Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 1:33
And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
33. And I knew him not ] Or, as before, I also knew Him not. The Baptist again protests, that but for a special revelation he was as ignorant as others that Jesus was the Messiah.
he that sent me ] The special mission of a Prophet. Comp. Joh 1:6.
the same said unto me ] Better, he said unto me: see on Joh 10:1. When this revelation was made we are not told.
and remaining on him ] Better, and abiding on Him. It is the same word as is used in Joh 1:32, and one of which S. John is very fond; but our translators have obscured this fact by capriciously varying the translation, sometimes in the same verse ( Joh 1:39, Joh 4:40 ; 1Jn 2:24; 1Jn 3:24). Thus, though most often rendered ‘abide,’ it is also rendered ‘remain’ (Joh 9:41, Joh 15:11; Joh 15:16), ‘dwell’ (Joh 1:39, Joh 6:56, Joh 14:10; Joh 14:17), ‘continue’ (Joh 2:12, Joh 8:31), ‘tarry’ (Joh 4:40, Joh 21:22-23), ‘endure’ (Joh 6:27), ‘be present’ (Joh 14:25). In 1Jn 2:24 it is translated in three different ways. See on Joh 15:9.
which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost ] See on Joh 14:26. This phrase, introduced without explanation or comment, assumes that the readers of this Gospel are well aware of this office of the Messiah, i.e. are well-instructed Christians. The word baptizeth is appropriate, (1) to mark the analogy and contrast between the office of the Baptist and that of the Messiah; (2) because the gift of the Spirit is constantly represented as an out-pouring. ‘With,’ as in Joh 1:26 ; Joh 1:31, is literally ‘in.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The same said … – This was the sign by which he was to know the Messiah. He was to see the Spirit descending like a dove and abiding on him. It does not follow, however, that he had no intimation before this that Jesus was the Christ, but it means that by this he should know it infallibly. From Mat 3:13-14, it seems that John supposed, before the baptism of Jesus, that he claimed to be the Messiah, and, that he believed it; but the infallible, certain testimony in the case was the descent of the Holy Spirit on him at his baptism.
That this is the Son of God – This was distinctly declared by a voice from heaven at his baptism, Mat 3:17. This John heard, and he testified that he had heard it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 33. He that sent me – said unto me] From this we may clearly perceive that John had a most intimate acquaintance with the Divine Being; and received not only his call and mission at first, but every subsequent direction, by immediate, unequivocal inspiration. Who is fit to proclaim Jesus, but he who has continual intercourse with God; who is constantly receiving light and life from Christ their fountain; who bears a steady, uniform testimony to Jesus, even in the presence of his enemies; and who at all times abases himself, that Jesus alone may be magnified! Reformation of manners, and salvation of souls, will accompany such a person’s labours whithersoever he goeth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And I knew him not; I was a stranger to him; I knew him in a sense, when I leaped in my mothers womb, upon his mothers coming to see my mother, Luk 1:41; but that (as impressions made upon infants use to do) wore off. I had some impression upon me at that time when he came towards me to be baptized, which made me say to him, (as Mat 3:14)
I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? But yet I was not certain, though I knew he was in the crowd of people, that he was the person designed, and whose work it should be to baptize with the Holy Ghost, until the same God that had given me that sign fulfilled it to me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And I knew him not,…. That is, before he came to be baptized by him; when it was secretly suggested to him who he was, and the following signal was given him, to confirm him in it:
but he that sent me to baptize with water; or “in water”; that is, God; for John’s mission was from God, as in Joh 1:6, and his baptism from heaven; he had a divine warrant and commission for what he did:
the same said unto me; either by an articulate voice, or by a divine impulse on his mind, or by the revelation of the Spirit:
upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him,
the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost; that is, the Messiah; [See comments on Mt 3:11],
[See comments on Mt 3:16].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He said ( ). Explicit and emphatic pronoun as in verse 8, referring to God as the one who sent John (verse 6).
With the Holy Spirit ( ). “In the Holy Spirit.” Here again one needs the background of the Synoptics for the contrast between John’s baptism in water (Joh 1:26) and that of the Messiah in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8; Matt 3:11; Luke 3:16).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And I knew him not: (kago ouk edein auton) “And I did not know him,” in His real person, as the son of God, though he surely knew Him as a cousin in the flesh, and knew Him to be a man of high character, else he would not have said, “I have need to be baptized of thee,” See? Mat 3:13-14; Luk 2:41-50.
2) “But he that sent me to baptize with water,” (all’ ho pempsas me baptizein en hudati) “But instead he who sent me to baptize or immerse in and with water,” Joh 1:6; Joh 4:1-2. Where there was “much water,” enough to immerse, submerge, or dip all baptismal candidates, Joh 3:23.
3) “The same said unto me,” (ekeinos moi eipen) “That one advised me,” informed me, or instructed me. John simply emphasizes that the message or testimony he bears about Jesus is not his own human idea or concoction, but was given of God.
4) “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending,” (eph’ hon an ides to pneuma katabamon) “Upon whoever you see the Spirit coming down,” as described Mat 3:16; Mar 1:10.
5) “And remaining on him,” (kai menon ep’ auton) “And resting or residing upon him,” in a visible glory form, in a “bodily shape,” like a dove,” firmly upon a solid place, Luk 3:22.
6) “The same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” (houtos estin ho baptizon en pneumati hagion) “This one is (exists as) the one baptizing in and with the Holy Spirit,” or immersing, submerging, men in or quickening them to life in and with the Holy Spirit, by which He was anointed, Luk 4:18; Isa 61:1-2; Joh 3:3; Joh 3:6-7; Joh 6:63. He also prayed the Father to send that Holy Spirit to empower, consecrate, and indwell His church forever, Joh 14:16; Luk 24:49, Act 1:5; Act 1:8; Act 2:1-4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
33. Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending. Here a difficult question arises; for if John did not know Christ, why does he refuse to admit him to baptism? To a person whom he did not know he would not say, I ought rather to be baptized by thee, (Mat 3:14.) Some reply, that he knew him to such an extent as to regard him with the reverence due to a distinguished Prophet, but was not aware that he was the Son of God. But this is a poor solution of the difficulty, for every man ought to obey the calling of God without any respect of persons. No rank or excellence of man ought to prevent us from doing our duty, and therefore John would have shown disrespect to God and to his baptism, if he had spoken in this manner to any other person than the Son of God. it follows that he must have previously known Christ.
In the first place, it ought to be observed, that the knowledge here mentioned is that which arises from personal and long acquaintance. Although he recognizes Christ whenever he sees him, still it does not cease to be true that they were not known to each other according to the ordinary custom of men, for the commencement of his knowledge proceeded from God. But the question is not yet fully answered; for he says that the sight of the Holy Spirit was the mark by which he was pointed out to him. Now he had not yet seen the Spirit, when he had addressed Christ as the Son of God. For my own part, I willingly embrace the opinion of those who think that this sign was added for confirmation, and that it was not so much for the sake of John as for the sake of us all. John indeed saw it, but it was rather for others than for himself. Bucer appropriately quotes that saying of Moses,
This shall be a sign to you, that after three days journey, you shall sacrifice to me on the mountain, (Exo 3:12.)
Undoubtedly, when they were going out, they already knew that God would conduct and watch over their deliverance; but this was a confirmation a posteriori, as the phrase is; that is, from the event, after it had taken place. In like manner, this came as an addition to the former revelation which had been given to John.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
33. The same is he Though John may have recognized Jesus, even as the Messiah, at the moment before his baptism, by spiritual insight or divine prophetic impulse; yet he was bound to wait the divine sign, which marked the Christ out from all the race as the very one and no other, before he could officially know him as Messiah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 1:33 . John’s recognition of Jesus as the Messiah (whom he had not before known as such) rested upon a revelation previously made to him with this intent; and this he now states, solemnly repeating, however, the declaration of his own ignorance ( ).
] in emphatic contrast with his own reflection.
] i.e . by express revelation . We cannot tell the precise time or manner of this prior revelation. By it John was referred to some outwardly visible ( ) of the Spirit, in a general way, without any definition of its form . He was to see it descending, and this descent took place in the form of a dove , and after that divine intimation there was no room for doubt. Comp. on Mat 3:17 , note.
] that is, when thou baptizest Him with water. This is not expressly stated in the divine declaration, but John could not fail so to understand it, because, being sent to baptize , he would naturally expect the appearance of the promised sign while fulfilling his mission; comp. Joh 1:31 . He therefore describes the giver of the revelation as , . . ., and the evangelist puts the statement in the conditional form: , . . ., i.e ., according to the connection of the narrative: “ When, in the fulfilment of this your mission, you shall see the Spirit descending upon one of those whom thou baptizest, this is He, ” etc.
. ] by communicating it to those who believe upon Him. See on Mat 3:11 . The designation of this communication as a baptism very naturally arose from its close relation to the work of the Baptist’s mission (comp. Mat 3:11 ; Mar 1:8 ; Luk 3:16 ; Act 1:5 ; Act 11:16 ), because the gift of the Spirit, according to the prophetic figure (Joe 3:1 ; Isa 44:3 ), had been promised under the form of an outpouring (comp. Act 2:33 ). The contrast itself distinctly sets before us the difference between the two baptisms: the one was a preparation for the Messianic salvation by ; the other, an introduction thereto by the divine principle of life and salvation, the communication of which presupposes the forgiveness of sins (see on Mar 1:4 ).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
Ver. 33. And I knew him not ] i.e. Not so perfectly till I heard that testimony from heaven. Christ is not known all at once: but as by steps and stairs men went up to Solomon’s temple; and as the trumpet in the mount sounded lower at first, and then louder and louder, till at last it was heard all the camp over; so is it here. “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” Pro 4:18 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 1:33 . . Because of the importance of the identification of the Messiah the Baptist reiterates that his proclamation of Jesus was not a private idea for which he alone was responsible. On the contrary, He who had sent him to baptise had given him this sign by which to recognise the Christ. . Lk. (Luk 3:16 ) adds , which occasions the well-known utterance in Ecce Homo : “Baptism means cleansing, and fire means warmth. How can warmth cleanse? The answer is that moral warmth does cleanse. No heart is pure that is not passionate; no virtue is safe that is not enthusiastic. And such an enthusiastic virtue Christ was to introduce.” In affirming that the Christ baptises with the Holy Spirit, and that this is what distinguishes the Christ, the Baptist steps on to grouud where his affirmations can be tested by experience. This is the fundamental article of the Christian creed. Has Christ power to make men holy? History gives the answer. The essence of the Holy Spirit is communication: Jesus being the Christ, the anointed with the Spirit, must communicate it.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
see. Greek. eidon. App-133.
remaining. Greek. meno, Joh 1:32.
on = upon, as in Joh 1:32.
the Holy Ghost = holy spirit. Greek. pneuma hagion. No articles. See App-101.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 1:33. ) I knew Him not, before that I saw the Spirit descending.- , He that sent me) God.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 1:33
Joh 1:33
And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit.-John did not know Jesus. Whether it was that he was not acquainted with Jesus or that he did not know that he was the Christ has been a matter of doubt. Although their mothers were cousins, they lived eighty miles apart, and it is possible that they had not met. Or it may mean that John did not have the full assurance that he was the Christ until he was assured by the sign appointed by God and in some way revealed to John.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I knew: Joh 1:31, Mat 3:13-15
the same: Joh 3:5, Joh 3:34, Mat 3:11, Mat 3:14, Mar 1:7, Mar 1:8, Luk 3:16, Act 1:5, Act 2:4, Act 10:44-47, Act 11:15, Act 11:16, Act 19:2-6, 1Co 12:13, Tit 3:5, Tit 3:6
Reciprocal: Isa 11:2 – the Spirit Isa 59:21 – My spirit Isa 61:1 – Spirit Mal 3:1 – and he Joh 1:6 – a man Joh 5:32 – is another Joh 6:27 – for him Joh 10:41 – but Act 2:3 – sat 1Ti 3:16 – justified Heb 6:2 – the doctrine 1Jo 5:7 – the Holy Rev 3:1 – he that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE UNKNOWN CHRIST
There standeth One among you, Whom ye know not. The same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
Joh 1:26; Joh 1:33
Is the charge still true. Is Christ still unknown in His special prerogative as He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost?
I. Christ is not an absent force.He is unseen. His bodily presence is removed from us for a time, but He is still in our midst the Captain of our Salvation, the Leader and Commander of His people. But just as among the crowd that gathered on the banks of Jordan the Carpenter of Nazareth was unrecognised, and few realised the new and immense spiritual leverage that was for them in Jesus Christ, so it is still very often in the present day. Historically He is better known, we worship Him as the Christ, the Messiah of God. Theologically we know Him and acknowledge His Godhead, His mediatorial work, His sacrificial death, His glorious Resurrection and Ascension. But practically He stands is the midst unrecognised, unknown, unsought.
II. With the outside world we are not surprised to find it so.They have left no room for Christ in their counsels. It would interfere with their gambling and money-making. It suits them better to pretend that Christianity is a spent force, that the teaching of Christ is old-fashioned, a beautiful ideal, but quite impossible under present circumstances.
III. But what about the Christian Churches?Surely they know that the living Christ is among them waiting to baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire? The Apostles, in the Holy War they waged against sin and heathenism and corrupt Judaism, only knew two remedies for human depravity, the Blood of the Lamb and the Fire of the Holy Ghost. But the Church of the twentieth century is getting ashamed of the blood and fire of the Gospel of Christ; her confidence is being placed in intellectual attainments, and so, though there never was so much Christian enterprise as in the present day, it is too much on the human level; there is so little of the supernatural, so little of the power of the Holy Ghost, in it, and even our Christian workers seem to forget the Christ Who stands among us waiting to baptize with the Holy Ghost.
IV. There is often the same lack in the daily life and experience of Gods children.Their present life is full of weakness and failure, of sadness and complaint. And yet Christ is among them, able to save to the uttermost, waiting to baptize with the Holy Ghost. But, alas! they see Him not.
Rev. F. S. Webster.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
3
And I knew him not. John means that up to that instant he did not know this person as the promised Messiah, and the One for whom he was baptizing penitent Jews. There was to be no mistake, or confusion caused by a mere incident. It might not be regarded so strange for a dove to alight momentarily, but such a timid creature would not ordinarily be seen “remaining” on the head of a man. Hence that item was added to the circumstance to give it the force of evidence. Just how long before this verse it was that the baptism had taken place, we do not know; but it was prior to the “presentation” of verse 29.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Ver. 33. And neither did I know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me: The man on whom thou shalt see the Spirit descend and abide, is he who baptizeth with the Holy Spirit.
Not only was a sign given (Joh 1:32); but this sign was that which had been promised, and the meaning of which had been indicated beforehand. No human arbitrariness can, therefore, mingle itself with this testimony which John renders to Jesus. : And I repeat it to you: When He presented Himself, I did not know Him any more than you now know Him. I have then placed here nothing of my own. The expression , He who sent me, has something solemn and mysterious in it; John evidently means to designate thereby God Himself who had spoken to him in the desert and given him his commission. This commission included: 1. The command to baptize; 2. The promise to reveal to him the Messiah on the occasion of the baptism; 3. The indication of the sign by which He should be manifested to him; 4. The command to bear testimony to Him in Israel. The emphatic resumption of the subject by the pronoun , he, with its meaning which is so emphatic in John, makes prominent this idea: That everything in this testimony proceeds from Jehovah, and Jehovah only. Weiss, who is not willing to acknowledge the special and commonly exclusive sense which this pronoun has in the fourth Gospel, thinks that it serves here to place God, as the more remote subject, in contrast with Jesus, as the nearest object.
But to what purpose mark a contrast between Jesus and God? The pronoun indisputably signifies: He and not another. The sign had been announced by God Himself. The words (on whom), indicate the most unlimited contingency: Whoever he may be, though he be the poorest of the Israelites. The act of baptizing with the Holy Spirit is indicated here as the peculiar work of the Messiah. By the baptism of water, John gives to the repentant sinner the pledge of pardon and the promise of sanctification; by the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Messiah realizes this last promise, and accomplishes thereby the highest destiny of the human soul.