John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus

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John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus

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Second Sundaymin Ordinary Time (A) Green

Jn 1:29-34

²⁹[John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. ³⁰He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ ³¹I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” ³²John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. ³³I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ ³⁴Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Giver of the Holy Spirit. While we know John the Baptist as the one who prepares the way of the Messiah by calling people to repentance, in the Gospel of John he is described primarily as a “witness.” In today’s Gospel, the Baptist gives testimony to Jesus and testifies that his own misson is to baptize with water those who come to him repenting of their sins. It is a baptism of repentance, so that people may make straight the way of the Lord who is coming (cf Jn 1:23-27).

To the expectant and the curious, John readily reveals his role in God’s plan of salvation: he is not the Messiah. His baptism is not to be compared with the baptism of the Coming One. He baptizes with water to approve and signify the people’s disposition to prepare for the coming Messiah. In contrast, the Messiah will give the Holy Spirit when he comes.

Only the Messiah can give the Spirit because his life is intertwined with the action of this divine Spirit. The Spirit who raises Jesus from the dead is also the one at work at the moment of his conception. The Spirit, the power of the Most High , overshadows Mary so that the child to be born is holy, the Son of God (cf Lk 1:35).

At Jesus’ baptism, the divine theophany witnesses to Jesus as anointed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit because he possesses the Spirit as only a divine being can.

But as the evangelist John relates, the Spirit can be given only once Jesus completes his mission. The Spirit can come only at the “hour” of his passion, death, and glorious resurrection. That “hour” comes when the “Lamb of God” is sacrificed, not in the Jerusalem temple but on Mount Calvary. Jesus, like a meek lamb led to the slaughter, gives his life as an offering for sin (cf Is 53:7, 10).