John 1:19-23, Isa. 40:1-5, John 1:29-37, Rom. 5:6, John 1:35-39, John 1:43-51, John 3:1-21.

 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ ” (John 3:3, NKJV).

 No question, Jesus provided people with powerful scriptural evidence to back up the claims that He had been making about Himself, including “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).

 But there’s more: turning water into wine; feeding thousands with a few loaves of bread; healing the nobleman’s son; restoring the man at the pool of Bethesda; giving sight to the one blind from birth; raising Lazarus from the dead. The evangelist calls on a variety of events, and people—Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, male, female, rulers, commoners, educated, and uneducated—to bear witness to who Jesus is.

 John points even to the witness of the Father Himself, and to Scripture, all giving evidence of Jesus’ identity.

 This week begins with the powerful witness of John the Baptist. Other witnesses come on the stage as well: Andrew and Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael, and a most unexpected witness, the Pharisee Nicodemus. But another witness stands back in the shadows (that other disciple with Andrew, in John 1:35, 40)—John himself.

 *Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 26.

 As last week’s lesson illustrated, the Gospel of John begins with Jesus Christ, the Word, in His eternal existence before Creation. But in that same prologue, John the Baptist appears as a witness to Jesus. Some Jews in Jesus’ time expected two messiahs, one priestly and the other royal. John clearly teaches that John the Baptist did not claim to be one of these messiahs but, rather, was a witness to the one true Messiah.

 Read John 1:19-23. How did John the Baptist explain his ministry and mission?

 The religious leaders sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. With Messianic expectations high in Judea, it was important for John the Baptist to clarify his relationship to those expectations. He was not the Light, but he was sent from God to bear witness to the Light and to prepare for the coming of the Messiah (John 1:6-8). That’s why he answered them as plainly as he could, saying: “I am not the Christ” (John 1:20).

 Also, John baptized with water, but Christ would baptize with the Spirit (John 1:26, 33). John was not worthy to loosen Jesus’ sandal strap (John 1:27). Christ was preferred before John because He was before John (John 1:30). Jesus was the Son of God, and John merely pointed to Him (John 1:34).

 Read Isaiah 40:1-5 and John 1:23. How does John use these verses?

 In the days of rutted and rock-filled roads, servants were sometimes sent ahead of the king to level the surfaces of roadways and to take out sharp turns so as to smooth the way of the king. So, in fulfillment of prophecy, John came in order to prepare the hearts of the people for Jesus.

 The Hebrew nation was looking for a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome. The goal of the Gospel of John was to change their understanding of the Messiah so that they could recognize in Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the coming King. The Messiah would not be an earthly ruler. He came to fulfill all the Old Testament promises concerning Himself, which include His self-sacrifice in behalf of the world, and to renew the relationship between God and His people.

 Read John 1:29-37. What proclamation does John the Baptist make about Jesus? What image does he use to depict Him, and why is it so significant in understanding who Jesus was and what His mission would be?

 The statement of the Baptist regarding Jesus as the Lamb of God supports the purpose of John’s Gospel, which is to bring about a renewed understanding of the work and nature of the Messiah. Jesus would, indeed, be the fulfillment of the promise of the sacrificial system, going back to the promise of the Redeemer first given in Genesis 3:15.

 “When at the baptism of Jesus, John pointed to Him as the Lamb of God, a new light was shed upon the Messiah’s work. The prophet’s mind was directed to the words of Isaiah, ‘He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.’ Isa. 53:7.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,p. 136.

 Read Mark 10:45, Romans 5:6, and 1 Peter 2:24. How do these verses help us understand the role of Jesus as “the Lamb of God”?

 However much more John the Baptist needed to know about the ministry of Jesus, he was certain that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the One who had come in fulfillment of prophecy.

 Two disciples of John the Baptist were standing with him when Jesus walked by. John declared, “ ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’ ” (John 1:36, NKJV). The two disciples had listened to John’s message about the Christ, who would fulfill the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah. The disciples left John to follow Jesus, recognizing that Jesus was greater than John the Baptist and that He was the fulfillment of John’s message.

 Read John 1:35-39. What did these two disciples do after hearing John’s witness about Jesus?

 Desiring to be with Jesus, the two spent the day with Him. Who knows what amazing things they had learned and experienced then!

 They must have been great things because, before long, their desire was to share their experience with others. Andrew, one of the two disciples, immediately found his brother, Simon, and said, “ ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ)” (John 1:41, NKJV). When Andrew brought his brother to Jesus, Jesus immediately showed that He knew him, saying, “ ‘You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas’ ” (John 1:42, NKJV). Jesus knew and understood Peter. That Jesus knows a person is a motif of the Gospel of John. (See, for example, John 2:24, 25.)

 “If John and Andrew had possessed the unbelieving spirit of the priests and rulers, they would not have been found as learners at the feet of Jesus. They would have come to Him as critics, to judge His words. . . . But not so did these first disciples. They had responded to the Holy Spirit‘s call in the preaching of John the Baptist. Now they recognized the voice of the heavenly Teacher. . . . A divine illumination was shed upon the teaching of the Old Testament Scriptures. The many-sided themes of truth stood out in new light.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,p. 139.

 The entire emphasis of the Gospel of John is to bring to light who Jesus is so that this good news may be shared with the world.

 Read John 1:43-46. What did Philip’s message reveal about his faith in Jesus already?

 Philip was from Bethsaida, as were Andrew and Peter. He found his friend, Nathanael, and told him about Jesus. John the Baptist had called Jesus “the Lamb of God.” Andrew had told Peter that he had found “the Messiah.” But Philip calls Jesus the one Moses and the prophets wrote about and adds the name “Jesus of Nazareth.” His reference to Nazareth sets off a sharp reaction from his friend.

 Nathanael seems to have been prejudiced against the little town of Nazareth. Surely a king would not come from such a wayside location. Prejudice easily blinds the eyes from seeing people for what they are really worth. Philip seems to have recognized, possibly from previous conversations with Nathanael, that the proper way to deal with prejudice is not some exalted philosophical or theological argumentation but rather to invite the individual to experience the truth personally for themselves. He simply said, “Come and see.” And that is exactly what Nathanael did. He went and saw.

 Read John 1:47-51. How did Jesus convince Nathanael of who He was, and what was Nathanael’s response?

 Missing between verse 46 and verse 47 is the crucial detail of just how Nathanael responded to Philip’s invitation. He got up and went to see, however. His friendship with Philip was stronger than his prejudice, and his life would be changed from that moment on.

 Jesus says nice words about Nathanael, calling him an Israelite in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47), a great contrast from what Nathanael had said about Jesus (John 1:46). Nathanael responds with surprise because he had not met Jesus before.

 Then Jesus refers to seeing him under a fig tree, and this small statement convinces Nathanael. Jesus, by divine insight, had seen Nathanael praying, searching for truth under that tree (see Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,pp. 140, 141). Nathanael then makes an exalted confession, calling Jesus Rabbi, the Son of God, and the King of Israel. Note how this seemingly small revelation leads to a grand confession of faith.

 Read John 3:1-21. How does the testimony of Nicodemus support the theme of the Gospel of John?

 Nicodemus was a respected teacher in Israel and a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin. His testimony plays an important part in John’s Gospel for several reasons. He referred to Jesus as “Rabbi” and pointed to the signs that Jesus performed as evidence of His divine mission. Hence, even before Nicodemus realized what he was doing, he was giving evidence in support of the Messiahship of Jesus.

 Nicodemus viewed the signs themselves as evidence of Jesus’ divine calling but did not see them as pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. So, Nicodemus came with some doubt; he did not yet at this point recognize Jesus as the Christ.

 Read John 3:3-21. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus to show that He could see right through him?

 Jesus knows the heart of each individual. His response to Nicodemus may seem abrupt, but He goes directly to the issue. Though the Jews believed that Gentiles needed to be converted, many didn’t understand that they, too, the chosen people, needed a conversion experience. No one is born saved, regardless of their nationality or the church that they were raised in.

 Without question, the Jews’ wonderful heritage, going back to Abraham, offered them many distinct advantages (see Rom. 3:1, 2). But, in and of itself, that was not enough. Jesus told Nicodemus the unthinkable—that he, a teacher and ruler in Israel, must be born again from above!

 Jesus then confronted Nicodemus with his own spiritual ignorance: “ ‘Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?’ ” (John 3:10, NKJV). How could you, an exalted teacher, not know this? The rebuke must have been stunning.

 Despite whatever questions he had regarding Jesus then, Nicodemus later took His side with the followers of Jesus (see John 19:39).

 Read Ellen G. White, “Nicodemus,” pp. 167-177, in The Desire of Ages.

 Nicodemus “searched the Scriptures in a new way, not for the discussion of a theory, but in order to receive life for the soul. He began to see the kingdom of heaven as he submitted himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit. . . .”

 “Through faith we receive the grace of God; but faith is not our Saviour. It earns nothing. It is the hand by which we lay hold upon Christ, and appropriate His merits, the remedy for sin. . . . Repentance comes from Christ as truly as does pardon.”

 “How, then, are we to be saved? ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,’ so the Son of man has been lifted up, and everyone who has been deceived and bitten by the serpent may look and live. ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29. The light shining from the cross reveals the love of God. His love is drawing us to Himself. If we do not resist this drawing, we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the sins that have crucified the Saviour. Then the Spirit of God through faith produces a new life in the soul. The thoughts and desires are brought into obedience to the will of Christ. The heart, the mind, are created anew in the image of Him who works in us to subdue all things to Himself. Then the law of God is written in the mind and heart, and we can say with Christ, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O my God.’ Ps. 40:8.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages,pp. 175, 176.

 1. John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus. How successful would you judge his ministry to have been, at least from a human perspective? Also, as you think about your answer, ask this important question: How do you define “success” in spiritual things?
 2. Later on, John the Baptist expressed some sincere doubts (Matt. 11:2, 3; Luke 7:19). What caused his questions, and what can we learn from them about how to be firm in our faith?
 3. In class, discuss the idea of how someone such as Nicodemus, a leader in the true church, someone who surely had a lot of knowledge, could still be so spiritually ignorant of what really matters. What lessons can we take from his situation?