seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Please go back and read Verses 32-34 again.
This is the beginning of the Mission. Jesus is gathering His crew. They will help Him with the drudge work. In the local church, they would be the greeters, the coffee makers, the pew dusters, the isle sweepers. They would also be the Sunday School teachers, eventually. They had to be trained but they were beginning to follow the teacher.
This is the story of how John, the author of this Gospel, met Jesus. John was a disciple of John the Baptist. Now John the Baptist had a Mission. He was sent to Baptize humans, clean them up spiffy, by immersion. In other words, John's job was to dunk people in the river, so they were cleansed of their sins. It was supposed to give them a new attitude, a new life! [I'm a Baptist so I have to say.... you don't start a new life by having someone spritz you with water.... it takes a near drowning! Baptism by emersion, please.]
John the Baptist says, "I'm the one who was sent to introduce Him to the world." John the Baptist explained it to John the disciple [author of this gospel].
According to John the Baptist, Jesus was around since forever, in Heaven. John the Baptist was given instruction to baptize people. John the Baptist had been told a dove would descend and land on the one that is the "Messiah, the Son of God".
John the Baptist told John the disciple, Jesus was baptized, and the dove landed on Him! That was the sign John the Baptist had been looking for! The Messiah was on earth!
Let me clear up something before some smart guy tries to use semantics to ruin this beautiful testimony. It is true that John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus of Nazareth. Their mothers were cousins. But... John the Baptist never had occasion to meet his cousin, Jesus of Nazareth. They didn't have cars, planes or trains. they didn't own a family camel or donkey. They lived in completely different parts of the area. They would not have crossed paths at a family reunion. John the Baptist knew Jesus was the Messiah because a dove landed on Him. That was the sign.
So, the next day, Jesus passed the place where John the Baptist was doing his baptisms. John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to two of his disciples. They left John the Baptist and started to follow Jesus. Jesus knew they were following Him, so He turned and asked them what they wanted.... and according to John the Gospel writer, who was apparently one of the two men, reports they asked Him where He was staying. He invited them to "follow Him".
John the author, disciple of John the Baptist, and now, disciple of Jesus of Nazareth, recorded the time of the meeting. John's mission with Jesus of Nazareth began at about 4PM.
So now we have been introduced to Jesus of Nazareth, John the Baptist, and John the Disciple [writer of this Gospel and firsthand witness].
Now there's the other guy who was with John the disciple when he started to follow Jesus. We'll find out who he was tomorrow. Enough reading for today, right?
This is when John, the Disciple, Witness and Gospel Writer met Jesus!
