Short Daily Devotions to Keep Your Day With Christ

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022

TEXT: John 1:29-34

29. The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

30. This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’

31. I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah]; but I came baptizing in water so that He would be [publicly] revealed to Israel.”

32. John gave [further] evidence [testifying officially for the record, with validity and reverence], saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.

33. I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah], but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this One is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34. I myself have [actually] seen [that happen], and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!”

(Amplified Holy Bible)

TOPIC: THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER

Verse 31 makes a profound declaration about the primary purpose for John the Baptizer’s baptism ministry to Israel. He stated that “the reason I [John the Baptizer] came baptizing with water was that he [Jesus Christ] might be revealed to Israel.”

Notice that we are never informed of any prior meeting between John and Jesus before the event recorded here. Yet he identified Him at first sight as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” (v. 29). This was further confirmed when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove.

These two evidence drew this over whelming affirmation from John the Baptizer: “I have seen and testify that this is God’s chosen One.” In other words, this is the Messiah, the Redeemer of mankind! Because of these testimonies, we do not need to wait until we see Jesus physically before we can come to Him in faith for the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.

We have everything we need in the gospels to be faithful.

QUESTION: Do you still doubt that Jesus Christ is Whom He says He is?

PRAYER: I praise You, dear God, for raising faithful servants like John the Baptizer to record this truth for us, Amen.