Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
“This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ “
John tells us that Jesus is a man who comes after John the Baptist but was also before John the Baptist. In fact, John reports John the Baptist as pointing out Jesus surpasses him because he was before him.
Q: What aspect of Jesus surpasses John the Baptist and how does that relate to Jesus coming before John the Baptist?
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
In this verse John the Baptist heralds Jesus as the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” He could have announced Jesus as God, King, or Creator, but instead he emphasizes that Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Q: Why did John compare Jesus to a lamb and how is that related to taking away the sins of the world?
“Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”
John is asked about why he baptizes. He has said what he is not Elijah, but Jesus would later say that he was in fact Elijah (Matthew 17:12). John clearly was his own person, as he attested to. Yet somehow he also represented Elijah.
Q: What was it about John that also fulfilled the requirement of being Elijah?
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
John the Baptist represented a unique event in human history. He was literally a herald of the new king. Those who sent the messengers to inquire of John were asking John to tell them plainly who he was. John’s response shows that he understood people have to make up their own minds about him.
Q: If you were able to ask John the Baptist one question, what would you ask?
“They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?’
He said, “I am not.’
“Are you the Prophet?’
He answered, “No.'”
Malachi 4:5 says, ““See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.” In Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses says: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.”
Q: If John had answered, “Yes,” to the question, “Are you Elijah?” or “Are you the Prophet?”, what would the Jewish leaders have expected of him?
“Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Messiah.'”
Part of John the Baptist’s unique character is his awareness of his own mission. He waited in the wilderness until God told him it was time to start preaching. When he did preach, he was very clear about what he was saying, and who he represented. He was also very clear about who he was not.
Q: Why did the Jewish leaders think to ask John if he was the Messiah?
“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
Think about the problem facing John as he writes these words. He is telling us about a man he knows personally, whom he came to believe is much more than a man. He knows what he believes is true, because he saw the man brutally crucified and then run through with a spear. Later, he saw the same man alive again.
Q: If you were in John’s place how would you describe the relationship between Jesus and God?
“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John has laid the groundwork for his gospel in broad strokes, explaining the battle between good and evil (light and dark) and the mission that brought Jesus to be with us on earth. At this point in his gospel he starts to give us more specifics.
Q: What do you think John mean when he writes, “…we have all received grace in place of grace already given…?”
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)
Adding to his own testimony about Jesus, John records the testimony of John the Baptist as he tells us who Jesus is.
Q: Explain what John the Baptist means by saying, “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.”
Reading over John’s first words again, he concludes with, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son…”
Q: How does John attesting to what he has seen personally affect your understanding of his words?