What did John the Baptist say about Jesus?

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What John the Baptist says about Jesus is really important because he was a witness to Jesus’ earthly ministry and had foreknowledge of the coming Messiah. The Bible verses below highlight some powerful statements John made about Jesus—insights that are often overlooked or rarely discussed today. These verses are important because they reveal something about Jesus that is still in question – His deity.

* Note: The bible verses below are taken from the ESV translation

1. John the Baptist Calls Jesus, as God

In Matthew 3:3, John the Baptist declares that he is making way for the coming of the Lord, and he quotes from the book of Isaiah declaring;

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3

What is particularly interesting is that this prophecy in Isaiah says that John would prepare a highway for God. Yet John applies this prophecy directly to Jesus. If John is the one preparing the way, and Isaiah says the way is being prepared for God, then the clear implication is that Jesus is God.

This is one of the clearest statements pointing to the deity of Christ. The prophecy is specifically about preparing the way for the LORD, and John identifies Jesus as the One for whom that way is being prepared. There is no other natural way to understand what John is saying here.

2. Jesus Existed before John, yet born after him?

General human understanding tells us, that the day you were born was the day you were created. However, if you take a look at John and Jesus, they were born into this world 6 months apart. It was John who was born first, and then came Jesus. Here is the sequence:

1. The angel announces John’s birth to his father, Zechariah (Luke 1:5–25) and Elizabeth, his wife conceives.
2. Six months later, angel Gabriel announces Jesus’ birth to Mary (Luke 1:26–38).
3. John is born first (Luke 1:57–66). Jesus is born about six months later (Luke 2:1–7).

Yet, watch what John the Baptist quotes in John 1:29-30,

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’

John recognized that although Jesus was born after him, Jesus existed before him. This points to Christ’s pre-existence and eternal nature, a theme that is also emphasized in Gospel of John 1:1–3 and 1:14. In the verse above, John talks both about Jesus’ rank (the nature of who He is) and His existence.

For your study, you could summarize it this way: John was born before Jesus, but Jesus existed before John. This was one of John the Baptist’s clearest testimonies to the eternal nature of Christ.

3. It is God who Removes our sins, Yet Jesus did the Same

We know from the Old Testament, that it is only God who forgives our sins. We see this in Isaiah 43:25 where the Lord says,

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

This is also confirmed in the New Testament when the Pharisees question Jesus who forgave the sins of the paralytic man whom He healed. This is what the Pharisees said,

“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:7

Yet John the baptist says this about Jesus in John 1:29,

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John also knew that Jesus is our savior who takes away the sins of the world – making Jesus God.

4. Jesus is the Bridegroom

When the disciples of John ask about Jesus’s growing popularity in baptizing people, John replies:

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. John 3:29

John calls himself the friend of the bridegroom and as we already know, Jesus is the bridegroom. The bride according to the bible is attributed to those who believe and follow Christ – His church. Jesus Himself spoke in great detail about the bride and the bridegroom in the form of various parables: like the parable of the Ten Virgins, parable of the wedding feast and in Mark 2:18-20.

5. Jesus is from Above

In John 3:31, John the Baptist tells us that Jesus is not just an earthly human being and that He has come from above. Jesus also reaffirms this statement in John 8:23.

He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. John 8:23

This bold statement from Jesus is enough to prove the deity of Christ, as no mere prophet has ever claimed that He had come from God.

6. Jesus has all Authority

John tells us that the Father has given all authority to the Son in John 3:35. Jesus echoes the same in the book of Matthew where He says,

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18

The authority Jesus held while He was here on earth was visible to others as well. His teachings had authority (Matthew 7:29 and Mark 1:27), He had authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6), authority to cast out demons (Mark 3:15). Even when questioned about the authority He possessed, Jesus gave a smart answer (Mark 11:28-33). The reason why Jesus never openly claimed who He was is because He knew that those who were testing His authority never really wanted to follow Him, they were merely trying to get Him into trouble.

7. Believe in Jesus

The central message of the entire bible – from Genesis to Revelation, is to have faith in God. This is well covered in Hebrews 11 which takes you through the stories of Cain and Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and many more. This Chapter gives various examples of faith in God, in the Old Testament. Moving on to the New Testament, Jesus tells us to also believe in Him (John 14:1), a statement which John the Baptist also makes about Jesus,

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36

Here are some other prophecies of Jesus as told by the Prophet Isaiah, hundreds of years before Jesus was made known to the world.

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