St John the Baptist sees Jesus (Notes)

Saint John - Chap 1

Saint John the Baptist sees Jesus from afar. J-J Tissot

[34] Et ego vidi : et testimonium perhibui quia hic est Filius Dei.
And I saw, and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.

[35] Altera die iterum stabat Joannes, et ex discipulis ejus duo.
The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples.

[36] Et respiciens Jesum ambulantem, dicit : Ecce agnus Dei.
And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God.

Betharabah, Palestine

''At Betharaba, the place where John the Baptist for the first time bore witness to Jesus, the Jordan is wider and not so deep as at its mouth, its waters divide there and it is more often fordable. It was here that the twelve stones were set up, marking the spot where the Children of Israel crossed the Jordan, dry-shod to enter the Promised Land. There too David, fleeing from Absalon, passed over the river; whilst later it must have been here, or near here, that Elijah smote the waters with his mantle 'so that they divided hither and thither', when 'he and his companions went over on dry ground'.''
[Taken from The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J. James Tissot, Sampson, Low, Marston, London, 1897]







[35] Altera die iterum stabat Joannes, et ex discipulis ejus duo.
The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples.

The next day, &c. The Evangelist says that John bare witness to Jesus in three consecutive days that He was the Christ. He did this to make his witness the more sure and solid. The first testimony that he gave was judicial, when he was asked by the messengers of the Jews. This was in the first day. The second he gave on the day following, which was the 2nd of March. The third time was here on the 3rd of March, before his own disciples, that he might cause them to pass from himself to Jesus.

[36] Et respiciens Jesum ambulantem, dicit : Ecce agnus Dei.
And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God.

And seeing Jesus as he walked, &c. As though he said, “Behold Christ like a spotless Lamb, destined for a victim, that He may be offered to God upon the cross, for the sins of the whole world.” When John spoke thus it was as though he said to his disciples, “Why do you follow me? follow Him who is the Lamb of God, the ransom of the world.”

Here observe the prudence and modesty of John. He does not compel or urge his disciples to follow Christ, but only points Him out to them, that they might the more ardently pursue after so great a good when it was discovered by themselves. Like a man who, when a jewel is being sold for a small price, points out to merchants how great is its worth, and causes them of their own accord to long to purchase it.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam