john the baptist

13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.14 But John tried to talk him out of it. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you," he said, "so why are you coming to me?"
15 But Jesus said, "It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.s" So John agreed to baptize him.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were openeds and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him.17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy."

matthew 3

i've been mulling this over for a couple of days now. i really want to dig deeper into all the people that surrounded Jesus during His time here on earth and started back in matthew. here, i come across john the baptist. what stuck out to me was Jesus wanting to be baptized by John but John denying Him. i read in some other commentaries that john had never met Jesus before and this is the moment that john recognized that this was the Messiah before the Spirit of God descended upon Him. when john says, "'i am the one who needs to be baptized by you,' ... 'so why are you coming to me?'" john had a feeling that this was Jesus. and after Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and settled on Him, this clinched it. this was the Son of God! but check this out, when we turn to matthew 11:1-3.

1 When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region.
2 John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus,3 "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting,s or should we keep looking for someone else?"

some people believe that john sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was really the Messiah they've been expecting or wait on someone else for his own knowledge and satisfaction. to strengthen his faith. some believe that he sent the disciples so that they can see for themselves Jesus and His miracles. i'm going to go with option c, that john wanted to know for himself and for his disciples that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. john was in jail. and if i was in jail and going through all that he was going through, my faith would be shaken as well. i would be scared out of my mind! i would want to know for sure if Jesus was the Messiah, the person i've been waiting for my entire life! but we can see here a little bit of ourselves. john recognized and knew that he was meeting Jesus the first time He met Him and was sure of it when the Spirit of God descended on Him. weren't we all like that at some point? when we first met Jesus, and our faith was new and strong, we had no doubt that this was the Son of God, the man who would set us free from our old lives. but when times get rough, we start doubting. our faith is shaken. we have to go "send our disciples" to see if Jesus is really who He says He is. we want to be sure again. i see so much of myself in john. at one point, i'm so sure that God is real in my life, and when times are rough, i start questioning and doubting and i need reassurance. but we can rest assured in this. when thomas finally believed that Jesus rose from the dead.

29 Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

john 20