John Shares With Us How Jesus is an Upgrade to his Own Ministry

John 1: 29-34                                      February 25, 2021

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ³¹I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ ³²And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” ³⁴And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’

            So John the baptizer is reiterating, summing up what he has said.  Did John the baptizer not know Jesus personally?  Or did John not know Jesus was going to be HIM?  That is a distraction from what John continues to say.  The one who sent him to baptize had instructions for him, something to watch for.  Watch for “he on whom John the baptizer sees the Spirit descending AND remaining upon.”  This one has a different mission.  This one does not baptize with water, but with the Holy Spirit.” 

            The one upon whom the Spirit descended and remained, so the Spirit is not a temporary fix.  This may seem odd, in our experience we know that the Holy Spirit comes down to remain on us.  But that is not the experience in the Old Testament.  There are times when the Spirit came down and when the Spirit was withdrawn, as upon King Saul, before David rose up.  Or on the workmen who built the tabernacle, the Spirit came upon them to do a job on the Holy Place of God that was beyond the means of simple mortals. 

            But there is a change happening in Jesus.  The Holy Spirit came and it remained upon him.  But He is not simply a holder of the Spirit, but he will pass it along as well, as He will baptize in the Spirit.  This is an upgrade from John the baptizer’s water baptism.  People came to John and, when they repented, they were baptized.  Now, in Jesus, they will come to repent and they shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.  The implication is more staying power.  Baptizing in the Holy Spirit seems to fulfill that which John the baptizer leads with in these verses.  This is how the world will be included in the company of those whose sins were taken away by the Lamb of God.

            The one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit, that is the new piece added to Jesus’ ‘resume’ in this passage.  It also establishes the importance of the Spirit in the message that John the Gospel Writer is sharing.  Later, in the chapter that contains Jesus’ hope for the afterlife, “in my Father’s house there are many mansions…”, Jesus will expand on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the disciples and the church after his return to heaven.

Pastor Pete