John 1:32

John, the Baptizer freely testifies to all, " I witnessed the Spirit of God in the form of a dove descending on him when I baptized him.  This Spirit stayed with him from that day forward."  John 1:32 EFP 

 

John is big on witnesses.  In this first chapter of his Gospel, he makes the claim that John the Baptizer witnessed or testified to the Light (verse 7), to Jesus’ unique and exalted status (verse 15), and to the Holy Spirit descending on him (verse 32).  The “witnessing” theme appears 18 times in his Gospel; “testify” and its derivatives appear another 12 times.  It is important for John for his readers to know that this in not simple hearsay, but eyewitness evidence to the truth he is sharing with them.  He wants us to believe, not only in what he is sharing, but in the One of whom he testifies.

I often wonder if the people who lived in John’s day did not have a distinct advantage over us who live separated by 2000 years from the events narrated in the pages of the Gospels.  They got to see Jesus; they walked with him; they literally witnessed his miracles!  We are provided but an incomplete written record of his ministry and life of sacrifice.  Is it fair to expect us to believe, and to witness to something we have not seen with our eyes and touched with our hands?  How can I be a witness to what I have not seen?

Then I think of all those who saw, heard, and literally ate the words and miracles of Jesus, yet they did not believe.  In fact, his closest acquaintances not only failed to recognize him for who he was, but in fact rejected him and tried to kill him! (Luke 4)  We, on the other hand, have the evidence of two millennia to inform us of the difference Jesus has made in the world.  And in spite of the human evidence to the contrary, we read of changed lives and acts of self-sacrificing love by those who follow the Loving One.  Ultimately it is the personal and intimate testimony of my changed life that has the most potential to be most powerful.  What evidence do I have to share about the work of God in me?  I obviously cannot witness to what I did not see in Jesus’ day, but I can witness to what I have experienced.  I carry on the ministry of both Johns—proclaiming the coming of the Messiah and ushering in the Kingdom of Heaven.