Ive always been under the impression that John the Baptist knew Jesus was the Messiah all throughout his life. After all, reading the encounter of Mary and Elizabeth leads us to believe the two mothers were well aware of the callings of their sons-to-be. I always assumed the two cousins grew up with the knowledge of the divine partnership their destiny shared, and even if they didn’t know it inherently, their mothers must have done the “mom” thing and spoke in to their lives “This is what you were made for.”
So how curious is it that in John 1:29-34, where John publicly announces that Jesus is the one they all had been waiting for, that John says:
I didn’t know He was the one…”
John didn’t know that his cousin Jesus was the one they all had been waiting for? Really?
John’s testimony of the events taking place the day he recognized Jesus as the Messiah state that the Lord had instructed him to baptize with water, and prepare the way for the one who would come after him to baptize with the Holy Spirit. He says he was told that he would know who this one was when he saw a certain sign.
I don’t know if John was totally in the dark with that or not. Perhaps he knew, but didn’t feel comfortable confirming it publicly until he saw the sign he was waiting for. On the other hand, maybe he had no idea at all. Could you imagine? He is standing there, fulfilling his own pretty grandiose and eccentric calling, and then- FINALLY- he see’s the sign he had been waiting on! He looks harder at the man the spirit is descending down on like a dove, and blinks his eyes a few times to make sure he’s seeing it right. Is that my…. cousin? HE is the messiah I’ve been preparing the way for?? Did I really hear God correctly?
It’s not really known how much interaction John and Jesus would have had as children. You’d assume they’d had some- I wonder if in that moment their child hood play times flashed through his head. Did John ever try to argue with Jesus? Was Jesus the “perfect” little boy that the child John grew up feeling inferior to? Did they wrestle and chase each other and play pranks on one another the way little boys do? Were there any regrets John had about his interactions with Jesus growing up?
And in that moment, what was he thinking when he realized everything about their relationship had changed
because he saw the sign.
John’s whole perspective and view point on his younger cousin may have had to be readjusted instantly in that short space of time where he saw the sign and then had to announce to the world that Jesus was the one that they’d been waiting on. There was no time for questions, no time to think it through, it had to be instant. NOW was the time to announce to the world that they were in the presence of the Son of God! What a gift John must have had- the confidence in what the Lord had spoken to him; the ability to just run with it when his whole world was changed in that split second.
How often does God speak to us, or show us something, and how often do we take the initiative to react that quickly to what he has said. In those moments do doubts, questions, fears give us pause? Oh to be confident enough in knowing His voice that when he speaks to us, we are willing to instantly change our thinking to act on what He has said!
New Years resolution #2- I will strive to know HIS voice better, and to react to His instruction when it comes immediately, without hesitation, without question, without fear.
