The First Witness (Outline)

John begins the narrative portion of his Gospel with the ministry of John the Baptist. John has already introduced him in the Prologue:

 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light (John 1:6-8).

So, John the Baptist is a witness to Jesus. In John’s Gospel, he is the First Witness.

John came onto the scene and began preaching in the wilderness. People wondered who he was. How did he fit into the prophetic picture? The religious authorities were especially interested, because here was a man who was gaining a huge following, and yet he was not authorized by any of their councils. He had not graduated from their seminary. So, they sent a delegation out from Jerusalem to where John was preaching with a question, “Who are you?” I don’t think it is a stretch to render that with a dismissive air, “Just who do you think you are?”

By the way, one of the keys to understanding the Gospel of John is to note the questions people ask. John is unique in this emphasis on the questions people ask.

   I.        John’s Witness to Himself (vss. 19-28)

A.   I am not . . .

1.   . . . the Messiah

2.   . . . Elijah

Malachi 4:5

 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.

The angel had told Zechariah, John’s father:

And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

3.   . . . the Prophet like Moses

Deuteronomy 18:18

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

B.   I am . . .

1.   . . . a voice . . . (vs. 23)

Illus: Road engineer

Isaiah 40:3-4

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.

2.   . . . a humble servant (vs. 26)

“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

 II.        John’s Witness to Christ (vss. 29-34)

A.   The Lamb of God (vs. 29)

1.   Not an impressive image

2.   An image of slaughter

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth (Isaiah 53:4-7).

3.   The fulfillment of the OT sacrifices – the Passover lamb

B.   The Purpose of my ministry (vs. 31)

“The reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

1.   Jesus’ baptism as a pre-arranged signal (vs. 33).

And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

2.   “I myself did not know him . . .” (vs. 31, 33)

He knew him as his cousin. He knew that he was special—the Messiah. But he did not know the full import of his purpose as the Lamb of God and the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit he did not understand until the sign was given.

C.   The One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit

1.   Only Jesus can change us from the inside:

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." (John 7:38)

D.  God’s Chosen One (vs. 34)  

The one of whom God the Father has chosen to be the sacrifice for sin. Among all the names of earth, he is the one God has set apart as the “name above all names”—

The only “name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Jesus alone is the One we must look to. He is the only one we ought to trust. He is the only One in whom to find our salvation and hope.