John 1:43-51

We have three disciples so far. One is unnamed and the other two are Andrew (v. 40) and Peter (vv. 41-42). The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. Presumably, it is the day after John’s disciples followed Jesus. ESV supplies the subject Jesus to this but the text does not indicate who the subject of “decided” is (ἠθέλησεν). It could be Andrew who brought Peter to Jesus (v. 42) and “everyone else who comes to Jesus in this chapter does so because of someone else’s witness” (Carson). He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” The text says, Jesus found Philip. Jesus issues a call, Follow me. “The verb “Follow” will be used here in its full sense of “follow as a disciple.” The present tense has continuous force, “keep on following.””[1] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Mark 1:21, 29 indicate that Peter’s house was in Capernaum but it appears from this text that Peter and Andrew were reared in Bethsaida (remember, Jesus was from Nazareth but early on, his ministry was in Capernaum, Mt. 4:13).

From Philip, we turn to Nathanael. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” A new disciple zealously finds another soul and bears witness about Christ. This is the natural rhythm of the church and it usually only happens with true disciples of Christ. Philip now finds someone else who is called Nathaniel which means “God gives.”

In v. 41, Jesus was called the Messiah (says Andrew) and now Philip says, We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. The first part speaks of the prophetic words and the latter about the historical fulfillment. “That is the stance of this entire Gospel: Jesus fulfils the Old Testament Scriptures (cf. 5:39).”[2] This was the common expectation of the Jewish people. The “Law…the prophets” is perhaps another way of referring to the entire OT. Philip probably had Deut. 18:15-19 in mind and there would have been numerous other references from the rest of the OT regarding the Messiah. Edersheim noted that the Rabbis believed over 450 verses referred to the Messiah. Furthermore, “When Philip speaks of Jesus as “the son of Joseph” we should not take the words as a denial of the Virgin Birth. Joseph was the legal father of Jesus, and the Lord would accordingly be known as Joseph’s son.” (Morris)

Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  Nazareth was an insignificant place and no prophecies foretold that the Messiah would come from taht city. Here, Nathanael was not willing to accept Philip’s word so Philip says, Come and see. J. C. Ryle draws some edifying conclusions from Philip’s response

Wiser counsel than this it would be impossible to conceive! If Philip had reproved Nathanael’s unbelief, he might have driven him back for many a day, and given offence. If he had reasoned with him, he might have failed to convince him, or might have confirmed him in his doubts. But by inviting him to prove the matter for himself, he showed his entire confidence in the truth of his own assertion, and his willingness to have it tested and proved. And the result shows the wisdom of Philip’s words. Nathanael owed his early acquaintance with Christ to that frank invitation, “Come and see.”

If we call ourselves true Christians, let us never be afraid to deal with people about their souls as Philip dealt with Nathanael. Let us invite them boldly to make proof of our religion. Let us tell them confidently that they cannot know its real value until they have tried it. Let us assure them that vital Christianity courts every possible inquiry. It has no secrets. It has nothing to conceal. Its faith and practice are spoken against, just because they are not known. Its enemies speak evil of things with which they are not acquainted. They understand neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. Philip’s mode of dealing, we may be sure, is one principal way to do good. Few are ever moved by reasoning and argument. Still fewer are frightened into repentance. The man who does most good to souls, is often the simple believer who says to his friends, “I have found a Savior; come and see Him.” (Ryle)

This is one of those remarkable verses. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”  Palestinian Jews referred to one another as an “Israelite” and Jesus says he is a true (ἀληθῶς) Israelite (ESV has “Israelite indeed”). Why? We learn the reason for this declaration: in whom there is no deceit. Jacob means deceit; Nathanael is not like that. “Jesus’ knowledge of the true nature of Nathanael was supernatural. In 2:25 the evangelist says of Jesus, ‘He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.’”[3]

Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” We might have expected some self-deprecation but notice Nathanael’s words: How do you know me? “A more guileful man would have “modestly” asserted his unworthiness.” (Morris) Jesus’ answer seems to suggest that he knows more about Nathanael than merely his character; Jesus knew what Nathanael was doing before Philip called him.

Christ’s knowledge of Nathanael affects him deeply. Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”  He sees immediately that this person is a teacher (Rabbi), God’s Son (Son of God), a King (King of Israel). He was already referred to as Rabbi in v. 28 and as the Son of God in v. 34. A revelation of Jesus unfolds from this title; he is the King of Israel. This title is used in Jn. 12:13 and in Mt. 27:42 & Mk. 15:32. What are the implications? “In the Old Testament God is the King of his people, and it is clear that in the intervening period the Messiah came to be thought of as exercising the divine prerogative of rule. Nathanael is speaking in the highest terms available to him.” (Morris) Carson’s observation is just as important.

The title King of Israel was used by Palestinian Jews for the Messiah; it is again applied to Jesus in 12:13. In John 18-19 the similar ‘King of the Jews’ occurs several times. Jesus did not quickly adopt either title for himself, as both expressions were in the popular mind largely tied to expectations of a political liberator. Yet Jesus was the promised King, even if he would have to explain that his kingdom was not of this world (18:36).[4]

So often modern believers accept Jesus as Savior. A true knowledge of Him entails the firm recognition and confession of Jesus as King. One who follows Jesus must also recognize that he follows the King of Kings (Rev. 17:14; 19:16). Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” Nathanael’s faith is based upon Christ’s miraculous supernatural knowledge and “such a foundation can be insecure (4:48; 14:11; cf. Mt. 7:21-23), though certainly better than nothing (10:25, 38).” (Carson). Jesus promises him that he will see greater things than these. He will see many miracles (presumably all the signs). Future disciples would witness far more than what he saw that day. He will in fact see a vision far surpassing the patriarch Israel: 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.”

The phrase “Truly, truly…” is first used here in John. Though addressing Nathanael, he is promising all disciples who were to follow him in his ministry (2^nd person plural, “you all will see”). The imagery goes back to Gen. 28:12. “What the disciples are promised, then, is heaven-sent confirmation that the one they have acknowledged as the Messiah has been appointed by God. Every Jew honoured Jacob/Israel, the father of the twelve tribes; now everyone must recognize that this same God has appointed Jesus as his Messiah.”[5]

What this means is that Jesus is the New Israel; God reveals Himself through Jesus. “Jesus himself is the link between heaven and earth (3:13). He is the means by which the realities of heaven are brought down to earth, and Nathanael will see this for himself. The expression then is a figurative way of saying that Jesus will reveal heavenly things, a thought that is developed throughout this Gospel.”[6] The point is that Jesus is focusing on himself as the final and full revelation of God. It is on the Son of Man heaven opens. Knowledge of and relationship with God are now permanently connected with and riveted on Jesus the Son of Man, the Son of God, the King of Israel.

When Jesus, alluding to this incident, said to his disciples, ‘you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’, he was implying that the place where people encounter God was now in the person of his Son, Jesus, and that it was through him that God was now revealing his truth. The greater things people were to see, then, would be the revelation of God in the life, ministry, death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus.[7]

John 1:35-42

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”  Once again, John confesses who Christ is. He identified Jesus as the Lamb of God the day before and now declares the same here. In the previous confession, we are not told who the audience was but in v. 35, we learn that the second confession was before two of his disciples. In turn, we learn that the two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. One commentator put it like this:

Not all of John’s disciples followed Jesus (3:25–27; Acts 19:1–7), but these two did. Many people in John’s situation would have been disappointed to see their followers going after someone else, but not John. When asked about it later, he said that a person can only receive what is given from heaven, and reminded his hearers that he had already testified that ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him,’ and explained that seeing people follow Jesus actually completed his own joy (3:28–30).[1]

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” These are the first two words of Jesus in the Gospel of John: “the Logos-Messiah confronts those who make any show of beginning to follow him and demands that they articulate what they really want in life.”[2] He will have his disciples identify themselves and their purpose. Is this not a question we must ask of church members? Why do they come? What are they seeking? Are they seeking the Lord to be His disciple or are they here for entertainment or for other carnal purposes? (He asks it again in 18:4, 7; 20:15.)

And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “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. This is probably their way of becoming his disciple; they were not merely asking about his residence. Because they were calling him “Teacher” and knew Jesus was the Lamb of God, this pursuit is more than a passing interest. The tenth hour is around 4PM. They probably remained with him late into the night. Jesus did say, Come and you will see.  Our Lord will accept all who would come to him in sincerity and in truth. It is not that He is unwilling for us to follow Him but rather, do we really want to follow Him?

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. One of the disciples appears to be Andrew and is zealous to evangelize his own brother Peter. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). “He thus became the first in a long line of successors who have discovered that the most common and effective Christian testimony is the private witness of friend to friend, brother to brother.”[3] This is a typical experience of all those who have become Christ’s followers. It is both the natural effects of new life and the necessary response of the disciple. Should we not be zealous to make our Lord known? He did not go through evangelism training and yet we witness his evangelistic zeal!

He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). Jesus’ response is swift and powerful. Jesus renames Peter. “When Peter is brought to him, Jesus assigns a new name as a declaration of what Peter will become. This is not so much a merely predictive utterance as a declaration of what Jesus will make of him.”[4] Everyone is changed when they meet Christ. Even if our names do not change, our nature does and consequently our lives!

John 1:29-34

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him tells us that our Lord came to him after his confession and protestations. His humility toward the coming Messiah now is coupled with further spiritual illumination. These verses suggest that Jesus had already been baptized and John sees Him coming again. He says, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! The phrase Lamb of God is used twice (vv. 29, 36) but the idea of the “lamb” and Christ can be found in Rev. 7:17; 17:14, etc. Of course this goes back to the OT idea of sacrifice (Lev. 14:25; 16:15-22). He is the Lamb whom God (τοῦ θεοῦ) provides (cf. Gen. 22:8) and his death (the shedding of His blood) will take away the sins of the world. The death would be sacrificial, substitutionary, and on account of its nature, propitiatory.

Let us remember this is Christ’s mission; this is why He came. Yes, he gives us light, He instructs, etc. but all those things are useless if He did not die for our sins. Through this atonement, all the other blessings of Christ can become ours.

He adds, This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. John did not and cannot take away the sins of anyone. We see now why Jesus is greater. This is already quoted in v. 15.

Verse 31 indicates that John’s calling to baptize also served as a means of identifying the Lamb of God: I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.  John was to reveal the Messiah and yet, up to this moment, he did not know the identity of the Messiah. Jesus’ coming was to be a blessing to Israel; Jesus’ identity as the Messiah was to be revealed to Israel first. But as we know, his own people did not receive him (v. 11).

Verses 32-34 explain how John came to recognize Jesus. I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. The Spirit’s descent and dwelling fulfill Is. 11:1ff. which says, “the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him…” (cf. Is. 42:1; 61:1; cf. Acts 10:38). As John baptized (drawn from the Synoptics), he saw this fulfilled and this was revealed to him: He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. John saw this and bears witness that this is the Son of God.

The identity of who Jesus is did not even come to John by flesh and blood; it was divinely revealed to him. If the forerunner of the Messiah had to be told and instructed regarding his own Lord, then how much more for all who are lost? John confesses that Jesus is the Son of God. Remember what our Lord said to Peter who said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jonah! For flesh and blood (σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα) has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’” (Mt. 16:16, 17)

The Spirit comes from Jesus Christ as a gift to His church. The Spirit is never severed from Him (Acts 2:33). It is Jesus who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and that baptism is what you and I need. The water baptism means nothing if we do not the baptism of the Spirit. Two important points need to be remembered. One, a person cannot have the Spirit without Christ. If we do not have Christ, we do not have the Holy Spirit. No saving experience of the Spirit is possible without Christ. Two, one should never seek to “experience” the Spirit as if it is a mystical, indefinable, and mysterious encounter. Though we cannot understand everything about the Spirit’s work yet one thing is clear, a genuine “experience” of the Spirit is always consciously Christocentric and Christological (Christ centered and about Christ).

John 1:19-28

Verses 19-28 explain who John is. In fact, verse 19 says, And this is the testimony of John. The Jews (an expression used 68 times in John and often referred to those opposed to Christ) asked “Who are you?” and John emphatically stated that he is not the Christ (“I am not the Christ.”). John will not make any messianic claim for himself.  But John’s denial is considered a confession as v. 20 states, He confessed [ὡμολόγησεν], and did not deny, but confessed [ὡμολόγησεν].

When asked, “Are you Elijah?” John says “I am not.” [Οὐκ εἰμί] Elijah was expected as Mal. 4:5 indicated; remember, he never died (1K. 2:11). John’s clothing (Mk. 1:6) strongly suggested a link to Elijah (1K. 1:8) but he denies that he is.  Though Jesus claimed that John in fact came as Elijah (Mk. 9:13), John was not willing to claim that for himself.[1] The question, “Are you the prophet?” suggests they were asking John if he was THE prophet spoken of in Deut. 18:15, 18 (cf. Jn. 6:14; 7:37). To this question, John says No. Jesus is that prophet (cf. Acts 3:22; 7:37) but John is merely a prophet (Mt. 11:11-14; Jn. 10:40-41).

The frustrated “members of the deputation” need to know who John was. We need to give an answer to those who sent us indicates John was someone significant. So John quotes Isaiah 40:3,  “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” The Jews returning from Babylon to Jerusalem were to spiritually change in their return. John on the other hand is calling the Jews to prepare for the coming Messiah.

“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet? That is, John had to have a theological reason for why he was baptizing?

Baptism was not unknown among the Jews. It was self-administered by Gentiles who became Jewish proselytes (and by members of the Qumran sect for ritual cleansing). But John himself was administering the baptism and those he baptized were already Jews.[2]

The Pharisees could see why the Gentiles need baptism and why someone like the Messiah might baptize but John is neither the Christ nor baptizing Gentiles. This did not make sense. But John’s answer is important. His baptism is only with water, I baptize with water. Why this point? “This should not be taken as indicating that he does not regard his baptism as important. He does. He does not depreciate it. But his baptism is not an end in itself. Its purpose is to point people to Christ (v. 31).”[3] This is a point we must never forget about baptism. John’s baptism as well as anyone’s baptism after are never an end in themselves — they must point to Christ!

John says, 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. This means that his baptism compared to what is coming after is really nothing — a far more significant “baptism” will come (“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Mt. 3:11). Let us also observe John’s humility before the Lord. He has not even met him yet and we see his understanding and humility before the coming Messiah. Ryle’s comments are instructive and necessary:

Yet here in this passage we see this eminent saint lowly, self-abased, and full of humility. He puts away from himself the honor which the Jews from Jerusalem were ready to pay him. He declines all flattering titles. He speaks of himself as nothing more than the “voice of one crying in the wilderness,” and as one who “baptized with water.” He proclaims loudly that there is One standing among the Jews far greater than himself, One whose shoe-latchet he is not worthy to unloose. He claims honor not for himself but for Christ. To exalt Christ was his mission, and to that mission he steadfastly adheres.

The greatest saints of God in every age of the Church have always been men of John the Baptist’s spirit. In gifts, and knowledge, and general character they have often differed widely. But in one respect they have always been alike–they have been “clothed with humility.” (1 Pet. 5:5.) They have not sought their own honor. They have thought little of themselves. They have been ever willing to decrease if Christ might only increase, to be nothing if Christ might be all. And here has been the secret of the honor God has put upon them. “He that humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:11.)

If we profess to have any real Christianity, let us strive to be of John the Baptist’s spirit. Let us study HUMILITY. This is the grace with which all must begin, who would be saved. We have no true religion about us, until we cast away our high thoughts, and feel ourselves sinners. This is the grace which all saints may follow after, and which none have any excuse for neglecting. All God’s children have not gifts, or money, or time to work, or a wide sphere of usefulness; but all may be humble. This is the grace, above all, which will appear most beautiful in our latter end. Never shall we feel the need of humility so deeply, as when we lie on our deathbeds, and stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. Our whole lives will then appear a long catalogue of imperfections, ourselves nothing, and Christ all.