“A Better Man Than I”

Saturday, January 05, 2013

[This question is in regard to our Daily Cup reading series: Day 3 – Matt 3]

Day 3: If John didn't know who Jesus was, why did he say, "I have need to be baptized by You”?  Mary and Elizabeth knew who Jesus really was… right?

Sincerely,
Distant Cousins

Dear Distant Cousins,

If the only account of Jesus’ baptism we had was Matthew 3, we would have every reason to believe that John the Baptist knew Jesus was the Savior before His baptism, but in Jhn 1:32-33, John the Baptist says, “I knew Him not”.  John explains that God had told him to go and preach, preparing the people for the Christ who was to come, and he would know the Christ had come when he saw the Holy Spirit descending on Him (Jhn 1:33).

It is true that Mary and Elizabeth had been told about Jesus’ unique future at His birth (Lk 1:39-43), but that was thirty years ago (Lk 3:23), and we know that by the time Jesus began preaching, Jesus’ family didn’t believe Him to be Lord (Jhn 7:5).

So why would John the Baptist tell Jesus that he needed to be baptized by Him?  John said that he didn’t know Jesus as Savior, but he did know Jesus as a man.  After all, they were related to each other (Lk 1:36).  The most likely reason for John’s request to be baptized by Jesus is that he was so impressed by his cousin’s character and morality that John believed Jesus to be a truly great man.  He was more right than he knew!

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