John 1:19-34
John was baptizing in the Jordan and he is about to defend his ministry and proclaim the deity and mission of Christ…
Joh 1:19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
Joh 1:20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
Joh 1:21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."
Joh 1:22 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?"
Joh 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."
Joh 1:24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)
In everything John ever did, he directed it all straight to Christ. John accepted no praise and demanded none. He denied what he could not claim but he also denied what he could have claimed. He had the spirit of Elijah and he did prophesy the Christ to come. But why did he deny it?
John’s mission was to point everyone to Christ, to show His infinite worth, and to inspire a need for the Messiah. John came to prepare the way of the Lord, not his own. John’s denial in what he could claim, was him fully embracing his purpose on earth. John essentially was saying, “This is not about me. This is about the Messiah.”
The amazing thing about this story is that we have the same mission today. We are to proclaim the messiah, we are to show people Christ’s infinite worth, and we are to inspire a need for Jesus in everyone we come in contact with. We join together with John the Baptist in the same mission. The question for us is, do we point everything to Christ like John did. If this is our same missions, are we in all things saying, “Not me, Christ! He is infinite, He is perfect, and He is all!”
Do you talk more about yourself or about Christ? Do you boast more in Christ’s work or your own? Does your heart and mind lean more toward lifting yourself up or exalting Christ? Do you give Christ the credit in all you do? Is He your aim? Is His glory your goal?
Joh 1:25 They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
Joh 1:26 John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,
Joh 1:27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
Joh 1:28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Joh 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!
This is a huge testimony from John. Up until this point, Israel had been using an actual lamb without spot of blemish to sacrifice for their sins.
It was only a temporary price though. The sacrificial system in which Israel had operated in from the days of Moses pointed toward one final payment for their sin and it was prophesied that it would be delivered by the Christ to come.
John is proclaiming Jesus as that final payment not just for Israel but for the entire world. Do you see and feel the weight of this? The Christ, from God, was going to be slaughtered like a lamb. He was going to bleed for everyone so that we could be forgiven. Forgiveness and salvation was here in a horrific display that reveals how serious sin is to God.
Joh 1:30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.'
Joh 1:31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."
If Jesus’ deity was not clear up until this point, it was now. “He out ranks me because though I was born before Him, He was before me.” Christ is eternal. He is the God of the Old Testament and of eternity. He is the word became flesh.
Joh 1:32 And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
Joh 1:33 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.'
Joh 1:34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
Will you proclaim Christ as bold, courageous, and selfless as John? Our Testimony should echo Isaiah 53.
Isa 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Isa 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
Isa 53:9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Isa 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
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