v. 17: We also agree with Theobald that the parallelism of verse 17a – “through Moses” – and verse 17b – “through Jesus Christ” (cf. John 17:3; 20:3147) is not to be understood as an “antithesis”48 (“aut – aut” – either-or) of “Law”49/“Torah” (vv. 17a, 45c) – the first part of the Hebrew Bible, the so-called “TaNaK”: the Torah, the prophets (nebiim), the writings (ketubim) – versus “grace and truth”50 (cf. Exodus 34:6; Psalm 25:10; 40:11; 85:11 [LXX]; Romans 5:21), but rather it is to be read in the positive sense of “et – et” (cf. Matthew 5:17–18; 7:12) that means both – “Law”/“Torah” & “grace and truth” – complement one another.
v. 18: The Johannine Prologue concludes with the theological statement that the pre-existent “Jesus Christ” (v. 17b) and the incarnate “Son of God” (cf. 14a, d) had only “(seen)” (in Greek “horáo”) “God ( ), the only God” (cf. Exodus 33:20 and John 3:32; 5:37; 6:46; 12:45; 14:9; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 John 4:12). This One is like an “exegete”51 (v. 18c) who could explain, interpret God and report about Him because of His (mutual) relationship with His divine “FATHER”. The believers in “Jesus Christ” (v. 17b) and “children of God” (v. 12c) are the receivers of His “explanation”, “interpretation” of the monotheistic God respectively His “report” about Him.
2. First Part of the Fourth Gospel: “Book of Sign” as Jesus’ Public Ministry/Self-Revelation in the World (1:19–12:50)
2.1 Christological Basic Chapter (vv. 19–51)
2.1.1 “First Day”52: The Identity and Authority of John the Baptist – His Mission Declaration to the Jewish Authority of Jerusalem (vv. 19–2853)
Where: the river Jordan near Bethany54 near Jericho and Qumran (v. 28)
Who: John the Baptist (cf. vv. 6, 19a) as an individual versus the group of the Jewish delegation – probably the Temple “police”55 – from Jerusalem (v. 19b) who was composed of priests56, Levites57 (v. 19b), Pharisees58 (v. 24)
A delegation “from Jerusalem” (v. 19b) on behalf of the authority in Jerusalem questioned (cf. vv. 19e, 21b–c, f; 22b–d; 25b–d) “John the Baptist” who clearly answered them in the form of three59 negative (cf. vv. 20d, 21e, h) and two positive sayings (note v. 23b–c as a quotation of the prophet Isaiah 40:3 [LXX] and vv. 26b–27c).
- The Identity of John the Baptist (vv. 19–23)
v. 19: Two comments of the Evangelist John in verses 19 and 28 come before and after the juristic hearing (cf. John 9:13–34; 10:22–30; 18:19–24, 28–19:16b) between the Jewish Temple authorities and John the Baptist. Verse 19 is the setting of the actors of the interview (cf. vv. 19–28) in the view of the judicial inquiry whether the public ministry of John the Baptist on behalf of God was allowed according the Law of Moses (cf. Leviticus 24:10–16, 23; Numbers 15:30; Deuteronomy 18:15–20): John the Baptist and the delegation of priests, Levites (cf. v. 19b), and Pharisees (cf. v. 24) as the Jewish Temple-“police” “from Jerusalem”.
Verse 28 located the place of this event. For the sake of the Law and inner peace (cf. John 11:47–53; 18:1–19:16), they tested John the Baptist whether he was authorized to preach the baptism of the repentance (cf. vv. 23, 26, 28). The first part of the interview is that they asked60 him who called to account like a policeman for his identity on behalf of the Jewish authority61 in Jerusalem (cf. vv. 21–22):
“Who are you?” (cf. v. 22b and John 8:25; 12:34; 21:12 – cf. 19:9) – note the Greek interrogative pronouns “tís” (= who) in verses 19d, 22b and “tí” (= what) in verse 21b.
v. 20: John the Baptist clearly gave them an account. So he did not deny his special prophetic ministry, in contrast to Peter (cf. 13:38; 18:25, 27: “arnéomaɩ”) and “confessed” – note the Greek verbum compositum “homo-logéo” in John 9:22; 12:42 and 1 John 1:9; 2:23; 4:2–3, 15; 2 John 7), in a negative way: “I am not62 Christ” (Greek)/the “Messiah” (Hebrew) – cf. vv. 17b, 20c, 25c, 41b and especially John 20:3163.
v. 21: Second, the delegation “from Jerusalem” (v. 19b) also asked him two questions which are like the first question of their interview in verse 19d:
“What (are you) now?” and the second one is a specifically refers to the prophet Elijah –
“Are you Elijah?” (in Greek “Elías” in vv. 21c, 25d and in Mark 6:15; 8:28; 9:4–5, 11–13; 15:35–36; Matthew 11:14; 16:14; 17:3–4, 10–12; 27:47, 49; Luke 1:17; 4:25–26; 9:8, 19, 30, 33).
Again He said “NO” that he is not the “prophet”64 (cf. vv. 21e, 23d, 25d; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18), the “new prophet Elijah”65 (cf. v. 25 and Malachi 3:1, 23).
v. 22: Thirdly, they asked him in the context of their interview again:
“Who are you”? – note the question in verse 19d.
Then the delegation “from Jerusalem” – probably including some Pharisees66 – explained to him why they had to ask him. They requested him to answer them with his own statement of his identity.
v. 23: He answered their question with the help of the quotation from Isaiah67 40:368. “Desert”69 is the place of John the Baptist’s ministry – Bethany (cf. John 1:28) and/or “Aenon” near “Salim” (3:23) – from his youth (cf. Luke 1:80). He had his own disciples70. He preached and called for the conversion or a renewal of life(-style) by a ritual washing in the Jordan as a visible sign of this, in combination with the public confession and the forgiveness of sins. His aim is to be the (eschatological) messianic “preacher of repentance”71. John the Baptist never tires of talking about [the Coming of] Christ and of preparing the Day of the Lord as well as the people to accept Jesus as the “Christ” and “God’s Son”. So his self-assessment is to be the “messenger” of [the Coming of] Christ as a precursor on earth. For this, the Evangelist John rereads and quotes the text of the Hebrew Bible – our so-called Old Testament – Isaiah 40:372 as a fulfilled prophetic promise and prediction of the relationship between the “precursor”, John the Baptist and the “redeemer”, Jesus of Nazareth.
John the Baptist is the one who preceded the Lord, prepared His way, and pointed to Jesus as the Messiah – note the right side of the pictures of the so-called “Isenheimer Altar” by the painter Matthias Grünewald between 1506 and 1515 B.C.: Jesus said about Himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). His chief interest was the revelation of Jesus’ identity – “the Lamb of God” (v. 29). In this way, he is a model of total witness to Christ (cf. vv. 6–8). The sense of the quotation is also that people should give up their selfish way of living, renounce and repent their sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and establish a good relationship with God. They, then in John’s time, and we, today, have to be ready for the Second Coming of Christ.
+ The Authority of John the Baptist (vv. 24–27)
v. 24: The job of the Pharisees was to test all people who were neither from the priestly class nor qualified in the Law,