John Testifies About Jesus
John 1:29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto
him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
V.29 – What’s interesting about this verse is when John see’s
Jesus and identifies him to the people as “the Lamb of God” and gives the
reason for this title; he who takes away the sin of the world!
Let’s take a look at the significance of the Lamb in the Old
Testament.
The very first instance we can use as evidence where a lamb
was used as an offering to the Lord is with the story of Cain and Abel. We read
in Genesis Chapter 4 of this event.
Genesis 4:4 “And Abel; he also brought of the
firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had
respect unto Abel and to his offering:”
Abel was a keeper of Sheep, and the firstlings of his flock
are what? Lambs, this story is symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ hence why he
is referred to as the Lamb of God.
This is not the first instance that we read about an animal
being killed for something, we read that in Genesis Chapter 3 when Adam and Eve
realised their sin, they take it upon themselves to sew fig leaves to cover
their own nakedness from God; does a fig leaf apron cover much of your
nakedness?
This is symbolic of how man tries to come to God with his
own works or deeds, what we then read is that God covers them with coats of
skin he made himself. Where did the coats of skin come from? Obviously an
animal or animals were killed for this to happen, this is the very first
written evidence of an animal being killed, to have its blood shed to cover the
sins of man; Gods way, with blood; whom he ultimately will provide mankind with
the ultimate sacrifice, that precious blood.
In Exodus Chapter 12, we read about in the days of Moses
that the Israelites who were still captive in Egypt had to take the blood of
the Lamb and strike it on the sides and upper posts of the door, and the blood
of the Lamb will the Lord see as he passed over Egypt inflicting plagues and
death on the firstborns in the land without the blood of the Lamb. This is
another symbolic representation of what Jesus will come to do, but greater: the
lamb whose blood represents a temporary covering for sin, in comparison
to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice; who will take away
sin forever.
Hebrews 9:12 “neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Since Christ is the ultimate sacrifice, it is no longer
needed to spill the blood of animals to atone for our sins.
Every single word the bible uses is powerful, Jesus having
obtained eternal, which means never ending redemption for us.
John 1:30 “This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a
man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.”
V.30 – Once again, after John Identifies the messiah he reiterates
the pre-eminence and eternal existence of Jesus.
John 1:31 “And I knew him not: but that he should be
made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.”
V.31 – John says he knew him not, even though John and Jesus
are cousins and according to this scripture it is apparent that John did not
know Jesus in the flesh. In Spirit, John knew who the messiah was. John was to
point people to the messiah, manifest means, in this instance, to prove, or
render apparent. John’s mission is to make apparent to Israel the messiah.
The word ‘therefore’ means “for that reason” or “consequently”,
so john is saying, for that reason of manifesting the messiah to Israel; he
comes baptizing with water.
This baptism is not Christian baptism. John’s baptism is of repentance;
his ministry was about repentance from unbelief to belief. Paul speaks about
this Acts.
ACTS 19:4 “Then said Paul, John verily baptized with
the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on
him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
People falsely assume or are deceived into thinking that baptism
cleanses us of our sins, this is a false teaching. The precious blood of Christ
takes away sin, but remission of sin doesn’t occur until one comes to believe
on him, Christ Jesus.
I will not go on
about baptism in greater detail as the subject is not in scope with this study.
But I have given you enough information to realise what the purpose is of John’s
ministry and that it was and is, all about the messiah.
John 1:32-33 “And John bare record, saying, I saw the
Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And
I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto
me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the
same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.”
V.32 – John testifies that he saw the Holy Spirit descend
from Heaven like a dove and stayed upon Jesus. In the other Gospel according to
Matthew
3:16-17 we read there, a voice from heaven can be heard saying, “This
is my beloved son”.
So what we here is a really significant event with Jesus anointing,
we see here that the Holy Trinity is present at the same time!
God the Father Speaks, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit:
the godhead, all present together at this one moment in time.
V.33 – John came to baptize with water, but upon whom shall
he see the Holy Spirit descending down on, and remaining on him, Jesus is going
to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Do you see the pattern? Jesus and his baptism have
pre-eminence over John and his baptism. So it is clear by the scriptures that
baptism varies and is not the same.
John 1:34 “And I saw, and bare record that this is the
Son of God.”
V.34 – Not just because of the Holy Spirit descending upon
him or the voice from heaven, but on all knowledge of Jesus and on what God had
told him, John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God.
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
John 1:35-39 “Again the next day after John stood, and
two of his disciples; 36 and looking upon Jesus as he
walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two
disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then
Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, what seek ye? They
said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where
dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They
came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the
tenth hour.
V.35-37 – The next day, John sees Jesus walking away from
him, John is standing there with his two disciples and John speaks and says,
look! There is the Lamb of God, so John’s two disciples decide to tail Jesus.
At this point, we start to read how John’s ministry starts
to fade away as Jesus begins his ministry and all the focus is put on Jesus.
V.38-39 – Jesus turns around, probably heard their footsteps
and asks the two disciples why are they following him, what are they looking
for? They say to Jesus, Teacher, master where do you live? Jesus says to them,
come and see. They followed Jesus and saw where he stayed; they too stayed with
him that day.
One disciple is mentioned by name, who is Andrew, the other
disciple must’ve have been John as he records the time of day it is. The tenth
hour is 4pm in the afternoon.
V.40-41 Andrew the brother of Simon Peter firstly tells him
that they have found the messiah.
Messiah is the transliteration of a Hebrew or Aramaic verbal
adjective, where in the Greek is Christós and written in English is Christ.
They all mean the “Anointed One”, this is a title, not a name.
John 1:42 “And he brought him to Jesus. And
when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou
shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone.”
V.42 – When Andrew brings Simon Peter to Jesus, Jesus
straightway says, you are Simon the son of Jona. In Hebrew, Jona means “Dove”.
Jesus then tells Simon that he shall be called Cephas (kEphas), which means a
stone. The word used here is the Greek word “Petros” which is the masculine
form of Petras, Petros is a small rock (stone), whereas Petras is a huge
boulder sized rock.
This understanding will come in handy and make sense in
other scripture where Jesus is speaking of foundations of his church. – Matthew 16:18-20 (This subject would
cover an entire other study!)
In English Petros is interpreted as Peter.
John 1:43 “The day
following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith
unto him, Follow me.”
V.43 Jesus is now moving quickly to gather other men to
complete membership of his chosen Apostleship. He finds Phillip and simply says,
follow me and he does.
John 1:44 "Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the
city of Andrew and Peter."
These men were most likely, previously friends being from
the same town. The name “Bethsaida” means fishing house which would
be the reason why the town was full of fishermen!
James and John had been fishing acquaintances of Peter and
Andrew.
John 1:45 "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith
unto him, we have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Philip finds Nathanael to tell him that they found him, the
Messiah, the Christ. He reminds Nathanael that the Messiah had been
promised in the writings by Moses and the prophets.
According to the writings of John we see that Jesus is the fulfilment
of Old Testament Scripture.
Nathanael is mentioned only in John’s gospel, but the
following evidence supports his identification with Bartholomew and that they
are one in the same man.
Nathanael is mentioned only in John’ Gospel and Bartholomew
is mentioned only in the listing of the Twelve in Acts and the synoptic
Gospels.
·
Matthew 10:3
·
Mark 3:18
·
Luke 6:14
·
Acts 1:13
Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus, and Bartholomew is listed
together with Philip; finally, John associates Nathanael with the Twelve (John 21:2).
It seems at least plausible to identify Nathanael and Bartholomew as the same
man.
John 1:46 "And Nathanael said unto him, can there
any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him,
Come and see."
All of them believed before that no prophet would rise up
out of Galilee, and this is probably what he is referring to here when he
talks about Nazareth.
Nathanael was from Cana, another town in Galilee. While
Galileans were despised by Judeans, Galileans themselves despised people from Nazareth.
In light of John 7:52, Nathanael’s scorn may
have centred in the fact that Nazareth was an insignificant village
without seeming prophetic importance.
Later, some would contemptuously refer to Christians as the
“sect of the Nazarenes”, Acts 24:5.
The Jews would not call the believers Christians, the people
of Christ (Messiah). They used other terms like the sect of the Nazarenes. This
nickname was derived from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.
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John 1:47 "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and
saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"
Jesus, of course, knows everything about everyone and
everything. Nathanael is no exception, to prove to Nathanael
who he is; Jesus greets him in this manner.
Jesus’ point was that Nathanael’s bluntness revealed that he
was an Israelite without cunning motives, one who was willing to examine these
things for himself, the claims being made about Jesus that is.
The term reveals an honest, seeking heart.
John 1:48 "Nathanael saith unto him, whence
knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, before that
Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee."
Nathanael is alarmed as to how Jesus knew that he was an
Israelite? Nathanael thinks this to be very strange.
Here again, Jesus knows everything all the time, and He knew
where Philip found Nathanael.
Nathanael was under the fig tree literally and spiritually. Israel is
the fig tree symbolically (the fig tree nation) and that is the teaching
Nathanael was under at the time. Of course, literally Philip had
found him sitting under the fig tree, as well!
This was a favourite place used by the Jews for meditation.
Jesus evidently meant a specific time which Nathanael understood.
If Nathanael had been praying concerning the promised
Messiah, in verse 45, this would explain his remarkable response in verse 49,
where he confesses Jesus’ deity and messiah-ship.
John 1:49 "Nathanael answered and saith unto him,
Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel."
Nathanael realizes it is true, this is Messiah! He
calls Him Rabbi (teacher), but quickly adds that Jesus is the Son of God, King
of Israel.
What an awakening, to be beholding with his very own eyes
the promised Messiah. This revelation of Nathanael was similar to
the time when Jesus asked the disciples, who He was and Peter said, "Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God". This is not a son,
but THE Son. He
says in essence, it is right for you to rule.
Jesus’ display of supernatural knowledge and Phillip’s
witness removed Nathanael’s doubts, so John added the witness of Nathanael to
this section. The use of “the” with “Son of God” most likely indicates that the
expression is to be understood as bearing its full significance, verse 34 and John
11:27.
For Nathanael, here was ONE
who could not be described merely in human terms.
John 1:50 "Jesus answered and said unto him, because
I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see
greater things than these."
This is probably the biggest understatement of all time!
He would see Jesus open the eyes of the blind, make the deaf
hear, make the lame walk, feed thousands of men with five loaves and two little
fishes; speak to the sea, wind and other elements and have it obey him, drive
out unclean spirits and even raise the dead.
This mere statement of Nathanael being under the fig tree is
such a small thing in comparison; Jesus is pleased that this made him
believe.
John 1:51 "And he saith unto him, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God
ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
Verily, verily means it will happen, that’s saying truly
twice! There is no question or doubts about it. A phrase used
frequently for emphasizing the importance and truth of the coming statement.
In light of the context of verse 47, this verse most likely
refers to Genesis 28:12 where Jacob dreamed about a ladder from heaven. Jesus’
point to Nathanael was that just like Jacob experienced heavenly sent
revelations, Nathanael and the other disciples would experience supernatural
communication confirming who Jesus was as well. Moreover the term “Son of Man”
replaced the ladder in Jacob’s dream, signifying that Jesus was the means of
access between God and man.
“Son of man” is Jesus favourite self-designation, for it was
mostly spoken by Jesus who used it over 80 times. In the New Testament, it
refers only to Jesus and appears mostly in the gospels. In the fourth (This one
we are studying) gospel, the expression occurs 13 times and is most commonly
associated with the themes of crucifixion and suffering and revelation (John 6:27,
53) but also with authority.
While the term at times may refer merely to a human being or
as a substitute for “I”, it especially takes on significance, when referring to
Daniel
7 where the “Son of Man” or Messiah comes in glory to receive the
kingdom from the “Ancient of Days”, The
Father.
