said... Mark 1:10- 11 ―And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and
the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased‖.
Yochanan denies being the Mashiach
(19) ―And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,
Who art thou?
(20) And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
(21) And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And
he answered, No.
(22) Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What
sayest thou of thyself?
(23) He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said
the prophet Esaias.
(24) And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
(25) And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias,
neither that prophet?
(26) John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye
know not;
(27) He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to
unloose.
(28) These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing‖. (John 1:19-28)
―(20) And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. (21) And they asked him, What
then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No‖. This is the
first, but not the last, time that we see the term ―the Prophet‖. In this context, it is a Messianic term based on
Deut. 18:18: ―I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my
words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him‖. They were asking
Yochanan if he was the Messiah.
―(23) He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said
the prophet Esaias‖. When they finally ask Yochanan simply who he is, he quotes Isaiah 40:3. He is the
forerunner of the Messiah. It is because of this verse that the Essenes migrated to the wilderness, thinking
the Messiah would first appear there around Qumran. They would not be disappointed.
―(26) John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye
know not‖. This verse tells us that Y‘shua has returned from the wilderness temptation and is standing there
in the crowd. But, the Pharisees did not know who he was. How many religious people attend synagogue or
church meetings today, but do not know that Y‘shua is in their midst?
Y‟shua the Lamb of God(29) ―The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world.
(30) This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before
me.
(31) And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing
with water.
(32) And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him.
(33) And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy
Ghost.
(34) And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God‖. (John 1:29-34)
―(29) The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world‖. One day later we have the first public identification of the Messiahship of Y‘shua
by Yochanan. With the expression ―the Lamb of God‖, Yochanan was identifying this person with three Old
Covenant concepts. First was the Paschal Lamb of Exodus 12. Second was the Suffering Lamb of Isaiah 53.
The third is a little more obscure to our way of thinking, but may have been very obvious to the Jewish
people of that day. Genesis 22 contains the story of Abraham‘s attempt to offer Isaac as a sacrifice
(Akedah). In verse 7, Isaac asks where the lamb is for the burnt offering. In verse 8 Abraham tells him that