THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Jesus, the Christ, that is, the Anointed One, the Messiah, was already in the world and needed to be revealed to the people. What would your presentation look like to the nation? In a solemn worship, in the temple, in Jerusalem, with all the authorities of Israel present? No. His revelation to the world would take place in a context of absolute simplicity, as if nothing important was happening, so that everyone who approached Him would come by the faith that He is the Son of God. Doubt and improbability were necessary for man to walk, by faith and not by rational verification, the way back to God.

The Creator reversed human logic, for his kingdom is not of this world as the Jewish religious thought that they were expecting a nationalistic Messiah who would restore the glory of Israel among the nations. For this reason, God entered the world, in the person of the Son, in a secret way. He was born in a stable of Bethlehem and grew up in the bosom of a humble family in Nazareth in Galilee. The world would not know Him "by human wisdom," for “...God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe… But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong... to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1.18-31).

No one knew who the Messiah was, even John the Baptist. He said, "I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel" (John 1:31). Then John gave the following testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And 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 "(John 131-34).

Where did John the Baptist take the idea of ​​preaching and baptizing people in the Jordan River? From whence came all his authority, for multitudes came to him to hear him and to be baptized. The party of priests and Levites who came from Jerusalem to oversee him asked him this question: "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (John 1:24). The text shows that John the Baptist had an experience with God. He said, "I would not have recognized him if the one who sent me to baptize with water did not tell me ... that's why I came baptizing with water: so that He would be revealed to Israel”.

So, the day after that conversation with the religious in Jerusalem, "John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). This is another statement as important as that in which he states that Jesus ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, that is, that Jesus is the Son of God. This expression "Lamb of God" throughout Scripture is found only here in the mouth of this prophet (John 1: 29-36). It speaks of the kind of messianate to which the Son of God came into the world. Not political, as the Jews hoped, but spiritual, of the kind that "takes away the sin of the world”.

Note the importance of John the Baptist in the context of the New Testament. God gives him the conditions to identify the promised Messiah. His witness is fundamental to the formation of the apostolic college, so much so that when he said that Jesus was the Lamb of God, immediately two of his disciples followed Christ. Those who gathered to Jesus had this word that He was not just any man, but the Son of God. And this will soon be confirmed through his holy life, his teaching and his miracles, his death and resurrection. This testimony of John the Baptist remains valid to this day. It is up to the present man to believe in It and decide to follow Christ, as did the first disciples of Jesus.

Antônio Maia - M. Div.

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