Bible Study Series: John 1:29-34. Jesus is anointed to serve. The ultimate service is to take away the sin of the world. He is the lamb of God.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: John 1:29-34
29 The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the whole world! 30 He is the one about whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who outranks me because he is ahead of me!’ 31 I myself did not know him, but in order that he may be manifest to Israel, for this reason I came baptizing in water.”
32 Further, John testified, saying: “I saw the Spirit like a dove coming down from heaven and remained on him. 33 I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize in water—he told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit coming down and remaining upon him—this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit!’ 34 And I saw and testify that this one is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34)
Commentary
29:
See John 1:15 for another way to translate “outranks.”
Jesus is the lamb of God. John borrowed from the Suffering Servant theme in Isaiah: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter […] (Is. 53:7). Jesus took our place on the cross, placing on himself vicariously our iniquities and transgressions.
John also had in mind the Passover supper in John 19:36. The lamb here in v. 29 refers to the Passover lamb in Exodus before the Israelites left Egypt in a massive exodus or departure.
6 Take care of them [the animals, including lambs] until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. (Exod. 12:6-7, NIV)
When the angel of judgment inspects the houses and sees the blood of the lamb, then the angel passes over and spares the household. Jesus fulfills this festival with his own sacrificial death.
Jesus’s death on the cross is the means by which he takes away the sin of the whole world. It is so effective or efficacious that the offer can go out to the whole world. But the “taking away” of sin is not automatic, because John clearly teaches everywhere that each individual must believe or have full trust in the Son of God. Recall v. 12: “But as many people who received him he gave the authority to become children of God, to the ones who believe in his name.” So the offer of his sacrificial death on the cross goes out to the whole world, but then each individual must exercise his faith to receive it; each individual must apply it. To use the language of the professional theologians, the sacrifice for salvation extends to the whole world, but its application is for the one having faith in Jesus.
Salvation: in the Son
Extension: universal;
Application: all those who put faith in the Son.
Borchert sees the connection between the lamb and the atonement:
This Lamb-of-God concept in John is most probably a synthesis of two biblical motifs: the servant of the Lord theme as represented in a passage like Isaiah 53 and the theme of Passover. But this Lamb is a special kind of lamb—one that “takes away [airōn] the sin of the world.” The theme of taking away sin is directly related to the Hebrew kpr, which involves “wiping away” or getting rid of sin. Such “getting rid” is not merely done by “covering” it over and acting as though it were gone. The getting rid of sin in the Bible is done by the smearing of blood, the symbol of God’s “pardoning” of humanity through death and the consequent “reconciliation of humanity with God.” (comment on v. 29)
“takes away”: it can mean “removes” (2:16; 11:39; 19:38; 20:2, 13, 15) or “destroys” (10:18; 11:48; 15:2; 19:15, 31) (Klink, comment on v. 29)
30-31:
John baptized hundreds of thousands of people throughout his ministry, and some scholars say up to a million people. Now that’s a revival! However, John teaches us that his main mission was to point out or spot the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. Jesus was John’s relative (Luke 1:36), but John did not quite realize whether his relative was the Messiah. He had to get Jesus’s Messianic calling confirmed. So the one who sent John—God—told him to look for the man on whom the Spirit, like a dove, would descend and remain on him. John testifies to us today that he perceived or beheld or saw the Spirit descend from heaven and remain on Jesus. John was the one who would introduce Jesus to Israel.
Here are some of my posts on a more formal doctrine of the Spirit (systematic theology):
The Spirit’s Deity and Divine Attributes
The Spirit in the Life of Christ
The Spirit in the Church and Believers
32:
A dove speaks of tenderness and may allude to Gen. 8:8-12, where Noah sent out a dove three times from the ark, and on the third time it did not return and so confirmed that God’s ancient judgment was over. Right now, the Spirit looking like a dove teaches us that those who believe in the Messiah as the Son of God will not come under a negative judgment. But we don’t need to press this OT imagery too far.
“testified”:
The theme of witness, here introduced, pervades the whole Gospel. The witness to the truth of God’s self-revelation in the Word is manifold: it comprises the witness of the Father (5:32, 37; 8:18), of the Son 8:14, 18), of the Spirit (15:26); the witness of the works of Christ (5:36; 10:25), the witness of the scriptures (5:39), the witness of the disciples (15:27), including the disciple whom Jesus loved (19:35; 21:24).
The purpose of this manifold witness, as of John’s witness, is ‘that all might believe’: it is the purpose for which the Gospel itself was written (20:31)” (Bruce, comment on 1:6-8). The terms “witness” or “testimony” carries a legal meaning “of testifying or bearing witness to the true state of affairs by one who has sufficient knowledge or superior position. (Klink, comment on 1:7)
Morris says there are seven who bear witness to Jesus. (1) Each of the three persons of the Trinity: Father (5:31-32, 34, 37; 8:18); (2) Christ himself (8:14, 18; see 3:11, 32; 8:37); (3) and the Spirit (15:26; 16:14); (4) the works of Jesus bear witness (5:36; 10:25; see 14:11; 15:24); (5) Scripture (5:39; 5:45-46); (6) John the Baptist; (7) the disciples (15:27; see 19:35; 21:24).
33:
John said that he did not know Jesus, yet an interpreter may deduce from Matt. 3:14 and Luke 1:39-34 (Elizabeth, mother of John, and Mary, mother of Jesus, knew each other and were even relatives) that John surely knew Jesus. Is this an irreconcilable discrepancy? Reply: John was isolated from a young age, in his calling. His parents lived in the hill country of Judea, while Joseph and Mary settled up north in Galilee. They must have heard about each other from their parents over the years, but in John’s Gospel, the verb “to know” goes deeper than just a superficial acquaintance or “Yeah, I heard of him.” John did not know Jesus in the Messianic sense, until God revealed to him who his relative (Jesus) was (Borchert on vv. 31-34).
What does it mean “like a dove”? This was a temporary visual image for the purpose of spotting who the lamb of God, who the Son of God was. The Spirit does not remain in this form throughout time.
“the one who sent”: this refers to God sending John.
“outranks me”: see John 1:15 and 29.
But why did the Evangelist (the author of the Gospel) say that John proclaimed “the lamb of God,” but then the baptizer says he did not know who the coming one was? The Greek is actually in the pluperfect tense, which puts the action back in time. So John had not known who the coming one was, but after seeing the Spirit descending and remaining on him, he put the pieces together. So the author is merely compressing or retrofitting this pericope or unit or section of Scripture into a united whole.
Here is Jesus baptizing 120 disciples in the Spirit and with fire:
1 And when the Feast of Pentecost had fully come, all of them were together in that one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there was a sound like the rush of a powerful wind. The whole house was filled where they were sitting, 3 and tongues as fire were seen by them, were distributed among them, and settled on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them inspiration to speak and declare. (Acts 2:1-4).
34:
Seeing the Spirit anoint Jesus, John was convinced that Jesus was the Son of God.
“Son of God”: Let’s look into some more systematic theology (as I do throughout this commentary). Jesus was the Son of the Father eternally, before creation. The Son has no beginning. He and the Father always were, together. The relationship is portrayed in this Father-Son way so we can understand who God is more clearly. Now he relates to us as his sons and daughters, though, surprisingly, in John’s Gospel we are not called “sons,” but “children.” Only Jesus is the Son. In any case, on our repentance and salvation and union with Christ, we are brought into his eternal family.
Titles of Jesus: The Son of God
When Did Jesus “Become” the Son of God?
I like Borchert’s summary of this pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea and means unit or section):
This pericope thus provides in these four confessions concerning Jesus a magnificent summary of Johannine Christology: (1) he is the Passover Lamb who removes the sin of the world as confirmed on the cross; (2) he is the one who is able to accomplish this divine task because he is the preexistent one as affirmed in the Prologue; (3) he is the one who brings salvation not merely as a past historical event but as the living reality of God in life as witnessed by his baptizing with the Holy Spirit, the one who is our supporter or Paraclete; and (4) he is the one who as the Son of God has truly embodied God since he is the unique one (monogenēs) from the Father.
To conclude …..
Baptizing with the Spirit means immersing people in the Third Person of the Trinity. To be baptized with fire speaks of purifying the recipient. It also speaks of judgment because God evaluates people and burns away their old bad habits and sins.
Please note that Jesus is the baptizer in the Spirit (see Matt. 3:11; Luke 3:16). He sends his Spirit to overflowing in us. He causes us to be born again and to be empowered for ministry and a consecrated life.
Grow App for John 1:29-34
1. Jesus baptizes or immerses people in the Spirit. When and how did this happen for you?
RELATED
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel
4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel
3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
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