Daily Scripture Reading John 1:29-51
We Christians base our faith on the Bible. We believe what we believe about Jesus based on what the Bible tells us about Jesus.
Many people in our world today reject the Bible. They deny that it is truth. They believe the stories about Jesus are myths.
Today we will finish reading the first chapter of John and see that the Bible contains eyewitness testimony. That fact should strengthen our confidence in the Bible and shape how we present the Bible to non-believers.
Yesterday, we read in John 1 that when John the Baptist began alerting people that Jesus was coming, the Jews asked him, “Who are you?”. John denied being Elijah, the prophet, or the Christ. Instead, he claimed to be Isaiah’s voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord.
John 1:29 ¶ On the next day, he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John called Jesus a lamb. The most common sacrifice at the Jewish temple was a lamb. Therefore, John was identifying Jesus as a sacrifice, someone who would be killed.
John 1:30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’
John 1:31 I did not know Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.”
The first phrase of this verse tells us John did not know Jesus. We know from other gospel accounts that John and Jesus were related. However, Jesus grew up in Galilee while John grew up in Judea. Apparently they grew up not knowing each other. Or, perhaps they knew each other, but John never grasped that Jesus was God Himself.
John 1:32 And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him.
Notice that John said, “I have beheld.” John was an eyewitness of the Spirit descending on Jesus.
John 1:33 And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, this is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
John knew the Spirit descending was the sign identifying the Christ.
John 1:34 And I myself have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Note the words “seen” and “borne witness”. John gave eyewitness testimony.
Many people deny the existence of God. They refuse to believe that Jesus is God. They reject what the Bible says about God.
However, the Bible contains eyewitness testimony. The first chapter of John is an example of that.
Eyewitnesses are very valuable in the legal system for determining guilt and innocence. The truths about Jesus found in the Bible are not hearsay or second or third hand testimony. Instead, the truths about Jesus recorded in the Bible are based on eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness testimony is valid and valuable.
When we proclaim the truth about Jesus, we can do so with confidence. Furthermore, when people doubt the accuracy of the Bible, we need to communicate the eyewitness nature of the Bible.
John 1:35 ¶ On the next day, John again was standing with two of his disciples,
John 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
Once again John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. In their culture lambs were sacrifices.
John 1:37 And the two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus.
John 1:38 And when Jesus turned and noticed them following, He said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”
John 1:39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
John 1:40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
John 1:41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
The Greek word that is translated Christ is a variation of the Greek word that means anointing. The Christ was an anointed one.
Andrew’s statement to Peter, “We have found the Messiah”, indicates the Jewish people were anticipating a Messiah.
John 1:42 He brought him to Jesus. When Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
The name “Cephas” was an Aramaic name that meant rock. The name “Peter” is a variation of the Greek word that means boulder. Jesus called Peter a rock.
John 1:43 ¶ On the next day, He desired to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.”
John the Baptist probably did his ministry down near the Dead Sea. It appears that is the area where Jesus first interacted with Andrew and Peter. Verse 43 tells us Jesus wanted to go into Galilee. It is approximately 60 miles / 100 km from the Dead Sea to the Sea of Galilee. That would have been at least a two day journey. It would have been a fairly flat, easy walk because they simply walked up the Jordan River Valley.
John 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Bethsaida was on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. On the map the dark green colors are the lowest elevations. The light greens are higher elevations. The brown colors are even higher. The Sea of Galilee was surrounded by hills, meaning Bethsaida sat down in a bowl.
John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
John 1:46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Apparently, Nazareth had a bad reputation. It may not have been that there was anything wrong with Nazareth, it may simply have been that there was nothing good to say about Nazareth.
Nazareth is located in the hills southwest of the Sea of Galilee. It is at least 15 miles / 25 km from the Sea of Galilee over to Nazareth. That is about a one day walk. However, it is not an easy walk. The journey would involve going up and down hills.
John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said about him, “Behold, truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
Imagine you are Nathanael, you are walking up to a man you don’t know, and He makes a statement about your character. Being without deceit is good, but it would be weird for a stranger to know that about you.
John 1:48 Nathanael said to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Apparently, before Philip called Nathanael, Nathanael had been under a fig tree. Nathanael knew he had been under the tree, but he also knew Jesus had not been there to see him under the fig tree.
John 1:49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”
Nathanael correctly grasped that the only way a stranger knew all this about him was that the stranger was not just an ordinary man. Nathanael knew Jesus is the Son of God.
John 1:50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
John 1:51 And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see THE HEAVENS OPENED AND THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING on the Son of Man.”
It was great that Nathanael believed simply because Jesus knew about him being under a fig tree, but Jesus assured him he would see even greater evidence.
We Christians base our belief system on the Bible. In order to gain converts to Christianity, non-believers have to accept the Bible as true. However, the general consensus in our society is that the Bible is not true.
We saw in today’s reading that the Bible contains eyewitness testimony. Here are some questions for you to ponder.
What have you heard people say against the Bible, indicating they believe it is just myths and superstitions?
What are examples you know of where people reject the truth about Jesus because they don’t believe the Bible stories are true?
How can you present the gospel message to non-believers so that they treat the Bible as eyewitness testimony, and not just a collection of fables?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”