Observation and Principles

Today’s Reading John 1:29-34

The day after John the Baptist was questioned by the Priests, Levites, and Pharisees, John saw Jesus coming and recognized Him immediately.

John recognized Jesus in the womb, and he recognized Jesus immediately when he saw him later. It’s interesting that before the siting in John 1:31, John did not know who he was preparing the way for. I am guessing that they didn’t hang out as kids even though Jesus and John would have been cousins.

In both cases (pre-birth, and as an adult) John recognized Jesus because he heard from God. I am always amazed that in the Bible, the people recognized the voice of God and knew exactly what to do. This goes against the modern idea that God is difficult to hear or understand.

Finally, in verse 33, John speaks of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit. He puts baptism by water side by side with baptism with the Holy Spirit. In this case, I think we see that one (water baptism) is incomplete without the other (Spirit baptism).

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Todays bible reading: John 1:24-28

In John 1, there are 2 groups of religious leaders questioning John the Baptist. The first group, which we read about in the last post, were the Priests and Levites. They asked “Who are you?”

The second group of religious leaders questioning John the Baptist were the Pharisees. They asked, “Why are you acting this way?” This is interesting because the Pharisees were a sect of the Jews who focused primarily on the strict observance of religious rituals. Their religious focus was right behavior rather than the hope of the coming messiah.

v. 25 “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

In the Matthew 3 and Mark 1 accounts of this same incident, we see that John the Baptist was “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4)

In that day, this was a new idea. There were a lot of different ritual washings as a way to purify oneself, but none that were related to the repentance and forgiveness of sins. The pharisees were likely questioning what authority John the Baptist had to institute a new religious practice.

Through this questioning, John’s answers keep pointing away from himself and towards Jesus. I think he was probably trying to say, “The Christ is coming! Indeed, He is here already. Stop worrying about me and go find Him. He’s the one you are looking for.”

One remarkable thing about the life of John the Baptist is that he sought no glory or recognition for himself. Everything that he did or said was pointing towards Jesus. He had an incredible humility, but he was probably the only person on earth who truly understood the nature of Jesus.

If we really understand and know God, pride and self-conceit would be impossible.

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Today’s Bible Reading John 1: 19-23

During the life of John the Baptist, and right after his death, many people thought that he was the Messiah.  The Apostle John (the author of the gospel) recognized this and intertwined the story of John with the history of Jesus to counteract the idea that John the Baptist was the messiah.

The climax of this argument comes in John 1: 19-23:

He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely” I am not the Christ.” (v. 20)

(more questioning from priests and Levites)

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ” I am the voice of the one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” (v. 23)

John’s purpose was to prepare a path for the Messiah.  The words of Isaiah the prophet are found in Isaiah 40:3

A voice of one calling in the desert: “Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

Preparing for a Divine Messiah

In the prophecy of Isaiah, this verse uses the word YHWH (that’s why “LORD” is in all caps).  This is the name of God, but a Jewish tradition/superstition had come up against actually speaking the name of God.  John used a word that would be considered a title “God” much like we would have the title “Mister” or “Doctor” or “Your Majesty.”

Through John’s reference to the prophecy of Isaiah, John once again pointed to the divinity of Christ.  The word used by John, kyrios, was also used in the New Testament to refer to God–the Father.

What’s the significance of Elijah?

In the Priest and Levities questioning of John the Baptist, they asked him:  “Are you Elijah?  Are you The Prophet?”

There is a prophecy in Malachai 4:5-6 that Elijah will walk on the Earth and bring people back to God before the day of God’s wrath.

I suspect that the Priests who were questioning John were trying to put him into a defined box.  If this happened in modern days, they would probably ask, “Are you a pastor?  A Sunday school teacher?  Maybe you are a church planter?”

John the Baptist was squirrelly with his answers.  He didn’t give a straight answer, but probably hoped that the Priests and Levites would be curious and ask more questions.  You see, the interrogators weren’t there because they wanted to know who John the Baptist was, they were sent by the Jews of Jerusalem (v 19).  John was probably trying to lead them into a deeper understanding of the Messiah?

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