John 1:19-51
John 1:19-51
John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ
19Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ.[g]"
21They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"
He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?"
He answered, "No."
22Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "[h]
24Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."
28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
[i]Jesus the Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."
32Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."
Jesus' First Disciples
35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter[j]).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael 43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."
44Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
48"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
50Jesus said, "You believe[k] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51He then added, "I tell you[l] the truth, you[m] shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
In reading other scripture from my Bible that is referenced with this passage of scripture, I think it's important to note a few things.
The Jews were under oppression from Roman rule and had been looking for the Messiah to save them from this ruler. They knew that there were certain things to happen before the promised Savior would come. That is why the priests and the Levites came to ask John who he was. John denies being the Christ, he denies being Elijah (Malachi 4:5) he denies being the promised Prophet (Deut 18:15). He then tells them who he is from the words of the prophet (Isaiah 40:3).
The next part about baptism I had to research as well, because I had questions. What I found was that baptism or washing could only be performed or authorized by prophets or other authorities (washing references) and was a rite of Gentile entrance into Judaism (Elisha had Naaman wash in the river Jordan--2 Kings 5), but Jesus would pour out a baptism of the Spirit (Isaiah 44:3).
Jesus had to be baptised because it was foretold in Isaiah 42:1.
The rest of the passage 35-51 is a record of Jesus gathering His disciples, those who seem to have been waiting and praying for Him to come.
most of the washing references that I actually read were washing of hands and feet before they entered the temple. They were standing (feet) on Holy ground and were to slay (done with hands) the sacrifice for a burnt offering.
After a little further study about washing of feet (not only scripture but also looking up "Jewish tradition 'washing feet'"), it is described as the most lowliest of things for Jews to wash someone else's feet. Usually a servant would do this job. Jews would wash (or have their feet washed) because they were worried about the possibility of having picked up disease, such as leprecy.
I looked a little further and found before Aaron could enter the inner holy of holies he had to wash his feet and hands or he would die (Ex 30:18-21).
washing hands shows reference to innocency not only in the OT (Psalm 73:13) but also in the NT when Pilot washed his hands to show that he was innocent of Jesus fate to the cross (Mat 27:14).
I think when it gets down to the basics of washing of the hands and feet it is twofold. First it is to show innocence or a cleansing of the heart to be able to approach God (see above reference). We are washed in the blood of the lamb, thus we will be able to live with God for an eternity. Second, washing the feet of someone was a sign of great respect in the Jewish culture. Usually the lowliest of the low were relegated to do this task--willingly or unwillingly. However, there are quite a few instances of feet washing. The most significant IMO, is of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples shortly before his death (John 13).
John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ
19Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ.[g]"
21They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"
He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?"
He answered, "No."
22Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "[h]
24Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."
28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
[i]Jesus the Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."
32Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."
Jesus' First Disciples
35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter[j]).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael 43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."
44Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
48"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
50Jesus said, "You believe[k] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51He then added, "I tell you[l] the truth, you[m] shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
In reading other scripture from my Bible that is referenced with this passage of scripture, I think it's important to note a few things.
The Jews were under oppression from Roman rule and had been looking for the Messiah to save them from this ruler. They knew that there were certain things to happen before the promised Savior would come. That is why the priests and the Levites came to ask John who he was. John denies being the Christ, he denies being Elijah (Malachi 4:5) he denies being the promised Prophet (Deut 18:15). He then tells them who he is from the words of the prophet (Isaiah 40:3).
The next part about baptism I had to research as well, because I had questions. What I found was that baptism or washing could only be performed or authorized by prophets or other authorities (washing references) and was a rite of Gentile entrance into Judaism (Elisha had Naaman wash in the river Jordan--2 Kings 5), but Jesus would pour out a baptism of the Spirit (Isaiah 44:3).
Jesus had to be baptised because it was foretold in Isaiah 42:1.
The rest of the passage 35-51 is a record of Jesus gathering His disciples, those who seem to have been waiting and praying for Him to come.
most of the washing references that I actually read were washing of hands and feet before they entered the temple. They were standing (feet) on Holy ground and were to slay (done with hands) the sacrifice for a burnt offering.
After a little further study about washing of feet (not only scripture but also looking up "Jewish tradition 'washing feet'"), it is described as the most lowliest of things for Jews to wash someone else's feet. Usually a servant would do this job. Jews would wash (or have their feet washed) because they were worried about the possibility of having picked up disease, such as leprecy.
I looked a little further and found before Aaron could enter the inner holy of holies he had to wash his feet and hands or he would die (Ex 30:18-21).
washing hands shows reference to innocency not only in the OT (Psalm 73:13) but also in the NT when Pilot washed his hands to show that he was innocent of Jesus fate to the cross (Mat 27:14).
I think when it gets down to the basics of washing of the hands and feet it is twofold. First it is to show innocence or a cleansing of the heart to be able to approach God (see above reference). We are washed in the blood of the lamb, thus we will be able to live with God for an eternity. Second, washing the feet of someone was a sign of great respect in the Jewish culture. Usually the lowliest of the low were relegated to do this task--willingly or unwillingly. However, there are quite a few instances of feet washing. The most significant IMO, is of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples shortly before his death (John 13).
posted by Marilyn at 2:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home