The first two roles Bennema points out above, the baptizer and the herald, are related with John’s connection to the Old Testament. Kanagaraj (2005, 46), who sees John as more ‘God’s ambassador’ than simply ‘the son of Zechariah’, says that ‘[John] is in the same league as the OT prophets... whom God called and commissioned’. Westcott (1908, 19) says that ‘[t]he conjunction [Καὶ in verse 14] carries the reader back to v. 1, with which this verse is closely connected by this repetition of the title ὁ λόγος’, thus the episode between creation and incarnation is ‘in one sense parenthetical’. The insertion of John’s first introduction in the midst of the grand narrative between Creation and Incarnation supports John’s connection to the Old Testament. Phillips (2006, 175) points out that ‘it is clear that the Jewish Scriptures do provide a conceptual backdrop to much of what is going on in the text [John’s first introduction]’.
John identifies himself neither with Christ nor with any particular prophet (cf 1:20-21) but identifies himself with the role of prophets, in the words of the prophet Isaiah: ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord”’ (1:23). Myers (2015, 139) suggests that by ‘[b]lending John’s ministry with that of Isaiah, the narrator continues building the argument begun in the prologue that Jesus is at the heart of Israel’s sacred scriptural story’. The identification of John with the role of prophets shows that John is different from other prophets. The citation of the Fourth Gospel differs from that of the Synoptics. All three Synoptic Gospels quote the passage from Isaiah as follows: ‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him”’ (Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4). The Fourth Gospel shortens it slightly by changing the word ‘prepare’ (ἑτοιμάσατε) to ‘make straight’ (εὐθύνατε). The Fourth Gospel is not just abbreviating the longer version, but as Dodd (1963a, 252) notes, there is ‘cumulative evidence’ that the Fourth Evangelist is ‘not dependent on the other gospels for the choice or wording of the passage adduced’. Carson (1991, 144) explains how the verse shows a new meaning as follows:
In the original context, the Old Testament prophet is calling for a (metaphorical) improvement in the road system of the desert to the east, a levelling of hills and valleys and a straightening of the curves, to accommodate the return of the covenant people from exile. But even in Isaiah, the end of the exile begins to serve as a model, a literary ‘type’, of the final return to the Lord far greater than a return to geographical Jerusalem... It is this ‘typological’ connection, already established in the book of Isaiah, that the New Testament writers take up and understand to be fulfilled in the voice of John the Baptist, who cried in the desert, preparing the way for the Lord, and thereby announcing the coming of Jesus Messiah.
John came for the Messiah to be revealed to Israel (cf 1:31). This is more like the role of a forerunner. The prophets in the Old Testament were sent for people to come to God, but John came to prepare for the Lord to come to Israel. Brown (1966, 50) says that ‘John the Baptist is to prepare a road, not for God’s people to return to the promised land, but for God to come to His people’.
John as a forerunner provides significant meanings for the mission of Jesus within the Gospel.
First, the fact that God sent John for Israel ahead of Jesus shows God’s desire for Israel to be recovered. John says, ‘the reason I came baptizing with water was that he [Jesus] might be revealed to Israel’ (1:31). The Evangelist uses the word Israel only four times in the Gospel referring to the whole nation in contrast to the title the Jews, which refers to the Jewish leaders and ‘the Law-centred’ Jews in most usages. In Jesus’ mission and the forming of a new community, the recovery and participation of Israel are crucial even though it is not limited to the nation. Jesus says, ‘salvation is from the Jews’ (4:22). The Evangelist introduces many Jews who believe in Jesus. Not only the disciples of Jesus, ‘the Twelve’, but also other Jews came to believe in Jesus. For instance, the Evangelist describes the progressive change of Nicodemus, ‘a member of the Jewish ruling council’, through three appearances in the Gospel (3:1-21; 7:50-52; 19:39-42). Even though the overall assessment of the Evangelist regarding Jesus’ encounters with the Jews in the first half of the Gospel (2:13-12:50) is not positive (cf 12:37), he points out that ‘at the time many even among the leaders [of the Jews] believed in him [Jesus]’ (12:42). There is no evidence revealing how the ministry of John influences the Jews directly to believe in Jesus. However, it is certain that John’s appearance and his testifying about Jesus call the Jews’ attention to the Messiah. The fact that the Jewish leaders sent a delegation to ask John whether he is the Messiah proves such an atmosphere.
Secondly, John as a forerunner prepares what Jesus will accomplish in the world, the forming of a discipleship community. John testifies regarding Jesus not only to Israel (1:29-34)37 but also to his own disciples. By introducing Jesus to his own
disciples, John takes on a significant role. Two disciples of John leave their own master to follow Jesus, eventually becoming his disciples. This connecting role is a highlight of John’s ministry as a forerunner. It shows a glimpse of transition, from pre-Christ to post-Christ. John represents the voice in pre-Christ, sent from God ahead of Jesus,
37 It does not mention to whom John is testifying, but I assume that he is testifying to the Israelites based
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while the disciples represent the voice in post-Christ, sent from the Son after his resurrection. The fact that God sent John is not the object of John’s testimony, but the sending of Jesus by the Father is the very object of Jesus’ testimony. According to BDAG (756), ‘John the Baptist was not, like Jesus, sent out from the very presence of God, but one whose coming was brought about by God’. The sending of the disciples by Jesus will be a continuation of the sending of Jesus: ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’ (20:21). In that sense, the testimony of the disciples regarding Jesus is different from that of John.
By recognizing the incarnate Word when he comes into the world and by testifying about him to Israel, John fulfils his mission as a forerunner. He becomes a bridge between Jesus and Israel and between Jesus and the new discipleship community, at least for two of them. Of course, the disciples are also expected to testify of the Messiah, but the direction and meaning of their testifying are different from the testifying of John. John is supposed to testify of the Messiah before he achieves what is written in the Hebrew Bible, while the disciples are expected to testify to the world about what is achieved. What Jesus describes about John might be understood in this respect: ‘among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he’ (Matt 11:11; cf Luke 7:28). John is fulfilling the mandate of the chosen people by pointing out the incarnate Word—that he is the prophesied one and the Messiah for whom Israel has been waiting. John also lays a foundation for the new discipleship community by introducing his own disciples to Jesus.
In one sense, the first chapter of the Gospel ends with the formation of Jesus’ discipleship community out of those Israelites. John is not representing a true Christian but is a stepping stone for the true Christian community. He knew his identity and mission. Dodd (1963a, 290) points out as follows:
John the Baptist not only proclaimed the approaching advent of the Messiah, but also declared that he was at that moment present unknown, and might any day be identified. If this was his message, and not simply one more repetition of the age-long promise that the Messiah would appear in the future, even in the near future, it would go far to account for the immense stir which his preaching evidently caused.