Background and context 3 & Bible Reading John 1

John 1: 19-34

John the Baptist’s Testimony to Himself. And this is the testimony of John. When Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites [to him] to ask him, “Who are you?” he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”

((This passage means that John the Baptist admitted being someone on a divine mission, but he admitted that he was not the actual Messiah.))

So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” He said:

“I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert,
“Make straight the way of the Lord.”’
As Isaiah the prophet said.”

((Notice that John the Baptist replies by quoting from the Book of Isaiah. A true prophet always quotes God or the prior servants of God; he or she does not make up new doctrine.))

((Isaiah 40: 3-5. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all mankind shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.))

((See, John the Baptist’s glory is that he did not claim a mission or an identity that was not his. His glory is that he recognized his right to cite the words of Isaiah, who had come before him. Rather than carving out a role for himself, John the Baptist’s glory was that he knew he was there to proclaim what Isaiah had foreseen.))

Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'"

((By this John the Baptist is confessing that Jesus lived before him in the sense of either the literal continuity of Elijah or in the eternal being of God’s intention to send the Messiah. In other words, Jesus is already ‘alive’ from the first moment of God’s intention to create and send him.))

John testified further, saying “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

((This is crucial testimony by John the Baptist, and while it is well known, there is a vital informative piece of this testimony that most people totally miss, for some reason. Everyone knows, and has seen in art work, the event where the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus when John the Baptist baptized Jesus. But what everyone misses is that God had instructed John the Baptist to watch not only for the one upon whom the Holy Spirit descended, but the one where the Holy Spirit REMAINED. The Holy Spirit remained on and within Jesus from that point forward. Jesus was born “of” the Holy Spirit, and of course was filled with the Spirit from infancy. But this is the public declaration of God that Jesus is his Son, and God is calling Jesus his Son not because of a genetic, clan or biological symbolism, which is what causes question among Muslims about how God would have a “son,” but God is calling Jesus his Son because from that point of baptism the actual Holy Spirit of God is “remaining” upon and within Jesus. THAT is the “how did he do it” explanation and testimony about the mystery of God’s relationship as Father to Jesus as Son. God is the Father because at the time of baptism he sent his Holy Spirit to “remain” with Jesus. This is why it is crucial to understand the fullness of this event.

Much of the strong language in the Qur’an is a result of people not understanding this passage or, rather, their not even being properly informed. As I said, many argued for centuries within the Christian Church trying to understand Jesus’ “true nature,” rather than having the serenity and faith in mind that comes from trusting and believing in God. This is why I was moved to cite and comment on this passage in today’s background and context Bible reading. People knocked their brains against the wall trying to figure out the “nature” of Jesus, yet God has explained the simplicity of it all along. Jesus was born “of the Holy Spirit” from the immaculate Virgin Mary. Thus Jesus had his human nature directly from Mary, and was born at the behest, will and mercy of God through the Holy Spirit. But Jesus gained his right to be called the “Son of God,” and to call God the Father, when God sent the Holy Spirit “upon” him at baptism but also to REMAIN with him. The Holy Spirit remaining upon Jesus as he entered and conducted his public ministry is not only the granting of the power to perform miracles, but also the “letter of authorization,” in a sense, for the only son to conduct the business of the Father. This is why no one need to be alarmed that acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God by any means implies a sharing of god-ship with God himself. When Jesus said that people are speaking to God, and looking upon him, through him, this is exactly what he meant, that the Holy Spirit that God sent has “remained” with him.

This is, obviously, one of the greatest mysteries of God, but it by no means as difficult, gimmicky or mysterious, or as complicated as humans have endeavored to make it, to their loss. So this is another piece of the puzzle about why God, through Gabriel, to the Prophet, “sounds” so “frustrated” by the misidentification problem of Jesus. God had made it clear that Jesus was not the son in the way that humans mean it, either as human genetics and biology that is traced via some sort of supernatural manipulation back to God, or a splitting of the functionality or actual being of God himself. Humans have swung wildly and incorrectly among all the extremes of “theory” about Jesus. They have thus managed to exaggerate and be plain wrong, instead of actually reading what God said. The Arabs who gained the Qur’an through the Prophet (PBUH) naturally had even less chance of reading, discerning and comprehending the nuance of “how” and “why” God made Jesus his Son since few people at that time had access to the written Gospels and obviously, Christians had reading and discernment problems of their own. God, in his wisdom, knew that the view of Jesus as Son would be a great stumbling block among Muslims due to their cultural emphasis upon the structure of the biological family. Therefore God did not push the point. God, however, through Gabriel, shared with the Muslims a beautiful love for the biological Son of Man, Jesus born of Mary of the House of David, and also his admitted virgin birth by Mary from the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and the accompanying will of God that he perform miracles and be the Messiah.))

There is so much more that I can write to illuminate this point, using analogies and other scripture, and citations from the Qur’an, but the important point has been made and the most fruitful progress will be from my dear readers to ponder this and think through the implications of its new clarity. I hope that you find this helpful.

By the way, I don't know how many Christians realize that the head of John the Baptist is a holy relic in the Grand Mosque of Damascus, Syria. Both Muslims and Christians revere his memory, and Pope John Paul II became the first Pope to visit a mosque in 2001 when he visited that mosque in particular. A description of the mosque is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Mosque