The Bible Says
John 1:31-34 Meaning

There are no obvious parallel gospel accounts of John 1:31-34. However, the events John the Baptist describes seem to fit Jesus’s Baptism recorded in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22.

In John 1:31-34, John the Baptist explains that the Spirit’s descent upon Jesus revealed His identity as the Son of God and confirmed that He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

To learn more about John the Baptist, see The Bible Says article: “Who was John the Baptist?”

* Note for the sake of clarity, this section commentary (John 1:31-34), unless otherwise noted, will use:

• The name: “John” or “the Baptizer” when referring to John the Baptist;

• The terms: “John’s Gospel,” “this gospel” or “the Gospel of John” when referring to the Gospel According to John;

• The terms: “the author,” “writer of this gospel,” or “John-Jesus’s disciple” when referring to Jesus’s disciple, John, who was the author of this account.

John 1:29 begins to describe a scene the day after the Pharisees had questioned John the Baptizer about why he was baptizing and whether he was the Christ. John had denied being the Christ as well as denying he was Elijah, or the prophet predicted in Deuteronomy 18:18 (John 1:21, 25). John “saw Jesus coming to him” and when he saw the sign God gave to him, John recognized Jesus to be the Messiah from God who was sent to save the world (John 1:29).

According to the Gospel of Matthew, it seems that this sign of the “Spirit descending as a dove” occurred after John baptized Jesus (Matthew 3:16, John 1:33). There is a harmony of Matthew’s account of Jesus’s Baptism and the Confession of John (John 1:29-34) at the end of this commentary.

John proclaimed: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b). John then identified Jesus as the Christ and God through a prophetic riddle: “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me’” (John 1:30). This riddle demonstrated that Jesus was God because He was born physically after John but existed before Him.

Even though John and Jesus were relatives (Luke 1:36), verse 31 indicates that John did not know that Jesus was the One he had been sent to prepare the way for until this moment.

We can deduce that John did not know Jesus’s Messianic or divine identity because of what John said next:

I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water (v 31).

The pronouns-He and Him-in this verse refer to Jesus, the Christ/Messiah.

John freely confessed that he did not know who the Christ was when he said: I did not recognize Him.

The Greek word translated recognize is often translated as “know” or “see.” This indicates that John is saying “I did not know He was the Messiah.” This is remarkable, because John likely knew Jesus because they were related. Their mothers both visited with each other for three months during their miraculous pregnancies with John and Jesus (Luke 1:39-56).

Each mother knew who their son and their relatives’ son would be. John’s mother, Elizabeth called Mary “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43). And John’s father Zacharias prophesied at his son’s circumcision that John would be the forerunner to the Christ (Luke 1:76-79). But the identity of Mary’s son, Jesus was apparently not made widely known and either not told to John, or told to him and he chose to wait for God to show him directly rather than believe a secondhand testimony.

Before John revealed Jesus to be “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) it seems that only a select few knew of Jesus’s identity. Those whom the Bible mentions knew that Jesus was the Messiah before John identified Him include:

• Jesus’s parents, Mary and Joseph
  (Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:20-21)

• John’s mother, Elizabeth (and presumably her husband Zacharias)
  (Luke 1:43)

• The shepherds of Bethlehem whom the angel told
  (Luke 2:8-20)

• Simeon, the righteous man
  (Luke 2:25-35)

• Anna, the prophetess
  (Luke 2:36-38)

• The Gentile Magi who came to offer Jesus gifts
  (Matthew 2:1-12)

For all these individuals it is either explicitly stated or strongly implied that God supernaturally revealed Jesus’s identity as the Christ through angelic visitations or the Holy Spirit. As we will see, God also supernaturally revealed Jesus’s identity to John.

But John was the first person to publicly tell others who Jesus was-the Christ and Son of God. This is fitting because John was the Messiah’s forerunner (John 1:6-8, 23).

John explained that Jesus was the reason why he came baptizing in water.

John, the Messiah’s forerunner, came baptizing in water so that He (the Christ) might be manifested to Israel.

The world-Messiah was long prophesied to come from Israel and to its people.

The prophecy of the Messiah’s coming through Israel was first made during God’s covenant with Abraham.  In this covenant, God promised Abraham:

“And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
(Genesis 12:3)

The Christ (who came through Israel-Abraham’s descendants) was the instrument through which Abraham would be a blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3). This covenant promise of blessing was passed on to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26:4) and to Isaac’s son Jacob (Genesis 28:14). Later, after God had changed Jacob’s name to Israel, Jacob prophesied that “Shiloh”-another name Jacob used to refer to the Messiah-would come through his son, Judah (Genesis 49:10).

Other prophecies which predicted that the Christ would be manifested to and/or through Israel include 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Psalm 132:11, Isaiah 9:6-7, 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Micah 5:2.

John, the Messiah’s forerunner, came specifically to prepare the way for the Christ so that all would be ready for Him to be manifested in Israel (John 1:23). John “came as a witness to [the Christ]… so that all might believe through Him” (John 1:7).

Now John has just recognized and identified Jesus as the Christ whom he has been preparing Israel to receive-Jesus is the One whom John has been baptizing in water so that He might be manifested to Israel.

John’s baptism was meaningful but symbolic. It was administered in water and was a public display of a changed heart and mind-it was for repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3).

Repentance literally describes a change of mind and/or heart. When someone repents of their sins, they change their perspective about their actions and their attitude. Instead of seeing themselves as good, they see themselves as having fallen short of God’s good and holy standard.

John’s baptism indicated that the people he was baptizing wished to be prepared for the coming of the Christ. John preached a message of repentance (Matthew 3:1-2) and he would baptize the penitent in water as a sign of their commitment to God and His approaching kingdom.

John’s baptism in water foreshadowed the greater baptism of the Christ which was in the Holy Spirit (v 33b). (This commentary will explain the meaning of the Messiah’s baptism when it discusses verse 33.)

John came baptizing in water so that He (the Christ) might be manifested to Israel (v 31).

John then explained how it was that he was able to recognize Jesus as the Christ.

John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit’” (vv 32-33).

First John testified to what he saw. Then John testified to what God told John he would see.

This is what John testified he saw: “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him” (v 32).

The Spirit refers to God-the Holy Spirit.

God is three and God is One. The Bible teaches that the one true God eternally exists as three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and co-eternal, fully sharing the one divine nature while remaining distinct in their roles and relationships. The Three-and-One nature of God is often called “the Trinity.” It is foundational to Christian faith, revealing that God is both perfectly unified and perfectly relational.

The Father is the eternal source and origin within the Godhead. He sends the Son into the world and, through the Spirit, accomplishes His will in creation, redemption, and restoration.

The Son, Jesus Christ, is the eternal Word who became flesh (John 1:14), lived a sinless life, died for the sins of the world, and rose again. He is fully God and fully man, and He is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

The Holy Spirit is the eternal Spirit of God who proceeds from the Father and the Son. He indwells believers, convicts the world of sin, and empowers the church to live in truth, holiness, and mission.

The night before He was crucified, Jesus promised His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them in their mission (John 14:16-17, 26, 15:26, 16:13). And the Holy Spirit came, as Jesus said, to the disciples ten days after Jesus’s ascension into heaven (Acts 2:1-4).

Here John saw God the Holy Spirit in the form or image of a dove descending out of heaven and alight and/or remain upon Jesus.

The expression out of heaven could refer to John seeing a supernatural vision of heaven with the Spirit descending as a dove out of the spiritual realm into the physical realm. Or it could describe the Holy Spirit in the form a literal dove physically descending out of the sky. (The Greek word that is here translated as heaven can equally be translated as “sky.”)

In Jewish thought, the dove symbolized innocence, purity, and peace.

A dove was also one of the few birds considered clean under the Mosaic Law and was permitted for sacrifice, particularly by those who were poor and could not afford a lamb (Leviticus 5:7, 12:6-8). A dove’s gentle nature made it a fitting symbol for tenderness and reconciliation, and its presence often represented the desire for divine favor or acceptance. God used the dove’s return to Noah with an olive leaf in its beak to signal the end of His judgment through the flood and the restoration of peace between heaven and earth (Genesis 8:11).

The Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus as a dove indicated God’s special anointing presence upon Jesus. Jesus was the Christ. Christ (as well as “Messiah”) means “anointed.” And the Spirit’s descending upon Him symbolized Jesus’s divine anointing. This was the beginning of Jesus’s ministry as the Lord’s Anointed-Christ.

Moreover, the way He remained upon Him signified God’s special permanent anointing and God’s perpetual approval of Jesus.

John testified how he had seen the Spirit descend as a dove out of heaven, and remain upon Jesus (v 32). According to Matthew 3:16, John saw this after Jesus was baptized by him. It appears that John said: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) after he saw the sign. Until that moment, John had not seen this promised sign happen to Jesus or anyone else.

John repeated how he did not know who the Christ would be until this moment when he said: I did not recognize Him (v 33). This was the second time in as many verses that John said: I did not recognize Him (v 33), which emphasizes John’s ignorance of the Messiah’s identity. And this repetition adds to John’s surprise and wonder in this moment when he saw the Spirit as a dove (v 32) descend and remain upon Jesus.

After John testified to what he saw, then John testified to what God told him he would see and how he was to know who the Christ was.

but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit’ (v 33).

The expression He who sent me to baptize in water (v 33)-refers to God.

The expression baptize in water is a reference to John’s ministry as the Christ’s forerunner.

God sent John to testify that the Light of the World was coming into the world (John 1:4-5).

The expression the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (v 33) refers to the Christ.

God sent John to baptize the penitent in water. John’s baptism was largely symbolic of a sinner’s repentance. But John’s baptizing foreshadowed the real baptism of the Christ, which is by the Spirit.

The Christ is the One who baptizes believers in the Holy Spirit.

After His ascension into heaven, Jesus the Messiah sent the Spirit into the hearts of every believer so that they will always have God personally with them (John 7:39, Acts 2:1-4, Romans 8:9-10, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 1:13, Titus 3:5-6).

This is why Paul describes our body as a “temple of God,” because the body of a believer is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:16, 6:19).

In the Gospel According to Matthew, John also says that the Christ will baptize with the element of fire,

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”
(Matthew 3:11b).

Fire represents God’s judgment. Everyone will be judged with fire.

Believers’ works will be judged by the fire of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11-13) and anything that withstands this judgment will be that believer’s reward (1 Corinthians 3:14). This reward is sometimes called “the Prize of Eternal Life.” But even if a believer’s works are completely consumed and he suffers loss, that believer will mercifully still be saved from the ultimate penalty of sin because of Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:15).

Unbelievers will themselves be consumed by God’s judgment in the eternal fire (Matthew 25:41), because they did not believe in Jesus and receive the Gift of Eternal Life.

God (He who sent me to baptize in water) communicated to John how he would be able to recognize who the Christ was. God said to John that he would know the Christ’s identity when he saw the sign God gave to him.

The sign God gave to John for how he was to recognize the Messiah was:

He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him (v 33). So whomever John saw this happen to-this person would be the Christ-the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (v 33).

John testified that he saw this happen to Jesus, when he said: “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him” (v 32).

Therefore, John was able to know that Jesus was the Christ. The sign which God had told John to look for had taken place upon Jesus. And because it was John’s God-ordained role to prepare the way for the Christ, John told many people and testified that Jesus was the Christ.

Luke provides additional insight into how John was able to hear and commune so well with God so that he would know the sign by which he was to recognize the Messiah.

The angel Gabriel announced that John would “be filled with the Holy Spirit” from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). To be “filled with the Holy Spirit” means to be under the guidance or power of the Holy Spirit

Luke writes, that as John grew up, he became “strong in spirit” (Luke 1:80). To be “strong in spirit” means to be exceptionally spirit-sensitive or in tune with God and/or things pertaining to the spiritual realm.

Taken together, these two statements from Luke about John demonstrate that he was in strong communion with the Holy Spirit. These verses from Luke help explain how John was able to hear God’s specific instructions for how he would recognize the identity of the Christ.

After he explained how he knew Jesus was the Messiah, John then personally verified Jesus’s identity as the Son of God:

“I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God” (v 34).

This is one of the few, if only times, John emphasizes himself or his own role. And he does it not to exalt his own importance, but rather, he did it to exalt Jesus and to fulfill his divinely appointed role as the Messianic forerunner.

John said I myself-the one who is the Messianic forerunner sent from God and who is the voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord-have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God (v 34).

This statement is the seal and authentication of John’s testimony of who Jesus is.

Earlier, John described Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)-that is, he described Jesus in terms of a sacrificial Messiah/Christ. But here John testified that Jesus is the Son of God. God revealed to John that Jesus was not only the Christ-He was also God.

Jesus’s disciple, Peter, would later make a similar confession (Matthew 16:16).

In saying Jesus is the Son of God, John is declaring that Jesus is the Christ, God’s anointed to be king of Israel. We can see this from verses like this one in Matthew:

“But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, ‘I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.’"
(Matthew 26:63)

We can see here that the high priest equated “Christ” with “Son of God.”

We know from the reaction of the Jewish leaders that what they heard John to say was, “Here is your new boss, you are no longer the primary authority in Israel.”

A Harmony of John’s Testimony (John 1:29-34) and the Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17)

The Gospel of John does not explicitly state that John baptized Jesus. But the other three gospel accounts all describe Jesus’s baptism (Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22).

Of these three accounts, Matthew’s is the most extensive and it will be the account we follow as we consider how Jesus’s baptism might overlap with John the Baptizer’s testimony recorded in John 1:29-34.

God called John to preach repentance and prepare people for the coming Christ (Luke 3:1-3, John 1:6-7). John baptized people who confessed and repented of their sins (Matthew 3:5-6, Mark 1:4). John began his ministry as the forerunner to the Christ, but he did not know who the Messiah was. But God gave John a sign by which he would recognize the Messiah.

I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit’ (v 31).

“Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.”
(Matthew 3:13)

This matches how John was baptizing “in Bethany beyond the Jordan” (John 1:28). And it aligns with how John “saw Jesus coming to him” (John 1:29a) when he was baptizing there.

At first, John tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized because even though John did not know Jesus was the Messiah at this time, John knew his cousin was righteous and that He had no need to be baptized,

“But John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’”
(Matthew 3:14)

Remember John’s baptism was one of repentance and for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4).  The reason John tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized was not because John knew Jesus was the Messiah. At this time John still did not know that Jesus was the Christ or who the Christ was (John 1:31a).

Therefore, the reason John tried to prevent Jesus from undergoing his baptism of repentance was because John knew Jesus had nothing for which to repent. Jesus had no sins He needed to confess. This says a great deal about Jesus’s righteousness, that John the Messianic forerunner recognized his cousin’s superior righteousness to his own. This was why John said: “I have need to be baptized by You” (Matthew 3:14).

“But Jesus answering said to him, ‘Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he permitted Him.”
(Matthew 3:15)

Jesus explained to John how it was proper for John to baptize Him, even though He was sinless. And John submitted to Jesus’s request and baptized his righteous cousin,

“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’”
(Matthew 3:16-17)

John saw the sign God gave to him by which he would be able to identify the Christ.
John saw the Holy Spirit descend as a dove upon Jesus and remain upon Him.

At this point John knew that Jesus, his righteous cousin, was the Christ.

Also at this time a voice came out of heaven and said: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

Then John said:

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”
(John 1:29b-30)

The voice from heaven affirmed that Jesus was the Son of God. John the forerunner affirmed that Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of God and the Christ, for whose way he was sent to prepare.

John then explained how until this moment he did not know the Messiah’s identity, even as he was preparing the way for Him:

“I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water” (v 31).

John then shared how he just learned that Jesus was the Christ,

John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit’” (vv 32-33).

John realized that Jesus was the Messiah because he saw God’s sign. John saw the sign God gave him for how he would know the Christ. John shared what God had told him and how this sign just happened, therefore Jesus was the Messiah John had been preparing the way for. John first testified of Jesus’s righteous life from his own experience, then John testified that Jesus was the Son of God because He fulfilled the sign God had given him to identify the Christ.

Then, as the forerunner, John personally verified Jesus’s Messianic and divine identity:

“I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God” (v 34).

This is one way in which John’s testimony and the sequence of events of Jesus’s Baptism may have happened.

In the next section of scripture (John 1:35-42), the author of this gospel tells what happened on “the next day” (John 1:35)-the day after Jesus was baptized and revealed to be the Christ and Son of God. On this day Jesus will begin to acquire new disciples.