The Gospel of John - part 2
preached Sept 16, 2018
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
John 1:19-34
Who is John the Baptist?
John the Baptist testifies Jesus is the Son of God.
The Jews sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was and why he baptized. John did not claim to be the Christ. He also denied being Elijah or the Prophet. He only claims to be "one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord', as Isaiah said." (Isaiah 40:3)
Malachi 3:1, "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me"
Malachi 4:5, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD"
Here, in John, the Baptizer does not see himself as Elijah, but Jesus does recognize him as so in Matthew 11:14. Sometimes we don't see our own potential, because we are blinded by humility. Of course, the opposite, 'pride', can be just as blinding. It is only when we recognize ourselves as Christ sees us that the truth is known.
Notice John's humility in verse 27:
Untying someone's sandal was the most menial task a servant could have. We have to keep in mind that rabbis were not typically paid for their services. Rather disciples would perform tasks for them as a means of giving them honor for their teaching. However, there were limits. There is a rabbinic saying: "Every service which a slave performs for his master shall a disciple do for his teacher except the loosing of his sandal." (The saying in this form is from c. 250 AD, but it would have occurred much earlier also.)
In our age, it's hard to find an equivalent. Most of us are too proud to do even the simplest task, but John helps to remind us that we are not worthy to serve Jesus in any capacity. Whether we serve Jesus in wealth or in poverty, we can only say "Thank you for letting me serve at all." It reminds me of a church planter who had a young man who wanted to be a pastor. The planter said, 'great, you can help me stack chairs'. The young man didn't want to do such a menial chore to which the planter said, "Son, if you aren't willing to stack chairs, you aren't ready to pastor at all."
Why did John baptize?
Baptism was a rite for Gentiles who converted to Judaism. It was a symbol of cleansing for all the pollutions the convert picked up in the Gentile world. The novelty and sting is that John put Jews on the same level as Gentiles in needing cleansing.
Verse 29 transitions to the next day
Jesus arrives and John proclaims, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Notice John did not know who the Messiah was, only that God had revealed to John how he would know. (32) He saw the Spirit descend and remain, and thus Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit.
In Matthew 3
Matthew includes the baptism of Jesus, as well as John's reproach against the Jews who came asking questions. "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" In verse 11, Matthew also records John baptizes for repentance, but Jesus will baptize "with the Holy Spirit and fire".
Later, when Jesus arrives, Matthew includes John does not wish to baptize Jesus, but "it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." When Jesus comes up from the water, "the heavens were opened to him, and John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him."
In Mark 1
Mark has less conversation than Matthew, however, he does use a different word for when the heavens opened. They did not just "open" like a door, but rather they were "torn open" as though heaven crashed through to the earth. The baptism of Jesus did not signal a peaceful connection, but rather an invasion of Heaven into hostile territory.
Think of when a SWAT team enters a hostile situation. They don't knock and politely come in, waving their hand. They bust through with that awesome battering ram with guns up and laser sights pointed everywhere.
In Luke 3
Luke provides the most detail and dialogue of the four, as well as what happens to John. Herod the tetrarch locked up John after John denounced Herod's marriage to his sister-in-law.
The parallel stories in the Gospels all point to the role of John the Baptist as the one who announces the coming Messiah. He baptized the people as they came to repentance--realizing that membership in Israel was not enough for salvation. God's standards of holiness dealt with the heart, not civics. Likewise, with the Messiah came a new day that required a new commitment.
It was John's baptism that helped prepare the way for the LORD.
John's Message reminds us who Jesus is
John saw himself as the forerunner for Christ. He knew that when the Messiah did appear, his job would be completed. Verse 34 is the summation of John's duties. "And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." But let's look again at our passage and see what John calls Jesus:
verse 23 - the Lord
Jesus is "the Lord". He was there at Creation and in Him is Life and Light--He is Lord.
verse 29 - the Lamb of God
Jesus is the "Lamb of God who takes away sin". In 1:12 "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."
verse 34 - the Son of God
Jesus is the "Son of God." 1:18, "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known."
John's Message reminds us who we are:
verse 27 - unworthy to serve Christ
verse 30 - always second to Christ
verse 33 - in need of the Holy Spirit
What shall we do about Jesus, now that we know?
Before we go any further in John, let us ask this question: What shall we do with Jesus? Now that we know Jesus is the Promised Messiah, what is our response?
John the Baptist warns in the other Gospels that Jesus comes like a winnowing fork who will separate the wheat from the chaff. Many churches pray for revival, and rightly so. We should pray for revival in our churches and in our country. But there is a giant step that must happen in order to prepare the way for revival. We must repent from our sin. We must prepare our hearts, because when God comes to us, whether in the Second Advent at the end, or when the Holy Spirit brings revival to His people, those who have not repented will be removed like chaff and burned.
Think of what has happened in the last year concerning leaders. How many stories have we heard of a politician or pastor or Seminary professor who has paraded in public shame for their moral failure? I'm still in shock over Bill Cosby. I wasn't too attached to OJ, so I figured 'yeah he probably did it'. But when prosecutors came after Cosby, I was on the front-line saying, "No way, not possible". And then one by one, church leaders started to fall. At first it was a pastor in some other state, and then Patterson came under fire in Texas. And most personal to me was a guy I learned from in Kansas City. I still haven't recovered from that shock.
Church, we cannot hide our sin forever. What is done in the dark will come to the light. The question is not, 'Will God bring a revival?', the question is, "When God comes in Holy Spirit fire, where will we be?" Will we be found among the faithful who rejoice in new life for the Church, or will we be cast aside in shame, because we would not repent?
John's warning still stands. Jesus has come into the world and laid before us life or death.
In Deuteronomy 30:15-20 the Old Covenant was established with Israel. That covenant has been fulfilled in Christ, and we now have a New Covenant. But notice the parallel. In the Old, God laid before them the option: be obedient and seek life, or disobey and find death. In the New, we have the same options: repent and receive life, or continue in sin and find death. Read with me,
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.]
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
You say, "That's the Old Covenant. God loves us and wants to make everyone prosperous." I say look again at what John preached. In verse 29, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" And in Matthew and Luke, John warns the Jews that Jesus comes "with a winnowing fork in hand" to divide the wheat from the chaff.
Church, Jesus still has the winnowing fork in hand. As we live our life, we have to face a decision. Are we wheat or are we chaff? The New Covenant still lays an option at our feet. We can either love the LORD our God, who came to us and paid the price for sin by dying on a cross, and walk in obedience with Him...or we can drawn by other gods, whether we worship our own desires, popularity, money, or whatever separates you from the love of God, and be destroyed by those things.
The kicker is that Jesus does the work. We aren't bound by the Law in hopes God will save us, we just to choose to follow Jesus who fulfilled the requirements of the Law on the cross. So when we look at our choices, life or death, remember the choice isn't "be good or be bad", it's "surrender to Jesus or not".