John here shifts from the 50,000 foot view steeped in cosmic philosophy, into “story mode.” We zoom into a story that takes place over three days, the story of Jesus’ baptism and the beginning of his ministry. This is a story also told in the synoptic gospels, but with notable differences.
John jumps right into the story, but we can learn more about John the Baptist in Matthew. He lived in the wilderness and ate locusts, which were considered clean under Mosaic law, but was still weird. He wrote camel-hair cloak, which sounds fancy but is in fact a poor person’s garb, in the style of Elijah and the other prophets. He was born miraculously, to an elderly priest and his wife. He is like a character out of the Old Testament.
Why is this person, John the Baptist, in the bible? Why is he covered across the gospels? In Matthew 11, Jesus makes it clear: John is the exclamation point at the end of the age of prophecy, coming after a long time of silence. He himself was prophesied about 700 years prior, as a “voice crying in the wilderness.” He himself was apparently a captivating speaker, making a significant impact with his message of repentance.
John was an important prophet whose words carried weight. He also made it clear to his own disciples that Jesus was the one who he was prophesying about.
The “Jewish leaders” broadly speaking are the key villains of the gospel of John, and this is our first glimpse of them. In true “know your enemy” fashion, they wanted to know what and who he was.
Even then, they saw parallels between John and Elijah, and even though John specifically denied being Elijah, Jesus later called him Elijah. While John was not the reincarnation or return of Elijah, he filled the role of Elijah in prophecy (in Malachi).
But he wouldn’t tell the Jewish leaders this, or answer their questions at all, instead pointing ahead to Christ. John does this both because this is his role and because it is his entire identity and purpose.
Here we also get a call back to the opening of the gospel, calling out Christ’s eternal nature, noting that he was “greater because he was before.” Additionally, we get foreshadowing of what is to come, calling Jesus the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The connection between a lamb and the removal of sin would have been very clear to the Jewish people there – John correctly identified Jesus immediately, not just as the son of God, but as the one who would die in order to mediate the sin of all humanity.
This would have been rather confusing, though, because the notion of Jesus being a great leader and being a sacrifice would not have lined up in the minds of the people.
Despite being Jesus’ relative, it appears that John did not actually know Jesus by sight. Instead, God gave him specific criteria by which to identify him – seeing the spirit descending on him like a dove.
This also gives us some application: we also must correctly identify Jesus. John was not viewing Jesus through the filter of what he needed in his life,but rather through the truth of who he actually was. Others saw him as a threat to their power or a chance for political liberation, looking at him through their own filters. We have the same temptations.
The answer may be to follow in the footsteps of John the Baptist who humbled himself and emptied himself of his own identity to the extent that the question “who are you?” returned the answer “someone greater is coming!”
- Sermon Notes, Aaron James, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, January 13, 2019
John 1:19-34
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