“I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
This verse is a milestone of sorts because in it John tells us what John the Baptist’s mission statement was: He came to facilitate the revealing of the Lord, the Lamb of God.
Q: If John the Baptist did not know Jesus, how did he plan to reveal him to anybody?
By what he said,..he knew Jesus from the beginning when he jumped in his mothers womb. He may not have really known who Jesus was then but then as time went by the Holy Spirit took hold of John the Baptist and started speaking through him,..that’s my answer to the question,..The Holy Spirit was The One who did the revealing,..
Yes, the bible says John was filled with the Holy Spirit while in the womb, Luke 1:15. John spent his life in the world but not of the world as he possibly studied scripture being revealed to Him by the Holy Spirit. Being taught as we are taught today.
John does not say “he planned to reveal Christ”. He says, ” that He might be revealed to Israel”. John came to baptize the baptism of repentance. He was preparing people for the coming of Christ, whose saving power is revealed to all by the Holy Spirit.
Great comments!
The question is asked from a worldly perspective. God sees us through a different lens. John’s real job was not to “know” all this stuff but to follow God’s leading.
I knew there was a trick in there. Good job Jeff.
We often say that phrase, “do you know” so and so. In that context we think of having met, been acquainted with, even perhaps befriended someone, knowing their physical characteristics, their personality, or even perhaps their history and past experiences. In that sense our understanding of them as a person varies from little to great. The idea of “knowing” someone in the Bible takes on a very deeper meaning. For example:
Genesis 4:1 “And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.”
I don’t need to explain this one other than the Bible is referencing intimacy between husband and wife that is something between just those two people. Knowing someone on a level that is not shared with anyone else.
Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
In this context the Jesus is speaking about the condition of the heart. It is a warning about treating God and the Word as a talisman, an trying to “wield power” under the guise of doing God’s work. God desires a relationship with us, He wants us to know Him, and He wants us to share ourselves with Him.
Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Not just knowing about good and evil deeds, but knowing both the emotions and consequences of doing both.
John said he did not know Jesus. That seems weird as they were family. I am sure that John knew Jesus in the context of physical characteristics, personality, even day-to-day habits. What John is saying is that although he knew Jesus, and he knew the prophecies, he did not know the impact it would have on him spiritually and emotionally to be in the presence of Christ. John said “but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” John had been baptizing before he baptized Jesus. He was sent to baptize. Jesus came and asked John to baptize Him, and John was reluctant. Jesus was insistent, and that is when the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven. I don’t think John had a plan for a reveal, I think his statement was a reflective one. That he realized that in following Christ’s lead, the Messiah was truly revealed to Israel.
Chris,
You touch on two important themes today. The first is what it means to “know” someone or something. As I worked through John’s Gospel in the early days of the blog, I came across that topic again and again. You might say that I came to “know” it well. It is very fitting, I think, that you bring it up again here.
At the end of your meditation, you mention the topic of family. You note that it “seems weird” that John said he didn’t know Jesus because they were family. The implication is that families stay in touch. They would get together now and then. Perhaps, as some have suggested, John and Jesus even spent time together as children.
Is this likely?
Luke offers the only details of their childhood that we have in the Bible. We know from Luke 1: 39-56 that Mary went to visit the mother of John the Baptist when they were both pregnant. We also know that Elizabeth was “very old.” (Luke 1:7) Mary is presumed to be very young when the Lord Jesus was conceived in her.
One of the mysteries of John the Baptist is how long his parents lived after he was born. If they were very old, it may not have been long. John may have lived in the desert most of his life before beginning his ministry. We don’t know. (There’s that word, “know” again!)
The second bit of information is that to visit Elizabeth, Mary had to travel from Nazareth in the north, to the “hill country of Judea” (Luke 1:39). This could have been a distance of 100 to 140 miles as the crow flies. Perhaps as much as 150 to 200 miles on foot. Such a journey would take a long time and would not be made lightly.
Third, we know from Scripture that Mary and Joseph moved to Bethlehem before Jesus was born. And we can surmise that they stayed there for up to two years (Matthew 2:16). While both boys were nearer to each other geographically during these years, they were only babies. They would have no memory of any visits that might have happened between families.
Jesus’ family then moves to Egypt (Matthew 2:13) for a period of time before returning to Nazareth. By now, Jesus would be a young boy. So the next question is, would Jesus and John have crossed paths in Jerusalem during one of the major festivals?
It is possible that John and Jesus might have met at a Passover celebration. Luke 2:41-52 tells the story of Jesus being in Jerusalem for the Passover and says that his parents went “every year.” (Luke 2:41) By now, John the Baptist’s parents would be “very old” plus another ten years or so. That could translate into “very, very old.” Would they still be able to make the trip to Jerusalem? Would they even be still alive?
My personal opinion is that John and Jesus probably did not meet in the flesh before their meeting when John was baptizing. I do not deny that it is possible, but that it was unlikely. If they had met, it would have been a rare or one-time occurrence.
Wow! Thank you for detailing that piece of the map for me. One, I appreciated you sharing the information because it helps me better understand the Gospel and two I find it absolutely fascinating how one can pull together a clearer picture of something as simple as that from different portions of different gospels.
Chris,
I’m glad my comment was helpful! I find deciphering the Bible interesting. There is so much history covered that God’s Word is often more like a sketch than a drawing or a painting. In fact, I can visualize it that way – as a large mural on a BIG wall. There is a giant story arc (ark?) from the beginning of the world to the end. Along the arc are lines that sketch out people in history. Occasionally there are places where the sketch gets very detailed. Figuring out the stories that are not detailed sometimes requires standing back far enough to see the clues in the different parts of the sketch.