Source: http://blog.biblesoft.com/blog/2019/02/10/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 02:20:02+00:00

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The note today will explore the theme of John the Baptist’s relationship to Jesus, as developed in the Fourth Gospel. Yesterday’s note did the same for the Gospel of Luke. The way this theme is handled in the Gospel of John is extremely complex, and shows a highly advanced mode of adapting traditional material. This, indeed, is quite typical of the Fourth Gospel, where, as I have argued in detail elsewhere, sayings and teachings of Jesus have been shaped into highly precise (and complex) dialogue forms which evince a layer of interpretation added to the historical traditions. Much of this style and method of interpretation can be seen clearly in the ‘Prologue’ of the Gospel (1:1-18), where we begin.
As I have already mentioned in an earlier note, this is a very different description of John’s role and purpose in ministry than we see in the Synoptic Gospels, where the emphasis is on preaching to bring people to repentance and the forgiveness of sin by God, in preparation for the coming Judgment. It is also more directly related to the person of Jesus, and to Jesus’ identity as the Son of God (cf. below).
The importance of the words in italics, which certainly express powerfully the relationship between John and Jesus, is seen by the fact that it is stated again (almost verbatim) in the narrative which follows (v. 30).
To this may be added the confrontation involving the religious leaders (Pharisees, etc, vv. 19, 24), which is attested in Matthew (3:7). More significant is the setting regarding John’s possible identity as the Messiah (vv. 20ff), which is also found in Luke 3:15, and likewise precedes the sayings corresponding to Mk 1:7-8.
V. 29—John’s declaration upon seeing Jesus coming toward him: “See! the Lamb of God: the (one) taking (up) the sin of the world!” Unlike in the Synoptic tradition, here Jesus is not coming toward John (cf. Matt 3:13) in order to be baptized; the baptism presumably had already taken place some time before. The significance of Jesus’ coming (e)rxo/menon) is found in the saying/statement which follows in v. 30. This witness to Jesus as the one taking up/away sin replaces the Synoptic emphasis regarding the purpose of John’s baptizing (i.e., for the release/forgiveness of sins).
V. 30—the important saying, repeated from v. 15, is related in some way to the traditional saying which corresponds to Mark 1:7 par, marked by basic formula, using the verb e&rxomai (“come”) and the preposition o)pi/sw (“in back of, behind”). It was dealt with in detail as part of an earlier study, and will be discussed again in upcoming notes.
V. 31—John’s admission that he had not seen Jesus (that is, did not recognize who he truly was) prior to the Baptism. It is possible that this draws upon a tradition that John did not know Jesus at all before his baptism, but that is not what the Gospel is emphasizing.
This same verse records John stating the purpose for his baptizing ministry, as given to him by God—that this “one (who is) coming” should be revealed to Israel.
Vv. 32-33 have John narrating the Baptism scene, more or less as it is depicted in the Synoptic tradition. Verse 33 is unique in its repetition of the themes from v. 31. John witnessed the visual/visionary descent of the Spirit upon Jesus at his baptism, and thus knew (only then) that Jesus was the “one coming”. John states here that his entire baptizing ministry was for this one purpose—to see/know who this person was, and to make his identity known to the world.
V. 34—Here John essentially takes the place of the voice from heaven in the Synoptic tradition, by declaring that Jesus (“this [man]”) is the Son of God (some MSS read “Elect/Chosen One of God”).
This episode begins just as the prior one did, with John seeing Jesus and declaring “See! the Lamb of God!” (v. 36). Only here his witness is not to people at large, but specifically to his own disciples, who hear him utter the statement. Two of these men (including Andrew, of the traditional Twelve), decide to follow Jesus. This detail establishes the important information, otherwise unattested in the Gospels, that at least two of Jesus’ followers had previously been disciples of John the Baptist. That they leave John to follow Jesus is an implicit affirmation of the latter’s superior status. This same motif appears in 3:22-23ff (cf. below). What is especially significant, in the context of the Johannine narrative, is that the men follow Jesus on the basis of the Baptist’s witness. This process continues as the disciples proceed to witness to others regarding Jesus’ identity (vv. 41, 45). Indeed, John serves as a type or figure for the purpose of the Fourth Gospel itself, as stated in 20:31.
That declaration has the ring of authenticity about it, and generally corresponds with the thought expressed in the better-established traditional sayings of Mark 1:7-8 par.

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