John 1:15-34

               Before we look at the testimony of John the Baptist, I want to make some things clear about this book. John the Baptist is not the author of the book of John. The author is the Apostle John and John the Baptist is the cousin of Jesus. If you want to know about the amazing story of when John the Baptist is born, take a look at Luke 1, which is connected to what we see in this section of Scripture. In verse 15, it says, “He who comes before me has surpassed me because he was before me.” John the Baptist was about 6 months older than Jesus. In terms of who is older and younger, Jesus was younger. Even though John the Baptist was older, he acknowledged that Jesus was eternal. He was there before creation.

               There was confusion on who this John the Baptist is. So, the Priests and Levites went to investigate. They wanted to know who this man was and what he was teaching. It was their right to do so since the priests and Levities were the ones who were the guardians of the faith. It was possible that people thought he was the Messiah since because of His teaching of God and he was baptizing people. However, John denied being any of these people. During this time, Jews would baptize Gentiles who wanted to become Jews. However, John the Baptist was baptizing Jews, so there was a little more confusion on why he was doing it. He is the voice that is proclaiming the Messiah. John the Baptist was looking to share the Gospel with people. He even mentioned that he was not worthy to untie the sandals of the one who is to come. Untying sandals is normally a slave’s job. John was saying that he is not the Messiah, but that the person who is the guy I have been talking about, I am not worthy to do the lowest job of a slave. That is how great and magnificent this One is.

               John the Baptist even pointed out the one who he was talking about by saying, The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God is to come and save us from our sins. Jesus is the Lamb of God.