John is AWOL! Or is he? (John 1:19-51)

Just when do we first find John, the future teenage apostle?

And why isn't he at home, fishing on the lake with his father and brother?
Did he run away from home?

Taken chronologically, John son of Zebedee first appears in the Bible as an anonymous disciple of John son of Zacharias, popularly known as John the Baptist (John 1:35). He is in the company of Andrew son of Jonas, evidently a close friend. A little background is useful here, to reveal some information we won't be exposed to until we wade farther into the chronological story  of Jesus  and his apostles.

Fathers Zebedee and Jonas are partners in a commercial fishing business at the Sea  of Galilee. They each have two sons. Zebedee's sons are James the elder and John the younger. Jonas's sons are Simon the elder and Andrew the younger.  As the youngest members of this co-op, it is natural that John and Andrew would hang out with one another and become friends. 

Church tradition very solidly identifies John as the youngest apostle, which is even more likely since we find this apostle still writing Bible material near the very end of the First Century. As a simple guess, it is likely that Andrew is also a teenager here, or at least a young adult. As John himself writes the story, he never reveals his personal name, although he does describe his personal relationship with Jesus.

Young John has solid employment prospects in the fishing business, and a very protective mother to keep him on the straight and narrow. But at this juncture he appears to be alone with his best friend Andrew, many miles south of his home in Bethsaida, which is far to the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

What happened? Did he have a fight with his dad or his brother? Did he dislike the fishing business? Was his mother overbearing? Did he have a strong independence streak?

Well, a few verses later we find out that these young men are not actually alone. More on that later, but first we will look at what John as Gospel-writer reveals to us in his story.

JOHN 1:1-5 - THE NATURE OF JESUS THE MESSIAH.

John begins his Gospel many years later with the most explosive theological concept since the creation of the universe: "The Light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not comprehended it." No teenager could have written this. The apostle John had lived 40 more years before he was ready to share this news. But this concept is for another blog on another day. 

JOHN 1:6-18 - THE NATURE OF THE BAPTIST AND HIS MESSAGE.

John continues his Gospel with a general description of who John the Baptist is, and what he is preaching. This is a general summary of the Baptist, not an historical "event."

JOHN 1:19-28 - FIRST DAY: THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

The Baptist has been preaching and baptizing long  enough to attract the attention of the Pharisees and the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. They have sent priests and Levites to grill him on who he claims to be and what he is doing and why. His testimony: "I am a voice crying in the wilderness, 'Make  straight the way of the Lord.' I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. He comes after me."

This is an historical event, and young John is an eye-witness to it and describes it. But the Baptist said, "among you stands..." a more important person. Well, maybe the person is standing right there in the crowd, but our intrepid teenager has no idea which man the Baptist is talking about.

JOHN 1:29-34 - SECOND DAY: THE BAPTIST IDENTIFIES THE LAMB OF GOD.

The next day the Baptist sees the man coming and says, "BEHOLD the Lamb of God. This is the man I was talking about. He will baptize in the Holy Spirit. I saw the Spirit descend like a dove and remain on him. This is the Son of God!" 

Teenage John is an eye-witness again and describes the scene. But he takes no other action. Is he too slow on the uptake? Is Andrew not with him? We don't know, But the man continues his passage through the throng and disappears up  the path.

JOHN 1:35-42 - THIRD DAY: THE BAPTIST IDENTIFIES THE LAMB OF GOD AGAIN.

Jesus is walking, passing by without stopping. But both John and Andrew were there to hear the Baptist speak, and they immediately began following the man. The man turned and asked them, "What do you seek?" Together they said, "Teacher, where are you staying?" The man answered, "Come, and you will see."

The two followed him to where he was staying, and evidently talked with Jesus there. Andrew then went to find his brother Simon (who is nearby, evidently), saying, "We have found the Messiah!" Andrew brought Simon to Jesus and Jesus gave him a new name, Peter. ('Peter' is Greek, 'Cephas' is Aramaic.) It was about 4pm, so they stayed with Jesus that night. Was Simon Peter's wife also with them? We don't know, but it is quite possible that even if she were, the Gospel-writer would not have mentioned her. First century customs were all about the men, and the women often got little notice.

And what about John's older brother "Big" James? If he were there, wouldn't John the Gospel-writer have mentioned him? Or, contrary-wise, perhaps there was bad feelings between the brothers? We can't make too much of this, because even though John's Gospel mentions "The Twelve" four times, he only mentions 7 out of the 12 apostles by name, not including his brother. It seems John's Gospel only mentions a name if John has a specific incident attributed to that name. See "Judas (not Iscariot)" for example, at John 14:22. 

JOHN 1:43-51 - FOURTH DAY: TWO MORE DISCIPLES, DEPARTURE FOR CANA.

Jesus "finds Philip," an acquaintance of John, and says "Follow Me." John and Philip both live in Bethsaida. Then Philip "found Nathanael." Nathanael is from Cana, miles to the west of the Sea of Galilee. Philip told Nathanael they had found the man forecast by the prophet, and brought him to Jesus. Jesus and Nathanael have an interesting conversation, which will be the subject of a coming blog post. Then Jesus with his retinue of Andrew, John, Simon Peter, Philip, and Nathanael depart for Cana, where they have been invited to a wedding, where Jesus' mother will be assisting (still another coming blog post).

JOHN 2:1 - THE SIXTH DAY: JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS ARRIVE IN CANA.

Stay tuned: Lots of fascinating human-interest stuff goes on in Cana.

Digging Ditches

Jesus Prepares for His Ministry

Continuing Jesus' story from his aspect as fully man.

Digging Ditches: (2 Kings 3:16)

When three kings of Palestine were headed out to war, they ran out of water. They asked Elisha what to do, and he consulted God, who said, "Make this valley full of ditches. You won't see wind or rain, but this valley will be filled with water." And so it  was. The three kings had thought they were ready for war, but they had forgotten to consult God the Father. They were not yet prepared.

So, what does this have to do with Jesus, in the late winter of AD 27?

Jesus at 30 sensed that his time to serve was at hand, so he went to the Jordan where the Baptist was preaching that God's time was at hand. He got baptized and heard from the Father: "You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased."

But Jesus was not yet prepared to engage in his ministry, for he had to go into the desert to face down Satan's attempts to throw him off track. Jesus stood on the Word of scripture and vanquished the devil, and angels came to minister to him.

But he still wasn't prepared. He needed to dig some ditches  and let God fill them.

Digging Ditches: (John 1:29, 35-36)

It's late winter of AD 27 and Jesus is back from the desert. He doesn't have anyone following him, and he doesn't seem to have any disciples. It should be time for him to start his ministry. What should he do? How does he gather followers or disciples?

PLAN A: The Baptist has been gathering crowds, and has a few disciples. Maybe Jesus should copy the Baptist. Some commentaries have suggested that Jesus was indeed a  disciple of the Baptist, in part because his first known sermons repeated one of the Baptist's mantras: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15). But aside from his baptism and a brief interlude after Jesus' time in the desert, there's no other indication to support this.

Copy the Baptist? No, the Baptist is already doing a good job of stirring up the hopes of the people. There is no need for a second Baptist copying the first. Copycats don't make good mega-leaders.

PLAN B: Preach a prosperity gospel. Everyone wants to be prosperous, right? This should bring the people in. Break out the bread, so that everyone can eat! But wait. He already had a conversation with Satan about that. Scripture says that mankind does not live by bread, but by every word from the mouth of God.

PLAN C: Do a spectacular miracle, that will amaze everyone by his power! That will bring them in. Throw yourself from the pinnacle of the temple, so every one can see the angels holding you up! Oh wait. Satan and Jesus already discussed that. It was no good doing God-tricks, that was not allowed.

PLAN D: Work the politics. Partner up with the rich movers and shakers, and get the kings of the earth on your side. There's great power in politics. But uh-oh. Where does that power come from? Right. Directly from Satan, the chief of the powers of the air and the politics of the lands. So what's left?

PLAN E: Disciples. Jesus has already accepted that he's not going to be around for more than a few years. He's going to return to the Father and needs disciples to carry on his work. But if he's thrown out plans A through D, how does he gather disciples? I mean, this movement is going to change the  world. He needs a committed core group and an inspired army of disciples. Who can bring him this?

Ditches. That's it. Just like Elisha advised the three kings. Plow the fields of people and let God bring the disciples. So that's where  we find Jesus: walking purposely back and forth in the vicinity of the Baptist's ministry, connecting with people and waiting for something to happen.

The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"

God is about to make his move. The Holy Spirit is about to do something. Jesus' active ministry is about to be born. His 'ditches' will be filled with disciples.

Son of God: Charcoal Pencil Drawing by Marina Petry

Desert Distress

Jesus and his Destiny

Jesus consented to be baptized by John, so that everything would be done rightly. Then the Holy Spirit descended upon him and a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

So he is confirmed as God's  Son, the Messiah who was predicted! It's time for him now to forsake his career as a carpenter, and take up the role of prophet, for John the Baptist had prepared the way. BUT one more thing must happen, before Jesus begins to preach. What is it?

My thesis is that Jesus, as fully man, learned things the way we learn them: that is, the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. Jesus knew the scriptures, which said that the Messiah was destined to be scorned, beaten, and cruelly murdered by hanging on a cross. But now he had to deal with that fully, accepting those horrid facts into his life as a physical reality. We know that Jesus struggled with this to the very end, praying "Father, if at all possible, take this from me. But not as I want it, but as you want it." This could only be dealt with alone, in the desert, where he was driven by the Spirit.

Driven by the Holy Spirit

As Jesus wandered in the desert, he was led around by the Holy Spirit.

Alone with the Wild Beasts

Only Mark's Gospel mentions Jesus being with the wild beasts. Thus Mark confirms the scripture: "The wild beasts will honor me: The jackals and the ostrich."

Prayer, Fasting, and Hunger

As a middle-class carpenter, it is unlikely that Jesus had dealt with near-starvation before. The number of completion is 40, but before Jesus had completed his 40 days of fasting, he knew what starvation felt like. It even may have affected his mind, so that the very rocks would begin to look like bread. But he is here to resolve what his life holds for him, and what he is called to say to the people of Israel.

Satan Speaks

In the stillness of the desert, Jesus could hear the devil speaking: "You don't have to wait for a time of completion. You can have something to eat right now. You can turn these stones into bread. Go ahead, you can do it! If you are really the Son of God, you have  the power."

Tempting, right?  But something was wrong. If the Holy Spirit sent him out here, it was for a reason, and the reason was probably not to feast on whatever succulent food he could find--or conjure--out here. Besides, what was really keeping  him alive out  here? Something to eat? Or his Father in heaven?

Jesus reached deep into scripture and answered Satan, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

The Pinnacle of the Temple

But Jesus' mind leapt ahead to his coming ministry. John the Baptist had made his mark, Baptizing by the Jordan. Everyone knew about him. But who ever heard of Jesus? He's just a carpenter, and the son of a carpenter. How will people get to know him? Why would they come out into the desert to hear a carpenter speak, a carpenter who had  never done anything amazing? How would they know that Jesus is the Son of God?

Satan had an answer for him. He took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and said to him, "If you are really the Son of God, then just throw yourself down from here. For in Scripture it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you that On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

So now the devil was throwing the words of Scripture at Jesus, showing him how he could become well known. But Jesus had a few words to throw back: "On the other hand, in Scripture it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

(In Luke's Gospel, he places this incident second, but he connects the three incidents with "and..." ..."and..."  Matthew's Gospel is more specific: he introduces this incident with "Then..." and introduces the final incident with "Again, ..."  Matthew has specified for us what the correct order was for the three temptations by Satan.)

The Kingdoms of the World

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But Satan is not done yet. Was Jesus troubled about the prospect of being tortured  and nailed to the cross? You bet he was. So the devil threw his best shot, showing  Jesus how he could avoid all that pain.

Satan took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to Jesus, "All these domains and the glory that  you see I will give to you, for it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I wish. So if you worship before me, it shall all be yours."

Jesus had a ready answer for the devil's wiles: "Leave me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only!"  So Satan departed, biding his time for the next opportunity he would have to tempt Jesus.

Angels Came to Minister

Jesus passed the test. In fact, he passed all three tests. Angels came and ministered to him, until it was such time that he would begin to reveal himself to the world. 

What Career for Jesus?

Rich man, Poor man, Beggar man, Thief?

Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief?

 

The text above is a children's fortune-telling game: that is,

"What will you be when you grow up?"

The old English version of it  was:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor,

Rich Man, Poor man, Beggar Man, Thief.

But Jesus' version of it might be:
Carpenter, Farmer, Rabbi, Sheep?

Jesus' earthly father was a carpenter. But Joseph was already middle-aged when Jesus was born, and by the time Jesus reached 30, Joseph had passed away, to all appearances. At 30 years old, Jesus would be at least a journeyman carpenter, and perhaps a master carpenter. The Romans were busy building new Greek-style cities. One of them--Sepphoris--was only 4 miles from Nazareth. There would be plenty of work for a carpenter.

Or should he be a farmer? The family of Joseph owned 30 acres of farmland outside Nazareth, that had been handed down from generation to generation. But Jesus would have to share that with at least some of his step-brothers. And dry farming was a hard life, especially when the early rains or the latter rains were inadequate. History tells us that the grandsons of Jude--Jesus' youngest step-brother-- were still farming this piece of land at the end of the first century AD.

Or how about Rabbi, or Scribe? Jesus showed his intense interest in the scriptures as early as twelve years old. He enjoyed discussing scripture with other learned men. Maybe that's what he's been called to do? His oldest stepbrother, James, was already gaining a reputation as a man who knew how to apply the scriptures to real life situations.

And what about being a shepherd? As a child, surely Jesus spent some time helping the local shepherds watch their sheep. It was a simple life, with plenty of time alone and plenty of time outdoors.

Decisions, Decisions.

But Jesus couldn't just choose anything that appealed to him.

He had a history to deal with.

He was conceived under some very strange circumstances, that had to be answered to. And when he was born, an angel had appeared by night to shepherds in the fields, telling them that a Savior, "Christ the Lord," would be found in Bethlehem, lying in a manger. Then Simeon, a prophet in the Temple, said that the infant Jesus would be "A Light of Revelation to the Nations," and another prophet, Anna, spread the word about this infant.

Not only that, but a group of learned men who studied the stars travelled from far away to kneel at the foot of Jesus' bed, proclaiming Jesus as King of the Jews and giving him precious gifts. 

King of the Jews? He was going to be King of the Jews? So far he was only king of the desert. "Light of Revelation to the Nations?" Was he supposed to call down fire from the sky, like the prophet Elijah?

And then there was the word that he gave to his parents when he was twelve, that he had to be "In my Father" (Luke 2:49). (Note: Some translations will say, "In my Father's house," and others "About my Father's business." Both are good guesses, but wrong. The boy Jesus said, "In my Father.")

"In my Father?" His parents had not understood that. But later he told his  disciples what it meant. Jesus said of his heavenly parent, "I am in my Father and my Father is in Me. If you have seen me, then you have seen the Father."

So that was his new career. But how to get there?

Something else had to happen first.

Jesus' Crazy Cousin

Maybe the answer lay in what Jesus' crazy cousin was doing. "John the Baptist," they were calling him. Jesus likely hadn't seen him since they were kids. John's elderly parents had passed away and John had fled into the wilderness. Some said that he had joined the crazy Essenes at the village of Qumran.

But now it looks like the Essenes had kicked John out because he was just too crazy. He was preaching stuff in the wilderness such as "The Kingdom of Heaven is near! Repent, and believe in the Good News!" And what could he be eating out there all by himself? Bugs?

But John "the Baptist" also had a history to answer to. When he was born, his father Zacharias (Jesus' uncle) had prophesied that his son John would be called the Prophet of the Most High, and that he would clear the way for the Lord--that is, the Messiah--to appear before the people of Israel (Malachi 3:1).

So Jesus goes to look him up in the desert. He wasn't hard to find: people from across Judea and Galilee were streaming to him to be baptized in the Jordan river. But John was intimidated. "Jesus, you're the chosen one! I can't baptize you! You should be baptizing me!"

But Jesus saw that John was the gateway to the beginning of his ministry of hope for the people of Israel. He said, "No, John, let this happen, so that all that is right can be fulfilled." And John relents, leading him into the Jordan to be baptized. 

Jesus Gets Baptized

It turns out that John wasn't so lonely out there by the Jordan as we imagined. Among those that came to be baptized, a few men stayed around to help him baptize and  listen to his teachings, and become his disciples. And besides the bugs and wild honey, it is certain that some of those that were baptized also brought food to honor this new prophet.

As Jesus requested, and as he expected, John baptized Jesus in the waters of the River Jordan. That would seem to satisfy Jesus' change in vocation from carpenter to prophet, but God had more up his sleeve for Jesus, that would surprise everyone.

Splitting the Sky

When Jesus came up out of the waters and was praying, an amazing sight appeared: the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the bodily form of a dove. And a voice came from heaven, saying to Jesus, "You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased."

The crowd might have thought they heard thunder, But both Jesus and John saw the Spirit resting on Jesus and heard the voice from the sky. John would later tell his disciples, "There he is! There's the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!"

But yet more must come to pass before Jesus will begin to take up his role as Prophet and Savior.

Check this space next week to find out just what that was.

A Juvenile Delinquent God

What?

Yes. Jesus of Nazareth. He is not yet "Jesus the Christ" (Christ = "The Anointed One") because at twelve years old he has yet to be anointed. That will happen 20 years later, when he meets John the Baptist in the wilderness down by the Jordan.

But, according to our Christian Belief, he is already "fully man" and "fully God." Fully God means Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. He can do anything, he knows everything, and he is present everywhere. But according to Paul, he has set aside divine attributes, or at least some of them (Philippians 2:7). 

Omniscient? Then why did he ask for the name of the multiple demons controlling a man from the tombs near the sea of Galilee? Omnipotent? Mark says that he "could do no miracle" in Nazareth, except to lay his hands on a few people and heal them. Omnipresent? Jesus seemed to  get to places the old-fashioned way: he walked there. "Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not  have died."

So what about those times that he seems to  have God-like powers?

I believe that Jesus retained the same powers that you and I have as Christians. That is, we are guided by the Holy Spirit and empowered by our faith. When the woman at the well said, "I have no husband," the Holy Spirit revealed to Jesus the full, painful, sordid story of her life with multiple husbands--something that he could not have known without it being revealed to him. When Jesus healed the man born blind, he was doing the very thing, according to him, that you and I could do if we had but a mustard seed of faith. And I can't recall an instance where Jesus was located somewhere other than where his physical body was, except possibly the time that Satan, of all people, took him from the desert to the temple, and then to a very high mountain (Matthew 4:5,8).

So. Back to the 12-year-old Jesus of Nazareth. (He didn't spend enough time in his birth city to become known as "Jesus of Bethlehem.") Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem WITHOUT TELLING  HIS PARENTS what he was going to do. His mother loved him deeply, and his earthly father protected him faithfully, so how could it be that he would not have known that his absence would give them great anxiety?

"Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father?" What a lame excuse. He has clearly not let his parents know this. There is no excuse for him not letting his parents know what he was planning to do--or perhaps, what he decided to do at the moment. Our Lord and Savior is behaving as a  Juvenile Delinquent.

But his mother's complaint shocked him back to reality. "Why have you treated us this way? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for  you!"

Jesus had made a mistake. Jesus did indeed "have to be in his Father," but the time for that to be fulfilled had not reached its completion. The present time called for him to be obedient to his parents, and to grow in stature and in wisdom. He immediately reformed his behavior, and continued from that time to be in subjection to his parents. "There is an appointed time for everything, and there is a time for every event under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Jesus learned this lesson well.  We find an echo of this lesson at John 2 verse 4: "What does their lack of wine have  to do with you and I? My time has not yet come."

So Yes, for a brief time, Jesus was a juvenile delinquent. Once confronted with reality, he became a reformed Juvenile delinquent.

My Lord and Savior, a reformed juvenile delinquent, is the Light of my life and Lord over all that I do. Amen. So be it.