Recongizing Christ:
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Introduction:
Introduction:
Hello and good morning everyone. Last week we talk about the 3 temptations of Jesus Christ, and how Satan who is the ruler of the world. this week we are going kind of go backwards for a moment, and look at what had taken place after the trials of temptations of Jesus Christ we basically looking how John testimony concerning Jesus Christ today. so our main passage today comes from the gospel of John John 1:19-34. Remember as we continue with study on the life of Christ we are going to be breaking down almost everything, because in order to know God we must know his son. Jn 14:6-7
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Who was The Christ, Elijah, and The Prophet:
Who was The Christ, Elijah, and The Prophet:
so after the trials of temptation that Jesus had against Satan. we come to understand that now Jesus can move forward with God’s will and Ministry to the people. Jesus eventually returns to area of John the Baptist. we come to see that here in John 1:26-29
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
One thing we should notice is that John became quite popular among Jewish communities around the local area. this also had disturb some of the Jewish religious leaders within the local communities. the Pharisees Jn 1:24
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
Pharisees were kind of like the Sadducee, but they stay true to Jewish laws and customs most of the time. these men usually met with the Levites and priest of the temple. now that know a little bit about them we come to understand that these Pharisees sent out Priest and Levites to John to question to see if he was the Messiah (Christ), Elijah, or The Prophet. we come to understand John gives a straight forward answer in John 1:19-21
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
We come see that John basically told the religious leaders “No”. The Jewish religious leaders would confuse themselves over these two terms The Prophet and The Christ. making the mistake as thinking they mean that same thing. the Jewish religious leaders would misunderstand some of the Messianic prophecies, this had cause some assuming among them, which in turn would cause problems for their beliefs. they would make the mistake by referring to the one Moses said would be a prophet like himself in Deut 18:15
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,
from this verse here in the Old Testament we can come to the conclusion that Moses was referring to the coming of the Messiah, we understand that Jesus was the promised. turn in your Bibles to Acts 3:20-22
20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.
The religious Jewish leads made the mistake by making the Prophet and Christ the same, and they also kind of separated the Prophet as a shadowy personality known as the Prophet. When John told them no he was not the Christ and the Prophet which was correct but what was puzzling is that he told them no that he was not the Elijah. we understand that John told religious leaders that he was the forerunner of the Messiah, John also quotes from Is 40:3
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
if we go back couple of Lesson and think about John he was preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, by telling to repent for the kingdom of heaven was at hand. John message was repentance for forgiveness. we can also tie Mal 3:1 here to Isaiah.
1 “Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
Then if we want a more information about John being the forerunner look no father then Mk 1:2-3
2 As it is written in the Prophets:
“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.”
3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
From these verse we can see that are very similar in nature. they all foretell about the one comes before the Messiah, and preparing his way. even Mal called the one to prepare the way would be Elijah Turn in your Bibles to Mal 4:5
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
we as Christians today see that John was the Elijah to come before Lord. Even Jesus himself confirm this in Mt 11:14
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
and then we can also look Mt 17:10-13
10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. 12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.
So, why did John deny being Elijah? well it really came down to the fact is that Jews thought that the original Elijah would return in the flesh. Many Jews today are still looking for the Elijah’s return. John was only denying that he was not Elijah in the flesh but John was Elijah in the spirit, and power. Lk 1:16-17
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
we understand that John was not literally Elijah in the flesh but in spirit in power. John was to prepare the way for Christ. this allow John to confront the Jerusalem Committee, and call the public to attention to Jesus as the Christ.
The Lamb of God:
The Lamb of God:
One the few things about the history of Jesus Christ was that he did not want many people to know that he was the Christ. well the main reason for this was because it was not moment for the people to know him. throughout scripture we come to see that. one of the most interesting things is that there open signs that point him as Christ/Messiah. the first one was during his baptism, then now here in Jn 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
From this verse here we come to see that John was introducing Jesus Christ. Not as a military conqueror who would come to destroy his enemies, but as a lamb. those who farm know that lambs are very docile creatures they are pure in nature. they will listen and obey the shepherd of the herd. Jesus was not known as just any lamb, but known as the Lamb of God. this Lamb would be known for taking away the sins of the world away. we come to understand that throughout scriptures that Jesus came to teach about how to live a better life. also throughout Scripture we come to understand that Jesus was our example on how we should live according to the standards of God turn in your Bible to Heb 4:14-16
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.