John 1:33, 34 “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.’I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
The speaker is John the Baptist and here we find a further illustration of what the author teased earlier in 1:6, 7: “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.” As different as this gospel can be from the other three, here we find a close connection. The others describe the Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove when he was Baptized by John. Here we seem to have John the Baptist’s perspective on that incident and the comment from God that sealed his understanding of who Jesus is. Maybe your experience wasn’t as dramatic, but we all come to a point of decision about Jesus. Is he a good teacher or an enlightened prophet or a religious psycho with a martyr complex? John’s conclusion (both John the Baptist here and John the author of the gospel) is “that this is God’s Chosen One.” Who is Jesus for you?
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 