Extra thoughts on John - 1:35-51

Nearly every week there is a decent amount of material left on the cutting room floor in regard to that week’s message. As I work through John’s Gospel there may be times like this week when there is something that is helpful and good information to have, but it doesn’t really fit in the message.

So this may be the first of a number of posts that fall into this category. As you read John 1:35-51 and you see the call of the disciples, if you are familiar with Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) you may have a little bit of a question. How are these disciples following Jesus seemingly so much earlier in John than in the other three Gospels? And how are there such strong statements about Christ’s identity?

I don’t believe this section in John is a contradiction nor should it cause us to question the veracity of John’s Gospel. Two thoughts (gleaned a bit D.A. Carson). First, there is no denial here of possible earlier encounters between Jesus and the new disciples. The focus in this text is on the critical and final moments in the move to becoming disciples of Jesus. And second, in regard to the strong statements, if the disciples of John had no conception of Jesus why would they leave John to follow him?

Hopefully this little snippet is helpful. If you have other questions about it, feel free to comment or talk to me at church.