The Lamb of God
Notes
Transcript
Good morning!
Good morning!
This mornings text we will be covering John 1:29-34. Which I should sub title as Johns Second Testimony
Greg was with you last week and preached over 19-28, I believe he entitled it “A Humble Voice
That is what is considered the first part of Johns the Baptists testimony
Or his sermon if you will
Please stand with me as we read the word of God
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.”
There is so much to cover here,
we are going to touch briefly on the atonement
the Holy Spirit
and Jesus as the Son of God
Sermon Illustration
Sermon Illustration
Me growing up with a dog and covering it so that my dad wouldn’t shoot it
I covered it
Dad saw me and not the dog
Intro to the text
Intro to the text
We finished up the Prologue 2 weeks ago
And so far John the writer has done a great job of introducing Jesus and setting the stage
We know who Christ is, we know where he came from, and we know what is mission is, if you will
So now that we have made it through the prologue we enter the introduction to Jesus’ public ministry
This intro covers Johns Sermon or testimony in verses 19-36
Then the witness or introduction to the first disciples
After that we will get into Jesus’ public ministry which rotates around 3 pass overs and the famous seven signs
Its amazing how Johns timing works
Here we are starting things off, if you notice in our text starting last week with in V19 we see a pattern
It starts with V19 as day 1 of Johns testimony
then this morning in 29 the next day
35 - the next day
43 - the next day
and starting in chapter 2 “on the third day”
So here we see that this testimony is 4 days long, then moves to the wedding at Cana to round out the week
After that we have 3 years of Jesus’ public ministry before John spends 13-21 in essentially Jesus’ last week
John is so masterful in his set up and construct of this Gospel account that its almost like he was inspired and had some help
lol
We see through the patterns that John sets up in his gospel different witnesses or testimonies and accounts
And the first witness, he brings to the stand if you will
Is john the Baptist
Now we learned of him in the prologue, and you all talked about his last week
So we wont go into any depth as far as that is concerned
But, today is part of last weeks testimony
See last week John was proposed with the question from priests and Levites who are you
See, John was beginning to stir up trouble,
He was gaining a following and the priests sent these men to find out what all the fuss was about
Well they asked him, or he admitted
that he is not the messiah
He denied being the Elijah
He denied being the “Profit”
Instead, He said he is the messenger, he is the one that is clearing the way if you will for the one to come
And this week, where we are about to start
On the second day of his testimony John Introduces the one whom he is here to prepare the way for
Here He Comes!
Here He Comes!
John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
The next day as already discussed is day 2 of Johns testimony
On this day, he sees Jesus coming towards him
Where is he coming from?
Well thank you for asking
We learn from the other gospels that John baptized Jesus right?
We see that in Matt 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22
Well John the author skipped over that part
see, after Jesus was baptized by John, he departed into the wilderness for 40 days.
This point picks up upon Jesus’ return
right, because John is essentially remembering what happened when he baptized Jesus, that is how he knows that Jesus is the messiah.
That he is the one that takes away the sin of the world
So John is being questioned, on this second day he sees Jesus coming
And remember, we are told nothing about Jesus’ looks in the gospels
We only have one reference to the what the messiah may look like in Isaiah 53:2 “b...; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”
See Jesus didn’t look like Jim Caviezel or whatever the guys name is that plays him in the chosen
Jesus didn’t walk up looking like a knight in shining armor, good looking and with a perm
No, he was ordinary looking man
And when John saw him approaching he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”
We are going to conclude our message with this same statement
But I would like to briefly discuss a couple of things
Why did John the Baptist use this metaphor?
Their idea of the messiah was a conquering messiah, one that would lead a revolt and free Israel
The 3 main thoughts on this are
1 - The apocalyptic Lamb who will triumph over evil and crush the sins of the world by force
2 - The suffering servant of Isaiah 53 ( the aramaiac word for servant could also mean lamb)
3 - a sacrificial lamb, possibly drawing from the imagery of the Passover Lamb, the scapegoat, or the lamb used daily for sacrifices. Either way this possibility is of the sacrificial element.
And this this last one makes sense, I mean the passover is quickly approaching, as we will see is shortly in Chapter 2
And within this context of the passover quickly approaching that the is the one John is eluding to here is a mixture of the 2nd and 3rd options.
I believe John had some understanding of how the suffering servant and the passover lamb both would bear the sins of the nation and take away the sins of the world
But I don’t think he fully understand exactly how the atonement would work
Because we see later that he suffers from some doubt about if Jesus is really the messiah
But none the less, isn’t that such an amazing statement
So, back to our question
How was John able to point him out.
How was he able to tell the or testify who the Lamb of God was
Because, he had already seen what he is about to describe
And here is the beginning of his answer
Baptized in water
Baptized in water
John 1:30–31 “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.””
John is describing the fact that while he (John) is older by early standards or bodily standard
but..
He that comes, the one I am paving the way for ranks before me
as in he is eternal, he has always been
everything we learned Johns prologue right about Christs eternal being and diety right, pretty much a restatement of John 1:15
well we already covered that
he ranks before me as in he is preexistant
he ranks before me in worship
But, John adds that he didn’t know him?
Of course he knew Jesus, they were cousins
What he is saying here is that he did not know Jesus as the messiah until he baptized him
So what is this baptism of water...
See, Jews didn’t get baptized
The only “baptism” of this day would be when a gentile would convert to Judaism
So this was a new concept to them
But John baptized with water, it was a outward sign of an inward repentance of sins
And John wanted to make sure that the Jews knew that even they needed baptism
That they to needed to repent of their sins, and turn to God
Much like we all must do correct?
In fact that is the cornerstone of the beginning of our faith
the beginning of our own personally saving faith is the acknowledgement of our sin
the acknowledgement that we must turn from that sin
and turn to the one that can take that away
Sadly many today do not and will not do that
and it was the same back then
if we remember it is them whom John called a brood of vipers… in Matthew 3:7–8 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Those that didn't think they needed a savior, because all the good things they did were righteous
Unfortunately, they couldn't be any further from the truth
But I digress
We see the purpose of Johns Baptism confirmed in
Matthew 3:6 “and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”
Acts 19:4 “And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.””
Matthew 3:11 ““I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
This purification by water that John provided was to ready and prepare the hearts of those to receive their savior
This was done also so that He (Jesus) would be revealed to Israel, as their savior.
And how would he be revealed..
Thank you for asking again
by being..
Baptized in the Spirit
Baptized in the Spirit
John 1:32–33 “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 John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”
This is how the messiah was revealed to John,
This is the very moment when John realized who the messiah was
His cousin Jesus
He saw the Spirit (the 3rd member of the trinity) fall or descend onto Jesus
And in the form of a dove
Luke says the Holy Spirit came down in a bodily shape
almost as if it had outstretched arms as it descended
Now, the spirit is just that, a spirit, however it took on a visible form in order to be seen by most importantly John, and most likely by others
The dove is a symbol of holiness, innocence, and peace
We see after Noahs flood that he released a dove from the ark
and it came back with an olive branch in its beak
we know the olive branch is a symbol of peace
and symbolically, the dove delivered that peace
peace that was declared after God purged the world of wickedness during the flood
And this dove here, well the spirit described as a dove, was delivering the good news of the savior, so that peace may be revealed
And it remained on him
This is symbolic as well as part of the notification
we see all through the OT moments when the spirit would dwell or come upon someone when God was going to use them for specific tasks
we see it very well in the story of Sampson and many of the Judges
with Elisha requesting a double portion of Elijah’s spirit
We see is in King David and Ezekial
and it was Isaiah who said that the sprit of the Lord would rest on him
It was essentially the anointing of Jesus
Much like the kings and profits were anointed in the OT
here, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit
and it was Isaiah who said that the sprit of the Lord would rest on him
and we know how important the profit Isaiah was when it comes to predicting the messiah
We round out V33 by John repeating the fact that he did know who the Messiah was until he was revealed to him by the spirit
And this is clearly a revelation from God to John, because it is God that described to John what he would see and how it would confirm the one he has been preparing the way for
The one that will baptize with the Holy Spirit
There is a clear parallel between Johns baptism of water, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit
The confession of sins, repenting, and committing to a life following Christ as your savior is represented by the water baptism and fulfilled by the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and it is this same spirit that decended upon Jesus so that he could do the work of God
That is sent to us, that is sent straight to our hearts
it is what convicted us to follow Christ as our savior
because we could not have come to that realization on our own
Is through this power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to change, that we are able make progress, that we are able to endure
see, with out the spirit, we are not able navigate this broken world
This spirit illuminates us, it helps us to understand Gods word
It helps us to do what His word commands
It is the one that testifies as well as John
That Jesus is the son of God
and it is only the son of God, only the perfect begotten son, that can take away the sins of the world
Which leads us back to our opening verse 29
I would like to conclude this mornings message by revistiting what we briefly discussed at the beginning of our text
John 1:29 “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
I know we have come a long ways just to get back to our opening verse
But the language here is so important
The Lamb of God!
See in the OT the lamb represented the sacrificial animal, the animal that atoned or paid the penalty for us, or them in that case
the word Atone is a theological term that means to cover, or to take away
To really understand this, we must understand the OT sacrificial system in some context
See after the fall of man, we became bound with sin
And we learned that the first sacrifice made to atone (cover or take away) for the sin of man is when God sacrificed an animal to cover adam and eve when they realized they were naked
Ever since then God has been in the reconciliation business
And the way that the sins of the Hebrews would be atoned or covered,
was through the sacrifice of an unblemished perfect, spotless lamb
But we well know that that was just a foreshadow, that was just a temporary fix because the blood of an animal could never fully pay for the sins of man
So, God, in his Grace sent a perfect unblemished lamb,
in the person of his son, Jesus Christ, to pay ultimately for the sins of the world. Not just the sins of the Israelites.
It was the blood of an unblemished lamb in Exodus 12 that was placed on the door posts so that the destroyer would pass by
and it is the unblemished blood of Jesus, the lamb of God, that is placed on us via the cross. That allows Gods judgement to pass over us
See as I alluded to this morning with the illustration of my dog Rambo
When God looks down on us, and sees that we are broken, sees that need help, sees that we fall short
He doesn’t see our imperfections, he doesn’t judge us against our sins,
because we are covered by perfection
and that perfection that covers all of our imperfections is Jesus, the lamb of God
And it is through his death that we are saved, that we are granted salvation,
and that is a gift of God for those that believe
1 Peter 1:18–19 “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
Brothers and sisters we were bought and paid for by something so much more precious that silver or gold
...
**IF WE HAVE TIME **
Now, this whole concept of atonement and substitution is almost always based on how Christ died for us
But, It is also about how he lived
See Jesus lived a perfect, spotless life
A life of righteousness, a life that if we are honest, we cannot obtain
so let us not take for granted his sacrificial death in lieu of his life
Just think about, those of us that are Christians
probably most of us sitting in these pews
Think about how easy it is to become comfortable with the fact that Jesus died for our sins and how easy it is to take that for granted
How easy it is to downplay our sin
to continue to gossip, when we know gossip is not fruitful
to tell white lies, because, is it really hurting anyone?
how about the lusts of money, things, possessions,
how about in the way we spend time with God
Do we spend more time on our cell phones on social media or in the news than we do in the bible?
Brothers and sisters the atonement wasn’t made for us for when we die, it is also made for us while we live!
Its easy to fall in the trap of being deceived into comfortable christianity, with our cushioned pews and air conditioning
I don’t believe this to be the case here
But Im curious how many people would show up for church if we only had a bible and few chairs
No production, no lights, no tv’s
Just Jesus and the word of God!
I will take a room of 20-30 faithfull believers any day over a auditorium filled with people just wanting their ears tickled
Jesus lived a perfect sinless life
and he died a perfect sacrificial death
SO let us not take advantage of his death by living a life that does not honor it
Let us live our lives as a worthy reason for sacrifice
Now don’t get me wrong, we will not be perfect until we reach the other side of eternity
But, we can strive for that perfection with the help of the HS and the atoning death of christ
John was faithful to his assignment
He testified that Jesus is the messiah
Faithfully, and he died for it
and we are to do the same
So as we start our week lets dwell on the atonement
the fact that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and died a perfect atoning death so that we may be forgiven
Then, lets live like that as well
Let us pray