John 1:19-40
New Catholic Bible
Jesus Is the Expected Messiah[a]
19 John the Baptist Is Not the Messiah.[b] This is the testimony offered by John when the Jews[c] sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”[d] 21 Then they asked him, “Who then are you? Are you Elijah?”[e] He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22 Therefore, they said to him, “Who are you, so we may have an answer to give to those who sent us? What do you have to say about yourself?” 23 He replied, in the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ ”
24 Some Pharisees were present in this group, 25 and they asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water; but among you there is one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me. I am not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandal.” 28 This took place in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 Behold, the Lamb of God, Who Takes Away the Sin of the World.[f] The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world.
30 This is the one of whom I said,
‘After me is coming one
who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
31 I myself did not know him,[g]
but the reason I came to baptize with water
was so that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 John also gave this testimony, saying,
“I saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove,
and it came to rest on him.[h]
33 I myself did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest
is the one who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit.’[i]
34 And I myself have seen and have testified
that this is the Son of God.”
35 We Have Found the Messiah.[j] The next day John was standing there with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus pass by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” 37 On hearing him say this, the two disciples began to follow Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which, translated, is “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 He answered them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him for the rest of that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.[k]
40 One of the two who had heard John speak and had followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 1:19 Right from the Prologue, Jesus Christ is present in this Gospel as the Word and the only-begotten Son of God. Jesus communicates his life to us and makes known to us his glory. We are present at a great trial. In this trial, Jesus appears as witness of the truth, he alone. John’s whole Gospel draws the reader, page after page, into this drama.
- John 1:19 At that time, there was lively expectation in Israel that the great personages of the past would reappear in order to prepare for the coming of the Messiah (in Greek: Christ) (see Deut 18:15; Sir 48:10-11; Mal 3:23).
The sudden popularity of John the Baptist alarms “the Jews,” i.e., all those who have authority. In the political circles of the priesthood, there is fear of uprisings; among the “pure,” i.e., the Pharisees, there is concern for the good observance of the practices of the Law. The response comes—public and confirmed by the prophet Isaiah (40:3): John is not the Messiah, but the Precursor who announces him. By contrast, here is a testimony to the unique role of Jesus. - John 1:19 The Jews: this phrase occurs more than 70 times in the fourth Gospel—sometimes in a favorable sense (Jn 4:20), others in a neutral sense, but most often in a pejorative sense referring to the leaders of the Jews who were hostile to Jesus (Jn 8:48, etc.). Here it means the delegation sent by the Sanhedrin to assess the activities of an unauthorized teacher.
- John 1:20 Christ: the Messiah, the anointed vicegerent of the Lord, usually regarded as the heir of David.
- John 1:21 Elijah: this prophet who had been carried away to heaven in a fiery chariot was expected to return to earth to announce the end time. The Prophet: i.e., the Prophet mentioned in Deut 18:15, 18, the one like Moses (see Acts 3:22), who was expected to be the Messiah and repeat the prodigies of the Exodus.
- John 1:29 John knows that he acts as a prophet gripped by the mission of God. And at the threshold of the Gospel, he presents the image of the lamb who will be evoked again at the end of the Passion. It is connected with the Jewish Passover and symbolizes the deliverance from Egypt (Ex 12:1-28); it also fits in with the portrait of the mysterious Servant of God, foretold by a prophet as an innocent victim led like a lamb to the slaughter, who was not only to atone for the sins of humanity but also to justify sinners (Isa 53:7, 11-12). It further recalls the great apocalyptic Lamb who would destroy evil in the world (Rev 5–7; 17:14).
- John 1:31 I myself did not know him: this may refer to the fact that John lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel (see Lk 1:80) and thus did not know Jesus very well. It may also indicate that John did not know that Jesus was the Messiah until he saw the sign mentioned in vv. 32-33.
- John 1:32 For Jesus’ Baptism, see notes on Mt 3:13-17; 3:15; 3:17.
- John 1:33 The one who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit: John baptized with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. We can see in this a reference to the sending of the Holy Spirit. In this Gospel that occurs on Easter Sunday (Jn 20:22).
- John 1:35 The movement of Jesus is separated from the movement of the Baptist. In the very first encounter, Jesus wins over Andrew, and perhaps the disciple who is not named was the beloved disciple, sufficiently interested in Andrew’s call to still remember the hour (v. 39). Jesus gives Simon a new name indicative of his future mission (see Mt 16:18); with authority he calls Philip, and he reads the heart of Nathanael. In this man so unexpected because of his lowly origin (v. 46), the disciples recognize the Messiah Israel expected. And Jesus unveils to them his mystery: Messiah of Israel, he is also the Son of Man who reunites heaven and earth in his kingdom. He is the sole mediator who gives access to the Father, as indicated in v. 51, an allusion to the dream of Jacob (see Gen 28:12).
The Gospel then offers us a meditation on the free gift and the happiness of being called by Jesus, a charter of the spiritual life. The dialogue with the first disciples lets us understand where Jesus leads those who follow him: there where he dwells at the side of the Father (see Jn 1:18). Intimacy with Christ, shared knowledge, and faith are the principal traits that describe the life of disciples. The Church must be the community where people share the certainty and the joy of having encountered Christ. - John 1:39 Four o’clock in the afternoon: literally, “the tenth hour” (from sunrise: 6:00 A.M.) in the Roman method of telling time.
