John 1:29-42

Summary of the Text

Our lectionary text can be fairly easily broken into two major sections, with verses 29-34 concerned with John the Baptist testifying to Jesus’ ministry and verses 35-42 dealing with some of John’s disciples choosing to now follow Jesus. We’ll deal chronologically with each section.

John Validates Jesus’ Ministry (vs 29-34)

While it might be quite common for us to hear these words, especially John’s pronouncement of Jesus as the Lamb of God (especially for those who have grown up in high liturgical traditions, where this line is often sung as a refrain during worship services), it probably would have sounded quite strange to John’s first hearers.

Or, at the very least, quite bold. What…