All About John (First Essay): John 1:29-42

"The next day he 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 Son of God.” 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 translate Peter)."

I. Introduction

I begin with a paradox. We are in the season of Epiphany, that time in the Church year when we celebrate the "manifestation" of Christ to the world, first as a baby and then at his baptism. Epiphany is, in three words, "all about Christ." But as I read and re-read the passage for the morning what struck me above all else was that the really interesting person in it was John the Baptist. We have much more insight into his mind and commitment in this passage than in any other NT passage. Thus, in the Gospel of John, the story of Jesus' baptism is really "all about John." Before John then "decreases" (cf. John 3:30), let's let him "increase." In so doing we will gain some crucial lessons about faith for ourselves in this Epiphany season.

In particular, the three points I would like to make about John's faith are: (1) his spiritual awareness; (2) his confession; and (3) his humility in directing others, even his own disciples, to Christ.

II. John's Spiritual Awareness

John had been baptizing for a while, defending his ministry by reference to Isaiah 40--that he was not the Messiah but was only the voice of one crying in the wilderness to make straight the way of the Lord. In the passage for the morning Jesus appears, with the Spirit descending on him like a dove. What is remarkable to me, however, is that this passage never actually says that John baptized Jesus. For all we know, Jesus is simply walking around when the Spirit "descends." Perhaps the author of the Fourth Gospel is aware of the objection voiced in Matthew's Gospel by John regarding baptizing Jesus (Matt. 3:14), and wants to avoid the potential theological problems attending on John's baptizing Jesus (i.e., John's baptism is for forgiveness of sins; Jesus is sinless; why is Jesus baptized?). Theological problems aside, however, this passage gives us a powerful window into John's spiritual awareness. Of what is John aware?

He is aware, first, of his own call. Our ability to be useful in this life, or even satisfied with the course of our life, relates to a prior awareness of our call to serve God. John states this awareness in v. 31. Literally, it says:

"And I didn't know him, but in order that he might be manifest to Israel--on account of this I have come baptizing in water."

John's call was to baptize people in water in order to manifest the Christ to Israel. He doesn't say how it will happen--he just knows that his task is to baptize people. Can you express the nature of your call in similarly succinct language? For all his eating locusts and wild honey and coming across with hard sayings, he knows what his basic purpose in life is--to baptize people. His baptism is for the "forgiveness of sins," and it is understood to be a kind of preparatory ministry for that of Jesus, but he knows very clearly what he is called to do. Joy as well as peace comes to those who have a clarity about their call, and who are living each day in a way that "fleshes out" their call.

Then, John is also aware of the Spirit. If awareness of call is past-directed, then awareness of Spirit is present-oriented. To know your call means that you think of the way that your activity today is in line with a sense of call you received in your past. However, it isn't sufficient just to have the call, as if it is a membership card to get you into exclusive clubs. You must have a living awareness of the Spirit today. Call might be the identity card that gets you some places, but Spirit is the force which activates the card. John is worthy of imitation because he was aware of the movements of the Spirit in his life. As the text says:

"And John bore witness saying that, 'I saw the spirit descending as a dove from heaven and resting on him,'" 1:32.

We don't know if anyone else saw the Spirit in this form, but John did. His call made him more spiritually aware, more ready to see the fruit of his call realized in his life. As if to emphasize the supernatural dimension of this awareness, John continues:

"I myself didn't know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water, yes that one said to me, 'The one on whom you see the spriit descending and resting, this one is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit,'" 1:33.

John admits that he didn't know Jesus previously. This scene by the Jordan was not "scripted" by the ancient equivalent of a Hollywood producer. It was revealed to John.

Third, John's spiritual awareness was shown in his recognition of Jesus. He says, briefly, "I have seen" (v. 34). He knows with his own eyes that he saw the Spirit descending in the form of a dove and that this was a sign of the divine approbation of Jesus. Thus, he was aware of himself, the Spirit, and Christ.

I think that it is possible to live a life of what you might call "hyper-spiritual awareness." John's experience, though unique to him, is a lesson for those of us who would like to make enhanced spiritual awareness a part of our daily routine. In another essay I refer to my own awareness as having "high-definition senses." The point is that we can come to a place in life where our learning is augmented, our mind is sharpened, our instincts are very sound and our desire is mammoth--with the result that we live on a somewhat different plane of existence than we used to live. In that essay I called it "high-definition learning," and I would like to apply it today to our spiritual potential. In this passage John the Baptist demonstrates a "high-definition spiritual awareness." Such an awareness, friends, is there and not simply for John. It is there for those who have a clear sense of call, a desire to see the Spirit manifest in life, and an awareness of the presence of the Christ in our midst. Thus, even though this story is supposedly about Jesus, since we are in the season of Epiphany, it really probes the nature of John's spiritual awareness. My point is that John's awareness is not unique to him--you, indeed, may be a person who is ready for "high-definition" spiritual awareness.

I still have two points to go--in the next essay.

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