John-The-Baptist's ministry: warm-up, witness, and wingman (1:6-9; 1:19-51; 3:22-4:3)

After the Prologue, the rest of John 1 covers the first week of Jesus’s ministry.  John gives an unusually detailed chronology, day by day, which some think is intended to evoke the seven days of Creation:
Day 1: John-the-Baptist’s interrogation by the Jerusalem authorities (vss 19-28); just as Jesus arrives back from His temptation
Day 2: He sees Jesus again, & hails Him as ‘Lamb of God’, & Baptiser with the Holy Spirit (vss 29-34)
Day 3: He points Jesus out to two of his disciples (Andrew & John); and they spend the rest of the day with Him (vss 35-39)
Day 4: Andrew brings his brother Simon Peter to Jesus (vss 40-42) saying, ‘We have found Messiah!’
Day 5: Jesus calls Philip. Phillip then ropes in Nathanael, who is from Cana (21:2), saying that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets (vss 43-51)
Day 6: Jesus, Andrew, Peter, John, Philip and Nathanael, travel to Galilee. If Bethany was on the lower Jordan, this would be eighty miles. If the upper, maybe only forty.
Day 7: (The ‘third day’ in Jewish terms, counting from the day they set off).  They reach Cana and are invited to a wedding (2:1,2))

The author has already given us a brief summary of John-the-Baptist’s ministry (1:6-9).  Born of a priestly family, he was appointed by God with the sole purpose of pointing out Jesus, the Light of the World, to the Jews.  John later likens his own role to that of the ‘best man’ at a wedding (3:28-30).  In Jewish weddings, the ‘friends of the bridegroom’ go and fetch the bride, once the groom is completely ready.  Their role is over, once the bride and groom meet.  The Baptist knew that his role was transient, and that once he had identified Jesus, from then on Jesus’s ministry would increase whilst his own supporters would dwindle.  Whilst waiting for Jesus to appear, John had been preparing the way by calling people to repentance, telling them that the Kingdom of Heaven was imminent (Mt 3:1-10).

Each person had to confess their sins before he would baptise them; and if they were in any doubt as to what repentance meant, he gave them specific instructions (Lk 3:10-14).  It had to be a radical change of life, not just a verbal confession.   He was particularly challenging to the religious, who thought that simply being descended from Abraham was enough to guarantee them salvation (Mt 3:7-10).  He warned them that when Messiah baptised them, it would be with Holy Spirit and fire.  There would be a winnowing process, to separate the wheat from the chaff - and the chaff would be destroyed by fire!

John's role in  identifying Jesus as the Messiah   (1:19-34)

Though Jesus was John’s cousin (since Elizabeth is thought to have been Mary’s aunt), John's parents lived in Jerusalem, whereas Jesus’ family were from Galilee.  John says he had no prior knowledge that Jesus was the Messiah (vs 31).   But one day a man from Galilee arrived, whom John sensed was The One.  John knew that he himself needed to be baptised by Jesus, not vice versa: but try as he would, Jesus insisted.  And as Jesus emerged from the water, He saw heaven opened, a dove descending on Him, and the Father's voice affirming His identity and saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Mt 3:13-17).

John knew God had told him, that when Messiah came, a dove would descend on Him and remain.  This was the sign that would confirm beyond doubt, who it was   But by the time John had recovered from the shock, Jesus had disappeared: and for six weeks, John was left wondering how he could fulfil his role, if the Messiah was nowhere to be found.  Just as Jesus reappeared, a delegation of senior clergy arrived to investigate John. The Sanhedrin believed it was their role to decide who was the true Messiah, and to weed out the charlatans.  Since John had attracted a huge following despite being in the middle of nowhere, they set up a Commission to investigate whether he might be the Messiah.  But instead of taking the opportunity to trade on his reputation, John vehemently denied being the Messiah; or Messiah's forerunner, a reincarnation of Elijah; or even the mysterious ‘Prophet like me’ that Moses had foretold.

Puzzled, the priests enquire, Why then is John baptising?  They seem to take it as a given, that Messiah would baptise.  In Jewish thought, baptism bound the person being baptised to their baptiser, (1Cor 10:1,2).  The Greek word ‘baptizo’ ( βαπτιζω) means more than just dipping; it's more like our word, ‘marinading’.  The medium in which something is baptised, changes the nature of the thing being baptised.  Yes, John's baptism was ‘a baptism of repentance, for the forgiveness of sins’; and in that sense, it cleansed the recipients’ hearts ready for them to receive Messiah, but it was not enough.  When Messiah came, they would need baptising all over again, this time into Christ, by the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7).  So if John was merely clearing the way for Messiah, why was he baptising?  

John's response must have stunned them.  He may have a huge following, but he counts himself not worthy of the lowest form of servanthood to Jesus.  Jesus will later wash His disciples’ feet, as an object lesson in humility: but John counts himself unworthy even to touch Jesus's sandal straps.  He has spotted Him, freshly back from the wilderness, mingling with the crowds around him, and no doubt listening intently to the Commission’s questions.  Though they are supposed to be the experts at identifying Messiah, He is right there among them, and they have no idea!

John seems to have left the clerics on tenterhooks; but to his disciples, he was quite clear about Jesus’s identity. He declares Him to be:-
Pre-existent, I.e. divine (v 27)
Worthy of ultimate honour (v 27)
The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world - Jews and Gentiles (v 29)
Anointed by the Spirit of God - in other words, the Messiah (v 32)
The Baptiser with the Holy Spirit (v 33)
The Son of God (v 34), meaning God Incarnate (see Jn 10:32,33)

What a revelation to Israel! (v 31)! And yet ‘He came unto His own, and His own received Him not’ - despite John’s brilliant testimony.  How sad that Judaism still denies that ‘Jesus Christ is come in the flesh’.  How Jesus must have wept, that His own people didn’t recognise Him despite John's ministry, never mind all the signs Jesus gave them.

Jesus's first disciples (1:35-51)

Seeing Jesus again the next day, John the Baptist cannot contain his wonder, and says to no-one in particular, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’  He would have had in mind Isaiah’s great prophecy of the Suffering Servant, on whom all our sins and iniquities were laid.  And also the twice-daily sacrifices in the Temple which both Hillel and Shammai held, washed away Israel’s sins by day and night.  But what is remarkable is that he sees sin as a totality - everything barring our fellowship with God.

What a challenge to us, to meditate on Jesus as the Lamb, provided by God Himself!

Andrew, and John son of Zebedee, presumably two of John’s inner circle of disciples, overhear.  The subsequent timing of the wedding in Cana, suggests that this happened on a sabbath - which may explain why there were no crowds around.  They decide to find out where Jesus is staying, and begin shadowing Him.

However Jesus catches wind, and invites them to ‘Come and see’.  Though He was eager to get back to Galilee for a relative’s wedding, travel on the Sabbath was forbidden.  This gave the two enquirers most of that day, alone with Jesus: for John’s gospel routinely uses the same system of counting the hours as we do - rather than the traditional Jewish way of counting them from daybreak. [Otherwise it would make no sense to record that they ‘remained with Him that day’.]  Whatever transpired, by the end of the day they were convinced that ‘We have found the Messiah’.

Each goes off to find their sibling: but Andrew finds Simon first; and brings him to Jesus.  Jesus manifests His omniscience by immediately recognising Simon’s inner potential: he will become the first foundation stone of the Church.   ‘You are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church’ (Mt 16:18). With his usual reticence, John doesn’t record what happened when he brought his brother James to Jesus.  But by the end of that day, four men had already bonded with Jesus.  The next day, Jesus personally called Philip to follow Him on His return journey to Galilee.  Philip was a neighbour of Andrew and Peter’s, in Bethsaida, the fishing community just east of the mouth of the river Jordan on Lake Galilee.  

Philip had a friend called Nathanael who came from Cana (21:2), their intended destination.  He seems to have been having his morning ‘quiet time’, meditating in the shade of a fig tree, when Jesus and his entourage passed by en route.  Philip apparently knew him as someone well-versed in the scriptures, for instead of referring to Jesus simply as the Messiah, he calls Jesus ‘Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote’.  Perhaps he knew Nathanael’s views on Nazareth as a worthless place, and felt that a scriptural reference would help overcome his prejudice!  When Nathanael reacted with predictable scorn. Philip challenges him to come and see for himself.

As Nathanael came into earshot, Jesus once again revealed His comprehensive intuition of everyone He met (2:24,25).  Instead of rebuking Nathanael for his cynicism, He recognises the man’s remark about Nazareth as a mark of honesty: he speaks his mind.  ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!’  This completely defuses Nathanael’s scepticism: before Jacob became Israel, his character (expressed in the meaning of his name) was that of a cheater, conning his brother out of the birthright and the blessing of being the firstborn.  Probably somewhat embarrassed by this high compliment from someone he has just dissed, Nathanael asks, ‘How do You know me?’  Even his best friends would be unlikely to have known him well enough to brief Jesus to this depth. But Jesus knew him inside out, from one distant glance; and that knowledge told Nathanael that what Philip had said, was indeed true.  Nathanael had just met the One he had been searching for all those years, as he pondered the scriptures: he was known, and now he knew.
‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’.

Though we might think that Nathanael’s words rival Peter's later testimony, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" (Mt 16:13-16), we know that even despite spending three years with Him, even by the Last Supper the disciples still hadn’t grasped the reality that  ‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father’ (14:8,9).  Whilst revelation had begun to dawn in Nathanael, perhaps accelerated by his knowledge of the scriptures, the implications of his statement would go on unfolding for Nathanael for many years to come.

Jesus tells Nathanael he is only at the very beginning of a wonderful journey.  His faith, presently based solely on Jesus’ knowing his inner heart, will be buttressed by witnessing many signs and wonders.  Just as Jacob had been promised angelic protection sent directly from the Presence of God, by the dream he had at Bethel, Nathanael would observe that same divine favour resting upon the Son of Man (Gen 28:10-17).  As with Jacob, in Jesus the original covenant promise to Abraham, ‘In you shall all nations be blessed’, would be fulfilled.   And Jesus’s Presence would be like Bethel - ‘none other than the House of God, the Gate of Heaven’.

John's role as Jesus's 'Best Man'   (3:22-26)

Jesus had moved out of Jerusalem into the Judaean countryside, spending time with His burgeoning group of disciples.  He had taught His core team to baptise, even though He Himself didn’t baptise anyone )4:2). This baptism can’t have been the same as the baptism He instructed them to do after His ascension (Matt 28:19,20), for the Holy Spirit hadn’t yet been given. it couldn't have been Christian baptism 'in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit’, nor could it have been baptism into Christ. So it seems it was like John’s baptism, a baptism of preparing the way of the Lord, through repentance. In that sense His team were simply augmenting John’s labours.

Summer had come and the Jordan’s flow had dropped to a trickle, but there was just one place where there was plenty of water left. Aenon means ‘spring’: much of the Judaean countryside is limestone karst, meaning that rivers can flow underground then emerge as high-volume springs, rather like what happens at Malham Cove, in the Yorkshire Dales. The only details John gives are that the site was (a) within the Roman province of Judaea and (b) near Salim, a place name that hasn’t been traced thus far. But the two most likely candidate sites are both relatively near Shechem, I.e. in Samaria. This would explain why Jesus’s next encounter is at the well in Sychar (4:5).

At this point, John the Baptist was still free. The lack of alternative baptismal sites meant that Jesus and John’s teams were working very near each other. And John’s loyal followers couldn’t help noticing that more people were coming to Jesus’s team, than to them: even though Jesus Himself wasn't baptising, just His disciples.

The Pharisees too got wind of this (4:1) and perhaps to try and ‘divide and conquer’, sent ‘a certain Jew’ to query an issue about purification. The Pharisees had previously stirred up trouble by questioning why Jesus’s disciples didn’t fast, when John’s did (Matt 9:11-17). And later, they would question Jesus Himself about why His disciples didn’t wash their hands before eating (Matt 15:1-2). Exactly what the issue was on this occasion, we don’t know: but we do know that in some way it painted Jesus in a bad light, and caused jealousy and rivalry to begin to fester amongst John’s disciples. They take their discontent to John, but he refuses to be defiled by their jealousy.

His response is a wonderful role model for all those involved in Christian ministry of any kind. Firstly, he reminds his disciples that all true ministry is allotted by God, and that no-one should try to go beyond their allotted role. He’d always said that his role was temporary, simply that of a forerunner. (Think of the outriders for a Presidential motorcade,, or the ‘warm-up act before a star appears on stage.). Then he uses the analogy of a best man at a Jewish wedding. His role is very important up to the point when the bride and groom are brought together; after that, he can heave a sigh of relief and join in the joy of the celebrations. John found his joy and fulfilment in introducing others to Christ, and then quietly withdrawing so they could be together. The church is the Bride of Christ, and Jesus is the Bridegroom (Eph 5:25-29). Evangelism should never be about the evangelist, but always about the Bridegroom.

John goes on to underscore many of the same themes that Jesus dealt with, with Nicodemus. He says:-

● Jesus is from heaven, whereas I am of this earth. Jesus is above all.
● Jesus is giving eye-witness testimony of heavenly truths; but no-one’s listening.
● Anyone who accepts Jesus’s teaching is accepting God’s words as truth
● Jesus is speaking God’s own words, because the fullness of the Spirit is on Him
● Father God loves the Son, and treats Him as His equal in everything

Believing into the Son brings everlasting, Zoe life; whereas not believing leaves the wrath of God hanging over us like a sword of Damocles.