John 1:19-37 -- The Testimony of John the Baptist

The first "scene" in the Gospel of John centers around that enigmatic character, Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. The Prologue tells us a little about John; we know that he has come as a "witness to the Light, that all men might believe through Him."

Every witness has a testimony, and here we get into more of the specifics of what John's testimony is about Christ. The Jews sent priests and Levites to find out who this John the Baptist was. And John the Baptist clearly tells them that he was not the Christ. When they continue pressing him for more information, he answers them by quoting the words of Isaiah, "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him!"

This didn't quite do it for the Jews who had come to interrogate him, so they pressured him a little more, "Then why do you baptize if you are not the Christ, or the Prophet, or Elijah?"

John's answer reveals something about the nature of Christ. He says them, "The Christ stands among you, whose sandals I am not fit to untie." So according to John, the Christ was not some distant promise or unfulfilled prophesy. He was an earth dweller, just like them! But he was from above, and thus worthy of far greater honor than himself or any other person. Untying a person's sandals was considered to be a lowly task, as you can imagine. Feet stink. Even today feet are kind of gross. Back then it would've been 10 times worse! Came you imagine the dust and dirt caked onto their feet? Can you imagine the camel dung, and the foot odor? But John says he is unworthy to even perform that lowly task for the Christ.

It is important to note that John is the first person in the Gospel of John to recognize Jesus as the Logos -- not just a teacher, or miracle worker. Recognition is a recurring theme in the Gospel of John, and communicates an important lesson to us today, by asking us a compelling question: Do we recognize Jesus for who he really is? Do we see him as God? The Logos? The all powerful, all knowing, all loving, always present Master of the Universe? Or do we merely see him as our "buddy?" Or our ticket to heaven?  Or a wise guru who gives us several good mantras to incorporate into your personal spirituality? Getting this one right is of critical importance. To get it wrong is to remain in the darkness. To get it right is to be born all over again from above -- a radically new identity and a dramatically different life.

The next day, Jesus walks by and John points him out to the crowds: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" He publicly ID's Jesus as the one about whom he had been preaching, and for whose arrival they had been preparing through repentance and baptism. He also makes reference to Jesus' baptism event, when heaven opened and the Spirit of God descended like a dove and remained on him. In verse 34, he says simply, yet profoundly, "I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."

In next section of verses, John again points out Jesus as "the Lamb of God," and two of his disciples leave him and follow Jesus. Thus John fulfilled his calling as the one who came as a witness to the Light, and as a "Preparer" of the way for Christ. One cannot read these verses without thinking of John's famous words in John 3:30: "He (Christ) must increase; I must decrease."

What a powerful way to live! If I was going to tattoo anything to my body, I think it would be that simple verse. What would it look like to live the way that John the Baptist lived -- to invest your entire life in making Christ known to those around you? To "prepare the way" for them to encounter God? To embrace "losing" by worldly standards in order to gain something that can never be taken away? Lord, give me the attitude that John the Baptist had! May my life be an example of those powerful words -- "He must increase; I must decrease."

The Prologue (Part 3): John 1:10-18

Prologue (Part 3) John 1:10-18

1:10-11 – “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

Verses 10-11 introduce an important concept in the Gospel of John: the recognition scene, or lack thereof. R. Alan Culpepper writes about how the Gospel of John is written in a very similar style to a Greek drama. He argues in “The Gospel and Letters of John” that one of the key scenes in Greek plays was characters interacting and recognizing, or failing to recognize, another character’s true identity. This was a key ingredient in crafting a Greek tragedy (the most famous example of this is probably Oedipus). In the Gospel of John, we are given information in the Prologue (1:1-18) that Jesus is the pre-existent Logos. He is God, made human and walking around interacting with humankind, bringing the revelation of the Father. But we see several occasions throughout the rest of this gospel account in which characters struggle (and ultimately succeed or fail) to recognize who Jesus is.

Take, for example, Nathanael at the end of the first chapter. Initially when he is told by Philip that they have found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael says, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” To which Philip responds, “Come and see.” At first, Nathanael fails to recognize who Jesus is. He thinks Jesus comes from Nazareth, but the Prologue clearly tells us that Jesus existed before the creation of the world. He comes from the Father above, not from below. After encountering Jesus himself, Nathanael is compelled to cry out, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” This is an example of a successful recognition scene.

There are also several scenes in which people fail to recognize Jesus. An example of this is the scene in John 9, after Jesus heals the man born blind. The Pharisees wanted to get to bottom of the miracle that had taken place on the Sabbath. They grilled the man who had been blind, and tried to get information about how Jesus healed his eyes. The Pharisees inaccurately believe that Jesus is “a sinner” (9:24) and “not from God” (9:16), and they do not know where he comes from (9:29). After this they throw the man who had been blind out of the synagogue and Jesus reveals his true identity, to which the man responds in faith, “Lord, I believe!” Ironically, it is the man born blind who sees Jesus clearly, while the Pharisees continue on struggling in their “darkness.”

1:12-13 – “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

I often hear people talk about the idea that every man, woman, and child in the world is a “child of God,” and while there is some truth in that statement (all of humanity is created in the Image of God and loved by God), it is technically incorrect according to John. The condition upon which our sonship or daughtership depends is belief in the name of Christ. At that point, we are freely given – not by merit, but by grace – the right to be called God’s children. The metaphor of birth is used several times throughout the Gospel of John, and refers not to natural birth, but birth “from above.” Everyone comes into this world naturally “from below,” or “born of water (3:5).” But those who believe in Jesus Christ are born “again” or “from above,” and these are the ones who are given the right to be called children of God, and who enter the Kingdom of God.

1:14 – “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.

Like Joan Osborne’s song, “What if God Was One of Us?” Jesus actually put on flesh and walked around like one of us. Indeed, as Joan sings, you could say that through the incarnation, Jesus actually was, “just a slob like one of us,” in the sense that he had to drink in the entire human experience. It may seem sacrilegious, but Jesus had to go to the bathroom. He had boogers and snot in his nose. When he set his divine power aside, and stepped into humble humanity, he had to embrace all of what it means to be human, both the beautiful, and the gross. Jesus did not commit sin in his life, but he lived as a free human could live – as God truly intended. This is what Paul writes of in Philippians 2:7 when he says that Christ “emptied himself,” setting his glory aside.

Interestingly, this truth is juxtaposed with the statement, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.” The glory being referred to in this verse refers not to the glory Christ has set aside, but to the glorification of Christ on the cross, and his resultant exaltation to the right hand of God. Philippians 2:9-11 says, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The glory that is “beheld” in 1:14 primarily refers to this exaltation. It also refers to Christ’s revelation of the Father and to the miracles Christ performs, through the power of the Holy Spirit. These “signs” reveal who Christ is in his glorious essence.

1:15-18 – “John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed med because he was before me.’” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

In verse 15, John the Baptist stumbles on the scene again. It has been suggested that perhaps part of the reason for this fixation on John the Baptist is that there may have been some confusion among disciples of John about whether or not they should become followers of Christ, or remain John’s disciples. This Prologue clearly tells us that Christ is greater than John.

1:17 introduces the first specific comparison between Jesus and Moses. The Law was given through Moses, but the blessings that Christ brings us are grace and truth. We no longer need to measure up to the standards written in the Law. In fact the only to enter into life is to believe in Christ and accept his free gift of salvation. Verse 18 refers to Christ’s role as the revealer of the Father. As he will say several times in this gospel account, no one can come to the Father except through Christ. 

Prologue (Part 2): John 1:6-9

John 1:6-9 -- John the Baptist: Witness to the Light

At this point John the Baptist sort of stumbles onto the scene. We’ve been talking about Jesus -- the Logos, the Word, the Wisdom of God -- who was present and active in bringing forth the created order. Now, a new character is introduced, one whose sole purpose was to point people to Christ.

John the Baptizer is a difficult character to grasp and understand based solely on what we learn about him through the Synoptics and through the narratives of Jesus’ baptism. Here, John (the apostle) goes out of his way to explain John’s role.

                

It says first in verse 6 that John was a man “sent from God.” He wasn’t just somebody out on his own self-designated mission, but was set apart by God for his task. His providential beginnings, as recorded in Luke 1, clearly demonstrate God’s hand was with him (1:66, 80).  So we see that John was part of the plan from the beginning.

                

So what was the purpose for which God set apart John? It tells us in verse 7: “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.” Backing up to 1:4-5, we recall that the author is describing Christ as the light shining in the darkness, and that he is the light of all men. Verse 8 tells us clearly that John the Baptist was not that light himself. He came only as a witness to the true light that gives light to every person.

                

And what does a witness do? A witness gives testimony to something seen, heard, or experienced. A witness is only important as he/she relates to the subject in question, and John understands and embraces this role completely (as we will see later in the chapter, and then also in John 3). John’s role was to give testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

                

The last question we must ask relates to the question of “to what end does he testify?” In verse 7, it tells us why John is baptizing and giving testimony of Jesus’ true identity: “so that through him (Christ) all men might believe.” This connects with a later passage in John 20:31, which states that the events and miracles recorded in this gospel account were written so that the reader might believe in Jesus, and thus receive eternal life through him.

SO WHAT?

                I think it’s so easy (at least in my life) to forget that you’re not the main character of your own life story. Your story is ultimately not about you – as believers, we are called by God to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). We are only fulfilling our lives calling, therefore, to the degree that our lives are a sign that points to Christ, so that all may believe him and receive life in his name. 

Prologue: (Part 1) John 1:1-5

The Gospel of John is a book written in simple language. The form of Greek used in John is much lower and easier to read than most of the other writings in the New Testament. It is filled, however, with unfathomable mysteries and profound truth. Despite its relatively accessible format, the book has the most complex, defined theological concepts, and highest Christology out of the four gospel accounts.

Perhaps this is a good way for us to approach the Gospel of John. There is a meaning in the text that is clear as day – “Believe in Jesus, and you will have eternal life.” But the depth of that simple concept is inexhaustible.

The story begins with a thundering prologue that encapsulates the major point of the Gospel: That Jesus is the pre-existent Logos (Greek for “Word/Wisdom”) made flesh and walking around with ordinary folk.

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

The pre-existence of Christ is clearly spelled out by John in a way that is unique among the gospels. In Matthew and Luke, the story begins with Jesus’ birth and earthly genealogy. Mark begins with John the Baptist preparing the way. John, however, begins his “Jesus story” with His role in creation, and his existence pre-Creation.

“Through him all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.”

Interestingly, the author of John goes all the way back to the beginning of time to first describe Jesus. He’s basically saying… “Look, if you want to understand who Christ is, you have to go way back before creation… before even time itself existed.” Christ was present at creation. Indeed, all creation came through Him. I find it interesting that in Matthew and Luke, the story begins with Jesus’ mother. An angel visits her and tells her that through her womb, God would shake up the entire established order. The Messiah would be born, through a woman. John, however, starts off with creation saying that all things were created through Christ. In Matthew Jesus is delivered to earth through Mary. In John, the earth is delivered into existence through Christ.

“In him was life, and that life was the light for all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

Two major motifs are introduced in these sentences which will come up over and over again throughout the gospel of John: life and light. Jesus is both the life and light for mankind, and though related, these are actually quite distinct concepts. Life refers to the eternal life that Jesus makes available to everyone who believes (3:16). It is both a promise of a future life post-mortem, and a quality or value added to this mortal life. The life Christ brings to those who believe is both a promise and a present reality. Light is a metaphor for revelation or enlightenment, and shines on those in the darkness (ignorance, sin, unbelief). Throughout the gospel of John, we will see Jesus having many encounters with people living in darkness, and some respond to the light and are a born again to a new life, but some remain obstinately clutching onto their old way of living, choosing the darkness rather than the light, or simply failing to understand who Jesus is and what He is saying to them. Those who do not believe are those who have seen the Light of the World, but choose to continue on groping in the darkness, rather than entering into the Light.

Waterfalls and Elephants: The Breathtaking Wonder of Christ in the Gospel of John

After my second year in college, I decided to work with Adventures in Missions for a summer in Kentucky. This was an incredibly valuable and formative experience for me. Other than just gaining "ministry experience," that summer was when I really began to "fall in love" with God. Before that time, I was more or less comfortable with him, and had a decent relationship going on. But it was through experiencing the breathtaking beauty of his creation in the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee, that I really began to genuinely love God with all my heart, and appreciate the wonder and mystery of who He is.

I remember one moment in particular. I had gotten a tip from a local nature enthusiast about a waterfall up in the hills that was supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, but it was really off the beaten path and most people (even a lot of the locals) didn't know about it. There was no sign for the hiking trail that would take you to the falls. Just a spot to pull off the road and a lightly traveled path plunging into the forest. 

After a 3 or 4 mile hike back in the wilderness (and out of screaming distance from civilization!) I started to hear it. The refreshing sound of gallons of water slapping rock. I came around a bend in the path, and there it was! A 50 foot waterfall, pristine and undomesticated. There were no fences or signs saying, "Do not climb" or "Please clean up after your pets" or anything like that. Since there was clearly no one else around, I took off my shirt and stood under the pummeling torrent of rushing water -- whoooeee! That was cold! I just took it all in: the beauty, the sounds, the smells, the texture of the rock wall behind the curtain of water. And I just uttered from somewhere deep within my soul, "Lord, your creation is so amazing." And if that is how amazing the creation is, imagine how amazing the Creator must be? The artist who dreamed this place up?

As I finally reached my car again around sunset after the long hike back, I couldn't help but be in awe of the God who made this amazing place, that apparently so few even knew about and appreciated!

It is often said that the Gospel of John is shallow enough for a child to wade in it, yet deep enough to drown an elephant.This gospel account is rich in symbolism, double-meanings, and ironies, that even some of the most advanced scholars sometimes miss or fail to appreciate.

In my experience studying this book in depth so far, I have found it to be a treasure trove of powerful insights and breathtaking wonders -- like discovering a secret waterfall in some old back country hiking trail that's off the beaten path. And I've only begun to scratch the surface of its richness! 

The Gospel According to John -- Introduction

It seems like as the years go by, our world seems more and more complex. There are so many different competing worldviews and beliefs out there, that one cannot help but wonder, “What is the truth?”

Pontius Pilate asked that same question as he interrogated Jesus before condemning him to death by crucifixion. While Pilate often gets a bad rap, you have to be able to relate to the guy somewhat. The irony is that he had before him the One who is Truth incarnate, yet he did not recognize Him. So often the truth is right before our eyes, but we fail to see it.

Our next journey as a church will take us on pilgrimage into the heart of truth, by taking a closer look at the author of truth: Jesus, the Son of God. Whether you are a believer or not, our hope and prayer is that through this excursion – like canoeing down a river – you will come face to face with a compelling vision of Christ.

Nearly two thousand years ago, a wise old man sat down and reflected, pondering unfathomable mysteries and profound truth in his heart by the dim glow of a flickering candle. Having experienced the indescribable, John, the Beloved Disciple, was reaching for words that could describe all that he had experienced in the presence of His master... His Lord… His King. How does one begin a story about One without beginning? “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God.”

The Gospel according to John is primarily a story of rescue. The pre-existent Son of God became flesh and made his dwelling among people to bring light to those in darkness, freedom to the enslaved, and life to the spiritually dead. Christ is the climax of the human story, the supreme cruciality, the ultimate plot twist.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke… they focus on Jesus’ ministry, the kingdom of God and his teachings about that kingdom But John is a different kind of animal. With reckless abandon, it delves into the unfathomable depth of Christ’s divinity. It paints a portrait of Christ as the Logos -- the “Word” that spoke the universe into existence. He is the pre-existent, Only Begotten Son of God, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.

Together, we will venture out into the vast wilderness of who Jesus is, like pioneers discovering wonder after breathtaking wonder for the first time. We will be spending a long time on this expedition, canoeing down this river and seeing where the waters carry us.

We can’t promise you that you’ll ever come back to where you were before, and if you do, you will certainly be changed, because we are on an adventure to find Christ – the compelling, untamed, beautiful, terrible, awesome God-man who changed the course of cosmological history.  And we won’t stop searching till we get there. So roll up your sleeves! Get out your Bible. Bring a pen. Bring a notepad. Bring your heart – fully engaged and ready to dig in. We’re going to gaze upon the unbridled majesty of the divine mystery: Jesus, the Christ, Son of God.