PART II. (A.)
Chapter S John 1:19 to John 4:54
I. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE WORD AS LIGHT AMONG THOSE PREPARED TO RECEIVE HIM (John 1:19-51)
1. The testimony of John the Baptist:
(1) he is not the Christ, etc. (John 1:19-21);
(2) he is the voice of the promised herald (John 1:23).
2. He proclaims to the messengers of the Sanhedrin the dignity of Christ (John 1:24-28).
3. He testifies, to his disciples, of Christ as the antitype of divine ordinance and the fulfilment of prophetic promise (John 1:29-31), his faith having been confirmed by the incidents which transpired at the baptism of Jesus (John 1:32-34).
4. John’s disciples are pointed to Jesus (John 1:35-40).
5. Jesus reveals Himself to individual disciples:
(1) to Simon (John 1:41-42);
(2) to Philip (John 1:43-44); and
(3) to Nathanael the Israelite without guile (John 1:45-51).
6. To these He reveals Himself as
(1) the Messiah (John 1:41);
(2) the Son of God, in whom Old Testament predictions find their fulfilment (John 1:45-49);
(3) the Son of man, by whom the heavenly stairway which Jacob saw in a vision is realised and completed (John 1:50-51).
EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
THE WITNESS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (John 1:19-37)
John 1:19. Here the historical narrative of the gospel begins. The point of time may be considered as soon after the baptism of Jesus by John, which was to the latter the testimony of Jesus’ Messiahship (John 1:33-34). This is the record, etc.—As we learn from Matthew 3:7, many of the Jewish leaders had been attracted by the Baptist’s teaching; and the people as a whole were so moved by it that “all men mused in their hearts of John whether he were the Christ” (Luke 3:15). Indeed so much attention did John’s teaching attract that the Jews “sent priests and Levites … to ask him, Who art thou?” St. John was writing his Gospel as a universal treatise, and it was necessary for him to use the term the Jews, as he constantly does. It frequently refers to the ecclesiastical leaders of the people. The term is used historically. The Levites are seldom mentioned in the New Testament, and the general idea of expositors is that they were identical with the Scribes. At all events it seems reasonable to conclude from such a passage as Nehemiah 8:7-8, that the remnant of this tribe in our Lord’s day still continued to be students and scribes of the law. Who art thou?—Bishop Wordsworth remarks that there is here “an indirect testimony” to the miraculous occurrences of which the birth of John the Baptist was the centre. There is no doubt that these occurrences would be known and remembered in priestly and ecclesiastical circles. Hence the willingness of the Jewish leaders to accept John as the Messiah.
John 1:20. John’s answer shows that he as well as his interrogators understood the bearing of this question. “He confessed” indicates in effect the spontaneity and eagerness with which the declaration was made. The same thought follows in a negative form, “he denied not,” to show that he did not for an instant yield to the temptation to deny. Finally the second “he confessed” is added to the first in order to attach it to the profession which follows. ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ ὁ Χριστιός, i.e. I am not, etc., but there is One who is.
John 1:21. Elias.— Malachi 4:5-6. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, it is true (Luke 1:17); but according to the Jewish expectation of a literal return of the old prophet, the Baptist could return only a negative answer. That (the) prophet.— Deuteronomy 18:15. The interpretation of this old prophecy given in Acts 3:19-24 was evidently that held by John. Thus again he answered no.
John 1:22-23.—In his positive answer the Baptist appropriated to himself the grand prophecy of Isaiah 40:3. Notice the agreement with the Synoptists, who all refer this prophecy to John (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:3-6).
John 1:24. And they had been sent from the Pharisees.—The best MSS. omit the οἱ, but this does not alter the sense, as the messengers would no doubt be themselves Pharisees. The clause is inserted to explain the sequel.
John 1:25.—The Pharisees, versed in the law and tradition, were well acquainted with the meaning of the baptismal rite—as, e.g., applied to proselytes. But why did John enforce it in the case of all, Jews as well as others, if he were not the Messiah, or Elias, whom they expected to enact “a great national lustration to inaugurate the kingdom of Messiah” (Godet)? Ezekiel 36:25-27; Zechariah 13:1.
John 1:26-27. I baptise, etc.—This is the continuation of his call to repentance (John 1:23, “Make straight,” etc.), as well as the answer to the question of the Pharisees. In the very fact that he announces to them the presence of the Messiah in the midst of them, their question is resolved. “If the Christ is there He is known by him and him alone,—the Messianic time has come; he is its initiator, and his baptism is thereby justified” (Godet). Latchet, etc.—The coming Messiah should be so glorious that John felt himself unworthy of serving Him in the most menial office. The phrase ὃς ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν is wanting in the best MSS.
John 1:28. In Bethabara should be read ἐν Βηθανίᾳ—in Bethania, or Bethany beyond Jordan. The change of name from the Bethany of the oldest MSS. seems to have been effected by Origen. In his day the name had been obliterated from the region of the Jordan; but finding that tradition pointed to a place called Bethabara as that where John baptised, he inserted that name. But, according to Godet, “As to the Bethany near the Jordan, it is more probable that its name is derived from Beth-Onijah (אניה-navis), place of the ferry-boat. This last sense would almost coincide with that of Bethabara, place of the ford” (Judges 7:24). Caspari identifies it with Tell (i.e. Beth sometimes is so translated in Arabic) Anihje, a village some miles north of the Sea of Galilee on the east side of Jordan. The conclusion of Godet and others (given above) is perhaps the most reasonable in view of all the facts of the case. There were two Bethanys, just as there were two Cæsareas, etc.
John 1:31-33. I knew Him not also.—John, though knowing that Jesus had some important work to do, and a lofty destiny far higher than his own, had not yet arrived at the knowledge of Him as the hope of Israel. The divine lineage and lofty mission of Jesus as the Messiah were not fully known to John until after that scene at Jordan, when the Spirit descended on the Saviour “from heaven like a dove and abode upon Him.” Then the Baptist knew by an express divine revelation that this was He who should baptise with the Spirit, that this was indeed The Son of God.
John 1:34. And I saw and bare record (have seen, etc.).—The perfects denote a completed fact. The meaning is not that Jesus became (was constituted) at His baptism the Son of God, but simply that this momentous truth was then revealed to John and testified to by him.
John 1:35-37. Again (vide John 1:29). Two of His disciples, etc.—The minute details are interesting as showing how deep an impression this day’s events had made on the writer of this Gospel, who was one of the two mentioned.
(36) Looking on Jesus as He walked.—Regarding Him with earnest gaze. Christ and the Baptist henceforward were each independently to carry on their individual work; but John was now to be guided by the action of Jesus. Like all men, John also must “behold the Lamb of God.”
(37) “The disciples understand the words as the teacher meant them.… There is no word bidding them follow Jesus; that cannot be needed” (Watkins).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— John 1:19-37
The witness of John the Baptist.—John the Baptist was aware that his preparatory ministry was nearing its close, that his prophetic ray would grow dim and fade away as the Sun of righteousness, now risen visibly on the world, shed abroad its heavenly light. The Baptist is a noble figure as he meets us in this Gospel, as he bears unfaltering witness to the Messiah, and directs his loved disciples to Jesus. His uprightness, candour, humility, boldness, and power form traits of a character that wins the esteem and admiration of all noble minds. “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). But now his work was nearly done—and well done. Therefore like a modest herald he steps aside at the coming of the Prince whose way he had prepared. The witness of John is given in threefold form:—
I. His testimony as to his own person and work.—“The Word was made flesh” is the theme of the prologue to this Gospel. The witness of John that Jesus is the incarnate Word is the subject of this section.
1. The Evangelist had already referred to the witness of the Baptist (John 1:6-8; John 1:15), as the herald of the Messiah about to be revealed, when he preached “repentance” to those who flocked to his ministry and declared that “the kingdom of the heavens was at hand” (John 1:15: compare Matthew 3:1-3; Matthew 3:11). His preaching, which was with power, and his employment of the rite of baptism, which was to be a significant sign of the times of the Messiah (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Isaiah 52:15; Zechariah 13:1), made so deep an impression on all classes of the community, that “all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not” (Luke 3:15). It was this circumstance which led to his first historical testimony to Christ recorded here. The religious rulers could not allow such events to transpire and such thoughts to spread without making strict inquiry as to John’s person and the meaning of his work. Therefore the Jews (under which designation we are to understand most probably the Sanhedrin, on which devolved the oversight of the religious teaching and worship of the people) “sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?” (John 1:19). By the Levites probably the scribes are meant (Nehemiah 8:7-8). As men versed in the law, they were sent to discover and define John’s position. All of them were members of the party of the Pharisees, the sect which laid the greatest stress on the outward observances of the law, and the greatest store by the “traditions” of the fathers. Thus we may expect that (as afterward in the case of Christ) they approached John the Baptist, if not as enemies, yet with no very friendly disposition.
2. Their question was a sign of the times. As in the human soul, when seeking after salvation, there may be, and usually is, a period of uncertainty, when the soul can find no rest, and looks hither and thither in order to find it, so at the time when Christ appeared men were anxiously looking for a Redeemer. Not only among the Jews, but even among the heathen, there was an expectation that a deliverer of the race was nigh at hand. But more especially was this the case among the Jews, groaning as they were under the yoke of subjection to Rome.
3. Pious Israelites, and even the formalists, were anxiously hoping that the promised hour was near (Luke 2:25; Luke 2:38). And as they heard of John’s preaching, of the crowds that were drawn to his baptism, and of the revival of religion that was proceeding under his startling calls to repentance, it was little wonder that “the people were in expectation” (Luke 3:15). It was certainly time to ask John publicly, “Who art thou?”
4. There was no delay or hesitation in the Baptist’s answer. That is the meaning of the words, “He confessed, and denied not.” His confession was open and prompt, without dubiety. Without arrière pensée, without any thought of his own honour or self-advantage, he unhesitatingly repudiated any claim to be the Messiah, as he doubtless realised that this definite question lingered behind the general one.
5. Satisfied on this point, the deputation then endeavoured to discover something concerning John himself. “Art thou Elias?” is the next question. And the Baptist’s answer is, “I am not,” i.e. not Elias in person, according to your expectation. “Art thou that prophet?” i.e. that prophet foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; Deuteronomy 18:18). And John answered, “No,” as if by this brevity he would signify that he did not desire them to linger on the subject of own personality. Then in response to their further demand that he would positively declare who he was, he answered, “I am the voice,” etc. Of himself he would not speak further: his office, and not himself, to him was most important. He desired to draw attention away from himself, so as to concentrate it on the Messiah. Therefore he described himself as “the voice crying in the wilderness” spoken of by Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3), to prepare the way of the Messiah. “A man becomes a voice when he desires nothing for himself, when he does not consider himself, but when his message is everything” (Luther). The wilderness was a fitting image of the moral condition of his people, whose hearts needed to be “prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:16-18; Luke 1:76) by true repentance.
6. In the next question the true character of the messengers of the Jewish religious leaders shows itself. They were zealous in a way for the law, but they were even more so for their traditions. “Why baptisest thou with water?” etc. They knew that before the days of the Messiah there should be a cleansing of the people (vide above, Ezekiel 36:25, etc.); but if John were not the Messiah, nor one of the prophets who should precede Him, what right had he to presume to use that symbolic rite? This question led to the testimony the Baptist was so desirous to make: “I baptise with water,” etc. (John 1:26-27). You ask me for my authority to baptise: it is my right and duty in the office committed to me. I must prepare the way of the Lord; and to this end I preach repentance and baptise, i.e. prepare those who shall receive the Messiah. And this is so much more needful, as the Messiah no longer delays His coming, but even now stands among you, i.e. has already begun His public ministry in Israel. Thus in the lofty position of Him whose forerunner John was, in the necessity of the forsaking of sin as a preparation for His coming, lay John’s authority for his baptism.
II. John’s testimony in the presence of Jesus.—
1. John confessed that he had not recognised the high destiny of Jesus, but only the fact that He should be made manifest to Israel. This does not mean that John was unacquainted with Jesus personally. Probably he had heard something of the marvellous circumstances attending the birth of Jesus, and the expectations raised by these circumstances in pious hearts. But that He who at Nazareth appeared in such humble guise in the form of a servant should be the promised Messiah was far from John’s thought.
2. A fuller revelation dawned on him at the baptism of the Redeemer. He who was formerly known only as the son of Joseph was now revealed as the Son of God. He whom the Baptist saw as One so pure and true as to need no cleansing, nor therefore the symbolic sign of cleansing, was now revealed as He who should baptise with the Holy Ghost. John’s baptism, like the Old Testament offerings, was intimately related to the forgiveness of sin. And as the offerer was purged from sin by looking in faith toward what those offerings symbolised, so those who received John’s baptism in faith as a preparation for the coming of God’s kingdom participated in that forgiveness which membership in that kingdom implies. But, like the Old Testament offerings, this baptism was typical and temporary. It could not confer that spiritual life by which renewed men are enabled “to mortify the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). And it was revealed to John at Christ’s baptism that He it was who “should baptise with the Holy Ghost.” And therefore John was now prepared to testify, as he did, that—
3. Christ is the Lamb of God, etc.—the Son of God—the Messiah of Israel. But why was it necessary that the Spirit should descend on the Redeemer at His baptism? Was He not the eternal Son? Did not the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwell in Him? Was He not “conceived of the Holy Ghost”? Yet it is said, “God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” The meaning seems to be that our Lord’s humanity needed this preparation, this bestowal of the Holy Spirit, for its high office. God “was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit” (1 Timothy 3:16).
III. John’s testimony to Jesus among his disciples.—
1. When John saw Jesus coming as conqueror from the wilderness conflict he had pointed Him out as the “Lamb of God” to all who heard him speak. On the following day he directed his disciples especially to this heavenly Teacher and Redeemer, to bear witness to whom was now his high office and his deepest joy.
2. Apparently John prompted his disciples to follow the Saviour. His words, “Behold the Lamb of God,” would be to them equivalent to a command to go after Him.
Learn, preachers and teachers:
1. To lose sight of self in witnessing for Christ;
2. To be open and bold in confessing Christ;
3. To rejoice in being able to direct others to the Saviour.
John 1:22. “Who art thou?” (A Christmas Homily.)—We consider this question—
I. As a question put to ourselves.—The Saviour has been born. God became man. Then comes the question, O God, what am I that Thou shouldst give Thy Son for me? Some give to this question—
1. No reply.—John gave a reply; we seek to back out of it. Who art thou? This is no police inquiry what you are in the world, and how much you are worth. It is a question of conscience to our hearts. Conscience seeks to know how we stand toward God. Your possessions, the duties of your office, the newest form of entertainment, political news, etc., you know; but to your own heart you are a stranger. You do not venture to look into it, it is so unpleasant to do so. So you seek to hear not, or to ignore this question, Who art thou? and are silent. But your silence is also an answer.
2. A vain-glorious answer.—John gave a humble answer; you an answer of self-commendation. You can look the question boldly in the face. You fulfil what is incumbent on you; you envelop yourself in the cloak of your good name as a citizen. You measure yourself complacently with others. You know nothing of a troubled conscience, and you have nothing to seek for at the manger-cradle of the Son of God.
3. An embarrassed and undetermined answer.—John gave a definite and clear answer; you give a doubtful one. You hear the question plainly, Who art thou? Are you already converted? Are you a child of God, a member of Christ? Can you die assured? But you seek to shun the question; you give an embarrassed and undetermined answer.
4. An honest answer.—There are those who answer faithfully. Their answer is a troubled one, and runs, I am a sinner. And it brings the troubled soul to the Saviour. Or their answer is a plaintive one, for they sigh for the comfort of grace, and have it not yet. Therefore they cry out, “It is for Thee I sigh; comfort Thou my heart.” Or their answer is a joyful one, and runs, “I am a sinner, but I have found grace. Christ is born for me.”
II. As a question put concerning the Lord.—Men turn aside from the question, Who art thou? They do not know themselves, and therefore they do not know the Lord. They know not the meaning of Christian joy. But those who seek to answer the question go to the manger-bed and ask, Who is this Child? Of Him our gospel says:—
1. He is so near, and is yet so far above us.—He has come into your midst, Him whom ye knew not. This is true now as then.
2. He is so high, and yet so lowly.—He who comes after me is preferred before me. He is God from eternity, and yet has appeared in time, and lies as an infant of days in His manger-bed.
3. He is so holy, and yet so full of grace.—He it is the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. We are not worthy tremblingly to offer Him the lowliest service; and yet He appears as the Lamb of God who beareth away the sins of the world.—Appuhn, in J. L. Sommer.
John 1:27. Christ’s disciples follow Him.—I. Christ’s disciples follow Him as their Redeemer. This is the first and chiefest reason why we should go after Him.
1. It is good to be attracted to Him for any reason; but all will be useless unless we recognise and act upon the great need of our nature, and the promise that it will be granted, which is discovered in the very name of the Saviour: “He shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” And men must come to Him for this eternally important and all-inclusive blessing of redemption. Otherwise they cannot truly follow Him in any fashion. The prisoner manacled and fettered in his cell cannot walk on the highway, however eagerly he may desire to do so. His chains and fetters must be taken off, and he must come forth from his cell a free man first. Now by nature we are bound by sin, enslaved by sin; and ere we can follow Jesus to any good purpose we must be delivered.
2. But how can we attain deliverance and follow Christ if we are bound and fettered? Here is the grace and simplicity of the gospel. When men feel their need, and desire deliverance truly and sincerely, in that very moment the fetters are broken, and they are enabled to go to the Redeemer for pardon, peace, and every heavenly gift. “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). “He hath lifted up and borne away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); “He hath borne our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24); “He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). He hath taken away the guilt of our sin.
3. But more than that—if we follow Him as our redeemer He enables us “to die unto sin.” We are delivered from the power of that baleful disorder which has laid hold of our humanity, from the grip of that subtle foe that seeks our undoing. How miserable has this foe made earnest men who have tried to free themselves from his power! Again and again they have wrestled and striven, only to fall yet once more before his onslaught. And, on the other hand, how blessed is the experience of those who have felt their own impotence, have looked to Christ for deliverance, and of whom it can be said: “Sin shall have no more dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).
4. And thus do Christ’s disciples attain to peace. The old terror of God passes away, as they see sin’s guilt removed at the cross; the old misery and wretchedness in the ineffectual strife with the power of sin is banished when Christ frees them from their bondage. Then peace and joy and unfading hope fill their souls. Old-fashioned and simple teaching? Yes; but ever fresh and welcome to those who receive and act upon it. Consequently it is of supreme importance as a test for ourselves to ask: Have all we obeyed the earnest exhortations of faithful preachers of the cross? Have we, like John’s disciples, followed Jesus, and is the full blessedness of redemption ours?
II. Christ’s disciples follow Him as their pattern.—To do this aright is impossible until we have learned to follow Him as the Redeemer. Hence there are many who profess to follow Him, by taking Him as their example, who in reality go astray at the very first step. They overlook the essential purpose for which God’s Son became incarnate, and for which He calls men to Him: “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth.” But when this first step has been made, then we are to follow Christ as our heavenly pattern.
1. Men need such a pattern—one who in human form would reveal and exemplify the life and walk of the “perfect man,” according to the heavenly ideal. Such was never seen in human life—at least after the fall. Men could not know or understand the perfect human life, which is summed up in the phrase “walking with God,” until it was revealed in Christ. Nothing remained but the mystic and brief record of that primæval period of Edenic blessedness, ere sin entered the world. And afterward, although in some hearts still the desire for heavenly communion so prevailed that of an Enoch and a Noah it was said that they “walked with God,” yet this brief record also implies and records the presence of imperfection. There were flaws—“In much the best life faileth.”
2. But all men, as we have seen, conform their lives to one pattern or another. The child imitates the parent; the friend is influenced by the more powerful personality, the genius, the amiability, the intelligence of some dearly loved friend. We are influenced, often insensibly, by one conspicuous in the religious, the social, the political sphere. Hence the need of choosing as our patterns those influenced by principles of righteousness. Hence, also, the need of all those who are professedly Christ’s followers, and who have their influence in greater or less degree as parents, friends, public men, to see that their influence is for good—that in this they are imitators of Christ.
3. But it is well, above all, that we should daily look to that “perfect pattern” in whose steps we are commanded to follow, to that sacred height of holiness toward which we are to climb.
(1) We are to follow Him in His willing obedience to the Father. “He was obedient unto death,” even. No murmur escaped His lips, however bitter the cup, however painful and shameful the cross. A cheerful compliance with all that must needs be done was the conspicuous feature of His life. In His prophetic word, ages before His incarnation, He declared: “Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart” (Psalms 40:7-8). And when He did assume the lowly guise of a servant on earth, it was to reaffirm that word: “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). And this is the spirit in which all true sons of God will seek to serve the heavenly Father.
(2) He is our pattern also in His patient endurance in love and activity for men. Who, of all who have lived, has kept perfectly the second great commandment of the law but Christ?
(3) And we are to follow Him also in His victorious conquest of evil. From the hour when the vanquished adversary retired foiled from the mountain top, until on the cross the Saviour cried “It is finished,” the powers of evil sought to conquer Him in vain. In vain! for the resurrection morning proclaimed them vanquished for ever.
(4) In this way must we follow Christ—on the path of obedience, in the way of the service of humanity, in the conquest of evil—and we shall be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
III. “Through Him who loved us.” This leads to the further thought that we are to follow Christ as our guide and shepherd. Christ our pattern of attainment! Is it not to us an impossible one? Yes, but for His promise, “Lo, I am with you always.” Therein lies our hope.
1. He is our guide.—Without an experienced guide even skilled mountaineers will not attempt to scale giddy Alpine peaks; and even such skilled guides may err, so that guide and traveller may rush to death. But our heavenly Guide never errs—He is unfailing. His hold is never relinquished—no blinding storm, nor slippery path, nor yawning crevasse can daunt or stay Him. And those who trust Him He will safely guide on the perilous path of life, until they rest on the summit in the serene sunshine of heaven, far above the storms and clouds of earth.
2. But more comforting still is the assurance that He is the shepherd of His people. We need not only a guide for the upward path—we need to be strengthened and refreshed for the way. And His people find all needed nourishment in the green pastures of His word and gospel, whereby their souls are strengthened for the journey; whilst there is continual refreshing for them in the waterbrooks of grace. He strengthens them to resist their spiritual foes: “in temptation’s dangerous hour” He stands near to help them; when the wolf—the enemy of God and man—draws near to steal, kill, destroy, and His flock look to Him for aid, He will not be afar; when they must pass through the darkness of death He shines as their example, comforts with His rod and staff, and at eventide brings them safely folded into “the greener pastures of paradise, and the waterbrooks of everlasting life.”
John 1:29. The Lamb of God.—John’s action here shows (John 1:19-27) how faithful he was in his office as forerunner of the Messiah. It was not his own influence, honour, glory, he thought upon. Having recognised in Jesus his Lord and the promised Deliverer, he pointed his disciples to Him, contented that his preparatory work should come to an end, that his influence should wane whilst that of Jesus waxed, that as the herald of the dawn he should fade from view at the rising of the Sun of righteousness.
I. What is the meaning of this title, “the Lamb of God”?—What would John’s hearers understand by those words? One common idea is that they refer to the passover lamb. No doubt this in a sense is true. The sprinkling of His blood is a sign of safety to the redeemed. But this is not the only meaning. The reference is in greater measure to the lamb of the trespass offering (Leviticus 4:32-35; Leviticus 14:12-14, etc.). The image brought before a Jewish mind by this descriptive title would be the sacrifices offered in a special sense for sin—more particularly, perhaps, the lamb of the daily morning and evening sacrifice. It would call to mind the ascending altar smoke, rising like a prayer for forgiveness, and the typical sacrifices ever pointing forward to One who was to complete and end them all. Especially would they be reminded of that prophetic picture of the Messiah in which He is represented thus: “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,” etc. (Isaiah 53:7). Now it is in this sense chiefly that men are called upon to “behold the Lamb of God.” He is the great atonement for sin, for His atoning work is potent to take away the guilt of sin and free men from its curse. It is sufficient here to point out that this word is in agreement with the leading idea of the New Testament when it speaks of Christ “bearing away” the world’s sin. The full force of the word (αἴρειν) is to “lift up” as a burden and “carry away”—the meaning being that Jesus lifted up the burden and penalty of sin from believers, Himself bearing the penalty for them. This was done by expiation—by rendering satisfaction for the breaking and outraging of God’s law through sin. Nothing less could bring peace; and Christ brings peace by removing the guilt of sin. “Surely He hath borne,” etc. (Isaiah 53:4-5). Thus the Old Testament seer spoke of the coming Messiah. And when He had completed His work on earth, the New Testament writers speak of that work thus: “It behoved Christ to suffer,” etc. (Luke 24:26); “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin” (1 John 1:7); “Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). Such words testify plainly as to the nature of Christ’s redemptive work. His sacrificial death accomplished what the typical sacrifice of the old covenant pointed to. He shed His blood “for the remission of sin” (Matthew 26:28). Make of it what men may, this is a cardinal doctrine of Scripture. “God hath set Him forth,” etc. (Romans 3:25). There is an experimental proof of the truth of this doctrine which to believers is irrefragable. It is the fact that those who truly have faith in Christ know the blessedness that springs from forgiven sin. Does it form a firm foundation for our Christian hope? They who have this proof need no other that Christ is “the Lamb of God.”
II. Whilst the foregoing is the primary sense of the text, and that which would first occur to John’s Jewish hearers, there is another sense in which it appeals to the Christian. Christ is here held up as the example we must follow if we would be free from sin and grow in holiness. His disposition and life are held up for our imitation. The redeeming work and power of Christ are many-sided—a truth often forgotten in disputes as to the meaning of the Atonement.
1. In this descriptive title there is an intimation of the gentleness of Christ’s character. He never did nor will “quench the smoking flax,” etc. He never did nor will spurn true penitents, how great soever their sin and guilt. He wore no forbidding aspect, did not display the fulness of His power in wrath. The mild rays of love and mercy shone in all His life. Tender acts, gentle words, showed what forces moved His matchless life. He was ever willing to sheathe the sword of justice and stretch out a helping hand to erring men if they would cease their rebellion. He felt for weak humanity, sorrowed with men and women in their trials, rejoiced with them in their innocent joys, tenderly loved little children, bore compassionately with the waywardness of children of a larger growth. He was meek and lowly—the Lamb of God. True, there were not wanting elements of divine strength from His character—anger at sin, scorn of evil (Matthew 23, etc.). But He showed this only when gentleness, even divine, would not reclaim, and divine indignation must needs show itself. Still, this was exceptional. And so, too, exalted in the heavens, the same tender compassion characterises Him. He will yet, no doubt, speak in judgment, and terrible will be the wrath of the Lamb. But “His nature and His name is love,” and with tender entreaty He invites men to look to Him and live.
2. The purity and sinlessness of Jesus are suggested by the title of the text. He was as “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19), the true sacrificial antitype. His life all through was beautiful, pure, true. There was about it that which made wicked men shrink from it as darkness from light. As the pellucid flood reflects the blue heaven, so the pure human life of Jesus reflected as in a mirror the purity and holiness of heaven. His lynx-eyed enemies could not disprove His innocence; at His trial hired witnesses had to be set up to accuse Him, as no honest man could be found to speak an accusing word. Pilate had to confess, “This man hath done nothing amiss.” So He stands before the world gentle and tender, pure and innocent—the Lamb of God.
3. And by this display of character and life Jesus Christ is in a true and genuine sense taking away the sin of the world. Not only does His sacrifice free men from the guilt of sin—through faith in Him the heart is endowed with a new spiritual power by which the believer overcomes the world. Yet this would not be sufficient were there no example for the Christian to follow, and some goal pointed out toward which he may strive. But there is such an example and such a goal. Christ is our example, and calls us to follow Him, the perfect man, bending down to us from the height of holiness toward which we are to strive to attain. His example and His invitations are like an immense magnet force drawing men, when they submit to its power, nearer to itself. The more men become familiar with Christ’s character, the more will they be dissatisfied with themselves and with sin, the more attracted to holiness and the divine service.
III. Attend therefore to the exhortation of the Baptist.—“Behold,” etc. Men must do so whether they will or no. Toward Him all eyes in the civilised world are directed. Even His enemies cannot help themselves. To ignore Him would be to ignore the luminous centre of a dark world. Behold Him! ye who have not yet trusted in Him. You have tasted of sin’s bitterness, felt its misery, have trembled at the thought of death and eternity. You feel it is a curse in the happiness of “being.” But there is one power can burst asunder the fetters of evil, can purify and bless. It is Christ’s gospel. Behold the Lamb of God! in simple faith accept Him, and the blessedness of pardon will visit your sin-sick nature like a healing balm, and peace like restful eventide will descend upon your souls. In vain will the like result be sought in other ways. Try this way! Behold Him, Christians! and let the view animate your souls and stir you to greater efforts to attain. The conflict between good and evil is fierce and protracted. Take your stand beside the cross. Let not men say your example was such that, if you were representative Christians, they could see no great hope of a higher life or any great profit in passing to the position in which you profess to stand. Follow the Lord’s example: “Let your profiting appear unto all men.” Remember how unweariedly He toiled and endured for you amidst danger and in temptation. Therefore be not weary in well-doing, and let your hands be quick to good. See Him and become Christlike; let His loving character be reproduced in your lives. For if men do not behold Him earnestly and lovingly in the day of life, a time will come when they shall not be able to choose. “Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him” (Revelation 1:7)—comes no more with messages of peace, but awful as the Judge of quick and dead. May it be ours to labour diligently now as His disciples and servants, so that we may joyfully look for His appearing, and join the mighty host of the redeemed whom John in vision heard saying, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,” etc. (Revelation 5:12). And till then may we raise that prayer which has ascended since the Church was founded in many a stormy time, and which still ascends: “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis: Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.” Amen.
John 1:29-34. The result of beholding Christ in faith as the Lamb of God.—In view of all that Christ is, of all His greatness and glory, of all His love and condescension, what position should we assume toward Him? When we remember that not only does He bring us salvation, but that He is governing and controlling all things, coming in His judgments among the nations and individuals, until He shall come at last in His glory, it well becomes us to ask: How are we receiving Him? Is He coming to us in love and mercy, and are we rejoicing in Him? There can be joy to those alone to whom the coming of Christ signifies grace and not judgment. Do we believe Him to be what the Scriptures declare He is? Then it will be the part of true wisdom to ask how we stand related to Him. All things, all created beings, “were created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). What then is our duty?
I. We should submit ourselves willingly to His rule.—
1. When the King of kings makes His presence felt, we should receive Him with honour and reverence, and prepare ourselves for His service. At His advent as the incarnate Son it was foretold that His forerunner should “go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias … to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). And the forerunner declared that he himself was the voice of one crying, etc. (John 1:23).
2. Therefore we should prepare our hearts to receive Christ, by repentance of sin and turning away from it—“Prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight” (Matthew 3:2-3). So we must humble ourselves before Him, remembering our sins, through His grace turn from sin and submit ourselves to Him, to be freed from spiritual bondage, and made free citizens of His spiritual kingdom—“fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of God.”
3. And receiving Christ thus, we shall reach true joy and peace in life; for then we shall be occupying our true position as subjects of our King and as creatures of our Creator. Duty and destiny are both then clear and plain. Doubt as to the one and darkness as regards the other vanish away.
4. Let us submit ourselves to our Maker and King then, for in this way alone do we attain our true position in time and our true hope for eternity. But we must also do so in adoring gratitude when we remember His love and mercy—that He the Son and Word of God became man, emptied Himself of His glory, suffered and died that we might live. When we have thus submitted ourselves, then—
II. We should labour for Him.—
1. The true and loyal citizen of a country delights to spend and be spent in the service of country and ruler. The statesman spends laborious days and nights, often for a lifetime, without fee or reward, in the service of his fatherland. The philanthropist, in his enthusiasm for humanity; gives himself up to his benevolent labours, not only without a grudge, but with positive pleasure, finding in well-doing and in blessing others the highest reward.
2. Do not such examples put many of those called Christians to confusion? Are not those who profess that they believe in Christ citizens of a kingdom far more grand and glorious than the most glorious dominion that the world has ever seen? Are they not subjects of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Creator and Governor of all, who also when His subjects rebelled “was made flesh,” in order that He might bring them back from their alienation?
3. And yet how feebly and haltingly do they serve Him and labour for Him, and the building up and extension of His kingdom! But His true subjects make this their continual aim. Even in what is erroneously called their secular labour, they will be ever seeking to do His will and work. The glory of Christ and His kingdom will be the one aim of life to them. It is the true aim of men, and leads to the best and most blessed end, if men would but see this. When we have attained to being workers together with Christ, then—
III. We should bear witness to Him.—
1. This Christ’s forerunner did (John 1:15). This is a distinctive mark of true subjects of Christ. “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem,” etc. (Acts 1:8).
2. They should bear witness by their righteous, joyful lives, showing in this way, unto all men, whose they are and whom they serve, attracting men to the kingdom by their radiant Christian character (Matthew 5:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:8).
3. They should witness for Him in word, rebuking what is evil in His name (Luke 3:7-9), and pointing to Him as the way of salvation (Luke 3:16-18), testifying from experience what He has done for their souls.
4. Nor must their testimony end with their immediate surroundings. To every true Christian man and woman is given the promise, “Ye shall be My witnesses unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Each cannot do this personally. But when the Church at Philippi is filled with the Spirit of Christ, then it will be eager to uphold and aid the missionary apostle to bear the truth, that has blessed them, to those wandering in error (Philippians 4:14)—to bring the light of salvation, which has arisen on them, making their hearts glad, to those who are still in spiritual darkness. True citizens of the spiritual kingdom should need no persuasion to invite them to missionary effort.
HOMILETIC NOTES
John 1:19-38. Who art thou, journalist with far-heard speaking-trumpet of thy newspaper? thou poet or literary man? thou preacher in the pulpit or speaker on the political platform? Will you allow yourself to be addressed generally in regard to your prophetic calling, as the Baptist was spoken to, as to whether you use your calling on the basis of self-knowledge and self-denial? Do you know what your dangers are, and the weak points in your armour? Are you venal like the prophet Balaam, or incorruptible like Simon Peter in presence of the sorcerer? Are you fearful like Jonah, or undismayed like Nathan? Do you, like Saul, even when he was by chance found among the prophets, hold fast to the old evil Ego, or are you personally consecrated to God as was that other Saul when he became Paul? A consecrated voice of to-day speaks in wrath against all the egoistic and selfish doings of blatant popular orators: “They frequently rave about freedom whilst all the time the slaves of their own lusts; they speak about the eternal rights of man, and mean only their own little ego!” What do you say of yourself? no matter whether you are surrounded by the madding crowd, or by silent loneliness; whether men weave thorns or laurels for your crown; whether the one side seek to pamper, or the other to scoff you? Are you as wholesomely distrustful of yourself as was Paul, who not only thought lightly of man’s judgment, but in view of the possibility of being self-deceived declared: “Yea, I judge not mine own self: it is God who judgeth me” (1 Corinthians 4:3). Do you confess and deny not: I am not my own Christ; as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so crieth and thirsteth my soul for Him who is full of grace and truth—full of forgiveness and salvation? Do you confess and deny not: I am of unclean lips, and need the expiating call from above? This is indeed the distinction, frequently overlooked, between simple modesty and Christian humility,—that modesty is a gracious adornment, humility a religious virtue; that modesty has learned the limits of individual knowledge and ability, humility, on the contrary, the feeling of sinfulness and misery; that modesty thinks it sufficient not to intrude one’s self and strut vainly before men, whilst humility bends the knee before the all-holy God. Thinking of one’s self too highly—this is the mildew on the sowing of the preacher, the poison on the pen of the author, the rust upon the harp of the poet. Wherefore sings a noble singer: “And were my song, waiting for the world’s favour, to court the reward of vanity, then should I dash my harp to pieces, and shuddering be silent eternally before Thee.” In the kingdom of God the prophet discovers his true relation to Christ, to his fellow-labourers, to his people, as well as a true activity, only when he lets the night of his Ego become ever shorter, and the day of the great spiritual Sun ever longer, in his life: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”—Dr. R. Kögel.
John 1:19-37. The world is weary with its cumbrous and futile methods of obtaining deliverance from sin.—Consciousness of moral law, and the ever-growing conviction of the comprehensiveness and inflexibility of the physical and mental consequences of actions, deepen the harrowing sense of moral evil, fasten on the transgressor the Nessus-shirt of fire, from which in this nineteenth century, as well as in the first, he struggles hard to be free. “The sin of the world” is even now revealed with awful distinctness to some minds. It is not necessary to go to the cell of the anchorite, where some child of superstition is combating those phantoms of despair which are conjured up by excited brain and morbid tradition. Nor is it requisite to follow the explorer or the missionary into haunts of vice and homes of cruelty, where bold badness deliberately crushes broken hearts and blasphemes Heaven. It is scarcely needful to lift the thin veil of poor excuse and preposterous flattery with which a flimsy philosophy conceals the evil. The grim, gaunt forms of sin loom through the veil, and the fear of men is not hushed by being told that they should be virtuous and calm, that evil is an accident and responsibility a dream. Nature—the word being used as another name for God—may be very beautiful in her glowing sunrise, and fascinating when the light and the mist conceal very much from view; but Nature, bearing man in her bosom, and evolving him, sin and all, out of her eternal depths, “without any interference” of God or devil, is very ghastly and terrible. Under this awful vision, the hearts of thousands have been hurried, crushed and blaspheming, into the darkness. The sin of the world, in its individual forms and its terrible aggregate, presses upon conscience as a fault and a removable evil. Hence its awful burden. From this springs the whole history of sacrifices and atonements. If sin is to be taken away from the world, the twofold process of redemption and renewal must be involved in the Acts 1. The conscience must be assured that the law has not been trifled with; that it is safe and right to believe in God as able to save, ready to forgive, waiting to bless; that the universal voice of nature has failed to speak all the truth; that a Father’s heart pulsates behind the eternal laws; that He has revealed Himself, in a higher form than nature can ever approach, through a human life which still towers above the loftiest evolution of humanity; that Holy Love is at the heart of the universe; that Grace will reign through righteousness unto eternal life! But,
2. More than this, the sin itself, as well as all its natural consequences, must be expelled from the individual and the aggregate. There must be the new life, as well as the new relationship with God.—Dr. H. R. Reynolds.
ILLUSTRATION
John 1:29. Permanent convictions.—John found no greater word to describe the glory of the noon than that through which he had seen the dawn. It was the same light in its zenith as when it first greeted him through the mist. Surely it is worth while to investigate a revelation like this, which was as much to the aged seer as it was to the young fisherman. How beautiful is a life of which the early days, the middle, and the latest hold the same convictions, only growing with the man’s growth, and widening with his experience. How beautiful when the life is based on truths which no experience can overthrow, which experience only renders more precious; and how different from the lives of men who flit restlessly from one faith to another, and find no abiding home. It is beautiful when we see the father and the young man and the child bound together by the faith which goes through all the stages of life, the end circling round the beginning, only with a deeper conviction and a stronger love at last. To understand the meaning of this profound phrase we must go back to the Old Testament, in which the mind of him who first uttered it was steeped. Perhaps the passage which was most clearly before him as he spoke was that in the climax of evangelical prophecy where Jesus is described as a Lamb led to the slaughter, and where it is said that as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. Forty days before Christ had been baptised, and in the interval John had no doubt been meditating deeply on the prophecies that announced the Messiah; and this would stand more clearly before his mind than any. Besides, through those days and before them, he had been hearing countless stories of grief and sin from those who came to be baptised of him; and would he not think of One into whose ear sorrow would never be sobbed in vain—One who was to deal with sin adequately and finally by taking it away? “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” But along with this we must include a reference to the Paschal Lamb. Few thoughts in John’s Gospel are more distinct than that of the relation of Jesus Christ to the Paschal sacrifice and feast. The Passover, which was the most conspicuous symbol of the Messianic deliverance, was not far off; flocks of lambs were passing by to Jerusalem to be offered at the coming feast, and the sight may have brought home the thought. Further, there is no difficulty in believing that the forerunner, who had deeply meditated the Messianic prophecies and the meaning of the sacrifices, saw, with prophetic insight, that Christ was to suffer, thus standing for a time on a higher level than any of the disciples.—Dr. W. R. Nicoll.