What Do You See?
Notes
Transcript
John the Baptist knew his purpose, to be the forerunner of the Messiah. When Jesus came, rather than view Him as competition, he honored Him. What does this mean?
Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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.”
These words sum up the ministry of John the Baptist. He never allowed even the admiration of his disciples to supersede the mission to which he had been assigned.
e the Christ, he never allowed the lure of admiration to supersede the mission to which he had been assigned.
But John was also human. Today, John is about to lose two of his disciples to Jesus.
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.
“The next day” after what? Not Jesus’ baptism, because, according to the other Gospel writers, Jesus went from His baptism into the wilderness to be tested by Satan. He was alone, not among the crowds who were coming to be baptized by John, and he was away for 40 days. When the temptations are ended, it would seem that he is still in the wilderness area, as is John.
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
For a time, after Jesus has begun gathering disciples, at least two of whom come from John’s group, both of their disciples will be baptizing in the wilderness area.
For a time, after Jesus has begun gathering disciples, at least two of whom come from John’s group, both of their disciples will be baptizing in the wilderness area.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, since we will get into these passages on another day. For now, let’s enjoy John as one enjoys a sunset before the close of day. John has something to tell us in this passage - yes, that Jesus is the Lamb of God, but also something about our response to Christ’s presence.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, since we will get into these passages on another day. For now, let’s enjoy John as one enjoys a sunset before the close of day. John has something to tell us in this passage - yes, that Jesus is the Lamb of God, but also something about our response to Christ’s presence.
Most preaching of the Gospel centers on what God has, in Christ, done for us. In it, we come to see that God works for us, rather than we work for God. But if we aren’t careful, or we succumb to slothfulness, we will say, “God has saved us, so let us take our ease in Zion.” And yet, even before the Fall, in the Garden, God placed the man and the woman and told them to cultivate it (). Man was safe in the Garden, and yet God gave him a command there as well:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
According to the Word of Christ, we have entered into rest through Jesus Christ from the works of the Law, the rest that He purchased with His finished work on the Cross, as it is written:
According to the Word of Christ, we have entered into rest through Jesus Christ from the works of the Law, the rest that He purchased with His finished work on the Cross, as it is written:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
And again:
Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
There is a work for those who have by faith come into Christ through His Holy Baptism. It is a work of the Holy Spirit, Who energizes the people of God so that we do the will of God from the heart.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
And so we teach, concerning the obedience of faith, or
The Book of Concord Article VI: Concerning the New Obedience
[VI. Concerning the New Obedience]
[1] It is also taught that such faith should yield good fruit and good works and that a person must do such good works as God has commanded for God’s sake but not place trust in them as if thereby to earn grace before God.
God truly is at work in you who share the Good News of Jesus Christ with his or her neighbor, when you show the love of God for your neighbor by meeting their needs and caring for them, even as Christ met all of our ultimate need, the need in which all of our needs of body and soul are summed up, that we would be reconciled to God.
Satan seeks to lull many to sleep, so that they would be caught unawares, left outside of Christ by their own disbelief which bears fruit in disobedience.
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Satan seeks to lull many to sleep, so that they would be caught unawares, left outside of Christ by their own disbelief which bears fruit in disobedience
Paul Timothy McCain, ed., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 16.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Until our Lord returns in glory, as we confess: And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end,
Paul Timothy McCain, ed., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 16.
we have been brought into His glorious work, working in His vineyard until he returns to collect His fruit.
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
It wasn’t enough for them to “follow” Jesus; in order to “see,” they must “come.” Many claim to “follow Jesus,” but they do so from afar, as Peter did on the night when he denied his Lord. Like Peter, they also deny him when their nakedness is discovered, for they are not clothed in His righteousness. If you have not been united to Christ through baptism, you are following, but you have not come. If you have strayed and have neglected His gift of His true Body and Blood given for you at the cross, and to you in the sacrament of Holy Communion, you are following, but you are “afar off.”
But, you say, “I believe. Why do I need to do these things?” Our Lord says in reply,
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
When we despise the assembling of the saints together, when we despise His gracious gifts which He gives through the Church, when we despise His Food and Drink, which is the medicine for our souls, we call God a liar, and seek to overthrow, not only our own faith, but also that of our neighbor. For will he not become emboldened to forsake the same things that you forsake because it does not seem to satisfy the cravings of your flesh, since he shares the same nature as you?
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
When we have the mind of Christ, we know that His gifts are not to be buried or hoarded. They are to be shared.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
God gives a name to each of His children, a name which He knows. It is a new name.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’
Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’
The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.
The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
Through the Gospel of Christ, God takes away the desolation that sin brings into our lives, our homes, and our community, and makes us a fruitful, “Married” community. Through His One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church, God changes our name from “Azubah” to Hephzibah,” from “Forsaken” to “My Delight is in Her.” Through His Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit gives and strengthens faith in those who receive.
While we rejoice as our community embraces the work of redevelopment, redevelopment without ReVitality will not remove the spiritual desolation that manifests in material blight. God’s watches over His Word to perform it, so we proclaim that Word in order that the Spirit would work.
John the Baptist understood his vocation as “a prophet, and more than a prophet.”, and carried it out. As members of the One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church, God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation:
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
After the fall, Adam tried to cover their nakedness before God, but it wasn’t enough. Rejecting John, the scribes and Pharisees tried to assert their own righteousness, but it wasn’t enough. Rejecting the Gospel, we try to create our own righteousness before God, but it isn’t enough. Our neighbors need more than our good deeds, they need the Good News, in order to taste and see that the Lord is Good. So let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.