Who was John the Baptist, and why did he baptize?

In John 1:19-34, John the Baptist points away from himself and toward Jesus: “Behold! The Lamb of God.” In this study, Dr. Toby Holt explains John’s one great mission — to prepare the way for the Messiah.

When the religious leaders ask John who he is, he refuses every title, calling himself only “a voice crying in the wilderness.” Dr. Holt explains why John’s baptism was so startling: Jews normally baptized only Gentile converts, so baptizing Jews implied that Israel itself needed to repent. John says he is not even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandal. Then he names Jesus the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” — pointing to the Passover lamb and the cross, where Jesus would die in the sinner’s place.

Questions this study answers:

1. Why was John baptizing people? As a call to repentance. Because Jews usually baptized only Gentile converts, John’s baptism implied that Israel, too, needed to turn back to God.

2. Why did John call Jesus “the Lamb of God”? Because Jesus is the true Passover Lamb who would die in the place of sinners, taking away their sin.

3. What was John the Baptist’s mission? To prepare the way for the Messiah and point people to Jesus — never to himself.

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” — John 1:29 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the John Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.