the Gospel John part 2

Intro

intro to John the baptist

the cousin of Jesus

not given any backstory in this gospel

of a similar origin to Jesus

John the Baptist’s Confession

a man out in the wilderness amasses a large following

it has to do with the religion of the people

he is speaking of the messiah, the savior, the one who will fulfill the prophecy

people are going to claim him to be a lot of different things

John could have turned this into whatever he wanted, claimed to be whoever and they probably would have believed him

he does not take anything for himself though

he points to Jesus with all that he does

John made a practice of baptizing people

he baptizes people symbolically to call them to repentance, Jesus’ baptism comes with new life and the gift of the holy spirit

The Lamb of God

the Lamb of God who takes away sins of the world

a statement full of allusion

the one who sent me told me- God spoke to John to tell him what would come

Jesus has God’s own spirit and is his son

John the baptist seems to be giving his own account for John’s gospel

Application

what John wants us to believe

Jesus is what the world has been waiting for

Jesus is the one who fulfills everything that could only be done in part or for a time before him

he makes the imperfect complete

he does not mend the relationship with God temporarily, he is God walking with us