John the Baptist Encounters Jesus

Opening Illustration

Mount Rushmore is truly one of the most incredible accomplishments in human history

It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around what it took to create something that great

The men are so honored because there is a transcendent greatness to their impact on our nation

And it also creates for a fun and entertaining side game to ask about the “Mount Rushmore” of different arenas

Who would be on the Mount Rushmore of Philly sports?

Who would be on the Mount Rushmore of bands? U2, Beatles, who else?

What would be the movies on the Mount Rushmore of comedies?

Because in any area of life, we are fascinated with the idea of greatness, a powerful and lasting impact

Tonight, we are going to be talking a lot about the idea of greatness as we look at the encounter that John the Baptist has with Jesus

Transition

This is our first one-on-one encounter - John the Baptist encounters Jesus

We call him John the Baptist because, as we see in the passage, he was baptizing people

Will reference him that way to help us distinguish between John the Baptist and John the Apostle, the one who wrote this book of the Bible

I know it can be a little confusing, so:

When I say just “John”, I am referring to the one who wrote this book

And when I say “John the Baptist,” I am referring to the one who encounters Jesus here in our passage

Scripture Reading: John 1:19-37

John 1:19–37 ESV

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.” The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

Pray

About John the Baptist

Before we get into really seeking to understand this passage, a couple of things that are helpful for orientation

First, John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin

You often hear in the run up to Christmas about Mary (mother of Jesus) visiting Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist) in Luke 1

Second, what is that question about Elijah and the Prophet?

John 1:21 “And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.””

Elijah was considered the greatest of the prophets and John the Baptist did dress like Elijah and Malachi 4:5 does anticipate Elijah returning in some way

Was this guy the reappearance of Elijah?

And in Deuteronomy 18:18, Moses anticipates another prophet like him

Moses being the source of the law to Israel

Many Jews break down the Old Testament into 2 categories

The law and the prophets

Moses and Elijah

Was this guy the fulfillment of both?

That is the question that the religious leaders were asking

His answer:

John 1:23 “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.””

John saw himself as the one that the prophet Isaiah had anticipated

Main Point

The greatness of Jesus transforms us into his witnesses, roots our purpose and worth, and grants peace for our doubts.

When we encounter the greatness of Jesus:

We become witnesses to his greatness

We root our purpose and worth in his greatness

We find peace for our doubts in his greatness

The Greatness of Jesus

When John the Baptist encounters Jesus, the first thing we see so clearly is this view of the greatness of Jesus

When I say “greatness”, what I mean is that God is bigger, more amazing, stronger

He is more of everything than we can even wrap our minds around

Jesus is greater than the law and the prophets

John 1:26–27 “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.””

Bending down to tie sandals would have been the work of a lowly servant

This is not to say that John the Baptist was denigrating his own worth

He was not saying that he didn’t matter

He is saying that Jesus is so much greater

No, it is not a denigration of his own worth, but an elevation of Christ

John the Baptist may have been the last of all the law and the prophets of old

Jesus is greater than the law and the prophets because he is the perfect fulfillment of the law and the One that the prophets said was to come!

Jesus is greater than the Old Testament sacrificial system

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!”

John 1:35–36 “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!””

Sin, rebellion against God, has consequences

In the Old Testament, God’s people were commanded to kill an animal as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins

There were regular, daily level of sacrifices

And there was the annual sacrifice

But the next sin came - the next wrong action, wrong word, wrong thought

It always does

Something greater than that sacrificial system was needed - a way to cover all sins once and for all

So when John the Baptist declares that Jesus is the “Lamb of God”, he is not just using a cute, clever name

He is declaring that Jesus is greater than the OT sacrificial system because his death - the shedding of his blood was able to do what no other sacrifice could do - cover every sin completely and forever

What those sacrifices did in part and for just a moment, Jesus accomplished fully and forever by his sacrificial death

As Peter would later write:

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God”

Jesus is greater than time itself

When John the Baptist encounters Jesus, he declares that Jesus is greater than the law and the prophets, greater than the OT sacrificial system

And then he declares something even crazier: Jesus is greater than time itself

John 1:15 “(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)”

John 1:30 “This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’”

Wait, what? That’s weird language

He was before me?

We already saw that John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins and John the Baptist was definitely born first

What could this mean?

John the Baptist was born and would die - we were born and will die - Jesus is eternal so that even death couldn’t contain him!

John the Baptist was finite - we are finite - Jesus is infinite, always was, always will be!

IOW, Jesus is eternal; Jesus is infinite

When we think and discuss the attributes of God, we often think of his grace, love, kindness, holiness, goodness, and more

But what makes each of those so amazing is that he is all of those things eternally and infinitely

He was before all things and he is above all things, even time

Jesus is greater than time itself

Jesus is greater because he is the Son of God

And, finally, John the Baptist grounds all of the greatness of Jesus in who he is: the Son of God

John 1:34 “And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Jesus is the second person of the Trinity

Now I know that the idea of the Trinity is complex

If anyone tells you he fully understands the Trinity, he’s lying

Certainly there are some great resources to help us understand the Trinity, but it is complex

But it is the teaching of the Bible: God is 3 persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and yet is just one God

Jesus is the Son of God, therefore he is God

Jesus is greater because he is the Son of God

Transition

To summarize: Jesus is greater than the law and the prophets, greater than the Old Testament sacrificial system, greater than time, and he is God the Son

And now we can begin to see what difference that made in John the Baptist’s life when he encountered Jesus and what difference it can make in ours as we encounter Jesus

The greatness of Jesus transforms us into his witnesses, roots our purpose and worth, and grants peace for our doubts.

When we encounter the greatness of Jesus, we become witnesses to his greatness

John 1:19 “And this is the testimony of John”

John 1:32 “And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”

John 1:34 “And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.””

We are only halfway through the first chapter of John and already this is the 7th time that John has used the word for “witness” or “testify”

By the way, this is the word from which we get our English word “martyr”

A “martyr” is one whose death testifies or bears witness to something greater

For John the Baptist (and for John as the author of the gospel), encountering Jesus transforms him - and transforms us - into witnesses of something greater - witnesses to Jesus

By our life, by our words, by our interactions with others, we testify that Jesus is the greater one

When we encounter the greatness of Jesus, we root our purpose and worth in his greatness

The reason I emphasized earlier that elevating the greatness of Jesus did not mean John the Baptist was less important or less valuable is because he rooted both his purpose and his worth in Jesus

What an incredible position of honor that John the Baptist could recognize himself as the fulfillment of Isaiah

John 1:23 “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.””

His purpose was to point the way to Messiah

And then again, his baptism was intended to point people to their need for Messiah

John 1:31 “I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Even more, when John the Baptist says in John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease” his meaning is not that he becomes less valuable, but that the focus should ever be more on Jesus

May we, like John the Baptist, delight that our purpose, our worth is rooted in the greatness of Jesus

Our reason to be is that he is!

When we encounter the greatness of Jesus, we find peace for our doubts in his greatness

Sometimes feel guilty or as if we don’t believe enough when doubts creep in

Is this really true?

The last thing for us to see tonight about John the Baptist’s encounter with Jesus requires us to fast forward a little bit

John the Baptist has been arrested and is in prison

Luke 7:18–23 “The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.””

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin and the one who prepared the way for Jesus, is doubting

In prison, his execution imminent, it’s easy to see how he was struggling

What a beautiful invitation to acknowledge our own doubts

He had every advantage, he had seen Jesus first hand!

But when life weighed him down, he wrestled with doubt and sent some of his followers to Jesus

“Are you really him, the One we have been waiting for?”

This is a beautiful invitation because Jesus does not discount his doubts nor does he shame John the Baptist

He hears and receives those doubts

And then he grounds his response in his own greatness as the One who gives sight to the blind, makes the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, raises the dead!

I find great comfort that Jesus doesn’t turn away John the Baptist in his doubts, but offers a peace, an assurance, in who he is and what he has done

That when we encounter the greatness of Jesus, we can find peace for our doubts!

Conclusion

If I told you that your life could be a witness to something of great value and that your life could have immense purpose and worth, and that there is peace for the doubts of this life, isn’t that something you would desire?

Maybe I could even ask it this way:

Where do you find yourself searching for something worth testifying to?

Where do you root your own purpose and worth?

Where do you turn when you long for peace to calm your suffocating doubts?

There is one place that can offer you all three: in the greatness of Jesus

The greatness of Jesus transforms us into his witnesses, roots our purpose and worth, and grants peace for our doubts.

Jesus, the One who is greater than the law and the prophets

Jesus, the One who is both greater than the Old Testament sacrificial system and his death served as the ultimate fulfillment of that system to forgive sins forever

Jesus, the eternal and infinite One who is greater even than time itself

And Jesus, the Son of God!

Pray