Pointing to the Light

As we continue reading in John chapter 1, John continues to point to Jesus as the light and invites his listeners to believe Jesus is truly the Son of God.

Read John 1:19-21

• Priests and Levites came from Jerusalem to question John.
• At the end of this passage, we learn John was at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan (vs. 28).
• John confessed he was not the Anointed One.
• To confess is to “acknowledge openly” or “profess.”
• John didn’t try to be someone he wasn’t. He didn’t pretend to be the Messiah.
• He fulfilled his God-given purpose: to point people to the Messiah, not lead them astray.
• Referencing a prophecy about Elijah, they asked John if he was Elijah, since the prophet didn’t die an observable death.
• Luke recorded the angel of the Lord’s prophecy concerning John (the baptizer),

“And he will go before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).

• The priests and Levites asked John if he was “the Prophet.”

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15).

• Again, John denied it, because the Prophet [that] Moses described is Jesus.¹
• John made it clear he was only a “messenger of God, not a reincarnation of Elijah or any other prophet.”²

How did Moses’s ministry foreshadow Jesus?

How can we point people to Jesus and not lead them astray?

Read John 1:22-28.

• The priests and Levites finally asked John to clearly identify himself so they would have an answer to take back to the Jews in Jerusalem.
• John identified himself as the one Isaiah prophesied about. He was

“A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God’” (Isaiah 40:3).

• Pharisees also questioned John about his ministry.
• Why was he baptizing people?
• Paul later explained that John baptized with water so people could demonstrate their repentance.

“‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus’” (Acts 19:4).

• The Light has to illuminate and penetrate our darkness before we realize we need forgiveness.
• John compared his ministry to that of the Messiah’s to come.
• Jesus would be so much greater than John, he was unworthy to even untie his Savior’s sandals.

How did John’s ministry prepare the way for Jesus?

How did John’s baptism for repentance point people to Jesus?

How does Jesus’ Light penetrate our darkness to show us our need for forgiveness?

Read John 1:29-34.

• The next day, John publicly identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, the One who came to take away our sin.

“… he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

• John clearly stated Jesus was greater than him.
• In this scene, John proclaimed Jesus’ eternal nature, as John the disciple recorded earlier in chapter 1 (vs.15), and Paul proclaimed in his writing.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. … He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:15, 17-18).

• John the baptizer said, “the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17).

• In these verses, the same word is used whether referring to John baptizing with water or Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit. The word means to “immerse” or “submerge,” “in token of purification from sin.”³
• We must confess sin and repent, or turn away from sin, to receive purification from sin.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

• Eitan Bar defined worship as “humble submission and immersive communion,”⁴ which sheds new light on what it means to be “baptize(d) with the Holy Spirit.”
• John’s ministry would reveal who Jesus is and make him known.⁵ As this was John’s purpose, so it is now our purpose: to make Jesus known and to give him glory.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

• Next John stated his testimony about Jesus: this is what he heard and saw as a witness.
• The Spirit came down from heaven and rested on Jesus.
• The Lord told John this would happen to identify Jesus as the One who would baptize forgiven His followers with the Holy Spirit.
• John proclaimed aloud Jesus is the Son of God.
• John recognized Jesus as the Light and he believed.

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:8-9).

We haven’t finished reading chapter 1, and already the Light shines bright, illuminating our darkness that we might Believe the truth about Jesus.

How would you paraphrase the concept that confession and repentance lead to purification from sin?

What does the definition of worship as “humble submission and immersive communion” mean to you?

How can we reveal Jesus and make him known to others?

 

1. David Schrock, “How Is Jesus a Prophet Like Moses?” The Gospel Coalition. June 13, 2020. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/jesus-prophet-moses/.
2. Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament (AMG Publishers, 1992), 301.
3. Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, 309-310.
4. Dr. Eitan Bar, “Hebrew Word Study: Worship (Shachah),” https://eitan.bar/articles/hebrew-word-study-worship-shachah/
5. Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, 1435.