Read: John 1:29-34 NRSV
The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’
ACT I, SCENE II
Along the Jordan river, the following day. Enter JOHN THE BAPTIST and DISCIPLES from one side. Enter MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, masked.
We’ve made it this far without actually meeting Jesus. Even our first glimpse of him is from afar, maybe on the other side of the river, or shrouded behind the dust of the footpath. When the mysterious stranger finally emerges, he does so in silence. He doesn’t announce his identity to John’s disciples or even to John himself. Instead, another dramatic device is used: an oracle, or revelation. (It might even be considered an augury or reading the flights of birds to predict the future as the Spirit descends on Jesus “like a dove.”)
Oracles are used in drama to both foreshadow future events (usually with some malleability in interpretation) and to explain past events. Jesus is revealed to be the Lamb of God, the suffering servant that Isaiah writes about in his 53rd chapter. He is the answer to the prophecy from generations past. John also calls him the Son of God, a prophecy in itself that will be revealed in Jesus’ transfiguration (Matthew 17). In other words, John sees the fulfillment of one prophecy while making another to his audience. This Jesus is the representative who will take on the punishment of sin on behalf of Israel. Yet he is also the Son of God, a title with a literal meaning, the second person in the trinity, and a political meaning, as Son of God was one of Caesar’s titles.
John the Evangelist is laying the groundwork for the big reveal. The mysterious stranger, who has yet to say a word, is the King in disguise, living his early life as those around him muddle through all the clues and signs that are pointing directly at him. Now that he has arrived, let’s hear what he has to say.
Exeunt JOHN THE BAPTIST, DISCIPLES, AND MYSTERIOUS STRANGER
