Jesus According to John the Baptist.

John the apostle makes a great deal of the testimony of John the Baptist who came to bear witness to the light (1:7).  In the two passages where John the Baptist appears in the gospel (1:19-34 and 3:22-36), John testifies some significant things about the 'coming one':

     1.  He is much greater than John (1:27). John denies that he is the Messiah or Elijah or 'the prophet'. He is merely the voice of one calling in the wilderness 'make straight paths for the Lord'. Despite John's fame as a fearless and genuine prophet, he is not even worthy to untie the laces of his sandals. This is also implicit in his statement that the one who comes after him 'has surpassed me because he is before me' (1:28)

     2.  He is 'the Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the World' (1:31). This is quite different to the expectation that he will be the Messiah. There are a number of 'lambs' in the background of Israel's history (the sheep that took the place of Isaac, the passover lamb, the 'scapegoat' of Leviticus 16 that takes away the peoples sin, the guilt offering of Lev 16 and Numbers 4 and the lamb lead to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). While the reference is ambiguous it seems clear that the idea is of a lamb that dies to pay the penalty for sins. This theme will reappear in the gospel.

     3.  He is the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit (1:33).  John insists that his baptism is only with water, but that the coming one - on whom the Holy Spirit descended at his baptism - this one will baptise with the Holy Spirit. While we must wait to fully understand its significance, we can assume that the washing with the Holy Spirit involves both the forgiveness of sins and the beginning of the indwelling of the Spirit which assures us of his presence and our connection with him (14:16-17).

     4.  He is the Son of God (1:34). The term 'Son of God' is equivalent to Messiah, making this a claim that Jesus is the one the Jews have been waiting for - the one they looked for to restore their nation and to rule over God's people forever. (There is a textual variant which makes the reading 'the chosen one of God' - but this would likely point to the same idea in different language).

* When John is questioned at a later time about about Jesus ('why does he baptise?') he again emphasises his priority: 'He must become greater, I must become less' (3:30). He also testifies that:

     5.  He is the One who Comes from Above (3:31). 'The one who comes from above is above all' (3:31) John here implies what has already been said in 1:1-2 and 14, that the Word was with God and was God and that the Word became flesh in the person of Jesus. This is a claim for the pre-existence and divinity of Jesus. This ties in with his statement of 1:30, where John says of his (younger) cousin: 'A man who comes after me is be has surpassed me because he is before me.'

     6.  He is the One who Speaks the Words of God (3:34). If Jesus is the one who 'comes from above' it is not surprising that he speaks the words of God, for he is God the Son and the father has given him the Spirit without limit.

     7.  He is the Beloved Son (3:35). 'The father loves the Son and places everything in his hands'. In 1:14 and 1:18 the word is called the 'One and Only' or the 'only begotten'. Whatever else this phrase means it emphasises the uniqueness of the Son and his special relationship with the Father. The Son is his Father's beloved and God the Father has placed 'everything' in his hands. He rules over all things!

     8.  He is the One who determines our Eternity (3:36). Our response to the Son therefore determines our eternity. If anyone rejects the Son, he will not see life 'for God's wrath remains on him', but anyone who believes (trusts / follows) the son already has eternal life (Having had their sins forgiven and being baptised by the Spirit).

How do we respond to John's testimony? Do we accept what he says? If so, then how will we respond to Jesus - will we believe and have eternal life or reject him and receive God's wrath? 

Don Carson’s ‘Jesus and His Friends’ and Understanding Jesus’ Farewell Discourse in John 14-17

Chapters 14-17 of John’s gospel are sometimes called the ‘farewell discourse’. Set in the upper room as Jesus addresses his friends during (and after) the last supper, John recounts in these chapters some of Jesus’ most significant teaching about his ministry and mission, about his relationship with the Father and the Spirit, about the ongoing work of the Spirit, and concludes with his prayer for the disciples and for all believers. It is a significant passage and worthy of careful study.

A helpful guide in looking at the farewell discourse is Don Carson’s “Jesus and His Friends: His Farewell Message and Prayer in John 14 To 17”. This is not really a commentary (Carson has written one of those as well), but seeks to explain and apply the passage at a more popular level.

The farewell discourse begins with these words from Jesus: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:1-4 NIV 1984)

The following is a quote from pages 19-20 of Jesus and His Friends explaining the significance of Jesus’ words and in general terms what the farewell discourse is all about:

Unable to grasp that Jesus’ departure from them is his return to the glory rightly his, by way of the cross and the tomb, the disciples wallow in their misery, fearing they are about to be abandoned. We, too, may sometimes slither around in the slough of despond and feel abandoned; but the situation in John 13 and 14 is unique. The sense of abandonment experienced by the disciples was prompted by an unrepeatable event in the history of redemption: the physical departure of Jesus by way of the cross. Therefore, although the disciples needed the general exhortation to trust in God and to trust in Jesus, they needed something more: they needed further instruction, more detailed explanation of the significance of the events to take place. Even if they remain unable to absorb all the details until after that epochal weekend had passed, Jesus’ words provided not only some immediate relief, but the framework ultimately made sense of the most important events in all history.

In other words, the Farewell Discourse must not be treated simplistically, as nothing more than Christian comfort designed to console defeated saints. Rather it is first and foremost an exposition of the significance of Jesus’ ‘going away’ to his father via the cross. It is elemental theology; and only as such does it offer encouragement and consolation. For troubled Christians there is little genuine comfort that is divorced from the significance of the events of that one weekend in Jerusalem and its environs almost two thousand years ago. This was especially true for those first believers, whose anguish was made particularly acute by the fact that they themselves participated in those events and were engulfed by them. But modern believers, too, best discover renewed faith and fortitude, not by clinging to isolated spiritual aphorisms and evangelical clichés, but by returning to a deep understanding of the historical and redemptive structure of their faith.

Within this framework, Jesus provides some content for his followers to believe (14:2-7); he enunciates truths they must believe if their faith is to be triumphant, their spirits tranquil. Unfortunately, the disciples grasp little of this, because they have already misjudged who Jesus is. The profound implications of the exhortation, ‘Trust in God; trust also in me’ (14:1) have quite passed them by; and therefore Jesus must review some of his earlier teaching and provide a lesson for slow learners concerning who he really is (14:8-14).

I hope you find this as helpful as I do in gaining an orientation to this passage – and to the Farewell Discourse as a whole.