John 1.24-28 - Clear the Way (The Interrogation Pt 2)

Last time we saw that the Pharisees sent a delegation to interrogate John the Witness out in the [wilderness].  The Interrogation.  Are you the Messiah?  And John makes it crystal clear: No, no, no - I am not the Messiah.  I am not the one you need to be looking for.  Well then who ARE you?  [22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”].  Who AM I?  John says, I am here to prepare the way, to clear the way for the Lord.  I am a Way-clearer.

How does one make straight, or “clear the way” for the Lord?  Let’s look at the passage John quotes: [Is. 40:3-5  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.”]

Is wilderness where we go to FIND the Lord, or is He coming OUT of the [wilderness]?  Maybe a little of both?  John is “in the wilderness”.  Wilderness is where nothing grows/dead.  Nobody lives/lonely.  No food, no water/hard to survive.  And there is no road/hard to move forward.  But so the Lord is coming.  He WANTS to come into our lives, and build His kingdom.  We might need to venture into (or find ourselves in) a hard place to find Him.  Or, we might need to venture OUT of that lonely hard-to-live place.  We basically want to [bulldoze] anything that might hinder His coming - in our lives or in the lives of others.  We want to smooth that all out - we want to clear out anything that might keep anyone (including us) from seeing the glory of the Lord, that might somehow hide or throw shade on His breathtaking goodness and greatness.  So that all flesh can see His glory.

So, clearing out the things that hinder us from seeing God’s glory. Surely the greatest of these is me? [3fold self - me-myself-and-I]  [Is 40.6-8 A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass.  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.]  Isaiah reminds us that even at our best-most-lovely [chesed], we are like a fading flower [like spring redbuds - gone way too quickly].  Beautiful to look at for a season maybe, but nothing we should put our stock in.  My focus on self - good/bad and even the ugly - this KEEPS me from seeing how great the Lord really is, and how much I really need Him.  I need to realize that even my very best will fade and leave me no better than an empty wilderness.  I need to embrace the truth, that in the end, the ONLY thing that lasts, the ONLY thing we can/should really trust, is God and His Word.  And HE is coming out of the wilderness to a city, to a life near you, near me.  You and I need to clear the way…

So, back in the wilderness, our interrogators ask John a good question.  [25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”]  Why WAS John baptizing?  I’m calling you to repentance, that’s what I’m doing.  (=) change your mind AND your direction - about who you are, what you are doing, about your life.  This is what it means to clear the way.  [Clearing out the rough ground], filling in valleys, leveling mountains.  The things that hinder the advance of God’s “kingdom”, the progress of what God wants in our life.  This is what Jesus taught us to pray: let Your kingdom come, let what You want be done - on earth, in my life, just as it is in heaven.  Clear the way.  Clear it out.  You and I change our mind about our life, about what we want, about who to trust.  We change our mind about Who God is, and what He deserves.  And we pray with Jesus, not what I want, but what You want, Lord.  I want what You want, Lord.  Clear the way.

Baptism itself didn’t clear the way, per se.  There’s nothing magical even about the waters of the river [Jordan].  But there IS something about making a public profession.  It gives feet to your resolve.  And it brings the community, the spiritual family, into your journey.  It invites them into your struggles and your triumphs.  Some today think that faith is a “personal” thing, that it should stay personal - but that is NOT what we see in John.  Make your decision [public]…

[26 John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”]  I am baptizing, I am calling you all to repentance because there is One among you Who you do not know.  He HAS stood.  Already.  He’s already among you.  In fact, He is Emmanuel - God WITH us.  He is the Ultimate God•send, He’s already here - and John says, you’ve missed it, completely.  One Whom you don’t know.  You aren’t even aware that He’s here.  I’m here to help clear things out of the way, so that you CAN see Him.  You don’t know Who He is.  And you NEED to know Him.  Because HE is Messiah.  And He is worthy.  Sooo worthy.  I am not worthy, John says.  I am NOT Him, and compared to Him, I am nothing.  We show people Jesus - because there is no one like Him.  

John says, I’m not worthy even to untie His [sandals].  This statement appears in every one of the Gospels.  Sandal removal - and foot washing - were the jobs for the lowest slave in a household - and John says, this Messiah you ask if I am?  I’m not worthy to be compared to Him in any way.  I don’t even rate as the most menial servant in comparison to Him.  He’s so good, He’s simply better.  The Best.  He must increase.  He is coming after me, behind me, John says - but He needs to come first for you.  He needs to be front and center for you.  And that’s what I’m here to do, to clear the way for Him to be first, to be front and center.

This is precisely where repentance comes in.  John’s ministry of baptizing people was bringing people to the recognition that this life was not about them.  It’s not about me.  Life is not [me-first].  I am not to be living for what I want.  I live first for what God wants.  This is a fundamental change of heart.  And this is the very first thing author John shows us.  He shows us John the Witness, calling people to turn their lives around, to turn their hearts around from living for what I want and choosing instead to live for what the Lord wants.  Clearing the way for [Jesus to be first].  And as it turns out, there is no better way to live - cuz He made us for this.  This is the abundant Zoe life God designed us to live - in HIM is Zoe.  Our best life is not living for what I want.  It’s living for what God wants.  This is how life is designed to work.  Most of us grow up mistakenly assuming that life is all about us, what I want.  We’re messing around making mud pies in a slum, when infinite joy is offered us.  He has already stood among you.  His light has been shining.  Won’t you eagerly take the Light?  Won’t you eagerly receive Him?  Why won’t you eagerly receive Him?  He is so much better.  We have no idea.  John says, I'm not even worthy to untie His sandals - he knew how much better Jesus was.  Clear the way for Jesus to be first [1jn4.19].

How about you and me?  How is it that we are clearing the way for Jesus to be first?  First in our heart?  Helping others make their way to Jesus?  All day, every day - clear the way for the Lord.  Shining the light of Christ in the dark places of the world, in the darkness of people’s hearts.  Showing off the goodness of Christ.  Blessed to be a blessing.  We shine the light of Christ in ways that show them Jesus, that point people to Jesus.  He must increase.  

So, this was The Interrogation.  Who are YOU, John?  And John is saying, it’s not about me.  This was never about me.  One is standing here - Whom you do not know.  Clear the way…

John 1.19-23 - (Not) The Messiah

Our story finally begins NOT with Jesus but John (the Witness).  In [Bethany-beyond-the Jordan] [28].  Not the village where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived, a couple of miles from Jerusalem.  John is out in the middle of nowhere, Transjordan [If you were gonna launch a ministry - would you do it 30km from Jerusalem?  That's an all-day trip - like launching an East Texas ministry way out in West Texas?].  Bethany-beyond the Jordan.  This is a now-unknown village, somewhere near the Jordan river.  And that’s where we find John the Witness, baptizing people [in the shadow of Machaerus, the fortress prison where he would later be beheaded].  

[19 This is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”] THIS is the witness of John.  This is why he came!  To be a witness.  Here’s his testimony.  He knew something, AND was willing to testify.  He was available.  And what did he say?  Well, we begin with an interrogation.  And John our author gives us a very detailed description - it suggests that he was there for this questioning.  He was already following John the Witness.  And the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem - the Pharisees - send a delegation out to John the Witness.  They ask him, “Who are you?”  But that’s not their REAL question.  

At this time, early 1st cent AD, what every Jew really wants to know is, Are you Him?  Are you the One, the One we’ve been waiting for?  John, are you the Messiah?  I think at first even author John was wondering if maybe John the Witness was the Messiah.  So John answers their REAL question in the next verse: [20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”] Notice: author John triple records (3x!) that John the Witness answers emphatically, “I am definitely not the Christ.”  I’m not the One you’re looking for.

They were looking for the Messiah.  Christ is the Greek equivalent of that Hebrew word, Messiah [=mashiach].  It means, anointed.  You took a moshchah (consecrated portion) of the meshach (anointing oil) and you would mashach (anoint, smear/spread it on) someone and then they were God’s Mashiach.  Someone whom God has anointed, set apart for a special purpose.  At first in the OT it refers to [Aaron], the high priest.  After Israel insists they want a human king, it mostly refers to their [king]: Saul, David, Solomon, etc.  Those men who were anointed by God to lead His people.  Mashiach.

But there’s one passage in the OT where God promises to one day send this other [Mashiach].  And it is one of the most amazing prophecies in the entire Bible, found in Daniel [9.24-27].  At that time Daniel and his people are in captivity, in [Babylon].  It’s around 539BC.  Daniel has been in captivity in Babylon for some 65 years.  They have been there almost their entire lives.  Jerusalem, its walls, and the temple, the house of the Lord - all lies in ruins.  Nebuchadnezzar is long gone, and is there any hope for the Jewish people?  They are still looking forward to, longing for a day not only when they will be able to return to Jerusalem ["Next year in Jerusalem!" - it's a thing for Jews still today...], but they also long for this time when they will no longer be ruled by ANY foreign king.  Unfortunately, in 539BC, NOW the [Medes and the Persians] have come to power, and they’re even more powerful than the Babylonians.   

But Daniel, having a QT, sees a promise from God to Jeremiah [29.10], that the Jewish people will be in captivity in Babylon for 70 years.  Those 70 years are just about up!  So Daniel is praying and seeking the Lord [Dan. 9:19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”].  And God sends a messenger.  The [angel Gabriel].  [Dan. 9:25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.] [7+62=69 weeks, 69 sevens, 7yr periods = 483 yrs].  There are different ideas as to which “decree” Gabriel is referring:  

-Cyrus/Zerubbabel, 538 BC [Ezra 1.1-4] - TEMPLE

-Darius/Haggai&Zechariah, 520 BC [Ezra 6.1-7] - TEMPLE

-Artaxerxes/Ezra, 457 BC [Ezra 7.11,18,9.9] - WALLS = CITY

[Ezra 7:11,18  Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest: “Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God…9:9 “For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.]

[Using that 2nd Ezra date, 457BC —> 483 yrs = 27AD]  What does Gabriel say will happen right around year 27AD?  Mashiach.  Messiah the Prince.  This prophecy is so amazing!  Look at the next verse in Daniel: [26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off…]  Are you kidding me?  This long awaited Anointed One, Mashiach, will come, after 483 years - but then He’ll be “cut off”?  What is Gabriel talking about?  Daniel is receiving this prophecy almost 600 years before it happens.  What are the chances of this?  A lucky guess?  But so fast-forward back to John the Witness and here are the Jewish people, right around 27AD, and these are heady times, cuz anyone who is familiar with Daniel’s prophecy AND who is NOT prone to unbelief knows that pretty much, any day now… Mashiach!  Messiah the Prince is going to come!  They come to ask John, Who are you?  And he has to three-peat it: I myself am NOT the Messiah.

Then “who are you?”, they ask.  [21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ]  Why would they ask if he was Elijah?  It’s another promise: [Mal. 3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple. 4:5  “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.]  Elijah was one of the most powerful prophets ever.  His exploits were the stuff of legend.  He also held the distinction of being one of only two people who the Lord took straight up to heaven.  Most Jews believed that Elijah himself was going to show up right before Messiah came.  But nope, John is not Elijah.  So they ask, are you “The Prophet”.  Who was that?  It’s another promise: [Deut. 18:15  “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.].  In other words, not just any prophet.  Someone like Moses.  [Moses and Elijah - what do they have in common?]  And again John says, no.  But Jesus will later confirm: [Matt. 11:7,9-10,14  Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.].  So why does John flat out say, “I am not Elijah, NOT the Prophet”?  That's a legit question...

[22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”] You’re for sure somebody special - so who? [23 He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”].  That verse in Isaiah actually says, clear the way for the Lord.  Clear the way.  Prepare the way.  I think he’s saying, you’re trying to make this about ME.  This is NOT about me.  John knew that it was all about Messiah.  Christ the Lord.  100s & 100s of years of Jewish prophecy, fulfilled in Jesus.  Messiah.  John says, I am NOT Him.  I’m here to clear the way, to point you people TO Him.  To Jesus.  And that’s our job - point ourselves and others to Him.  HE is The Messiah.  Anointed by God to lead His people.  Out of slavery.  Out of death.  And into eternal life.  Into this place where we can make it all about Him...

John 1:14-18 - "Full of It..."

Last time John dropped one of the most profound truths in all of Christianity: the glorious infinite God Who always WAS came to earth.  He took on finite human flesh and camped out among us.  Emmanuel, God WITH us.  And John is saying, I had a front row seat.  I saw it all - hung out with Him, touched Him.  We saw His glory.

[14] And so as John is reflecting on the breathtaking goodness he beheld, the glory of the Father on display in Jesus, he describes this glory he saw as, full of grace and truth.  That’s what you see when you get a full frontal look at Jesus.  God’s glory is full of grace AND truth.  

Grace: we’re talking unconditional love, come-just-as-you-are-warts-and-all acceptance, compassion, mercy.  Grace means we get what we don’t deserve, could never deserve.  And it doesn’t matter who you are.  It doesn’t matter what you’ve done.  It doesn’t matter where you’ve been.  FULL of grace.  We saw His glory, glory enough to floor ya, to bring you to your knees in awe and wonder - but you could still approach.  Because that’s what you get with Jesus.  Often times, important people can be intimidating.  You might be hesitant to talk to them.  But not Jesus.  He says, c’mere.  C’mon over.  Over and over: "Come to Me..."  AND He has even made the first move.  HE has come to US.  And whoever receives Him hits the motherlode jackpot of grace. Come just as you are.  Grace: He's so full of it!

AND full of truth.  Truth that says, I love you so much I came all the way to you, I love you just as you are, BUT I love you too much to let you stay that way.  Truth tells me what’s right, AND what’s not right. Truth points out the stuff the Lord wants to cut out of my life.  The messiness and the brokenness that hurts others AND hurts me.  

Grace AND truth.  It’s love that loves us too much to let us stay in the pigpen.  Let Me help you out of that.  In fact, let Me help you cast off these old filthy rags, and dress you in a white robe of My righteousness.  Let Me take out your old selfish unbelieving heart, and put Mine in its place.  This might hurt a little bit…  Heart transplants are like that.  It might take a while for that new heart to get up to full speed.  But it’ll be worth it - cuz we’re going for glory.  [2Cor. 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.].  God’s glory on display - in me!!??  Not to notice me.  To notice Christ in me.  [Gal 2.20].  FoG&T.

THIS is why Jesus is THE God•send.  Cuz we desperately need grace AND truth, and He’s full of it.  And what do we get with the world (that does not know Him)?  [Rom. 1:25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…].  The world prefers the lie.  About God.  About life.  Most places in the world, you can’t trust your neighbor cuz everybody lies.  The world lies to get ahead.  The world lies to get what they want.  You don’t get truth.  AND you don’t get grace.  The default position of the world is works.  You get what you deserve, what you've earned (altho maybe not even that?).  But, "Survival of the fittest"?  That’s works.  Getting what you deserve.  And when it comes to the most important issue in life - where I will spend eternity - the world gets it SO wrong.  The world - assuming you get what you deserve - tries to earn its way into eternal life.  Every religion in the world (except for one: true Christianity).  Working your way into heaven.  The problem is, heaven is a perfect place, and you and I have to be perfect to get in.  And no matter how hard we try, we will never work our way into perfection.  The truth is, we all need grace.

We saw His glory, we noticed - and He was FULL of grace and truth.  How full of grace is Jesus?  [16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.]  Literally, grace against grace.  It means, when one supply of grace is exhausted, another is readily available. It is inexhaustible.  We will never run out of grace in Jesus.  God’s fullness supplies all we need, and then some.  Enough for sharing.  He’s so full of it!  We saw it - abounding, amazing everlasting love in the flesh, with skin on: we saw -> and we received.  WE understood the truth about Him, and we believed in Him, John says.  The Word of glory, so full of it - we received Him, and now we’re sharing Him with you.  And if you’ve believed in Jesus, you’ve received fullness of grace and truth as well.  Of His fullness we’ve all received, John says.  If you’ve received Jesus, if you’ve believed in Him, trusted in Him as your Savior, you received of His fullness.  [2Pet. 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.]  Grace upon grace.  Everything that we need. [Phil. 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.]  Grace.  Glory.  Inexhaustible breathtaking goodness that we could never ever deserve.  That’s what we behold in Jesus, and that’s what we receive when we receive Him.

One thing we don’t receive is a bunch of do’s and don’ts.  [17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came to be through Jesus Christ.]  The law gives us a bunch of do’s and don’ts.  But it doesn’t give us grace, nor does it give us the whole truth.  It says do this, that, and the 630+ other things.  But the fine print is, we are on our own, and oh by the way, we’re doomed to fall short.  We’ll never be able to keep all of it.  We will never be able to make ourselves perfect enough to be accepted by a holy God.  At which point the law gives us what we deserve - just punishment.  But the real point of the law is to point us to Jesus.  (First mention of Jesus right here in this verse, btw!)  And He is the only Source of grace and truth.  Law says, I need to do in order to be blessed.  Grace says, I can do because I am blessed, I have been blessed in Christ, by Christ.  Full of it!

Grace and truth came to be through Jesus.  It’s not that the Law was not true - but it was only part of the truth.  AND there was no grace.  But when Jesus came, when the Word became flesh and showed up in our midst, we finally saw the grace and the truth we so desperately needed.  FULL of bottomless grace and truth.   Free refills for everyone!

We beheld Him.  Jesus.  [18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.]  God the Father - no one has ever seen Him, John says.  He’s invisible [Col. 1:15  He is the image of the invisible God]  Not simply image-BEARERS, like Adam/Eve and all their descendants.  But Jesus, the begotten God, now in flesh appearing, is as close to the heart of God as you can get - He exegetes God.  Jesus “explains" the Father in a way that helps us understand Him better.  [He WAS, WITH God, IS God, the exact same essence].  Again, no mistaking what John is telling us here. [John 14:7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”] You know Him - IF you know Me.  [Phil. 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,].  Do you know Him yet?  This is the goal of all of life…

John says, Jesus was in the world, but the world did not know Him.  Even the so-called chosen people, His own didn’t receive Him.  But as many as receive Him, to them He gives the right to become children of God.  If you haven’t yet received Him, why wait?  What is holding you back?  Why would you NOT want to receive this One Who offers this inexhaustible supply of grace and truth.  So full of IT.  In our dog-eat-dog world, you mostly don’t get those.  You get lies.  Half-truths.  Deception.  You don’t get grace.  You get three strikes and you’re out (and maybe not even three?  You get try harder.  You get the prospect of a cotton candy existence that promises satisfaction but will never ever fill the hole in your heart.  Come to Me, He says.  Will you receive Him today?