John 1:29-42
This text is used for the Lectionary Year A on January 19, 2014.
In the first chapter of his gospel John was attempting to establish the identity of Jesus. He offered five pronouncements of Jesus’ identity, alternating between calling him the Son of God and Messiah. He began with a poetic approach (John 1:1-18), calling Jesus “the Word,” that “became flesh,” and the one who “came from the Father” (John 1:14). He described a pre-incarnate Jesus who was a part of the foundation of the universe. In essence he called Jesus the Son of God. In the four scenes that followed, he used John the Baptist, Andrew, and Nathanael to affirm Jesus’ identity in a series of encounters and pronouncements, calling him Son of God and Messiah, alternatively.
When John the Baptist first saw Jesus he recognized him as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29a), and proclaimed that Jesus would somehow “take away the sins of the world” (John 1:29b). This was an apocalyptic title and task that had certain messianic overtones. He then affirmed the claims of John 1:1-4, by revealing that Jesus was greater because he “came before me” (even though John was older than Jesus). This seemed to be a direct allusion to the pre-incarnate Jesus. The scene ended with John’s direct proclamation that Jesus “is the Son of God” (John 1:34). This again, was an obvious affirmation of the identity and authority of Jesus.