The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 30 He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. 33 I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ 34 Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
In Jn. 1:19-28, John the Baptist refuses every title people try to give him and points away from himself. He also gives the key warning: “there is one among you whom you do not recognize” (v. 26). The Messiah is already present, but still hidden to many.
Jn. 1:29-34 is the moment that hidden presence becomes public. John sees Jesus coming toward him and announces, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” In Scripture, a “lamb” can carry more than one meaning, and John’s words seem to gather several of them at once. The Passover lamb in Exodus was not simply an animal. Its blood marked Israel’s homes for deliverance, and its flesh was eaten as part of a sacred meal (Ex 12:1-27). Isaiah also speaks of the Servant who suffers like an innocent lamb led to slaughter, bearing the burden of others (Is 53:7-12). John’s title, then, points toward a saving act that is both deliverance and sacrifice, and it also looks ahead to the way John’s Gospel later ties Jesus’ death to Passover time (Jn 19:14, 36). John is not only naming Jesus; he is placing Jesus inside Israel’s story and its hope for rescue from sin and evil.
The line “who takes away the sin of the world” is striking. Some Jewish associations with Passover do not naturally center on the removal of sins in the way later Christian preaching does. John’s Gospel often describes sin’s defeat in a particular way: Jesus defeats sin at its root by restoring communion with the Father. He reveals the Father, draws people into faith, and gives the Holy Spirit—so that what is dead in us is made alive. In other words, sin is not ignored, but overcome by the gift of eternal life. John the Baptist’s words hold both truths together: sin is real, and Jesus truly takes it away; and Jesus does this by bringing the life and light of God into the world (cf. Jn 1:4-5).
John then repeats what he has already said about Jesus: “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” On the surface, Jesus comes after John in public ministry. But John insists that Jesus is “before” him in a deeper sense. In John’s Gospel, that “before” points beyond human timelines. It fits the Gospel’s opening claim that the Word was with God “in the beginning” (Jn 1:1-2). John is telling the crowd that Jesus is not simply a later teacher who follows John’s movement. Jesus outranks John because His origin is greater than John’s.
Twice John says, “I did not know him.” In this Gospel, that does not mean John never met Jesus. It means John did not recognize Jesus’ full identity on his own. He did not reach this conclusion by guesswork or personal insight. John’s role is shaped by revelation. That is why he explains his water-baptism the way he does: “the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John’s baptism, in this telling, is not introduced as the place where people receive forgiveness of sins (as it is often framed elsewhere). Here, its purpose is to make Jesus known (v. 31). John is like a witness in court: he prepares the setting, and then he identifies the One whom God is revealing.
John’s testimony centers on a sign: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him.” The dove image can recall the dawn of a new creation, when the flood ends and a dove signals a new beginning (Gn 8:8), and it also evokes the Spirit of God at the first creation, hovering over the waters (Gn 1:2). John is saying that something new is beginning in Jesus, not only for Jesus Himself, but for Israel and for the world.
Just as important is the verb “remain.” John’s Gospel uses this word often. It means to stay, to abide, to dwell, to keep close and not depart. John is not describing a passing moment. He is saying the Spirit remains on Jesus in a lasting way. That matters because it shows that Jesus is not merely someone occasionally inspired by God; He bears the Spirit permanently and will give the Spirit to others. The Spirit’s descent is not needed to make Jesus the Son; it is given as a sign so that Israel may recognize who He is and so that John can testify that Jesus is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
John then reports the instruction he received: “On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.” In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ baptism includes a voice from heaven (Mk 1:10-11; Lk 3:21-22). John’s Gospel does not narrate that scene directly. Instead, it gives us John the Baptist looking back and testifying to what he saw. The point is similar: God identifies Jesus. But John’s Gospel frames it as testimony rather than narration, and it highlights the result: Jesus will “baptize with the holy Spirit.”
John’s baptism uses water as an outward sign. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit, meaning He will give God’s Spirit to renew people from within and bring them into new life. Later in this Gospel, Jesus will speak about being “born of water and Spirit” (Jn 3:5), will promise “living water” that becomes a source within the believer (Jn 7:38-39), and after the resurrection will breathe the Spirit on the disciples (Jn 20:22). John the Baptist’s testimony in Jn 1:29-34 is the doorway into all of that. Jesus is the One through whom God’s own life is given.
John concludes: “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” Some manuscripts preserve a slightly different wording (“God’s chosen One”), which would echo Isaiah’s Servant (Is 42:1). Either way, John’s meaning is clear: this is not merely a prophet or reformer. John the Baptist is giving a public witness that Jesus stands in a unique relationship to God and bears God’s saving work in His own person. In a few lines, John’s testimony gathers the core confession: Jesus is the Lamb who takes away sin, the Spirit-bearer on whom the Spirit remains, and the One who gives the Spirit to others.
Lord God, help me to receive the testimony You have given about Your Son. Teach me to recognize Him as the Lamb of God, to trust the life He brings, and to welcome the Holy Spirit whom He gives.
___________________
Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011), including NABRE notes on Jn. 1:29-34.
- The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of John, p. 163.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: St John, p. 367.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (Paulist Press, 2018), p. 1120.
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Prentice Hall, 1990), p. 952, para. 32.
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