The Broad Lens of John's Gospel

The Broad Lens of John’s Gospel
Ron DeBoer
2/5/2013
Have you been following Chris Hadfield’s tweets from outer space? Hadfield, an astronaut who will be spending the next five months aboard the international space station, has been photographing the world from his perch high above it and tweeting the views of the planet to his followers far below. This week he sent his photo of war-torn Syria (view from space) and marveled at how “deceptively calm and beautiful” the country appeared from space, describing it as “peaceful from a distance.” Without knowing the truth about the pain, suffering, and death in Syria, it would be easy to be deceived when looking at it from a distance.

Similarly, when we read John 1 we get a long-range view of Jesus. The difference is that when we eventually get to the close-up of Jesus at the end of the chapter, our perspective on him doesn’t change.

Through the apostle John’s narrative lens, we catch distant glimpses of Jesus before his ministry begins. The apostle John begins his Gospel with an overview of Jesus’ coming, echoing the Genesis account of the creation of the earth: “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1, NLT). John, who wrote his account of Jesus’ ministry an estimated 50 years after Jesus walked the earth, then recounts the ministry of John the Baptist who came before Jesus to prepare the way for him: “God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony” (1:6-7, NLT). The Gospel writer then finishes the first section overview with a summary statement: “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (1:14, NLT).

The narrative’s camera then zooms in on John the Baptist himself. In verses 19-28, John the Baptist declares his mission when some Jewish leaders ask him who he is. John’s immediate answer is, “I am not the Messiah” (v. 20, NLT). The Jewish leaders then pepper him with questions, to which John the Baptist responds by quoting Isaiah’s prophecy about himself: “I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’” (v. 23, NLT).

We then catch our first glimpse of Jesus in verses 29 and 30: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, “A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me”’” (NLT).

Then John the Baptist reveals that he has witnessed the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus when he baptized him. (Interestingly, the apostle John chooses not to describe John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus; but it is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.) John the Baptist then testifies: “I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God” (v. 34, NLT).

Isn’t it amazing how firm John the Baptist was in his belief that Jesus was the Messiah? His testimony and passionate preaching about Jesus caused many followers to join Jesus’ ministry from the outset. We see this transition of focus from John to Jesus in verses 35-37: “The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, ‘Look! There is the Lamb of God!’ When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus” (NLT)

Just like that, they followed Jesus. Wow! John told them about Jesus, and they began following him without any proof from Jesus himself. Jesus hadn’t even performed a miracle yet. The end of John 1 reveals the interaction between Jesus and his first followers with Jesus’ exciting words of spiritual adventure: “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth” (v. 51, NLT).

We see John the Baptist one more time in John’s Gospel. In John 3, some of his disciples were growing concerned that more people were going to Jesus to be baptized than were coming to John the Baptist. John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ . . . Therefore I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less’” (3:27-30, NLT).

There is much to learn from these early days of Jesus’ ministry. Many of Jesus’ followers believed without having seen. They heard John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus and immediately believed, even though, in reality, John the Baptist was merely “tweeting” his own snapshots to them. John the Baptist also teaches us that we are to become less so that Jesus can become greater. I don’t know about you, but I get that backwards a lot of the time. It would have been easy for John the Baptist to think he was as important as Jesus. But from the beginning of his life to the time of his death, he knew that his role was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ, the true Messiah.

Today, in February of 2013, we know Jesus is coming again. We, too, are called to prepare the way for him so that he will have an army of followers upon his arrival.

Listen to Crystal Lewis’s “People Get Ready Jesus Is Coming” to end our time of devotion today.

Ron DeBoer is an educator and writer living near Toronto.