The
start of Jesus’ story on earth, as with the Synoptics, is with John the
Baptist. So he was mentioned in the prologue twice and now as the prologue
ends, the camera is on John the Baptist for the first scene
It
runs from 1:19 – 34.
This
first scene divides into two sections.
From
1:19 – 28 we have the interrogation of John by the religious officials from
Jerusalem, and then from 1:29 – 35 John twice proclaims that Jesus is the ‘Lamb
of God’.
After
this two of John’s disciples leave him and follow Jesus. We will look at that
event in the next lesson. In chapter two we have the wedding in Cana, followed
by Jesus in the temple, and then in chapter three we have Jesus’ midnight
conversation with Nicodemus. But after that we have an account of how both Jesus
and John are baptizing in the same area, near Salim, and John’s disciples get
upset because everyone is going to Jesus (3:26). And so we hear John’s
beautiful response.
John
then leaves the story. However Jesus refers to John’s witness in chapter five,
and at the end of chapter ten.
So, we will look at these four main
passages that present John the Baptist.
a)
1: 19 – 28: John
is interrogated
b)
1: 29 – 35: John
proclaims that Jesus is the Lamb of God
c) 3: 22 – 30 John’s response to everyone
going to Jesus for baptism
d)
10: 41-42 The
final comment on John
Most of our time will be with the first
two sections in chapter one.
John’s interrogation. 1:19 - 28
This is a court room scene. It is an
interrogation.
The high priest in Jerusalem is in
charge of the religious life of all the Jews. Nothing should happen without his
permission. But news has reached his office of a man called John who was
baptizing many Jews in the river Jordan. Jerusalem has two problems.
The first one: by baptizing people John
is saying that being Jewish is not enough.
The second: this is happening without
the High Priest’s permission.
So Jerusalem sent some priests and
Levites, assistants for the temple worship, to interrogate John. Look at all
the questions – ‘Who are you? Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet? What do you
say about yourself? Why then are you baptising?
If we look at v.19, the first verse of
the Jesus story after the prologue, there are three truths that serve as an
introduction to this story and really the whole Gospel.
First of all because of John’s ministry
there is opposition. We were told in 1:6 that there was ‘a man sent from God’,
and this provokes a response from those who think that they should control the
religious life of people, and send their police. The fact that these men have
been sent is repeated in v.24. This pattern will continue throughout the
Gospel, from this trial with John, right through to the trial of Jesus before
Pilate.
Secondly, it’s important to know what
the trial is about. It’s about identity. Look at the first question they ask: ‘Who
are you?’ The answer to that will then explain what authority John has to
baptize.
The question of identity runs through
the whole Gospel, for after John it is the identity of Jesus that is on trial.
Is Jesus who He says He is: God. Or a mad man leading people astray. There is
constant division over the identity of Jesus in this Gospel.
And thirdly, and perhaps most
importantly, notice the word testimony. This is what the author emphasizes,
it’s the third word in the narrative. This is the ‘testimony’ of John the
Baptist. The writer’s emphasis is here. Yes there will be a trial about
identity – here of John, but later of Jesus…but for us the reader what is the
most important word? It is testimony. We cannot stop there being a trial, but
we can choose how we will testify in the trial.
John’s testimony has three qualities. He
knows exactly who he is not and who he is; he keeps the focus on Jesus; and he
is humble.
We will see this as we go through these
verses.
v.20 - 21 John knows that these priests
and Levites want to know if he is the Messiah or not. That would be hot news
for the religious authorities. So he immediately says that he is not the
Messiah. Nor is he Elijah, promised in Malachi, nor is he the prophet, promised
by Moses. Jews though that these two had to come before the Messiah came.
Some of you might be thinking that in
the Synoptics Jesus did connect John to Elijah. That is true, it’s there in
Matthew 17. So why does John deny that he is the Elijah here? The answer is
that John himself did not make that connection. He did not see himself as
Elijah. This again shows his humility. Jesus saw John’s ministry as being more
important than John did.
22. His questioners are worried. They
need an answer to give to their seniors back in Jerusalem. So they say to John,
‘What do you say about yourself?’. And John gives them the verse from Isaiah
40:3 This is a very dramatic answer. He is preparing the way for the Messiah.
He is telling the officials – this is something very major.
I should point out that some scholars
rightly see that it is likely that John the Baptist had connections with the
Qumran community. This was a group of ascetics who felt it was wrong to have
anything to do with the corrupt government in Jerusalem. So they had gone to
the desert and they hoped their committed spiritual life would encourage the
coming of the Messiah. We know a lot about this community because of the Dead
Sea Scrolls. Like John they had a very strict diet, like John, they baptised, a
lot, and like John, Isaiah 40:3 was one of their favourite verses. They too saw
themselves as preparing the way for the Messiah.
24 – 25 However the officials do not
think the Isaiah verse through carefully. Instead they question John’s
ministry. What right has he to baptize if he is not the Messiah, Elijah or the
Prophet? For them it is all about control, because John is baptizing Jewish
people. That needs special authority.
26 – 28. John could have explained that
God has sent him to baptize, and that is his authority. But he doesn’t. He
instead points to Christ. He rightly understands that the he, John, is not
their real problem, and he does not want to make himself the centre of
attention. However, he tells them who their real problem is going to be. He
will come after John. They will not recognise him. His baptism will be more
than water, and John is not worthy even to untie his sandals. In John’s day a
teacher took on disciples – as John did, as Jesus would do, and the teacher
could ask the disciple to do anything – get me a glass of water, buy some bread
– but there was one thing he could not ask for, he could not ask the disciple
to untie his sandals. John says – he is not worthy to do this humblest of tasks
for Jesus.
As said, we see three things in John’s
testimony. He knows who he is not and who he is. He keeps the focus on Jesus.
He remains humble.
Now let’s move onto the second section
about John the Baptist, his proclamation that Jesus is the lamb of God, 1:29 -
35
The opening of the story in verse 19
brought a sense of menace with the questioning of John. Now in v.29 we have a
sense of hope, ushered in with ‘The next day….’. Yes, the interrogation was
difficult, but there is ‘the next day’, and that ‘next day’ involves the coming
of Jesus, ‘toward him’.
This ‘next day’ truth keeps on appearing
in this Gospel – for the woman of Samaria, for Mary and Martha, for Peter.
Jesus comes towards John, and John
immediately bears witness about Jesus. He proclaims who He is (v.29) and John
bears witness about the Holy Spirit (v.32), and He bears witness to the Father
(v.33). This is a Trinity event.
Let’s look at this in more detail, but
we will start with what John says about the Father, then the Holy Spirit, and
we will end with what John says twice about Jesus.
a. What John says about the Father (1:6,
1: 31, 33)
In the prologue (1:6) the writer states,
there was a man sent from God. John now underlines this. In 1:33 he refers to
‘him who sent me’, and in 1:31 he explains why he was sent, so that Jesus might
be revealed to Israel. This whole story did not start with Jesus. This whole
story started with God the Father. He sent John so that Jesus would be revealed
to His people.
The revelation only happened after John
had obeyed. John himself says in v. 31 that he did not know who Jesus was.
Indeed it is very possible that for a while Jesus was one of John’s disciples,
because he says ‘After me comes a man’, which can refer to time and position.
There is a man who is following me now who ranks before me’. This seems likely
because in 1:26 John says to the Jerusalem officials, ‘among you stands one who
you don’t know.’ This means Jesus was standing there while the interrogation
was happening. As John obeyed, so he saw who Jesus was. Obedience brings
revelation.
b. What John says about the Holy Spirit
(1: 32 – 33)
John bears witness to (1:32), that the
Holy Spirit came from heaven like a dove and remained with Jesus. It is this
remaining that the writer focuses on. The Holy Spirit will never leave Him.
showing that all that Jesus was going to do was done in the power of the Holy
Spirit.
But why, ‘like a dove’? This is also a
part of John’s witness. It is important. Many of those gathering around John
were hoping for a warrior Messiah, someone who would bring about regime change,
so they were wanting to see the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a lion. But
the Holy Spirit came like a dove. This takes us back to Noah and the dove that
came after the flood had ended. So the gentle dove will be involved in
something much more important than human politics in one country. This dove
will be involved in bringing about in showing that there is peace between
sinful man and a Holy God. And so that dove will lead Jesus all the way to the
cross. Sadly throughout history there have been some Christians who think that
the Holy Spirit comes like a lion for their nation. Their error is seen in the
terrible violence their teaching causes. They are entirely wrong.
There is a final very important thing
John says about the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus who baptizes others in the Holy
Spirit. Jesus does not just bring about peace with God on Good Friday; He
brings about the possibility that we can all follow Him. He brings about our
Pentecost. And as He baptizes us in the Holy Spirit, so too the Holy Spirit
will remain with us.
c. What John says about Jesus (1:29, 35
– 36)
John has been sent by the Father and the
revelation about Jesus has happened. But what is that revelation? We hear it
twice from John.
‘Behold the lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world’ in v. 29, and in v. 36, just’ Behold, the lamb of God.’
This is his witness about Jesus Christ.
The first word. Is Behold. The
Greek is ide, which means ‘be perceiving’.
With this little word John is telling us
to pause, stop, and take a good look. Then we have the title. The lamb of God.
It is not difficult to understand what
this would have meant for the ordinary Jews listening to John. For every year
every male Jew had to go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the festival
when the Jews remembered how God led them out of their slavery in Egypt. This
was when the angel of death ‘Passed Over’ any house where the blood of a
sacrifice had been smeared. If there was no blood, the first-born in that house
died.
The sacrifice on the Passover night was
a lamb. This was the story every Jew knew, So when John said, ‘Behold, this is
the lamb of God’, in the minds of those listening this meant that Jesus was –
the sacrifice of God.
The writer of John’s Gospel keeps on
reminding us of this truth. Jesus refers to his death and resurrection in
chapter two – when it was the Passover of the Jews (2:13); before the feeding
of the five thousand and Jesus’ teaching that he is the bread of life, we are
told that the Passover was ‘at hand’ (6:4); Jesus’ body is anointed for burial,
six days before the Passover (12:1); when Jesus knew that his hour of suffering
had come, (13:1) this was just before the Passover; when Jesus is taken to
Pilate, we are again told about the Passover; and finally when Pilate brings
Jesus out to the crowd, the writer tells us that it was the Passover time.
Wherever we turn in this Gospel, Jesus’
cross is connected to the Passover. That connection starts here.
Behold, the lamb of God
Behold, God’s sacrifice.
And what will this sacrifice do?
It will take away the sins of the whole
world. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
We need to stay a little longer with
this title. For this verse has another meaning. That is very normal in John’s
Gospel. Often there are different meanings, even in one word.
So here, yes, Jesus is the sacrifice of
God for sin.
But – as we see in the book of
Revelation – the lamb of God is also a warrior who does not atone for sin, but
who judges sin. He destroys all rebellion against God. This is probably the
lamb that John the Baptist had in mind since we know from the Synoptics he was
expecting a time of judgement to come.
Both are true. Jesus is the saviour of
the whole world. Jesus is the judge of the whole world.
This proclamation happens on the day
after John’s interrogation. Then in v. 35 we have another ‘next day’. John is
standing with two of his disciples and again he looks at Jesus as he walks by
and again he says, ‘Behold’.
The disciples pause. They want to take
in what John wants to say about Jesus. Perhaps they were expecting something
new. They had step one yesterday, so now today there should be step two. Right,
we are ready, what’s the new thing we should learn about Jesus.
There is nothing new. John repeats what
he said yesterday, ‘Behold, the lamb of God’.
This is significant. John could have
said that Jesus was the world’s greatest teacher, the world’s greatest miracle
worker, that he was the King of Kings who would return on the clouds to judge
the living and the dead. And, and, and. There is a lot to say about Jesus.
But John does not add anything. Again he
said, ‘Behold, the lamb of God.’ Full stop. This is the priority. This is what
Jesus is all about. He is God’s sacrifice to deal with our sin. That is the
beginning and the middle and the end of what John wants to say about Jesus, and
it should be the same for us.
Both John the writer and John the
Baptist are warning us here. Don’t get side-tracked when it comes to Jesus
Christ. Especially don’t get side-tracked into making Jesus some sort of
political answer for a particular country. That is a miserable mistake. Jesus’
mission is much greater and grander. No, stay with John. Let our cry be –
‘Behold, the lamb of God, the sacrifice of God, the One who deals with the
heart of the human problem, the power of sin in my heart and yours.
In our next lesson we will look at what
happened to those two disciples who were with John the Baptist, but now we will
go to chapter 3 and look at what John said when his disciples complained that
everyone was going after Jesus. This is in 3:22 – 36.
When his disciples come with their, ‘all
are going to Him’, John says, remember, I told you, I am not the Christ. That’s
not me. I was sent before him. So, now He has come and all are following him
and this is happening because of the way God has ordained things to be. He
accepts God’s arrangements. John knows who he is not, and who he is.
His humble acceptance of this is then
underlined as he uses the picture of the best man and the bridegroom. He is the
best man. He is not the star. The bridegroom is the star, and the bridegroom
has the bride – the people. So, as the groom comes to the people, as was
happening, so John, the best man rejoices. His job is over, so his joy is
complete. He has finished his task. Yes for a while John was very famous and
important, but now he understands that he must decrease, and Jesus must
increase.
It is not clear whether it is John who
goes on speaking from v. 31 – 36, or whether this is the author’s comments on
what has happened. The purpose of this section is to explain why Jesus has to
become greater. For He is from heaven, while John the Baptist is from the earth
(31); his testimony is about heaven; and He has been given the Spirit ‘without
measure (34); He is loved and has all in his hands (35).
And then in v. 36 we return to the
division that we saw in John’s title the lamb of God. If we believe in Christ
we have eternal life, the blood of the lamb will rest over our lives and the
angel of death will pass over; but if we do not believe, there is nothing to
protect us from the wrath of God. Salvation or judgement. That is the choice.
We end by going to the end of chapter
ten where the writer has a final comment about John. It is in 10:41 -42.
Jesus has been in Jerusalem and is about
to be stoned, again, by the Jews. So he retreats to a safe place, where John
baptised, where the whole story began: the writer calls this Bethany across the
Jordan. This is not the same place as Bethany (Behtania) where Mary and Martha
lived, which was very near Jerusalem.
As Jesus and many others gathered there
they remembered John. They remembered that John did no sign. Unlike Jesus, he
did not work any miracles. Usually in the Jewish culture someone was only
considered a great prophet if they worked a miracle. John worked no miracle, but
yet he is still considered ‘great’.
‘Because ‘everything he (John) said
about this man (Jesus) was true.’ These are the final words in John’s Gospel
about John the Baptist.
Some today have been given the authority
to cast out demons and heal in the name of Jesus. But not all of us have been
given that authority. But all of us can say what is true about Jesus, so when
we die and people remember us they will say the same about us as they say here
about John:
Everything he or she said about Jesus
was true.
We have come to the end of our lesson
about John the Baptist in John’s Gospel. I hope it has been helpful for you.
May we all be encouraged to follow John’s example.
Like John, may we obey when we are sent
by the Father
Like John, may we look for the witness
of the Holy Spirit
Like John, may we humble ourselves in
the presence of Christ
And above all, like John, may we always
be ready to point away from ourselves, and to point to Christ, to testify about
Christ, to proclaim the truth about Christ – that he is the lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world.
In the next lesson there is a lot to learn from the story of Jesus and his first disciples. Click on the link below.
https://sternfieldthoughts.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-gospel-of-john-first-disciples-1-37.html
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