The Spirit of God testifies to Jesus. He filled John the Baptist from birth and it was the testimony of the Spirit through John that he was given the power to speak of the glory of Jesus. Luke 1:15 says, “for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.” John 5:31-32 says that God sent John the Baptist to testify to the validity of Jesus.
John was filled with the Holy Spirit and testified so that men could understand who Jesus was, thus fulfilling prophecy. God the Father testified to Jesus also when the Holy Spirit descended on him at his baptism. Although the Baptism of Jesus is not mentioned in John’s Gospel, it is assumed that people would already know of this event from previous Gospels. The Spirit testified to Jesus through the Prophets of the Old Testament as well. John 1:45 says, “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
In The Gospel According to John D.A. Carson says that there are six passages in John’s Gospel where scripture speaks or writes of Christ. He also says, “By predictive prophecy, by type, by revelatory event and by anticipatory statute, what we call the Old Testament is understood to point to Christ, his ministry, his teaching, his death and resurrection.” God has been preparing us for the coming of Christ since the beginning of Genesis.
The Spirit gave testimony of Jesus through his earthly ministry. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was empowered by the Spirit to do God’s work. In Encountering John, Andreas Köstenberger says, in John’s Gospel, “…references to the Spirit are limited almost exclusively to his role in Jesus’ earthly ministry…” However, this power is also shown to be given to us as well. Mark 1:8 says, “I (John the Baptist) baptize you with water, but he (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Parenthesis Added).” Luke 11:3 says, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Köstenberger says the power of the Spirit shows through in Jesus’ ministry by miraculous signs. It is difficult to read of Jesus’ earthly ministry and not see the miraculous.
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