12S
THE KING’S BUSINESS
th e a u th o r o f th e fo u rth G ospel. In th e original th e fo rm o f th e ex p re s sion “ J o h n w as b ap tiz in g ” d en o te s th a t h e was con tinuou sly baptizing, o r b a p tiz e d d a y a fte r day. M aking a p ra c tic e o f b ap tiz in g w as th e w o rk h e w as do ing there. V. 29. “The next day John seeth (ra th e r, “On the moirow he seeth” ) Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb _of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” J o h n th e B ap tist s te sti m ony to Jesus m e t w ith a n u n fa v o r ab le re c ep tio n on th e p a rt of th e rep re sen ta tiv es of Jew ish ecclesias tical au tho rity , an d in this w e h av e th e first illu stration o f th e unbelief re fe rred to b y J o h n in his in tro d u c tion to his G o sp el (vs. 10, 1 1 ), b u t now w e re a d of a n o th e r te sti m ony given b y J o h n th e B ap tist to Jesus (vs. 2 9 -3 4 ), follow ed b y a th ird (vs. 3 5 -37 ), th a t m e t w ith an en tirely d ifferen t re c e p tio n ; a n d so o v e r again st th e unbelief o f th e rep re sen ta tiv es of Jew ish ecclesias tical au th o rity th e a c c ep tan c e of J o h n ’s testim ony b y his tw o disciples gives us th e first re co rd o f th e C hu rch ’s faith. T h e occasion u p o n which Jo h n gav e th e testim ony h e re in re c o rd e d is m o st significant, th e rep re sen ta tiv e comm ittee from J e ru salem h as re tired a n d now Jo h n sees Jesu s com ing to him. D oub tless ou r L o rd w as ju st retu rn in g from th e tem p ta tio n in th e w ilderness, fo r it is e v id en t from a com p arison o f Jo h n ’s a ccoun t w ith th a t of th e synop tic G o spels th a t th e b ap tism a n d tem p ta tio n o f Jesus m u st h av e p re c e d e d v erse 19 an d th e ra p id succession o f ev en ts h e re re co rd ed , as in d ic a ted b y th e language in verses 29, 33, leaves no in te rv a l fo r th e tem p ta tio n . So th en th e b ap tism an d tem p ta tio n of C hrist hav ing a l re a d y tak en place, H e w as a b o u t to beg in H is public m inistry. It was m o st fitting, th e re fo re , th a t H is en-
w as no t him self th e Christ, th e C hrist w as a t h a n d— ind e ed , a lre a d y p re s en t— an d th a t, th e re fo re , th e tim e h a d com e fo r th e p re p a ra to ry b a p tism (cf. v. 31 ). Jo h n th e B ap tist d id n o t m erely say, “ In th e m id st of you th e re is O n e ,” bu t, “ In th e m id st of you standeth O n e .” T h is w o rd “ sta n d e th ” seem s to m a rk th e d ig nity an d stab ility of th e position which C hrist w as show n to h o ld (cf. 1 Thess. 3 :8 ; in this passage in Thessalonians, th e sam e w o rd tra n s la te d “ s ta n d e th ” in th e passage b e fore us is tra n sla te d “ sta n d fast ). T h e w ords, “Y e know n o t,” a re v e ry suggestive— th e “y e ” is em phatic an d b ring s ou t th e in com petence of th e comm ittee th a t w ere sen t to ex am ine John , seen in th e fact th a t while C hrist w as am o n g them , th ey h a d n o t recognized H im , b u t h e h im self w hom th e y sough t to exam ine an d silence h a d recognized H im . Jo h n again em phasized his inferio rity to Jesus th e Christ. H e w as n o t even w o rth y to do a slave’s w o rk fo r H im , to unloose th e la tc h e t o f H is shoes. T h ese w o rd s ough t to h av e set th e Pharisees to th ink ing an d led th em to ve ry d e ep questionings. But th ey w ere m ere ecclesiastics th a t h a d p e r fo rm ed th e d u ty which th ey w ere sen t to p e rfo rm an d th a t e n d e d it fo r them . T h e re a re m any like th em tod ay . V . 28. “These things were done in Bethabara (a c co rd in g to b e st tex ts “B e th a b a ra ” shou ld re ad “Beth any” ) beyond Jordan where John was baptizing.” T h is B eth any m ust n o t b e co n fused w ith th e B eth any on th e M ount of Olives. T h e ex act lo cation is no t known, p ro b a b ly som e insignificant village in Peraea. T h e m en tion o f the exact locality is one o f th e m any in dication s th a t th e w rite r knew th e exact d e ta ils o f th e in cid en t a n d was an eye w itness, an d is one of th e countless p ro o fs th a t J o h n w as really
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