John 1 29-34.pdf - Believers Chapel

BELIEVERS
BIBLE
BULLETIN
Believers Chapel * 6420 Churchill Way * Dallas, Texas 75230
The Gospel of John
Lesson 6
December 20, 1981
John 1:29-34
Introduction
The Testimony of John to Jesus
S. Lewis Johnson, Jr.
The testimony of John the Baptist to Jesus Christ is a beautiful backdrop
against which to consider the person and work of the Hero of Christmas.
He sees Him in three great offices:
1. The office of Redeemer (cf. 1:29)
2. The office of King-Messiah (cf. 1:30-33)
3. The office of Lord (cf. 1:34)
The three offices correspond to the familiar offices of Priest, King, and
Prophet (cf. vv. 14, 18, where the work of revelation is prominent).
We have in the verses that we are considering, the continuation of the
witness of John the Baptist. There are two emphases in it:
First, in the earlier part of John's witness there is emphasis upon himself
and his status as the forerunner of the Messiah (cf. vv. 19-28; Mal. 3:1;
Isa. 40:3-5).
Second, in the verses before us the thrust of the testimony is towards the
Lord Jesus (cf. vv. 29-34).
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JESUS AS THE LAMB OF GOD
The term "Lamb of God". There are many different views of the
precise force of the expression, "Lamb of God." For example, Leon
Morris in his excellent commentary on the Gospel of John discusses nine
of the various views of the term, opting for a tenth and different view! 1
There are three views that may be called prominent views of the term:
• First, the term is sometimes referred to the apocalyptic lamb (cf.
Rev. 7:17; 17:14), meaning the Lord Jesus as He appears in the
last scenes of the age, in the Book of Revelation. It is doubtful
that that is the meaning that John attaches to the term here, for
the Greek word used for lamb in the Apocalypse is a different one
from the term used here. And, further, the work of the Lamb in
Revelation is not as clearly and fully directed toward the work of
salvation as it is here.
• Second, the term is often referred to the paschal lamb, that is, the
Passover lamb, our Lord being seen as the antitype of the
Passover lamb of Israel. In support of this one might cite John
19:36 and Revelation 5:6, 9. I think it is clear that this concept is
involved in an understanding of the term, but I am not at all sure
that this is the source of John's use of the term.
• Third, there are commentators and students of the gospel that
refer the term to the use of the term in the great passage on the
Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53:7. There we read, "He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; HE
IS BROUGHT AS A LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."
Isaiah 53 is the culmination of the Old Testament teaching on the
lamb as the type of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my
opinion, the teaching originated at least as early as Genesis 22:8
in Abraham's offering of Isaac and was developed quite fully in
Exodus 12:1-13 in the account of the sacrifice of the Passover
lamb by Israel in Egypt. That line of teaching reaches its climax in
Isaiah 53. Incidentally, the word amnos, meaning lamb, is found
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in Isaiah 53:7, and that is the word found in John 1:29, 36 (cf.
Acts 8:32-33).
The Baptist saw himself as the herald of Isaiah 40:3, and it would be
natural for him to have Isaiah 53:7 in mind in the use of his reference
here. If we could prove Isaiah fifty-three rested on Exodus twelve, then
it would be plainer that John 1:29 is simply a development of the Old
Testament teaching. That is my view of it, but I am not sure that it can
be proved. It certainly seems likely. We do know that John the Apostle
did see the Lord as the Passover sacrifice, for he makes reference to that
in John 19:36. And, further, we also know that the Synoptic Gospels link
the Passover Supper with the Suffering Servant of Jehovah (cf. Matt.
26:26-28; Isa. 53:11-12).
The details of the text (John 1:29). We shall have space only for a
notice of a few of the aspects of the text. In the first place, the use of
the term "taketh away" is a reference to penal substitution. He bears
away the sin of the world by simply bearing it, that is, paying its penalty. 2
In the second place, it is instructive to note that John uses the word
"sin," not "sins." Of course, the use of the term "sins" would be perfectly
all right (cf. 1 John 3:5), but the emphasis here rests upon the nature of
the guilt, and not upon the individual acts that produce it. The sin of the
world is unbelief and, in the light of the progress of revelation, more
specifically now unbelief in the Son of God (cf. John 16:8-9). This is the
essence of sin, and it is this that led Adam and Eve to partake of the
forbidden fruit. Before they actually ate, they had sinned by the unbelief
that led them to the act.
Unbelief is characteristic of the whole world and accounts for the cruelty
of the jungle, that jungle which man has made of his universe. In the
animal jungle each animal follows its own appetite, paying no attention
whatever to the general good of other animals. In man the law of the
jungle is much more virulent, being a law consciously and willfully
obeyed. No one individual, other than our first father, is responsible for
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it, but we are also responsible for we stood in him as our federal head
(cf. Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21-22). As a judgment upon Adam and his
seed, sin has become also an "infection of nature" (cf. Article IX of the
Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion). Thus, we are guilty for Adam's first sin,
and we are guilty for we bear a nature infected by sin. It sets us against
God and men. This the Lamb of God has borne for the people of God,
and they go free by the forgiveness of sin and justification of life.
Is it not amazing to find men and women in our society denying the fall
of man. Can anything be more easily substantiated Clarence Edward
Macartney in one of his books comments, "If I were to take a visitor to
Pittsburgh down to yonder 'Point ' to show him where the two rivers
mingle their waters to form the Ohio, and, looking about, he were to ask,
'Where are the rivers' that would be like a man hearing a sermon on the
fall of man and asking, 'Where are the signs of the fall Where are the
fallen men' "
Among the evidences of the Fall are the universal tradition of it, reflected
in the stories of Pandora's Box, the apples of Hesperides, and Apollo and
the Python, the strange persistence and endurance of evil, the system of
education, which testifies to the fact that man has a nature that makes
him a menace to society if untrained, and all government, which bears
witness that human nature must be restrained. "The sea of humanity
today heaves and tosses," Macartney also remarks, "casting up its mire
and dirt. We see evil entrenched in our cities. We see it attack our best
institutions. We see it in our own hearts."
In the third place, John cries that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of "the world." This part of his testimony is often
misunderstood. It is taken to mean that the Lord Jesus came with the
intention of paying the penalty for the sin of every individual man. If that
were so, and if He really did that, then how can heaven bring any further
charge against those whose sins he covered with His blood He would
have offered a substitutionary death that was not really substitutionary,
only conditionally so. And there is no text in the New Testament that
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says that He died a conditionally substitutionary death (cf. Gal. 3:13; 4:1-
7; 2 Cor. 5:12-21; Rom. 3:24-25, etc.). No, the reference in the word
"world" is to the universal reference of the atonement nationally. It is an
atonement that is for Gentiles as well as Jews; an atonement for all men
without distinction, but not all men without exception. The emphasis
upon the world of our Lord as applying not only to the Jews but also to
the Gentiles is seen in this very context (cf. v. 31) and in other contexts
of the gospel (cf. 4:22, 42).
On the way to the top of Moriah, Isaac had said to his father, "My
father," and Abraham had answered, "Here am I, my son." Then the
young man had asked, "Behold the fire and the wood: but there is the
lamb for a burnt offering" Abraham replied, "My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (cf. Gen. 22:7-8). The ultimate,
reference of Abraham's words is the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
announced by John the Baptist and crucified for the sins of His people.
JESUS AS THE KING-MESSIAH
His pre-existence (John 1:30). In this verse, the Baptist again
proclaims the pre-existence of the Lord Jesus. The apostle may have
included this as part of a polemic against Baptist sectarians who were
claiming superiority for John the Baptist, since their master came first.
There is no certainty of this, however. 3 5
His purpose in coming (John 1:31). John adds, "And I knew him
not," to some a rather difficult comment, since John must have known his
kinsman. The Greek word rendered here by "knew" is one that stands for
the knowledge of a truth rather than of a person, generally speaking.
The Baptist had known Jesus of Nazareth, but he had not known what he
learned at His baptism, namely, that He was the Messiah, and he had not
known what manner of Messiah He would turn out to be. 4 The Baptist
adds that he baptized that He should be made manifest to Israel, a
statement that confirms an important teaching of the New Testament. In

His ministry the thrust of it was, in accordance with the Old Testament
teaching, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, laying the
foundation for the confirmation and inauguration of the entire covenantal
revelation made to Abraham, David, and Jeremiah (cf. Matt. 10:5-6;
15:24; Rom. 15:8).
His Messiahship (John 1:32-33). The fact that the Holy Spirit came
to rest upon Him (the aorist tense of the verb rendered "remaining" has
the force of came to rest) was the indication that He was the one who
would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and not with water. In other words, it
was the indication that He was the Messiah. The anointing with the Holy
Spirit was the prophesied enablement of the Messiah (cf. Isa. 42:1; 61:1;
11:2; cf. Matt. 3:17). The words spoken to Him at His baptism by John,
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," forecast His future
as that of a Suffering King, a Priest-Victim who would offer the one
redemptive sacrifice and then reign in the power of it over His kingdom.
JESUS AS THE SON OF GOD
The textual problem. The final comment of John the Baptist is, "And I
saw, and bore witness that this is the Son of God." It is the climactic
testimony in the apostle's eyes, since that is his purpose, to bring men to
faith in the Lord Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God (cf. 20:30-31).
John simply repeated what was implicit in the statement of the Father
from heaven, "This is my beloved Son" (cf. Luke 3:22). Some of the
ancient manuscripts read instead of "the Son of God," "the Elect of God."
It is possible that some early scribe, followed by others, changed this
reading to "Son of God," because that is more harmonious with other
Johannine material, but it is probably more likely to be an error, perhaps
derived from reflection upon the Father's voice at the Transfiguration,
and the knowledge that beloved and elect were often equivalents in
Rabbinic literature (cf. Luke 9:35). The older and more diverse witnesses
to the text here have Son, and that is to be preferred, it seems to me.
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The meaning of Son of God. The term, "Son of God" is a term of
deity, indicating that the Son possesses the nature of the Father. In fact,
it suggests an even more authoritative significance as the following text
indicates, "All things are delivered unto me by my Father, and no man
knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father,
except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matt.
11:27). It is the Son who has exclusive knowledge of the Father, direct
and unmediated, just as the Father has of the Son. And, further, He is
the sovereign mediator of the knowledge of the Father, giving that
knowledge to those whom He wills to give it (cf. John 6:46; 10:15).
In another place He points out that it is the Father's intention that all
men honor the Son just as they honor the Father; amazing thought,
indeed (cf. John 5:23).
"It has been said that, in order to give us authentic tidings of God, Jesus
did not have to be God," Donald Baillie wrote. "But, if Jesus only came
from a distant realm to give us tidings about God, then He was wrong
about Him, for He takes no initiative toward us. We can never really
know that God wishes to come to us and for us if it is not God who
comes in Jesus. It is John's assertion that God has come in Jesus, and,
therefore, in Him we have the exegesis of the Father." 5
Conclusion
John the Baptist, then, is the first of a long line of New Testament
witnesses to the Sonship of Jesus Christ, although there are suggestions
of a similar testimony in that of Anna and Simeon. The Sonship is unique
and royal. The passage is also important for the insight it gives into the
need of men. The Lord Jesus is proclaimed as the Lamb of God that
takes away sin, and that surely is our need. In John's great "behold" our
need is met. May the Lord enable us to appropriate Him. May He
become OUR Sin-bearer!
1 Morris, pp. 144-148.
Footnotes
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2 Ibid., p. 148.
3
Brown, p. 64.
4 Temple, p. 25.
5 D. M. Baillie, God Was in Christ (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948), pp. 64-65.
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