The Son of God (1:15–28, 49)

The Son of God (1:15–28, 49)

John the Baptist is one of the most important people we learn about in the New Testament. There are at least eighty-nine mentions of him. John was blessed to be the one to introduce Jesus to the people of Israel. He also had the difficult job of getting the country ready to welcome their Messiah. He told them to stop sinning and show that they had done so by getting baptized and living differently.

John told what John the Baptist said about Jesus Christ in a few words (John 1:15–18). First, He has no beginning or end (John 1:15). Luke 1:36 says that John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus, so this statement is about Jesus's preexistence, not His birth date. Before John the Baptist was born, Jesus existed.

John 1:16–17 says that Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth. Grace is God's kindness and favor given to people who don't deserve it and can't earn it. If God only dealt with us based solely on truth, none of us would be alive. But He deals with us based on grace and truth. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the requirements of the law through His life, death, and resurrection; consequently, God is now able to bestow the fullness of grace upon those who place their faith in Christ. Grace without truth would be dishonest, and truth without grace would be condemning. 

John did not say in John 1:17 that there was no grace under the law of Moses because there was. Every sacrifice showed how gracious God is. The law also showed us the truth about God. But in Jesus Christ, grace and truth reach their full potential, and we can have this fullness. We are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8–9), but we also live by grace (1 Cor. 15:10) and depend on God's grace in everything we do. We can receive God's abundant grace because "He giveth more grace" (James 4:6). John 1:17 hinted that a new order had come in, replacing the Mosaic system.

In the end, Jesus Christ shows us who God is (John 1:18). God is invisible in His physical essence (1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27). People can see God in nature (Ps. 19:1–6; Rom. 1:20) and in His mighty deeds in history, but they can't see God Himself. Jesus Christ shows us who God is because He is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15) and "the express image of His person" (Heb. 1:3). The word that is translated as "declared" is where we get the English word "exegesis," which means "to explain, to unfold, or to lead the way." Jesus Christ tells us who God is and what He means. We cannot comprehend God without knowing His Son, Jesus Christ.

The first time the word "Son" is used to refer to Jesus Christ is in John's gospel (John 1:18). The term "only-begotten" signifies "singular, the sole instance of its type." It does not imply that there existed a period when the Son was absent, followed by the Father's act of creation. Jesus Christ is God, and He has always been.

In John’s gospel, Jesus is called “the Son of God” at least nine times (John 1:34, 49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; 20:31). You may remember that John's goal in writing was to prove to us that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:31). People call Jesus "the Son" at least nineteen times. He is not just the Son of God; He is also God the Son. The truth was even acknowledged by the demons (Mark 3:11; Luke 4:41).

John the Baptist is one of six people in the gospel of John who say that Jesus is God. Nathanael (John 1:49), Peter (John 6:69), the blind man who was healed (John 9:35–38), Martha (John 11:27), and Thomas (John 20:28) are the other people. If you include our Lord Himself (John 5:25; 10:36), you have seven clear witnesses.

John wrote down what happened over four days in the lives of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the first disciples. He carries on with this pattern in John 2, where he shows what could be called a "week" in the "new creation" that is similar to the creation week in Genesis 1.

On the first day (John 1:19–24), a group of Jewish religious leaders questioned John the Baptist. As the keepers and protectors of the law, these men had every right to look into John and his ministry. He answered their questions clearly after they asked him a few.

It made sense to ask, "Who are you?" Was he the Messiah who was promised? Was he the prophet Elijah, who was supposed to come before the Messiah (Mal. 4:5)? Many people came to hear John, and a lot of them got baptized. People may have thought that John was the promised Messiah, even though he didn't do any miracles (John 10:41).

John said he was neither Elijah nor the Messiah. In a way, he was the Elijah who had been promised (look at Matt. 17:10–13). John had nothing to say about himself because he was sent to talk about Jesus! John was only a "voice," but Jesus is the Word. You can't see a voice. John pointed to Isaiah's prophecy (Isa. 40:1–3) and said that he was the fulfillment.

After finding out who John was, the committee asked him what he was doing. "Why are you doing this?" John didn't get his power to baptize from people; he got it from God (Matt. 21:23–32). Back then, Jewish religious leaders baptized Gentiles who wanted to become Jews, but John baptized Jews!

John said that his baptism was in water, but that the Messiah would come and baptize with a spiritual baptism. Once more, John made it clear that he was not starting a new religion or trying to make himself look good. He was telling people about the Savior, who is the Son of God (John 1:34). Later, we will learn that Jesus Christ was shown to the people of Israel through His baptism.