The Deity of Christ: John the Baptist

This will be the first article starting a series where I will be giving arguments for the deity of Christ. Starting out, I’d like to give an argument using John the Baptist’s preparation for the Messiah. We read:

“Finally they said, ‘Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

John 1:22-23

Here John explains who he is preparing the way for: the Lord. The Hebrew for “Lord” from Isaiah is יְהוָֹה or Yhvh, the official name for God. We continue reading,

 “’I baptize with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.’ Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.’”

John 1:26-34

There are some important notes to take from this section of the passage.

Firstly, in verse 30 John the Baptist says that Jesus “was before πρῶτος (prótos) me.” The Greek word used for “before” refers to being chronologically prior to that thing. John is affirming that Jesus existed before he did. However, Luke stated that John was conceived 6 months before Jesus (Luke 1:26-36). With this in mind, it should be clear that Jesus somehow existed before he was born on earth. So John is affirming two things here:

1. Jesus is YHWH
2. Jesus existed before he was born on earth.

Secondly, he states that Jesus “will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus has come to give the whole world the Holy Spirit through the ministry of baptism. He has replaced the mere water baptism of John the Baptist and will now baptize with water and the Spirit (as seen later when Christ arrives). This, however, was also attributed to YHWH:

“And afterward,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your old men will dream dreams,
    your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

Joel 2:28-29

It was actually YHWH who was told to pour out the Spirit to all the people. John the Baptist was set to prepare the way for YHWH, and he then affirmed that this was the way of Jesus.