John 1:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

NIV: Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.

NASB: And John testified, saying, 'I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.

CSB: And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him.

NLT: Then John testified, 'I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him.

KJV: And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

NKJV: And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.

John the Baptist has already said that he hadn't recognized Jesus as the Messiah, at first (John 1:31). Though they were related (Luke 1:35–36), Jesus and John the Baptist probably didn't spend much of their childhood together. Jesus grew up in Nazareth; John would have lived nearer to Jerusalem.

Scripture is almost silent about Jesus' life prior to the start of His active ministry. Jesus frequently mentions that He is on a divine timetable, so His younger years were not yet "His time." At some point, the Baptist saw a vision of a dove, representative of the Holy Spirit, "remaining" on Jesus (Matthew 3:16). This confirmed for the Baptist that Jesus was the Messiah.

The word translated in the ESV as "bore witness" and in other versions as "testified" is from an extremely specific Greek term meaning "giving information from one's direct personal knowledge." There was no longer any doubt in the Baptist's mind who Jesus was. The gospel of John does not actually record the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22). The human author of this passage, John the disciple, recorded his book many years after Matthew, Mark, and Luke's were known. He assumed that the reader was already familiar with the basics and presented a different perspective on the story.

John 1:29–42 describes more conversations, these between John the Baptist, his disciples, and Jesus. It includes the moment Jesus recruits His first two disciples. Jesus is identified as "the Lamb of God," and "the Son of God." The Baptist describes his vision of the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, landing on Jesus. This confirms that He is the Messiah. The Baptist seems to tell John and Andrew to go and follow Jesus. They, in turn, introduce Jesus to Peter.

The first chapter of John introduces Jesus as "the Word," from the Greek logos. This chapter clearly describes Jesus as God. After this prologue, the chapter describes Jesus recruiting the first of His disciples, as well as a conversation between John the Baptist and the Pharisees. There are seven names or titles for Christ in this chapter, including "the Son of God," "the Word," and "the King of Israel."

The first chapter of the gospel of John equates Christ with God and introduces John the Baptist. The Baptist specifically points to Jesus as the Promised One. Jesus collects the first five of His disciples. In this chapter, Jesus is given seven descriptive names, including "the Word," "the Son of God," and "the King of Israel." This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the gospel, by giving the reader a sense of who Jesus truly is, and why He has come. The rest of the gospel is an exploration of the claims made in this initial passage.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.