John 1:19–51

1:19–28 The Identity and Ministry of John the Baptist. John’s location on the Jordan River was not far from the shores of the Dead Sea, but even if it were on a main thoroughfare, it would still have been sparsely populated. What would it take to gather a crowd to such a place? Located twenty-five miles from Jerusalem, today it would be about a forty-minute drive. A preacher would have to generate quite a buzz to bring about a situation where “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him” (Matt. 3:5). While many have become suddenly famous only to have their lives turn into train wrecks, we see something very different, and for very good reason, in the case of John the Baptist. John the Baptist knows who he is and what his life is for.

John the Evangelist has introduced John the Baptist’s testimony in John 1:6–8 and 15, and now he elaborates on that testimony in verses 19–36. The Baptist’s testimony results in his disciples leaving him to follow Jesus, which is exactly why he is testifying (v. 7; cf. 3:30).

Priests and Levites from Jerusalem have been sent to the Baptist in the Transjordan to ask him two questions: Who are you? and, Why are you doing what you are doing? John recounts the exchange in the form of a dialogue, and his portrayal of John’s location and answers to the questions is crucial for understanding John’s identity and activity.

The situation is introduced in verse 19, as John relates the Baptist’s testimony “when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’” From his response in verse 20, it is evident the Baptist knows what they are really asking, and in the way John sets up the Baptist’s answer, we see him stressing the point: “He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed.” In twice stating that the Baptist confessed, with the assertion that he did not deny inserted between, the Evangelist shows there was no doubt or confusion in John the Baptist’s confession. He did not deny but confessed the truth.

Consider what it is that John is confessing, the testimony he is bearing. Verse 7 stated his purpose: “to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.” As a result, people will leave the Baptist’s influence to become disciples of Jesus. John presents John the Baptist as one who feels no conflict with, nor hesitation about, pointing away from himself to Jesus. John presents this as exemplary behavior to be imitated.

The content of the Baptist’s confession reflects expectation for a coming Messiah, an expectation prompting the inquiry into the Baptist’s identity. This expectation is apparently so pervasive, so taken for granted, that the question does not even need to be articulated to prompt the reply, “I am not the Christ” (v. 20). Taken together, the insistence that the Baptist confessed—and did not deny, but confessed!—that he was not the Christ evokes our awareness of others who at that time were claiming “to be somebody” (Acts 5:36).

The activities of these other figures indicate they were putting themselves forward as men God would use to bring to pass what was promised in the OT. Their activities were patterned after the activities of significant OT figures through whom God did mighty things for his people. Josephus writes of several figures who sought to lead people across the Jordan into the wilderness, promising to lead the people once again through the Jordan on dry ground for a new conquest of the Promised Land. These figures were claiming to enact the prophesied new exodus and new conquest, leading to the enjoyment of the new Eden (cf. Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.258–260, Antiquities 20.97; 20.168–170; 20.188; cf. also Matt. 24:26). In contrast with these charlatans, John is claiming not to be the Messiah or anyone else, even though the Lord has sent him as the one who prepares the way for the prophesied new-exodus salvation.

Even if the Baptist is not the Messiah, there are other possibilities: “They asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No’” (John 1:21). The question about Elijah arises from Malachi 4:5: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” John’s negative reply is likely intended at the literal level: Elijah was taken to heaven, and the Baptist is saying that he is not that same Elijah returned to earth. Nevertheless, in what he is about to say of himself (John 1:23), John indicates that, typologically speaking, he plays the role of the prophesied Elijah, and this is likely what Jesus means when he identifies John as the Elijah who was to come (Matt. 11:10; cf. Mal. 3:1; Matt. 11:14). The question whether John is “the Prophet” arises from Deuteronomy 18:15–18, and since this is asked after John has said he is not the Messiah, the question reflects some uncertainty as to whether the Prophet and the Messiah would be the same individual.¹

The Baptist’s terse replies to these messengers leave them at a loss: “So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’” (John 1:22). This reply, with the information in verse 24, seems to indicate that the power players themselves have not come out to see John. A figure such as Nicodemus (cf. 3:1) has not come on this errand, but only those who will answer to those with more stature.

I suggested above that in 1:6–8 John the Evangelist was presenting the Baptist as heralding the fulfillment of the coming light prophesied in Isaiah 8:20–9:2. Now John presents the Baptist as fulfilling what was prophesied in Isaiah 40:3: “He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said’” (John 1:23). In Isaiah, this statement heralds the return of Yahweh to Zion after the exile, once the new exodus has been accomplished and the people are enjoying the glorious eschatological restoration. John thus presents the Baptist as the one preparing the way for Yahweh’s return to Zion in the person of Jesus. He is, therefore, figuratively speaking the “Elijah who is to come” (Matt. 11:14), even if, literally speaking, he is not the historical Elijah (John 1:21).

The answer concerning the Baptist’s identity would have been understood by the messengers from Jerusalem: John was claiming to prepare the way for the new salvation God would accomplish on behalf of his people. Having received that answer, the messengers move to questioning the meaning of the Baptist’s actions. John the Evangelist provides more information concerning the messengers in verse 24—“Now they had been sent from the Pharisees”—before narrating their next question in verse 25: “They asked him, ‘Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’” The repetition of the Messiah, Elijah, and the Prophet serves to reinforce lines of OT expectation for a new prophet like Moses, a Messiah from the line of David, and a new Elijah before the coming of the day of the Lord. To this point, nothing has been said in the Gospel about John’s baptizing. The fact of his doing so is revealed in the question posed by the messengers from the Pharisees in Jerusalem.

The Baptist’s reply to this question shows a laser-like focus on his mission to testify to the light, “that all might believe” (v. 7), thus exalting Jesus and making less of himself (cf. 3:30). John takes a question about why he is baptizing and turns it into an opportunity to speak of the greatness of the One whom the Baptist himself, by comparison, does not deserve to serve. For John the Baptist, when asked why he baptizes, the important thing is not to explain the typological significance of what he does—at which John the Evangelist hints in 1:28—but rather to make much of Jesus. The Baptist states, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (vv. 26–27).

The Baptist asserts that Jesus stands among them, but they do not know him (v. 26), just as the light was unknown and unreceived (vv. 10–11). The phrase “he who comes after me” in verse 27 harks back to verse 15, where the same description was used by the Baptist as he asserted that Jesus outranked him. Here too, in verse 27, the Baptist stresses the exalted status of Jesus—so high is he that John is unworthy even to perform for him the lowly task of unstrapping his sandal.

We get a hint of the significance of the Baptist’s work as John notes, in verse 28, “These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” John seems to have crossed the Jordan in order to position himself for symbolically significant immersions in water. These immersions probably represented a cleansing ritual needed for reentering the land. Those who partook of John’s baptism were confessing their sins and enacting their repentance (cf. Matt. 3:2, 8; Mark 1:5). They sought consummate cleansing from the defilement of exile to sin and went to the place where Joshua’s conquest began, anticipating a new conquest. They actively sought to purify themselves in an effort to prepare the way of the Lord.

1:29–34 The Spirit Descends and Remains. The coming of the light recalls Isaiah’s promise that the light would dawn (vv. 4–9). In verse 23, the Baptist had identified himself with the words of Isaiah 40:3. And now in John 1:29 he identifies Jesus as the lamb of Isaiah 53: “He saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” The wise servant of Isaiah 52:13 bore the griefs of the people (Isa. 53:4), was pierced for their transgressions and chastised for their peace (v. 5), and was led like a lamb to the slaughter (v. 7). Isaiah compares the servant to a lamb because he is proclaiming a new exodus for Israel (e.g., Isa. 11:15–16), and in Isaiah 52:7–53:12 he describes the new Passover Lamb who will redeem God’s people at that new exodus. John the Baptist makes the profound assertion that Jesus is that servant, that lamb (cf. 1 Cor. 5:7). He also asserts, in keeping with Isaiah’s announcement that God would save not just Israel but the nations (e.g., Isa. 49:5–7), that the new Passover Lamb redeeming the people at the new exodus will take away not just Israel’s sin but that of the world.

We saw in John 1:9–13 that only those born of God receive Jesus. On the basis of the Baptist’s words in verses 31–34 within the wider context of chapter 1, we can also say that the only people who know Jesus are those to whom God makes him known—“the world did not know him” (v. 10), the Baptist tells the Jews from Jerusalem that they do not know him (v. 26), and he even asserts that he himself did not know him (v. 31).

In verses 32–34 the Baptist states how he came to know Jesus, why he was baptizing with water, and what his ultimate mission was:

I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.

Characteristically, the Baptist testifies to what he saw. The phrase “I myself did not know him” in verse 33 is an exact repetition of the same phrase in verse 31. John divulges how he came to know Jesus as he testifies to a revelation made to him from the one who sent him. The text does not state it, but God sent the Baptist, so the last words of verse 33 relate what God revealed to the Baptist: “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” On the basis of this revelation, the Baptist recognized Jesus when the Spirit descended upon him to remain (vv. 32–33).

This scene evokes another episode involving two prophetic figures at the Jordan River: Elisha’s requesting a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (2 Kings 2:1–15; recall the mention of Elijah in John 1:21). In contrast with the periodic empowerment of the judges, David, and Ezekiel when the Spirit came upon them, the Spirit came upon Jesus to “remain” (v. 33). And whereas Elisha requested a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, John declares that God gives the Spirit to Jesus “without measure” (3:34).

The parallel between the Baptist’s ministry of baptizing people in water (1:26, 31, 33) and the one who would “[baptize] with the Holy Spirit” (v. 33) indicates we are to understand the one in light of the other. The confession of sins, repentance, cleansing, and commitment to living before God that the Baptist ministers in water, Jesus will minister in the Holy Spirit. This parallel suggests that Jesus is the one who fulfills what is prophesied in the OT about the Davidic seed being fully endowed with the “Spirit of the Lord” (Isa. 11:2), ministering the Spirit more broadly to God’s people (Isa. 32:15) so that they are empowered to obey (Ezek. 36:27).

Having seen what he was told he would see, the Baptist punctuates his testimony with the assertion, “This is the Son of God” (John 1:34)—a profound synthesis of OT expectations. John the Baptist himself, bearing witness to the light in verse 7 (cf. Isa. 8:20–9:2), is not the Christ, the Messiah (John 1:20). The Baptist is, however, the one who prepares the way for Yahweh’s return to Zion (Isa. 40:3) in John 1:23, and he is obviously preparing the way for Jesus in John 1:31, suggesting that Jesus is Yahweh (cf. John 1:1). Simultaneously, Jesus is the Isaiah 53 “Lamb of God” (John 1:29) on whom the Spirit comes down to remain, making him the Lord’s anointed (vv. 32–33; cf. Isa. 11:2) who will usher in the prophesied new age of the Spirit (cf. Isa. 32:15; Ezek. 36:27). Moreover, this Jesus is the one of whom God said in 2 Samuel 7:14, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” (cf. Ps. 2:7). This the Baptist asserts by referring to the suffering servant, the Lamb of God, the Lord’s anointed, with the title of the Davidic King, “Son of God” (John 1:34). He is the one on whom the hopes of God’s people rest. He is the long-expected one, the Word, the life, the light, the only begotten Son of the Father, who takes away the sin of the world.

1:35–42 Come, See, and Stay. John 1:35–36 is very similar to verse 29; both speak of “the next day” and depict the Baptist seeing Jesus and declaring, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Verses 29–34 detail how the Baptist recognized Jesus: the Spirit descended and remained upon him. Now that Jesus has been identified as “the Son of God” (v. 34), verses 35–42 show a three-part disciple-making process. First, the testimony of the Baptist caused his disciples to follow Jesus (vv. 35–37). Second, those who followed Jesus sought to remain with him (vv. 38–39). Third, even as they remained with Jesus, they sought to convince others to follow Jesus with them (vv. 40–42).

There is a natural progression in this passage: the Baptist came to prepare the way (vv. 19–34), resulting in his own disciples leaving him to follow Jesus (vv. 35–37). John’s disciples understood what he was proclaiming: Jesus is the light (v. 7); the one in whom Yahweh was returning to Zion (v. 23); the one so great that the Baptist was not worthy of unstrapping his sandal (v. 27); the one who would fulfill Isaiah 53 as the new Lamb of the new exodus (John 1:29, 36); the one who would initiate the new age of the Spirit (v. 33), baptizing with the Holy Spirit for repentance, cleansing, and power to conquer. John 1:37 shows that to understand the message of the Baptist is to become a follower of Jesus.

In verses 38–39 we see an initial encounter between Jesus and two of those who left John the Baptist to follow him. One of these will be identified as Andrew in verse 40. Perhaps the other is the author of the Gospel himself, the beloved disciple, John son of Zebedee.² Throughout the Gospel of John, the author never overtly names himself, so the fact that the other disciple of the Baptist goes unnamed would match the way John son of Zebedee deals with his own presence elsewhere in this Gospel.

In verse 38 Jesus turns and sees these disciples, asking them, “What are you seeking?” Think for a moment of the possible ways the Baptist’s disciples could have answered that question:

• We seek God’s kingdom.
• We seek to rid the land of the Romans.
• We seek the fulfillment of OT prophecies.
• We seek the king from David’s line.
• We seek the truth.
• We seek the way.
• We seek life.

Instead they ask, “‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’” (v. 38). When they come to Jesus, they come to him as their teacher, and their main concern is to be with him. The verb rendered “staying,” one of the most significant verbs in this Gospel, is rendered elsewhere in John as “abide” or “remain.” It is used twice in verse 39, as Jesus answers, “‘Come and you will see.’ So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.”

It seems John the Evangelist wants his audience to see that these who would become Christ’s disciples were mainly interested in being with Jesus, and that his response is to invite them to come to him and see. Again, while these words may seem small and insignificant, upon reflection, the disciples do come to Jesus, and Jesus will call others to come to him as the narrative progresses (e.g., 7:37). John has already said that they saw his glory (1:14), and at the end of chapter 1 Jesus declares they “will see greater things than these” (v. 50).

The disciples want to know where Jesus abides. He invites them to come and see. Then they saw where he was abiding, and they abided with him (vv. 38–39). This, I submit, is what John the Evangelist wants his audience to desire. He wants his audience to inquire about Jesus, to go to Jesus, to behold what it is like to abide with Jesus, and then to abide with him. What John depicts next shows one of the effects of being with Jesus.

Andrew’s immediate response is to find his brother, Peter, and bring him to Jesus. This indicates that the correct response to the Baptist is to follow Jesus, and that beholding Jesus results both in a desire to abide with Jesus and a desire to bring others to Jesus. Andrew says, “We have found the Messiah” (v. 41). If there was any doubt about the identity of Jesus as the king from David’s line promised in the OT, this claim removes it.

Jesus then gives Simon the name “Peter” (v. 42). John wants his audience to believe the testimony of the Baptist about Jesus and to respond to that testimony by following Jesus, with the purpose of remaining with him. Those who behold Jesus will not fail to call others to go to him also, and those who go to Jesus will find him transforming their identity.

1:43–51 You Will See Greater Things. On the first day, John the Baptist explained his identity and ministry (vv. 19–28). On the next day, he identified Jesus (vv. 29–34). On the day after that, Jesus invited two disciples to come and see (vv. 35–42). Now, on the fourth day of this chapter, Jesus begins to hint that what he brings goes beyond what those who follow him have begun to expect (vv. 43–51).

In verses 40–42, Andrew had brought Peter to Jesus. Now, in verse 43, Jesus summons Philip with the words “Follow me,” and in verses 44–46 Philip brings Nathanael to Jesus. There are indications that Peter had made a home in Capernaum (cf. Mark 1:21, 29), so perhaps Bethsaida, Philip’s hometown, was “the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44) in the sense that they were born there.

Andrew’s first recorded act as a follower of Jesus was to herald Jesus as the Messiah to his brother Peter (v. 41). Similarly, having been summoned to follow Jesus in verse 43, Philip’s first act is to find Nathanael and proclaim, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (v. 45). Like the interchange between the Baptist and the priests and Levites in verses 19–20, Philip’s statement evidences a universally assumed expectation that the Torah and the Prophets had promised a coming redeemer.³

Whereas some might have objected to the notion that Moses and the Prophets wrote of the Messiah, Nathanael objects only to the idea that he comes from Nazareth!⁴ He asks Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (v. 46). The OT expectation was that the Messiah would be, in a sense, unexpected. For instance, the prophet Isaiah had declared, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isa. 53:2).

Philip’s reply to Nathanael in John 1:46, “Come and see,” is instructive at several levels. For one thing, Philip evidently believes that, for Nathanael, beholding Jesus for himself will be more compelling than anything Philip might say in an effort to convince him. For another, Philip’s invitation in verse 46 echoes Jesus’ words to the two disciples of the Baptist in verse 39 (there are slight differences in the two statements in Greek, but both phrases use the same terms); those who come to Jesus begin to speak and act as he does.

When Philip brings Nathanael to Jesus, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’” (v. 47). Nathanael’s astonished reply (“How do you know me?”; v. 48) indicates that Nathanael does not know Jesus, but Jesus has accurately described Nathanael’s guileless, straightforward character nevertheless. Nathanael presumably expects Jesus to relate ordinary human means of how he knows him, but Jesus surprises him by answering, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (v. 48b).

In the OT, to sit under one’s own vine and fig tree is associated with enjoyment of the blessing of God under the righteous reign of the king from David’s line (1 Kings 4:25; cf. Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10). Some suggest that Nathanael had just been in prayer and meditation under a fig tree, and while the text does not say so, this would explain Nathanael’s reply, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). Nathanael has gone from skepticism arising from Jesus being from Nazareth (v. 46), to surprise that Jesus knows him (v. 48), to confessing that he is the Son of God and King of Israel (v. 49; cf. 2 Sam. 7:14). What has apparently convinced him is the reality that Jesus knows his character though they have not met, combined with Jesus’ ability to have “seen” him before Philip called him. Everything about the narrative suggests that Nathanael has become convinced of the identity of Jesus because Jesus has shown himself to have supernatural knowledge.

Having wowed Nathanael in this way, Jesus promises more in John 1:50–51:

“Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Having reviewed the cause of Nathanael’s confession, Jesus promises Nathanael that he “will see greater things than these” (v. 50). In verse 51 Jesus hints at the sort of “greater things” Nathanael can expect. Jesus alludes to the episode in Genesis 28 when Jacob had fled his home, having stolen the birthright and blessing from Esau. Jacob dreamed of “a ladder. . . . And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” (Gen. 28:12). Yahweh himself appeared, promising to Jacob the blessing of Abraham (Gen. 28:13–14). Jacob responded that the place was “none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17). The “ladder” or “flight of steps” Jacob saw may have been an ancient Near Eastern ziggurat, a point of connection between earth and heaven. Jesus puts himself in the place of that temple-like object. The reference to the Word “tabernacling” in John 1:14 is now joined by this indication in verse 51 that Jesus, the Son of Man, will be the point of connection between earth and heaven. Thus verses 14 and 51 both contribute to the theme in John’s Gospel that Jesus is the replacement of the temple. Moreover, the Genesis passage addresses the blessing of Abraham, a blessing that will be realized in and through Jesus.

In addition to the obvious connections to Genesis 28, the idea of “heaven opened” and the reference to the “Son of Man” in John 1:51 call to mind the vision in Daniel 7, where the Ancient of Days is enthroned (Dan. 7:9–10) and the “one like a son of man” receives everlasting dominion (Dan. 7:13–14).⁵ Thus, in John 1:51, Jesus suggests to Nathanael that he will be the point of connection between heaven and earth, that through him the blessing of Abraham, passed down to Isaac and Jacob, will be realized, and that he himself is the Son of Man who will exercise everlasting dominion.

John 1 is a bountiful bonanza of titles for Jesus: the Word, Life, Light, Lamb of God, Anointed of the Spirit, Rabbi/Teacher, Messiah/Christ, one of whom the Law and Prophets spoke, Son of God, King of Israel, Son of Man. John has exalted Jesus as the one who will fulfill the promises of the OT. He has presented the Baptist as the one preparing the way for Jesus. He has shown disciples coming to Jesus as their teacher, that they might abide with him. He has shown Jesus giving a new identity to Peter. He has shown Jesus behaving in unexpected ways. He has presented Jesus as God, with supernatural knowledge of people and the ability to see them, such that any questions they have are answered.