And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, *he* said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with [the] Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist explains how he came to know who Jesus was: not by family ties or his own judgment, but by a sign God told him to watch for. That sign — the Spirit coming down and staying — marked out the one Person who could baptize with the Holy Spirit.
The two families were closely linked, which makes John's repeated denial striking. Commentators see God cutting off every natural way of knowing.
We may note the great care taken that John the Baptist should not have known Jesus beforehand. Luke 1 shows a remarkable link between the mothers of the two babies. That makes the Baptist's repeated statement, "I knew him not," all the more startling. God is setting out a knowledge that is infinitely above nature. It comes from His own teaching and the direct testimony of the Holy Spirit.
What John denies is not that he had ever met Jesus, but that his witness rested on anything he had worked out himself.
He does not deny that he had met Jesus before. But he does deny that his declaration came from conclusions he himself had drawn, or from any estimate of His Person he himself had formed. It rested on a revelation from heaven that he himself had received.
The weight of the sign falls on the word "remaining."
Notice that word: the Spirit "remained on him." In earlier days the Spirit came on men, but often He left them. Moses partly lost Him. Balaam lost Him. Saul lost Him. David feared to lose Him. But here is the only sinless Man, outside Eden, that the world or God has seen. He received the Spirit, and the Spirit "remained on him." That abiding Spirit is the Father's testimony to His delight and joy in that perfect Man. By that very act the Father owns Him as His Son.
John baptized with water. He never claimed the other baptism for himself.
But if the Spirit stayed on Him as man, this is He that baptizes with the Holy Spirit. None could so baptize but God. It would be blasphemy to say otherwise. It is the fullest prerogative of a divine Person to act in this way. So John the Baptist disclaimed it altogether. In every Gospel he points to Jesus alone as the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, while he himself had come baptizing with water. It is the mighty work of Jesus from heaven, as He was the Lamb of God on the cross.
John announced a baptism that was still far off.
While giving this bright testimony to Jesus, the Baptist could not know all that lay before Jesus before He would baptize men with His Spirit. The Lord would not do this on earth. He would do it from His place of exaltation at the Father's right hand, after He had finished the great work of redemption on the cross.
Jesus used the same contrast after His resurrection, and that settles what this baptism is and is not.
It is evident that our Lord is applying these words when He says to the disciples after His resurrection, "John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5). Here is the same contrast of water with Spirit, yet the same term, "baptism," applied to each. On the day of Pentecost, when these words were fulfilled, the Spirit did not connect Himself with water. It is certain, too, that these disciples were born again before Pentecost, so this baptism was not their new birth. The baptism of the Spirit is not what makes men new-born. It is what makes those already new-born members of the body of Christ.
Verse 32 shows Jesus receiving; verse 33 shows Him giving.
That is, in John 1:32 you have the personal seal of the Holy Spirit given to Christ. "God the Father has set His seal on Him." The Holy Spirit came and stayed on Him. But a most blessed truth is brought out in the next verse. The same blessed Person, who was Himself sealed in this way, was also to baptize others with the Holy Spirit. There you have the two great divisions of our Lord's work. First, the Lamb bearing away the sin of the world, the crowning work of Christ on earth. Then His great heavenly work, founded on what He did on earth.
- Sign. God gave John one mark to watch for: the Spirit coming down and staying. His witness rested on God's word, not his own judgment.
- Stays. Earlier men received the Spirit and lost Him. On Jesus the Spirit stayed — the Father's own testimony to His delight in that perfect Man.
- Sender. Only God can baptize with the Holy Spirit. John claimed water and disclaimed the rest, pointing to Jesus alone as the Baptizer.
- Sequence. The gift waited for the cross. Jesus pours it out from the Father's right hand. It is not water baptism, and it is not the new birth.
- Son. He receives the Spirit, then gives Him — the Lamb's work on earth, then His work from heaven. The Father owns Him as His Son.
And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.
John's last word about Jesus here is not a guess. It is a report of something he saw. Two questions follow. What did he see, and how did it lead him to call Jesus the Son of God?
John had to be told before he could speak. Twice he admitted that he did not know Jesus on his own.
Even John the Baptist was the greatest born of women. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, and the same is said of no other man. Yet twice he had to declare, "I myself did not know Him" (John 1:31, 33). By himself he could not define anything about His Person apart from the revelation made to him... The testimony he heard carried what John saw deep down into his soul. It made it a matter of faith, and so of power in his heart, so that he "bore witness."
John baptised many people. The Spirit came down on one man only.
There was one, but only one, of all who came to John, on whom the Holy Spirit could find a resting-place. All the others confessed their sins as John baptised them. They had all failed, and so were sinners in themselves. He alone was holy, for He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. On Him the Spirit descended, and remained. And John saw that, though probably no one else witnessed it.
John does not stop at the descent of the Spirit. God told him that this same man would baptise with the Holy Spirit. That points to one conclusion about who He is.
John's conclusion, stated in verse 34, is of much importance... The Holy Spirit is a Person in the Godhead. And here is a Man who has this Divine Person at His disposal, to pour Him out as a baptism. Who can this Man be? No one less than the Son of God, another Person in the Godhead. So we are at once brought to the point which is the main aim of this Gospel (see 20:31). The Son was here in Manhood; that is why such a thing could be.
John has already called Jesus the Lamb of God. The two titles cover two different works, and both reach beyond Israel.
As the Lamb of God He accomplishes redemption. But that is not all. As the Son of God He gives the Holy Spirit, so that He may lead the redeemed into the blessedness of their place as sons. John bears witness that the One who gives the Holy Spirit is the Son of God. Who but a divine Person could give a divine Person? These titles given to the Lord by John go far beyond what Christ is in relation to Israel.
Something audible stood behind the confession, not only something visible.
When the angel Gabriel announced the birth, he told the virgin that her child would be called the Son of God. So He is Son of God by incarnation. But He is Son of God as well by eternal generation... And how did John the Baptist learn that He was the Son of God? For revelation alone teaches that. Had he not heard the Father's voice addressing His Son, when He was baptised in the Jordan? "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." That heavenly message was addressed to the Son, but surely John heard it. So John could declare with certainty that He would baptise with the Holy Spirit, learning that by special revelation. And with the same certainty he could proclaim the Sonship, hearing it in the Father's words to His Son.
The sign that opened John's mouth also reaches those who believe.
This was the sign given to John the Baptist that opened his mouth to bear witness that Jesus was the Son of God... The descent of the Spirit on Jesus is the clear, heavenly testimony showing who Jesus was in His Person, as Son of God. John saw and bore witness that He was the Son of God Himself in this world. This is very precious for us to think about. With us it is no question of our persons, but of sovereign grace. He has ascended into glory and has baptised us with the Holy Spirit. And He, the eternal Son, first received this same testimony Himself as Man down here.
- Sign — God gave John one mark in advance: the Spirit descending and remaining. Only one man in all the crowds could be its resting-place, because He alone was holy.
- Sight — the witness rests on what John saw. But he could not read its meaning without the revelation given to him.
- Sonship — the One who can pour out a divine Person must Himself be a divine Person. The gift proves the Giver.
- Sum — the two titles belong together. As the Lamb He accomplishes redemption. As the Son He gives the Spirit, so the redeemed enter their place as sons.
- So that — John's confession is the very point of the whole Gospel: that Jesus is the Son of God.