Sermon Transcript Tone Analysis

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

This morning's message: A Man Named John.

And we're reading from the - if I can find it here - first chapter of the Gospel according to John, verses 6 through 9 and verse 15.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the Light that all might believe through him.

He was not the Light but came to bear witness about the Light.

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."

So, in those verses, do we get any sense of who John the Gospel writer is writing about?

I mean, does he distinguish this man John from John the Gospel writer or John the Baptist?

If you were just a new believer, or not even a believer, you're in the hotel room and you reach for that Gideon Bible, and it flops open to the Gospel of John, and you're reading, would you know that John is speaking about John the Baptist?

If you would, I'll tell you you're much brighter than I am.

Cuz I have to confess for all of my years, even going through college, it wasn't until Seminary, well latter part of college, that I really got it straight that John here in the beginning of speaking about John the Baptist.

If he'd only say John the Baptist, like all the other Gospels do, it would be so easy, but he says John.

And, of course, we're looking at the first page and it says, The Gospel according to John.

So, you could see why there might be some misunderstanding as to who we're talking about.

But yet, the description of John the Baptist early in this first chapter of John applies equally to John the Gospel writer.

And it would apply equally to you and I, even though our name isn't John.

And what complicates things are even more is that John isn't a Hebrew name.

You know the story of John's birth, and Zechariah is speechless because he didn't believe the Angel.

And the people, then, finally asked "what's his name?"

And Zechariah asked for a board, and he writes out his name is John.

And everybody's like what?

There's nobody in the family named John.

But that's the name God had told Zechariah through the angel to name him.

And John comes to bear witness to the Light.

The Light that was coming into the world.

And that's John the Gospel writer's language for Jesus, the Christ.

And the purpose of John the Baptist's witness was that people would believe that this Light coming into the world was the Son of God.

He was there to prepare the people for them.

And so he witnessed to Jesus.

Now, there's also another character that's kind of looming in the background.

And we'll call him the bully.

The bully.

Whether you admit it or not, you're probably - every one of us here bullied at some point in our school days.

That's just part of that human, sinful nature that somebody is going to be a bully.

And I'd also suggest that at various times in our lives, not just school aged years, but even to present, there are times when we are acting a little bullyish, aren't we?

In our thoughts and our words and in our actions.

In my day, I guess compared to today, bullying look pretty innocent.

Although, it was just as difficult to bear up as bullying today.

It was just as much hurtful.

I suppose, if I'd really thought it through, I'd have stacked my locker against those who were going to stack my locker so that the books would have fallen out on them instead of on me.

Or I would have doctored up my sandwich lunch with some ghost pepper, maybe.

So that the one eating it instead of me would get a taste of - hey, somebody knows what you're up to, and they're onto you.

I wasn't that bright, and it wouldn't have fit my nature to do the same, anyways.

But this bully, the devil, the devil, the bully's been around since Adam and Eve, since creation time.

And he bullies people.

Bullies people.

And uses other people to be bullies.

And when we read through the Old Testament, we read about all these peoples that were bullying God's people.

You know, first there was the brotherly bullying between, like Cain and Abel, and then Jacob and Esau.

And then the Egyptions and God's people.

And then all those Canaanite tribes and the Philistines.

All bullying God's people.

And yet, God defended them.

And yet, they sometimes - lots of times - turned away from God.

And so, sometimes, God used those bullies to teach His people a lesson.

To discipline His people.

Want to know about an up-and-down sort of relation between God's people and God and the bullies, read through the Book of Judges.

Things are going good.

The people forget about God, things go bad, bullies come.

They remember God, they cry out to Him.

He saves them.

Everything goes good, and the cycle continues again.

We're no different.

But this man named John - John the Baptist, to be clear - he was sent from God.

And he came to witness to the Light, that all might believe through him.

Now, that they might believe through this Light.

But God would work through that word.

We saw in our reading from Luke that that word that John proclaimed produced action in the people's lives.

They were made aware of their sin, and they came and they asked John, now what should we do?

You see, it wasn't just simply enough to be baptized to show that you had repented of your sin.

This word of God worked in the people such that they needed to show that repentence.

So they asked John, what should we do?

But be mindful that it wasn't their action that gained their brightness with God, justified them before God.

No.

It was their faith in the One who was coming into the world.

Jesus.

Just like it's the same for you and I. It's not the things that we do that are pleasing to God that justifies us before God, but our faith in Jesus.

The Light who was coming into the world.

But that word works in us so effectively that we also want to show that, that contrition, that repentance in our actions.

That word of God was effective.

That witness of John's was effective.

People believed.

Now, did everybody that John spoke to believe?

Of course not.

It would have been nice if they would have.

But it isn't any different today.

Not everybody that hears the word of God believes it.

Or keeps it.

And so He came into this world, this Light.

But John bears witness.

Everything John says points not to himself, but to Jesus.

And he goes on, then, in verse 15: "This is He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me because He was before me.'"

Now, I would suggest that's a good tongue twister.

And imagine having to translate that out of the Greek.

Making sure you get all those things right.

But Jesus was before John.

And his mission, his mission is simply to point the people to Jesus, that they might believe in Him and have eternal life.

That's how John the Gospel writer begins his gospel - that the people might believe through Him, this Light that was coming into the world.