Lesson for March 2, 2025
The Book of John
Lesson 5
John 1:29-51
Verse 29
“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John the Baptist began to preach when he was about 30 years old, which was six months older than Jesus. (Luke 1:24-31) Most theologians believe John the Baptist baptized Jesus when He was 30 years old, which began Jesus’ earthly ministry. This would mean that John the Baptist began preaching about six months before he baptized Jesus. However, there is not definitive evidence in Scripture to confirm this.
The Gospel of John is the Gospel of the Son of God with emphasis on the deity of Christ. John does not give the details of Jesus’ baptism. Details of the baptism of Jesus are given in the books of Mathew, Mark, and Luke. When Jesus went into the water, He was verifying that He was there to do the will of God the Father. The water represented the Father’s plan for Christ. Jesus was identifying with the Father’s plan of going to the Cross and paying the penalty for the sin of the world.
Verses 30-31
“This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘After me is coming a Man who has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’ And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water.’”
After me is coming a Man who has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me. This phrase emphasized the deity of Christ, God in the flesh, Emmanual – God with us. Two facts are given by John the Baptist: 1) Jesus, as deity, was superior to John 2) Jesus had always existed as God.
And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water. John’s baptism was for those who believed in the coming Messiah as their Savior. The way John the Baptist recognized the Messiah was when Jesus presented Himself for baptism and a voice from Heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
Verses 32-34
“And John testified, saying, ‘I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of Heaven, and He remained upon Him.’ And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon Whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One Who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
John was a witness to the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus, which confirmed that this Jesus was the Messiah. Therefore, water baptism was used to identify Jesus with the salvation plan of God the Father. Jesus would begin His earthly ministry from this point forward.
Jesus made it very clear that He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell believers after He ascended to Heaven. John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.”
He upon Whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One Who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. Ten days after Christ’s ascension, the Holy Spirit descended on believers gathered in Jerusalem. (Acts 2) The Holy Spirit descended on them just as the Holy Spirit descended on Christ at the Jordan River at His baptism. And on the Day of Pentecost, Jesus gathered a group of believers in an upper room and instructed them to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit Who would enter them into union with Christ. Acts 1:5, “Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, ‘Which,’ He said, ‘you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God. Now John, the writer of this book, reinforced the fact that Jesus was exactly Who He claimed to be, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. John saw and experienced the uniqueness of Christ for some three years and is a credible witness to the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh. We was convinced that the eternal Son of God had come in the Person of Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world.
Verses 35-39
“Again, the next day John (the Baptist) was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ They said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which translated 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; it was about the tenth hour.”
We see in this story that John the Baptist had no problem with “his disciples” leaving him and following Jesus. After all, the very purpose of his evangelism was to introduce people to Christ. So, we have three of the twelve disciples of Christ in these verses. First is Andrew (Peter’s brother), second is John (the writer of this book), and third is Peter (Andrew’s brother).
‘What are you seeking?’ They said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which translated 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; it was about the tenth hour.” There was a distinct change in how Andrew and John address Jesus in the future from how they addressed Him at this first encounter – rabbi/teacher. Knowing it was the tenth hour confirms that John (who was writing this) was the second disciple that Jesus called to follow Him. And he never forgot that day. John always used Roman time, so this was 10am.
Verses 40-42
“One of the two who heard John (the Baptist) speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter). Peter is one of the greatest stories and manifestations of grace in the New Testament. Peter learned everything the hard way (live and learn). He was “rough around edges,” which he demonstrated on many occasions. But we can learn a great deal from him regarding the patience of God. Peter learned the hard way, but he learned! And he became a great man of God and wrote the books of I and II Peter and perhaps the Gospel of Mark.
Verses 43-46
“The next day He decided to go to Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good be from Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’”
Philip and Nathanael are the fourth and fifth disciples Jesus called to follow Him. Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good be from Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Initially, Nathanael had some doubts about Jesus being the Messiah. We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote. Apparently, Nathanael knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. But because Philip said, ‘Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth! Therefore, Nathanael questioned if Jesus could truly be the Messiah.
Verses 47-51
“Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ 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.’
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!’ In other words, here is an honest person. Nathanael’s confession that Jesus was the Son of God gives us great insight to his spiritual awareness. Though he called Jesus Rabbi, he also recognized immediately that He was the Messiah.
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.’ Jesus assured Nathanael that he would see greater miracles performed during Jesus’ time on earth. “You” is plural in Greek, meaning Jesus was referring to all of His followers. Jesus cited the story of Jacob from the Old Testament in Gensis 28, to illustrate how His disciples would see great and wonderous things from Jesus in the future!!!