Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, January 5, 2014 Read John 1:19-51 Before we examine this section of John’s gospel more closely it is important that we view the story as a whole. The narrative is about the witness of John the Baptist, which was briefly introduced in John’s Prologue, and the formation of the first contingent of disciples who followed Jesus. These two parts of the story are closely connected with one another which is why we need to take a look at the broad picture painted by John. John the Baptist, as we have noted earlier, functions as the first of many witnesses to Jesus and it is from the fold of John the Baptist’s disciples that the first disciples of Jesus come. The witness of John the Baptist and the formation of the first contingent of Jesus’ disciples are intimately connected by John. Mark also tells us about John the Baptist; however, Mark’s material is much more concise. For Mark, John the Baptist is not a witness but the forerunner to Jesus – what happens to John the Baptist will happen to Jesus. Luke and Matthew add considerably more material about John the Baptist to their gospel accounts which otherwise follow Mark’s narrative. In Luke’s and Matthew’s additional material John is portrayed as a prophet proclaiming the judgment of God. When we compare all of these presentations of John the Baptist we discover that they have a good deal in common but that they also differ in emphasis. John presents more material about John the Baptist than any of the others. We will meet John the Baptist again later in John’s narrative. For the most part, in the synoptic gospels John the Baptist appears in the beginning of the narrative and functions there as the forerunner and is removed from the scene before Jesus begins his ministry. When John the Baptist is mentioned later in the synoptic gospels it is only in reference to what happened prior to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Though the death of John the Baptist is told later in the story, John the Baptist really has no role to play beyond the role of the one who prepares the way. In John’s gospel the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus run concurrently with one another and there are hints that they were at least somewhat in competition with one another – though that is not John the Baptist’s conviction. The point is that John the Baptist plays a more significant and somewhat different part in John’s gospel. We will look more closely at the story in the coming days.