The Problematic Relationship of Jesus and John the Baptist: John 1:19-34

The relationship between the two of them has already been spoken of in the sixth verse of the gospel. "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He was not the light, but was sent to bear witness to the light." We know from the gospel of Luke that John was Jesus' cousin, born to Elizabeth and Zechariah (remember the account of Zechariah being unable to speak because he doubted that Elizabeth could have a baby). When Mary tells Elizabeth that she is pregnant with the son of God, Elizabeth's baby (John) leaps in her womb. John proclaims that Jesus is the one for whom he was preparing the way (quoting Isaiah 40) and that Jesus would not baptize with water, but rather would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Matthew's gospel (3:1-17) says something similar, only there is a more revolutionary context than we see in the gospel of John. John was expecting a revolutionary who would turn the whole Roman political structure and the Jewish religious structure upside down.

"The ax is laid to the root of the tree." "He will baptize with the Spirit and with fire...burning away that which does not bear fruit...separating the wheat from the chaff."

John expected Jesus to be a political, military revolutionary who would kick the tails of everyone who did not stand with him. John's expectations were no different than some of Jesus' own disciples (which may be for a good reason, as we shall see). Jesus did not play that kind of role, which was a great disappointment to John. In Matthew 11, just before John is beheaded at Herod's command, he sends a message to Jesus asking, "Are you really the one who was to come, or shall we look for another?"

The other point of rivalry between John the Baptist and Jesus was over who was the disciple of whom (a major investigation point by scholars today). Andrew seems to have found in Jesus a better offer. When Andrew went to Peter and asked him to come with them, might Peter also at least have been a sympathizer with John? What of these zealots who became followers of Jesus - Simon, Judas Iscariot, and possibly others? And isn't it the case that the disciples kept asking Jesus when he was going to bring the kingdom upon the earth and what their role would be in his new kingdom (of which James and John "the gospel writer" wanted to be next in command)? It looks like the disciples may have seen in Jesus (especially with his power to postively motivate people and do miracles) someone who could deliver what John the Baptist was preaching, that a repentant people would be rewarded with a poplulist revolution in which the Romans were no longer in charge. My guess is that if John really thought Jesus would be pulling of this political revolution, he would gladly have allowed his followers to leave him and follow Jesus. Some scholars even suggest that Jesus' willingness to be baptized by John was Jesus starting his ministry by first being part of the ministry of John the Baptist.

In Matthew 16:13ff, Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Their first responses are, "Some say that you are Elijah while others say you are John." Again, even among the people who were following him around Galilee, there were people who saw him as a revolutionary like John, only on spiritual steroids (the miracles, the effective teaching, etc). Peter then declares him the Christ, but goes ballistic when Jesus talks about self-sacrifice. Again, expectations disappointed, expectations strongly stated in the ministry of John the Baptist.

So John's gospel, written much later than the other gospels, goes to great lengths in this passage to separate the ministries of the two (one as preparatory and one as Messianic). John quotes the times John denied being "Elijah" or "the prophet." So it is very interesting that John in spotting Jesus either shortly before or at his baptism calls him "the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world." For John, the gospel writer, who writes after Jesus' death (which John the Baptist did not see), probably saw in the Baptist's words a foretelling of the sacrificial death of Christ. I believe that John the Baptist uses that as a statement of redemption and cleansing, a statement that Jesus was going to further the baptism of repentance he was doing (following the good intentions of repentance and the desire to turn around in their lives with the actual taking away of people's sins). But I think he would have found the crucifixion just as shocking and devastating as the rest of his followers. After all, Jesus was supposed to be a "kick tail" Messiah, not a self-sacrificing one.

In verse 34, John is the first in the gospel to declare Jesus as "the son of God." In light of the gospel's purpose (stated in John 20:31), the proclamation is huge. He will be the first of more to come.

To close this commentary today, I invite you to consider what your expectations of Jesus are. My guess is that if Jesus came today, we would still think he should be something different than he is. After all, we need someone to take this messed up world in hand and kick some tail. That's what we want and what we think we need. How do we put faith in the real Jesus? That is what the gospel of John is all about. Have a great day.