah], but He [God the Father] who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’” (1:32-33). From this event, John concluded that what he had seen testified to the fact that Jesus Christ was the Son of God (1:34). So John the Baptist is the first witness in John’s (the gospel writer) account that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.
Dear God, thank You for the witness of John the Baptist who declared Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the One sent to take away the sins of the world.
