John the Baptist Meets the Messiah

So often when we are dealing with familiar stories of the Bible, we do not take the time to look at the Bible text concerning those stories. Mostly we simply rely on all the times we heard those stories as young people. I heard a preacher say one time, "Read the unfamiliar scriptures and read the familiar scriptures more closely." I often find as I study those familiar stories in the Bible how much of the stories I don't know or was simply wrong about.

For example, I was studying John 1:19-34 concerning John the Baptist and Jesus. I was always taught that John said that he should be baptized by Jesus because he knew that Jesus was the Messiah. This is not accurate according John 1:19-34. John states in the text that he did not know who the Christ was (v 31). However, John was told that whomever he saw the Spirit descend and remain upon was the Christ (v 33). This was a sign for John to be able to identify the Christ, for whom he was preparing the way (v 23).

What lesson can we draw from this better understanding? I believe the most interesting fact is that even though John the Baptist did not know that Jesus was the Christ, he still recognized Him to be a more righteous man than he was. This is why John would make the statement in Matthew 3:14 when Jesus came to be baptized, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" The righteous and sinless life of Christ was obvious to those around Him. Jesus set that example for us that we might live our lives as He did.

Therefore the next time you think about the story of the baptism of Christ, remember what the book of John records concerning this great Bible story.