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The testimony of John the Baptist

According to the accounts recorded in the Holy Injil, John the Baptist was a cousin of Jesus the Messiah and was a great forerunner of the Messiah, as foretold in the prophecy of Isaiah seven centuries before the birth of Jesus and John.  Isaiah wrote,   "A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.'" (Isaiah 40:3 NIV)

John said, "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:7-8 NIV)

On one occasion, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him.  He said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"  (John 1:29 NIV)

In the same passage, John is recorded as saying, "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.  I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'  I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."  (John 1:32-34 NIV)                             

 

John the Baptist recognized that he was sent with the special mission to prepare the people of his day for the ministry of the Messiah.  John called people to repent of their sins and to acknowledge God's cleansing of their hearts by receiving water baptism.  He understood the clear difference between himself and Jesus, who would bring a new and powerful experience of the Holy Spirit to people.

John also bore witness that Jesus was the savior, who had the authority to remove the world's sin.  John even went as far as to testify that Jesus was the "Son of God."

This is the testimony of John the Baptist.
 
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