Because of John – John 1:29-42

A text – John 1:29-42

²⁹ The next day he (John the Baptizer) saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”

³⁵ The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). ⁴² He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

A reflection:

In Chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, just a few verses after the prologue we saw last week, Jesus is beginning his public ministry. We know the story of his baptism in the Jordan River by John from the Gospel of Mark, the earliest gospel text of them all. But here in the gospel of John, John the Baptizer isn’t shown as a baptizer. He is shown testifying (before the Jewish elders in Jerusalem, no less!) about Jesus, saying that when God gave John his mission to prepare the way for the Messiah, God told John he would know the Messiah when he saw him because he would be the one upon whom the Holy Spirit would descend and remain. John knew that Jesus was the One. He had seen the sign as clear as day. He made it clear to those elders and leaders that he, John, was not the Messiah, was not Elijah returned, was not Moses. Jesus was the promised one. John even encouraged his own disciples to follow Jesus, among them Andrew, brother of Simon, later to become Cephas (in Jesus’s language – Aramaic – the name that means “rock”). We know him as Peter because the New Testament was written in Greek, and petros is the Greek word for “rock.”

In John’s gospel, Jesus’s birth story is unimportant. The important thing is that this Word of God, existing before creation, now in the flesh of a human being, appeared in the world with us. Who recognizes him as the light of the world, the Messiah, Son of God, part of the Trinity? John does because the Holy Spirit arrives and remains with Jesus. That’s two witnesses confirming who Jesus is: 1) the Holy Spirit and, because of the dove’s witness, 2) John. And then because of John’s witness to who Jesus is, 3) Andrew believes and follows Jesus. And because Andrew believes and bears witness, 4) his brother Simon comes to meet Jesus, who predicts Simon will receive a new name. Of course, Simon becomes the rock Jesus is naming him – the connective force among the disciples and the man who will share the faith with the whole Kingdom of Israel far and wide.

John’s part in Jesus’s story is much more than the wildly dressed baptizer in the wilderness making the path straight for the Lord. John is the first human witness, the first evangelist of Jesus’s public ministry, the man sent by God to proclaim the Word-made-flesh’s arrival among us humans. Because of John, his disciples like Andrew gave Jesus their devotion. Because of Andrew, Simon believed. Because of Andrew and Simon, 5) Philip came next and then he testified to 6) Nathaniel… You see how it happens. The Gospel of John teaches us all to bear witness, so that through our testimony even one other person might come to know Jesus.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for becoming the Word made flesh. Help us to remember that Jesus is still abiding with us. Help us to know that the testimony of friends will always let many people know who you are and that you are our trustworthy Lord. Amen.