John 1:19-34 - Behold, the Lamb of God
Notes
Transcript
Pray
Pray
Father, I know that apart from you and your Spirit in my life, I can do nothing.
I pray that you would speak through me now, and that your Spirit would empower the proclamation of your Word to change all of us into the likeness of your Son.
We long to know you more, and to see a glimpse of your glory in your Word.
Please speak into our lives now and exalt your Son in our hearts.
It’s in his name we pray. Amen.
Intro
Intro
Identity is a big deal in our western culture.
It’s kind of a big deal in every culture.
Who you are tells people how to relate to you, how to interact with you.
Who you are also explains how you relate to other people.
And one of the biggest aspects of identity is the concept of authority.
I remember when I was in grade school hearing another kid on the playground arguing with the teacher in charge during recess.
The teacher was reminding him of one of the playground rules that he was breaking, but this kid kept refusing to listen.
His response, over and over, was, “You’re not my dad! You’re not my dad! You can’t tell me what to do!”
This kid had refused to accept the authority of the teacher, preferring the authority of his dad.
What he didn’t realize is that by entrusting his child to the school, this kids dad had granted a measure of his authority to the teachers.
This child was mistaken about the authority of this teacher who was in a sense preparing the child for the authority of his dad who would pick him up after school and deal with his disobedience on the playground.
I didn’t get to experience what this kid’s encounter with his dad was like, but I want to believe that the kid was humbled and disciplined by his dad, and that he understood the authority his dad wielded.
That probably wasn’t the case, but I want to believe it all the same.
These two encounters with a teacher and with a father are very different because of the identity, authority, and actions of the teacher and the father.
We can all be like that child questioning the authority of those God has placed in our life simply because we don’t want to be told how to live.
Because we can all be like that, we must submit to the identity, authority, and actions of Jesus Christ, and honor those who have been sent by him to prepare us for him.
In our passage today, John 1:19-34, we are going to see how John the Baptist had two encounters which were very different from each other, like the teacher and the father but on a much much grander scale.
Think of the religious leaders as the impertinent child, John the Baptist as the teacher, and Jesus as the dad from our illustration.
The first encounter was with the religious leaders, and John was very tight-lipped answering their questions about his identity, authority, and actions.
The second encounter was with Jesus, and John couldn’t help but proclaim Jesus’ identity, authority, and actions.
Let’s look at the first one…
John’s Obscure Encounter with the Religious Leaders (19-28)
John’s Obscure Encounter with the Religious Leaders (19-28)
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.
This is the testimony of John the Baptist.
The testimony of his identity, authority, and actions.
Now, the Jews that sent this delegation to inquire about John were the religious leaders in Jerusalem.
They were also known as the Sanhedrin.
And they sent this delegation to investigate the reports they had heard about this wild man preaching a baptism of repentance.
Their first question is this:
Who are you?
At first glance, this is a simple, straight-forward question, but it’s charged with assumptions.
If someone were to ask you today, “Who are you?” what would you say?
That question speaks directly to your identity.
Some related questions might include:
What makes you unique?
What is your purpose in life?
What makes you tick?
With what or with whom do you associate?
Depending on the context of the question, it may be referring to your credentials or your authority.
Like the question, “Who do you think you are?”
In the context of this passage the religious leaders had heard some things about John’s supposed identity that needed clarifying from the source.
Who is John the Baptist?
John’s answer reveals exactly what they had assumed or at least what they had heard and came to verify.
John confessed, and did not deny, but confessed that he was not the Christ.
That word structure may be a bit confusing to us in English.
Not denying something is kind of a double negative…
and the author, John, has sandwiched this double negative between two related positive statements of confession.
And all of them depict John’s negative statement regarding his identity.
That’s like, what… three negatives and two positives
That’s super confusing!
But, it’s much less confusing in Greek because multiple negatives don’t function the same way as they do in English.
In Greek, the more negatives you put on a statement, the more negative it becomes.
So, John is basically saying, “Absolutely not! I know what you are thinking, that I’m the Christ, and that is 100% absolutely and totally wrong! You could not be further from the truth!”
With their initial assumption so vehemently denied, the delegation asked if he was the next most plausible option.
“What then, are you Elijah?”
Now, there was a lot of assumption about the return of Elijah.
Elijah was arguably one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, and he had been taken up to heaven in a whirlwind back in…
And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
This very unique departure from earth has caused all kinds of speculation about Elijah.
But he was actually prophesied by name to return before the “day of the Lord” in…
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
The problem is that they had interpreted this prophecy from Malachi to mean that Elijah would be a deliverer.
They assumed that their oppression from the Roman empire at that time was a judgment of destruction from God like the end of verse 6 in Malachi chapter 4.
They thought Elijah would return to deliver them from Rome, from their “utter destruction.”
If this wild man named John had the identity and authority of Elijah to deliver them from Rome, then everything would be alright.
Well, John the Baptist denies this very simply.
All he says is, “I am not.”
He doesn’t even try to fix their wrong thinking about Elijah, he just says, “I am not.”
“I am not the Elijah you are looking for.” (Jedi mind trick)
Now, Luke in his gospel account says in Luke 1:17 that John the Baptist’s ministry was in the spirit and power of Elijah…
And even Jesus says that John is Elijah who is to come in Matthew 11:14.
But here, John’s response simply indicates that he was not the Elijah that they expected, though he was the Elijah that God had promised.
With their first two assumptions thwarted, the delegation asked after a third plausible identity for John the Baptist.
“Are you the Prophet?”
THE Prophet… not just A Prophet, but THE Prophet.
This was a reference to the Prophet whom God would raise up to be like Moses from Deuteronomy 18:15,18.
Moses said to the people in verse 15,
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
And in verse 18 God confirmed this to Moses saying,
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
We know now that this Prophet is Jesus, the Christ…
but at that time, they didn’t understand this to be a messianic prophecy.
They were simply looking for God to raise up another prophet with the identity and authority of Moses who would speak God’s words to them and, again, deliver them from Rome like Moses had delivered the Israelites from Egypt.
And John again denies this in the shortest way possible.
All he says is, “No.”
Can you imagine how frustrated these guys must have been with John?
All they wanted was a clear answer to their question of his identity and authority, and he has basically given them nothing.
I imagine this conversation would sound a bit like this today.
Who do you think you are, John?
- Well, I am absolutely not the Christ who you think I am, that’s for sure.
Ok, then are you Elijah?
- I’m not him either.
Fine, then are you the Prophet?
- Nope.
Ugh! Then tell us who you are already!
We’ve got to have some kind of answer to report about you!
These guys had had it with John’s evasive and short answers.
They needed some sort of answer to explain what was happening with his influence over the people…
and why, of all things, he was preaching a baptism of repentance.
So, he finally gives them a legit answer, but again he is evasive.
He claims to be the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy that we read earlier in the service…
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
It seems to me that claiming to be the fulfilment of any prophecy would carry at least some measure of pride or arrogance…
but John is not arrogant at all in his claim.
In fact, he’s pretty humble about it.
In verse 23 he says, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
Now, in the Greek, there is no article before the word translated as “voice.”
The lack of the article “The” before “Voice” shows that this voice is not that special.
He’s not THE Voice, he’s just a voice.
He’s not a prominent person, or even a prominent voice, he’s just a voice.
This particular prophetic claim shows us something about what John wanted this delegation and all the world to know…
He wanted it known that his message was more important than his identity.
Who he was mattered very little compared to the weight, the gravity of what he had to say.
That’s because his message was God’s message, not his own.
Well, now that John has revealed that he is a nobody with no authority that would be recognized by the Sanhedrin…
the religious leaders confront him about his actions, his baptizing.
The author, John, specifically notes that they had come from the Pharisees, and the Pharisees were sticklers for tradition.
And John the Baptist’s identity and authority was insufficient in their eyes to explain his disregard for the traditions the Pharisees loved so much.
So, their next question is this…
Why are you baptizing?
Why is John, the nobody, baptizing contrary to tradition?
Baptism at that time was usually part of the process, along with circumcision, to convert proselytes to Judaism as a sign of their Gentile, pagan filth being washed away.
So, baptism of Jews was shocking, especially to the self-righteous Pharisees.
This is probably one of the main reasons the Sanhedrin wanted to know what was up with this guy who was baptizing Jews and telling them to repent.
In the Jewish culture of that time, making a sacrifice was the method of making a sinful Jew right with God, not repentance and baptism.
Those were for Gentiles to become right with God.
Repentance of their pagan ways, and the ritual cleansing of baptism.
John was treating Jews as if they were Gentiles!
And the Religious leaders wanted to know two things…
First, they wanted to know if he had the authority to make such a drastic change to their religious understanding,
And second, they wanted to know if he didn’t have that authority, why in the world he was going against their traditions?
Subtly, though, John’s baptism affirmed something that the Jews had missed.
National heritage was not enough to be right with God as Paul articulates extensively throughout the book of Romans.
Well, John answered their question without really answering their question.
They wanted to know why he was baptizing against their tradition when he had no authority to do so.
And he deflects their question about him to point to the one who does have that authority.
He says in…
“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.”
I think it’s interesting that John the Baptist’s response here is similar to the description of the situation back in verses 10 and 11.
“the world did not know him, and his own people did not receive him.”
And here John the Baptist says to these religious leaders, “among you stands one you do not know.”
But then John affirms Christ’s authority and superiority over himself in a vivid word picture.
He says that he is not even worthy to untie his sandal.
This is similar to when Jesus would wash his disciples’ feet in the upper room before he would be arrested and crucified.
Peoples’ feet were really gross back then.
Now in our time and culture we all wear shoes, and the paths we walk are mostly clean, and if our feet do get a little dirty, it’s pretty easy to clean them.
But that’s not the way it was back then.
Pretty much everyone wore sandals, and the paths they walked were all dusty and covered with animal poop.
And in order to get their feet clean from that nastiness, the lowest servant would have to touch it to untie their sandals and wash their feet by hand.
John is saying that this one who does have the authority that the religious leaders were looking for was so far superior to himself that he is unworthy to even be the lowest position serving him.
He is unworthy to even do the worst task for him.
On the flip side, he would consider it the highest honor to be able to untie his sandal and clean his feet.
John is basically saying, “Look, if you have a problem with my version of baptizing, then you don’t really have a problem with me, you have a problem with the one who sent me and who is coming after me.”
Notice, though, that this doesn’t clearly answer their question of why he is baptizing.
He infers that his authority comes from another, but he doesn’t explain to them who it is or what this other person’s authority really is.
All of John’s answers to this delegation have been veiled, or purposefully short and obscure.
It’s almost as if John doesn’t really want to reveal anything to them about his identity, authority, and actions.
This is an important difference between how John responds to the religious leaders and how he responds to the presence of the Christ.
The author, John, takes a moment before the next encounter to root this conversation in a historical location, Bethany across the Jordan, and to note that this was where John was baptizing.
This delegation did not summon John to a neutral location or to the temple mount.
They met him where he was baptizing probably because he was a wild man and they assumed he wouldn’t come even if they told him to.
Now, this is not the same Bethany that we will see later in the book of John.
This is a different area closer to the wilderness beyond the Jordan.
But the more familiar Bethany is where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived near Jerusalem.
That was where Lazarus was raised, and where Jesus would stay before heading into Jerusalem at the triumphal entry at the start of the Passion week.
But where John was Baptizing was really the middle of nowhere.
So, this delegation from the Jews came all the way from Jerusalem out to a little area near the wilderness called Bethany to find out what the deal was with this guy who was baptizing Jews and calling them to repent.
And they did not get a very satisfying answer from John.
We don’t know exactly where this particular area called Bethany is, but it was probably more than a day’s journey on foot from Jerusalem.
So, the delegation may have left soon after they realized they were getting nowhere questioning John.
But the very next day, John was much clearer when he encountered Jesus and identified him as the Christ, the Son of God.
So we saw how John responded with obscurity in his encounter with the religious leaders.
Now let’s look at…
John’s Clarifying Encounter with the Christ (29-34)
John’s Clarifying Encounter with the Christ (29-34)
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.”
The previous day the religious leaders interrogated John about his identity and John kept pointing to Christ because Christ was way more important than he was.
Now John sees Jesus, and his testimony about him just wells up and flows out of him.
He can’t help but worship Jesus as the Christ when he sees him!
We saw how John answered the question, “who is John?”
Now we see how John volunteers the glorious answer to the unasked question, “who is Jesus?”
Right there in verse 29 John says “Behold! Pay attention! Look! See that guy over there!”
“He’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
That title is probably the most powerful explanation of Jesus’ identity, authority, and actions in all of Scripture.
So, we are going to spend some time unpacking this loaded statement.
Basically, John is saying that Jesus is the Sacrificial Savior of the World.
John is referring to the prophecy in Isaiah where the Messiah is likened to a lamb led to the slaughter.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
But John said that Jesus would take away the sin of the world… how could a lamb take away sins and afford forgiveness?
God had established the sacrificial system back in Leviticus for that very purpose.
when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
The death of this lamb was necessary for forgiveness as God explained in…
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
For sinful Jews to make atonement for their sin, they needed to sacrifice a lamb, shedding its blood in place of their own blood.
But the Messiah, the Christ, is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The sacrificial system was set up for individuals of the nation of Israel to be forgiven, but here is a sacrificial lamb who would afford forgiveness for the whole world… not just Israel.
And one lamb was sufficient for one person to be forgiven for a time, but here is one lamb sufficient for all people for all time… the whole world… forever!
The whole world needs forgiveness and salvation because everyone’s heart is deceitful and desperately sick, and God gives to every man according to his ways which are sinful as he says in…
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Remember that prophecy in Isaiah 53:7 that we looked at just a bit ago?
How the Messiah would be like a lamb led to the slaughter?
Well, the beginning of that passage in verses 4-6 explains how and why the lamb of God needed to die to take away the sin of the world.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
That’s what John meant when he said that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Then he goes on to identify Jesus’ authority.
This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’
John the author preempted this statement back in verse 15 which we looked at last week, so we won’t go into much detail about it today.
John the Baptist understands that Jesus is God who has always existed and has all authority.
Then in verse 31, he gives a clear answer to one of the question from the previous day.
The delegation was probably gone by now, so they didn’t get to hear his clear answer, but here it is.
Why was John baptizing and preaching repentance to the Jews?
He says, “for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he (Jesus) might be revealed to Israel.”
It was to reveal Jesus’ identity as the Christ, the Son of God, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world…
to reveal exactly who Jesus is and what he was there to do…
to reveal this to the nation of Israel.
That’s why John was baptizing…
to point people to their need of a savior, and to show them who that savior is, Jesus Christ!
Finally, John wraps up his encounter with Jesus by explaining how he knows that Jesus is the Christ.
It’s one thing to make a truth claim and expect people to believe you based on your own credibility…
but John explains the proof that was given to him by God…
proof to establish the credibility of this amazing claim that Jesus is the Christ.
John explains that he saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and remain on Jesus.
Other gospel accounts reveal that this happened when Jesus was baptized by John.
And John reveals that he did not know that Jesus was the Christ before this happened.
This was not some deceptive scheme where John knew all along who Jesus really was and only now chose to reveal it like some corny magic act.
What he did know beforehand is that the one on whom he sees the Spirit descend and remain is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
The one who sent him to baptize revealed this to him.
The pattern with prophets like Elijah, Daniel, Isaiah, and so on is that an angel would commission them on behalf of God.
So, we can reasonably assume that the one who sent John was also an angel commissioning him on behalf of the Father.
John had a divine revelation that he would see the Spirit descend on someone and remain on them…
and that this person would have the authority to baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be empowered by the Spirit in a unique way.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
John would have understood that this person could be none other than the Christ.
And he says as much in verse 34 of our passage.
John has seen and has borne witness that Jesus is the Son of God.
The Son of God is a special designation for the Messiah.
Sort of the opposite of how John is just A voice, Jesus is THE Son of God.
As human beings everyone is in a sense a child of God, and in a relational sense people who are reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ are considered his children.
But Jesus has the unique title “THE Son of God” because he has always existed in that relation to the Father.
The Son of God is God himself.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Remember that the whole point of John’s gospel is…
but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
So, how does this passage help us believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?
When the religious leaders confronted John for baptizing even though he was not the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet, John shifted the focus from his own identity and authority to the one who was coming after him.
This shows that John understood his purpose as preparing the way for the Christ.
His purpose was overshadowed by Christ’s purpose to save the world through his death and resurrection.
John is clearly not the Christ, but the forerunner for Christ.
Then when John encounters Jesus he has divine clarity that Jesus is the Christ.
John bears witness to his experience and the divine revelation he received that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
This witness is sufficient to establish his account as undoubtedly factual.
His credentials as the prophetic forerunner of Isaiah 40:3 give his testimony credibility.
So, when he says that he saw the Spirit descending and resting upon Jesus…
and that had been told by the one who sent him that the one on whom he sees the Spirit descend and remain is the Son of God who baptizes with the Holy Spirit…
we should believe him.
Jesus is the Christ.
Also, how does this passage show us that believing in Christ will result in life in his name?
John testified that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
This metaphorical description of Jesus’ identity, authority, and actions implies the need for the world to be saved and the sufficiency of Jesus to do it through his death on our behalf.
Jesus grants life to the entire world through his death and resurrection, but it is not applied to everyone.
That’s why Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
Those who have faith in him for the forgiveness of their sins are baptized with the Holy Spirit by Jesus himself.
Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, results in life-giving baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Let me say it a slightly different way… forgiveness and spiritual life are granted by the Father to all who believe in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit with whom they have been baptized by Christ.
I pray that you would see Jesus as your savior, sufficient to save you from your sin and from the wrath of God because of your sin.
Only Jesus can save you because he is the only one uniquely qualified to reconcile you to the Father through his death and resurrection on your behalf.
He is fully human, so he can stand in your place to take God’s wrath that is rightfully directed at you for your sin.
And he is fully God, so he has the infinite capacity to take God’s wrath in the place of everyone who has faith in him for the forgiveness of their sins.
If you are still thinking that you can be saved by your own goodness or thinking that there isn’t really anything to be saved from…
then please believe the truth that your sin against God has eternal consequences, and there is nothing that you can do on your own to save yourself.
Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Submit to him as your Lord and savior, and rest securely in his life-giving sacrifice on your behalf.
If you have already put your faith in Christ, then I pray that this would strengthen your faith, and give you assurance that you have eternal life in him.
Pray
Pray
Father, thank you for the gift of your Son.
I pray that we like John would be enamored with the presence of your Son.
That we would see him for who he really is, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And that we would understand that he is sufficient to take away our sin personally.
Father, if there are those in this room who have not placed their faith in your Son, I pray that you would send your Spirit to convict them and draw them to yourself so that they may believe and have eternal life in his name.
And I pray that all of us who do believe would have our faith strengthened by the proclamation of your Word.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
He is your Son, and through his sacrifice we have become your children, and we will spend eternity with you experiencing your glory and your infinite love forever.
We thank you and praise you in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
