Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From JOHN #2 - 1:19-34)
B. 1:19-34 JOHN'S WITNESS TO PHARISEES RE HIMSELF AND JESUS
1. 1:19-28 JOHN'S TESTIMONY CONCERNING HIMSELF
a. 1:19 JOHN WITNESSES TO PHARISEES CONCERNING HIMSELF
Kai HAUte esTIN hemar-tuRIa tou IoAnou, HOte aPIstei-lan pros auTON hoi IouDAIoi ex Ie-ro-soLUmon
And this is the witness of :John, when the Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem
hi-eREIS kai LeuEItas HIna e-roTEsoSIN [2064]auTON, Su tis ei?
priests and Levites to ask of him, Who are YOU?
b. 1:20 And he confessed and denied not; and he confessed [that], I am not the Christ.
kai ho-moLOge-sen [2670]kai ouk erNEsa-to [720]; kai ho-moLOge-sen HOti, E-GO ouk eiMI ho ChrisTOS.
c. 1:21a And they asked him, What then areyou? kai eROte-san auTON, Ti su oun?
d. 1:21:b Are you Elijah? E-LEIas ei?
e. 1:21c And he says, I am not. kai LEgei, ouk eiMI.
f. 1:21d Are YOU the prophet? Ho proPHEtes [4396]ei su?
g. 1:21e And he answered, No. kai a-peKRIthe, Ou.
h. 1:22a They said therefore to him, Who are you? that we may give answer to them that sent us.
EIpan oun auTO, Tis ei? HIna aPOkri-sin DOmen tois PEMpsa-sin heMAS.
i. 1:22b What do you say of yourself? Ti LEgeis peRI se-auTOU?
j. 1:23 JOHN'S CLEAR ANSWER
Ephe, E-GO phoNE [5456] boONtos [994] en te eREmo [2048],
He said, I ama voice of one crying in the wilderness,
EuTHUna-te [2116] ten hoDON KuRIou, kaTHOS EIpen E-SAI-as ho proPHEtes.
Make straight the way of theLord, as said Isaiah the prophet.
k. 1:24 And they had been sent from the Pharisees.
kai aPEstal-me-noi Esan ek ton Pha-riSAIon [5330].
l. 1:25 THEY QUESTION JOHN'S RIGHT TO BAPTIZE
kai eROte-san auTON, kai EIpan auTO,
And they asked him, and said to him,
Ti oun bapTIzeis [907], ei su ouk ei ho ChrisTOS, ouDE E-LEIas, ouDE ho proPHEtes?
Why then do you baptize, if YOU are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?
m. 1:26-27 JOHN INSTEAD POINTS TO JESUS
a-peKRIthe auTOIS ho IoAnes, LEgon, E-GO bapTIzo en HUda-ti:
:John answered them, saying, I baptize in water:
MEsos huMON STEkei hon huMEIS ouk OIda-te, oPIso mou erCHOme-nos,
in themidst of you stands onewho you know not, 27who comes after me,
hou ouk eiMI eGO Axi-os [514] HIna LUso [3089] auTOU ton hiMANta [2438] tou hu-poDEma-tos [5266].
the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.
n. 1:28 These thingscame to pass in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where :John was baptizing.
TAUta en Be-thaNIa eGEne-to PEran tou IorDAnou, HOpou en ho IoAnes bapTIzon.
2. 1:29-34 JOHN'S TESTIMONY CONCERNING JESUS
a. 1:29 CHRIST THE LAMB OF GOD
Te aPAUri-on BLEpei ton IeSOUN erCHOme-non pros auTON, kai LEgei,
See, the lamb of :God, that takes away the sin of the world!
b. 1:30 JOHN CLARIFIES HIS TESTIMONY
HOU-TOS es-tin huPER hou eGO EIpon,
This is heof whom I said,
O-PIso mou ERche-tai aNER hos EMprosTHEN mou GEgo-nen: HOti PRO-TOS mou en.
After me comes a man who is become before me: for he was first in regardof me.
c. 1:31 JOHN'S BAPTISM PREPARES FOR JESUS
ka' 'GO ouk Edein auTON; all' HIna pha-ne-roTHE [5319] to Is-raEL,
And I knew him not; but that he be manifested to :Israel,
diA TOUto ELthon eGO en HUda-ti bapTIzon.
for this came I baptizing in water.
d. 1:32 JOHN WITNESSES TO SPIRIT AS A DOVE ON JESUS
Kai e-marTUre-sen [3140] IoAnes, LEgon [HOti],
And John witnessed, saying [that],
TeTHEa-mai to PNEUma ka-taBAInon [2597] hos pe-ri-steRAN [4058] ex ou-raNOU; kai Emei-nen ep' auTON.
I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and he abode upon him.
e. 1:33 THE FATHER: WHO HAS SPIRIT AS A DOVE - BAPTIZES IN THE HOLY SPIRIT!
ka' 'GO ouk Edein auTON: all' ho PEMpsas me bapTIzein en HUda-ti, eKEI-NOS moi EIpen,
And I knew him not: but who sent me to baptize in water, HE said to me,
Eph' hon an Ides to PNEUma ka-taBAInon, kai MEnon ep' auTON,
Upon whoever you shall see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him,
HOU-TOS es-tin ho bapTIzon en PNEUma-ti HaGIo.
the same is he that baptizes in theHoly Spirit.
f. 1:34 And I have seen, and have witnessed that this is the Son of :God.
ka' 'GOheOra-ka, kai me-marTUre-ka HOti HOU-TOS es-tin ho huiOS tou TheOU.
NOTE: 1:19-28. - Here is a good example of how each of us ought to be - in our witness concerning Jesus. John did notelevate himself as a cousin of Jesus. But in every way possible he points to Jesus as the Appointed One of God - the Son of God - who is so worthy- that all John can do is point to Him and elevate Him! It is Jesus, not us, who is the onlykey to every man's salvation. And not only does He provide salvation for each of us through His “Finished Work” - but He is also the baptizer in the Holy Spirit!
We are identified with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection according to Romans chapter 6; and He is the One that the Father has appointed to grant us the Holy Spirit through Spirit-baptism. J. Edwin Orr explained it this way to Billy Graham: “We are like an empty glass placed in a sink. The water (Christ) fills us as the tap is turned on. Thisis the baptism into Christ by the Holy Spirit. Then the water continues running into a plugged sink - until the glass is completely submerged in water. Thisis Christ baptizing us into the Holy Spirit. We are now in Christ and He in us.” Probably none of John's hearers at this time understood the full significance of these his words of explanation. Later he says - “I must decrease, but Hemust increase. John's death eventually made this fully possible. We must be dead to ourselves, that Jesus be seen pre-eminently in each of our lives too!
Now look at John 1:29-34. How John magnifies the Lord Jesus here. He seems to make it all so clear. So then why do so few of us apprehendin Jesus what John experienced in hislife? Because these things are spiritually discerned! Mark 8:34 is the key. To follow Jesus, we must move on from salvation to full discipleship. Jesus did notask us to make converts. Goddoes that. We are to receive God's converts and make disciplesout of them. Dawson Trotman, Founder of the “Navigators,” in his pamphlet “Born to Reproduce,” eminently makes this clear. Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest,” does the same. We mustfirst denyall rights to our self-life; then we take up our cross, the full will of God for our lives as outlined in the New Covenant provided by Jesus; and thirdly we follow Jesus in the same spiritin which Hefollowed the Father in His earthly life, as the Son of Man. “Personal, passionate devotion to Jesus,” is the key. How many of us join the ranks of the George Mullers, Rees Howells and Oswald Chambers? According to them, not many. But we all have the invitation, opportunity and privilege to become members of the “John the Baptist” example. “Lord - by Your grace, lead and help manyof us to become such disciples!” J.A.W.