Following the prologue of John’s Gospel comes the first main division from 1:19 to the end of chapter 12. This narrates the public testimony of Christ by word and work. The narrative begins by resuming the witness of John the Baptist at Bethabara where he was baptizing.
John had by this time drawn the attention of the Sanhedrin. He had proclaimed the approach of a new era (Mt. 3:2). Hence the sending of the priests and Levites to inquire whether he himself was the Messiah. These came from the Pharisees. The Sadducees were not so interested; they were more submissive to the Roman power. For John it was a time of crisis. Hence his emphatic declaration that he was neither the Messiah nor Elijah nor “that prophet” (Deut. 18:15) but “the voice of one crying in the wilderness (an intimation of the spiritual state of the nation), Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet” (v. 23).
Then came the question as to the reason for his baptizing. It had the appearance of treating Jews as if they were mere proselytes, and of implying that they were defiled and needed cleansing. The answer he gives reveals that to him the Lord Jesus is more than all his credentials. He has no time to argue about himself; his answer is to point them to Christ. “I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth One whom ye know not, even He that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe (i.e., the thong of whose sandal) I am not worthy to unloose” (vv. 26-27), one of the most menial acts of slaves.
The Lamb of God
Verse 29 begins the Baptist’s testimony to the people, by reason of Christ’s coming on the scene in Person on the following day. He who has been described as the Word, the Creator, the Son of God, is pointed out as “the Lamb of God,” the One “who taketh away the sin of the world.” The “Behold” is an interjection, not a command. His hearers would understand what the mention of a Lamb signified, and might recall the language of Isaiah 53. But they must know that He is the Lamb of God, and that as such, that is by the atoning efficacy of His sacrifice, He takes away, not merely the sin of Israel (“my people,” Isa. 53:8), but the sin of the world. Christ will restore the world’s broken relation with God. In this matter it has been necessary for God to take the fact of sin into consideration, but Christ’s sacrifice will be the foundation of the renewed relation.
It was given to John the Baptist for the first time to designate Him as “the Lamb of God.” The phrase is not found in the Old Testament, though typical intimations and foreshadowings abound there. The nearest expression is in Genesis 22:8. The verb rendered “taketh away” denotes either to lift and bear, or to take away; here both senses may be combined, for the word points to Christ’s expiatory sacrifice and its effects. This is here said of “the sin of the world”; not sins, but that which has existed from the Fall, and in regard to which God has had judicial dealings with the world.
John recalls his testimony of the previous day (v. 15) and the reason why he baptized with water (v. 31). It was that Christ was to be manifested to Israel. But there was more than this. That which would identify to the Baptist the Person in a twofold way was the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him.
The Son of God
This was the crowning point of his witness, namely, that the Lamb of God is the Son of God: “He (the Father) that sent me to baptize with water, He said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon Him, the same is He that baptizeth with the HoIy Spirit. And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (1:33-34). The two facts regarding Him were that He was the One who would baptize with the Holy Ghost, and that He was none other than the Son of God.
The three Persons in the Godhead combine in making John the Baptist the instrument of this witness. The Father sent him as His messenger (1:6); the Holy Spirit directed him by His supernatural demonstration; Christ Himself was the center and object of the testimony, as to His deity as the Son of God (v. 34), His humanity, “a Man which is become before me” (v. 30), His atoning death as the Lamb of God (v. 29), His exaltation as “the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit” (v. 33).
The Third Day
Now comes the third day (v. 35). On the first Christ was proclaimed; on the second He was pointed out; on the third He was followed by disciples. John still proclaimed Him as the Lamb. “He looked (fastened his gaze) upon Jesus as He walked (not now coming to him) and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God” (v. 36). Nothing is added now. That was a sufficient intimation to the two who had been his disciples that a greater than he must now become their Master. Christ’s first disciples were won by the testimony to His atoning sacrifice. He is mentioned as the Lamb elsewhere only in 1 Peter 1:19 and in the Apocalypse. There, however, the word is always arnion (not amnos as here), a diminutive term, but the diminutive idea is not to be pressed; it lost its diminutive significance. The difference between amnos and arnion lies in this, the amnos points to the fact, the nature and character of His sacrifice; arnion presents Him, on the ground indeed of His sacrifice, but in His acquired majesty, dignity, honor, authority and power.
The Choosing of Disciples
The two disciples who “followed Jesus” were Andrew and, no doubt, John (the writer). From the conversation that ensued (vv. 38-39) two things arise. First, just as the disciples’ knowledge of Christ only gradually increased (they knew Him just as the Messiah, v. 41), so he who receives Christ by faith receives Him in the fullness of His Person, but the perception of His excellencies, His power and glory is gradual. Secondly, Christ’s knowledge of them and His direction of their lives give intimation of His authority and Headship. “And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?” He did not ask “Whom seek ye?” That they were seeking Him was evident. He asked them what they sought in Him. His invitation and their acceptance, resulting in their abiding with Him for that day, must have meant a wonderful unfolding by Him of the truth relating to Him.
That third day produces three, if not four, disciples, Andrew, John, Peter, and perhaps James. On the fourth day a new circumstance arises; for the Lord Himself goes to seek a disciple. Hitherto they had come or had been brought to Him. Now “He was minded (or as the word thelo commonly means, He willed) to go forth into Galilee.” He finds Philip, who was of the same city as Andrew and Peter and bids him follow Him. Philip finds Nathanael (a name meaning gift of God) and gives a special testimony to Christ, firstly, as the Subject of the Law and the prophets, secondly as to His coming from Nazareth, thirdly as to the belief about His being the son of Joseph.
Nathanael’s Confession
To say the least, Galileans were the objects of contempt owing to their lack of culture, their rude dialect and their association with Gentiles. Hence Nathanael’s surprised question, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip does not stop to argue but bids him come and see.
At the interview, the Lord immediately reveals His divine powers of knowledge, which at once elicits the confession, ” Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art King of Israel.” The absence of the definite article before ” King,” while grammatically serving to stress His Kingship, perhaps indicates Nathanael’s hope of an earthly King. But the promise that he and other believers would see the “Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man,” points to the coming day when Christ will come in His glory and manifest Himself as the King of Israel in a far higher sphere than was in the mind of Nathanael.