κἀγὼ οὐκ ἤδειν αὐτόν, i.e., I did not know Him to be the Messiah. Matthew 3:14 shows that John knew Jesus as a man. This meaning is also determined by the clause added: ἀλλʼ ἵνα … ἐν ὕδατι βαπτίζων. The object of the Baptist's mission was the manifestation of the Christ. It was the Baptist's preaching and the religious movement it initiated which summoned Jesus into public life. He alone could satisfy the cravings quickened by the Baptist. And it was at the baptism of Jesus, undergone in sympathy with the sinful people and as one with them, that the Spirit of the Messiah was fully imparted to Him and He was recognised as the Messiah. How John himself became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah he explains to the people, John 1:32-34.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising

Old Testament