John, chapter 1 part 2

Unlike the other gospels, John does not have a record of Jesus as a child. We saw yesterday that John the Baptist and the author John concentrated on pointing out Jesus’ divinity. We had yet to see Jesus make His entrance in this gospel, so to speak. We see that entrance in today’s passage, and the author of this Gospel does not spare any expense in introducing him.

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." – John 1:29-31

There is something to be said for a great introduction. Some memorable ones include, “A 6’6” shooting guard from North Carolina, number 23, Michael Jordan!” It is simple, but the way it is said pays great homage tot eh greatest basketball player of all time. This introduction is not simple. John wastes few words in describing Jesus and why He was there. John the Baptist was a pretty popular man at the time, but he never pretended that he was above Christ.

While we have seen other gospels that talk about Jesus’ humanity, this gospel continues to speak of His divinity. We need to see both sides, because they are critical in understanding Christ’s message. Jesus could not have died for the sins of the world if He wasn’t both. We needed a human sacrifice because we are human, yet Only He had the power to take on the sins of the world and absolve them through that sacrifice.

The remainder of this chapter speaks of Jesus gathering the first of his disciples. While John glosses over the details a bit, the selection of the twelve is important because they were just as human as you or I. They were not among society’s elite. Many of them were uneducated and indeed outside of mainstream society. This is further testimony to Christ’s divinity because he accomplished so much with human frailty.