Sent from God, Preparing the Way

A brief recap...

We are in the beginning section of John’s gospel we are calling the revelation to Israel, which starts n verse 19 of chapter 1 through John 12:50. The summary statement on this section is as follows:

The revelation of the Son of God to Israel was presented by John through his record of the signs which Jesus performed in both his private and his public manifestations (1:19-12:50).

Within this section we begin with the private manifestations of Jesus. This starts in our text we will be in today and concludes in chapter 2:11.

The private manifestations of Jesus were made prior to the official beginning of His ministry to authenticate His identity as the Messiah and the Son of God (1:19-2:11).

1. The clarification of John’s person, 1:19-34

A few months after John began his wilderness ministry, an official group of priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem to ask about John and his ministry. This fact finding mission asked three main questions:

The three questions?

Who are you?

What do you say about yourself?

Why do you baptize?

a. Who are you?

John answered them formally and carefully:

-- I am not the Christ. Others may have already been conjecturing that John was Messiah, but he clearly stated that was not who he was (“confess, confessed”).

-- I am not Elijah. That was a fair question. After all, he looked like Elijah, and he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and the Jews expected Elijah to come again. In fact, the final words of the Old Testament (see Malachi 4:5–6) say Elijah will come again before the day of the Lord.

Malachi 4:5–6 NASB95

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”

But again, John answered, “I am not.”

-- I am not the prophet. They were thinking about the one of whom Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18:

Deuteronomy 18:15 NASB95

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

Deuteronomy 18:18 NASB95

‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

But John said, “No!” He was very explicit in each denial.

b. What do you say about yourself?

-- “I am a voice crying in the wilderness.” John is stating his role in fulfilling OT prophecy. John’s answer in verses 23–27 reveals what is of primary importance in the matter of witnessing. First, verse 23, he said, “I am the voice…” He did not say, “I am the Word.” He reached back 700 years to the words prophesied in Isaiah 40:3-5:

Isaiah 40:3–5 NASB95

A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

He said, “I am just a voice.” He was not the substance but just the communicator. Borrowing the imagery from that Old Testament passage, he was saying, “I am merely a workman making a road for the Messiah.” He moved the emphasis away from himself.

c. Why do you baptize?

-- John’s place: he was rightfully a priest from a priestly lineage. He ministered in the wilderness, rather than at the temple or synagogues calling the righteous remnant out of a decadent system. Messianic blessings had to be preceded by repentance. John required fruit as proof of repentance. The righteous remnant responding to John’s message were baptized, constituting a coming-out, or separation from, a decadent system in preparation for Messiah. John was forcing the nation to decisions openly.

The word baptidzo had a literal meaning, “to dip” or “to dip in the dye.” From this literal meaning the metaphorical meaning has developed, meaning “to change identity” (by changing color). John’s baptism of water was an identification with the righteous remnant who awaited Messiah.

Jesus was baptized by John, but it was not a baptism unto repentance. It was “to fulfill all righteousness,” i. e., as a member of Israel, Jesus was obligated to align with the righteous remnant awaiting the righteous Kingdom, rather than to remain aloof with the rebellious leaders and other rejectors.

John, at this point, knows who the One standing among them is. His witness is He is the coming One, who is exalted so far above him that John says he is unworthy of even providing a menial servant’s task for Him.

2. The clarity of John’s witness, 1:29-34.

In verse 29 we have the essence of the Christian message.

John 1:29 NASB95

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

These words brought an avalanche of meaning to the Jews’ minds. For centuries Israel’s consciousness had been programmed with the idea of the sacrificial lamb. There Jewish minds went as far back as Abraham and Isaac when Isaac said

Genesis 22:7–8 NASB95

Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

Those hearing John’s words may have brought to mind thoughts of the Passover lamb, the application of its blood over the door, and these words from Isaiah 53:6-7

Isaiah 53:6–7 NASB95

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

So what John was saying was that Jesus would be a sacrifice for sin. God had provided the Lamb for their deepest need!

So our message today must also be the sacrificial death of Christ.

Christianity is a bloody religion—the blood of Christ cleanses us of all sin! This reality must be primary in our witness and in our thinking!

These things are true:

Christ came to give abundant life.

Christ worked miracles, and he can work miracles in our lives today.

But these are benefits of the gospel, not the gospel itself.

The gospel centers upon Christ as the sin-bearer—“the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Most of us understand what John is saying. However, our salvation does not depend on our formulation of the doctrine of the Atonement, but on our experience of it! Is he our Lamb? Do we really believe he died for us? If we keep the wonder of the Atonement before us, we will be different people!

The Lamb is our eternal message.

Abraham and Isaac prophesied his sacrifice.

The Passover applied the principles of his sacrifice.

Isaiah 53 personified his sacrifice.

John 1 identified the sacrifice.

Revelation 5:9–14 magnifies His sacrifice.

The sacrificial death of Christ—this is the essence of our message.

But a faithful witness must also tell others how to appropriate the benefits of the Lamb.

John the Baptist points this out in verses 31–33. In verse 31 he says, “I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” John’s water baptisms were baptisms of repentance. That is how he prepared the way. People had to turn from their sins so that they might receive the Messiah and the benefits of his salvation. Christ brought a new, different baptism.

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ” (vv. 32–33)

John’s preaching motivated the human will to change, but Christ’s message brought the power to change! That marvelous word “baptize,” which essentially means a dipping or submersion, here extends to the spiritual life. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul says, we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body,” referring to the saturation of the Holy Spirit that occurs at the time of salvation.

The power to change our lives—to leave our life of sin and enjoy the fullness of eternal life—comes only from a soaking or immersion in the Holy Spirit!

Today our message is “Look, the Lamb of God …!”