Untitled Sermon (46)

John 1:29-34; 3:25-36

John 1:29-34; 3:25-36

Over the last 4 sessions on Wednesday evening we have been looking at events in the life of Jesus, getting to know Him both historically and spiritually. We talked about His presence at the Temple as a baby when he was named, circumcised, and a sacrifice was made fulfilling the law, along with the worship of those who recognized Him as the Redeemer. We talked about His first recorded words at the Temple when He was 12 showing that He knew His purpose. We talked about His Baptism when God the Father made it clear that He was His Son and the Holy Spirit confirmed it by alighting on Him. And last time we talked about His temptation in the wilderness; how He overcame sin where Adam and therefore all of his race failed, making Jesus the perfect representative of the redeemed man. Tonight we are going to see more about our Lord but not from His actions but from the words of someone else. Let’s pray then we will look into John the Baptist’s proclamation of the Gospel.

As I have related to you before I am going through the Sunday School material that we have missed due to covid 19 and the passages for this session comes from John 1:29-34 and John 3:25-36. I’m not going to go into depth on all of this. In fact I am going to focus in on just a few verses but I think we do need to look at the other parts of the passages a little bit. The day before our reading takes place John had been facing questions from those sent from the Sanhedrin and the High Priest. They wanted to know who he was and he denied that he was the Christ, nor was he Elijah or the prophet. He was simply the one crying “in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord”. Then they questioned him as to why he baptized. To which he made clear that his baptism was a baptism of repentance but that One was coming after him who baptism was with fire and the Holy Spirit and he was not worthy to loose His sandal straps. John 1:29-34 is often considered John the Apostles version of the baptism of Jesus even if it is not fully recounted here. John the Baptist makes two statements about Jesus that are profound. First he says that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This harkens back to the old covenant sacrifices that covered sin for a time but had to be repeated over and over (morning and evening and yearly). But John says that Jesus is the sacrificial lamb that doesn’t simply cover the sin but takes it away. The second thing John says about Jesus is that He is the Son of God and he would recognize His as the Son when the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove alights on Him. In Luke’s gospel we know that the Holy Spirit alighted on Jesus when John baptized Him and the voice of God the Father said; “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is proclaimed to be the Son of God who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

In John 3:25-30 John is baptizing a lot of people and in another area Jesus and His disciples are baptizing even more people. So there is a discussion around who is the most popular, Jesus or John. John’s disciples seem to be somewhat concerned that Jesus is getting more attention than John. John acknowledges that he had already made it clear that he was not the Christ and that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John states that he is not the bride groom only a friend of the groom whose purpose is to show off the groom. John states clearly that Jesus’ growth in popularity brought him joy. Then he made the statement that we should all seriously consider: “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease.”

There is more in those two passages but we just wanted to look at the pertinent facts tonight: Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, He is the Son of God and He must increase and we must decrease. Now I would like to focus in on the last part of John 3 by looking at verses 31-36 31He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. 35The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. 36He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” In the first two passages that we did not read but looked at certain points, John the Baptist laid the ground work for who Jesus is. In the last 6 verses John the Baptist, the last great Old Covenant prophet proclaimed the fullness of the gospel message.

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that God is good. Everything about Him is good. The bad news is God is good and He cannot countenance evil and must judge all sin. The good news: God is good. The bad news: God is good. Jesus is God as John says He comes from above and everything He says is true and He tells those who will hear what He has seen and heard. He is above all, as Paul said in Colossians He has the preeminence. But we are from the earth and we can only talk about earthy things. As Paul said in Romans 8:5-8 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. What John has said here and Paul reinforced is that Jesus (God) is good and you are not. Now if that offends you that I said you are not good then take it up with John the Baptist who got His words from God the Father through the Holy Spirit. I’m just telling you what God says. John even said that no one wants to hear what Jesus says because it is the truth (no one receives His testimony). But some do receive the truth and they proclaim that it is truth because He (Jesus) gave them the truth through the Holy Spirit and He does not give the Spirit by increments, He gives the Spirit fully.

Verses 35-36 are the verses I really want to zoom in on tonight. In these two verses a summary of the Gospel is presented. Verse 35 says that the Father loves the Son and has given Him all authority. In Jesus and Jesus alone is there a possibility of relationship with God the Father. Acts 4:12 speaking of Jesus says: 12Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Then in verse 36 John the last Old Testament prophet speaks as a true prophet of God. If you do this then this happens. If you don’t then this happens. You see that formula all the way through the Old Covenant and it is just as true today under the New Covenant. If you believe in the Son who has all authority then you will have everlasting life. Not if you believe and do good things and give enough to the poor and and and. Simply believe that Jesus is the only One that can take away your sin (the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world) not simply cover it up with good works but take it away. If you believe then you will have everlasting life. But then comes the other side of the “if then” statement. “He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, (now get this) but the wrath of God abides on him.” It would be bad enough if you just missed everlasting life but there is much more at stake than life and death. If you do not believe then the eternal wrath of God continues to abide on you. It is not as if you had everlasting life and lost it because you did not believe, you were already dead in your trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2).

There are a lot of surveys being done right now, most of them political. In those surveys there are almost always sliding scales of how much you agree or disagree with something; strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree or disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree. You can do that with politics. You can do that with spinach. You can do that with almost anything. But you cannot do that with Jesus. You either believe and have everlasting life or you do not believe and you have God’s eternal wrath. Am I judging? No, I am only telling you the truth. Let’s pray.