WYKYK

John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
– John 1:32-34

Our culture is nearly obsessed with acronyms. LOL, LMK, TBH, IMO (or IMHO, if being humble about it); these only scratch the surface of how we abbreviate our written communication today. It can be difficult to keep up with the most current vernacular of text messaging. IYKYK (If you know, you know).

John the Baptist (not Southern Baptist) had no clue about anything regarding text messaging acronyms. He did, however, have particular knowledge of something much more important. John was the one chosen by God to reveal the Christ to the world. Can you imagine what a privilege that would be? Can you also imagine what a responsibility that would be? It certainly is not something you would want to get wrong. In light of that, we might ask, how did John know who it was? We often just assume that, because John’s mom and Jesus’ mom were relatives, John simply grew up knowing, kind of like through osmosis or by family fireside chats. In reality, we don’t have to wonder or assume how John knew. He actually gives the answer himself.

John was given a ministry of baptism for repentance. He understood that his ministry was preparatory, designed to make the level way for the Lord to make his appearance. He also knew that through his ministry of baptism, the Christ would be revealed to him. How did John know this? Because God told him so. God told John what to look for: the Spirit descending AND remaining upon someone (John 1:33). When John saw this, he would know he was in the presence of the Christ. Jesus came along one day and asked to be baptized. John resisted, probably for reasons other than what we suppose, but then agreed to baptize Jesus. When John baptized Jesus, he saw what God told him to look for. In that moment, John knew that he knew.

When you know, you know (WYKYK). John knew that he knew, and because he knew he declared with unreserved power that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It’s amazing how much passion we can have about something when our doubts are overcome. If we are still wavering on the border of unbelief, we can easily be dissuaded from our willingness to witness for Jesus. But when you know that you know, pushback and skepticism have no power over you.

I remember something the late Timothy Keller said in the Q&A portion of a lecture. He was asked, regarding his Christian faith, if he still has doubts. I surely will not quote him with precise accuracy, but his answer was essentially that yes, he does still have doubts about certain things regarding the faith. But he went further to qualify by saying that as time passes, those doubts continue to decrease. I can fully appreciate his answer; it could have been my answer to the same question. It would be dishonest to say that I have no doubts regarding anything regarding the Christian faith. Faith, at least in my experience, is always being refined. At the same time, however, I can say with just as much honestly that I know Jesus is the Son of God. The further I go and the more I hear critics attempt to falsify the claims of Christ, his deity, his death and resurrection, the more certain I become that the essential claims of the Christian faith are true.

When you know, you know.

Our reasons for believing may be slightly different than John’s, but they lead to the same place. I may not have the same ministry John did, but I share the same certainty. The interesting thing is that even our knowing is an act of faith. We might say, “Well, John got a sign from God.” Yes, he did, but he still could have chosen to not believe. The reason Jesus criticized people who were always asking for a sign is because people who are looking for proof will never have proof enough to believe. Faith takes the evidence provided by God and makes of it a foundation on which to stand. And the longer we stand there, the more we come to realize that the foundation is a solid rock, unshakable by anything the world can throw at us.

John knew that he knew. So can you. WYKYK.

See you along the Winding Path.