• New Testament Reading: John 1:19-51
• Old Testament Passage: Psalm 8
• Points to Ponder

“Look, the Lamb of God”

The first evidence John brings before the jury is testimony of John the Baptist, and a few of his
followers. Human testimony is powerful, if it can be established that those testifying are trustworthy.
We send people to jail for the rest of their lives based solely on credible human testimony!

The Baptist testifies quite clearly and confidently because he was sent to identify the Christ. At his
baptism, he saw the Spirit come down and remain on Jesus and so he proclaimed that he “is the Son
of God.” So confident is he, that he points his followers to Jesus and each one of them in his own
way believes the Baptist’s testimony and begins to share his convictions with others.

Andrew spends the day with Jesus, and convinced of his identity, he runs to get Peter. Philip is
convinced that Jesus is the one whom Moses wrote about and finds a skeptical Nathaniel who, upon
meeting Jesus, becomes a believer too: “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel”. These
men, by the time John wrote this book, had all laid their lives on the line for their belief and some, if
not all, had already been martyred for their testimony. When people are willing to die rather than
renounce their testimony, you either have people with suffering from mental illness or who
confidently believes what they are saying!

• Questions to Consider: How does it help your faith to know that those who initially claimed
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, choose to accept suffering and death rather than
renounce their testimony? Reflect on the time when you came to firmly believe that Jesus is who
he claimed to be. How firm is your faith right now?