We’ve been looking at Day 1 of John’s book. The Interrogation. The Pharisees have [dispatched a delegation] to ask John the Baptizer: who are you, and why are you baptizing? And John says, this is not about me. I am not the One you’re looking for. I’m just the Way-clearer. BUT the One you ARE looking for has already stood among you, and you don’t know Him. You haven’t recognized Him. So…
On to Day 2. The day after the interrogation. [29 The next day (John) sees Jesus coming to him and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!] For John, his whole life and work up to this point had been directed towards clearing the way, getting people ready to receive Messiah. The One they had all been waiting for - for centuries! And here He comes!!! [The Word Who is first cuz He always was]. This has got to be the greatest day in John’s life…!
And even I didn’t recognize Him, John says. Twice. [31 “Even I did not recognize Him, but so that He should be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.”]. When He showed up, even I didn’t know Him. But I came baptizing in water, calling people to repentance, preparing people’s hearts, clearing the way, so that when Mashiach did show up, people WOULD know Him. John had spent his whole life and work focusing on this Messiah, and he says, even I didn’t recognize Him. Not at first. Mind boggling - they were 2nd cousins. John had probably been around Him for years, and even tho he was looking for Him, somehow he still didn’t recognize Him. But he repeats it: [33-32 (Even) I did not recognize Him, BUT the One who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.”]. No wonder that so many miss him still. We all need help recognizing Jesus.
Notice that in this case, recognizing Jesus required a divine intervention. God had to intervene for John to recognize Jesus [and he’s a PK!]. So, what does this suggest about whose job it is then to bring people to repentance? To change their minds about Jesus? We point people to Jesus, like John, who faithfully pointed people to Messiah - even tho he somehow didn’t recognize Him. [success in witnessing is taking the initiative in the power of the Spirit and leaving the results UP TO GOD] We point people to Jesus - and God is the One Who opens their eyes to see the truth about Who Jesus is, to see their need for Him. [Is. 42:5-7,16 Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, “I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, and I will appoint You as a Covenant to the people, as a Light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, in paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone.”][and we get to help!*]
Every one of the Gospels mentions the [Holy Spirit descending] on Jesus: [Matt 3:16-17 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”]. God the Father is doing two things here: 1) confirming the identity of His only begotten Son [validation of Deity of Christ]; AND 2) [33] saying, [My Son] is the One Who now baptizes and seals every person who trusts in Him with the same Holy Spirit [Rom. 8:9 But your sinful nature does not control you. The Holy Spirit controls you. The Spirit of God lives in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.]. Jesus said, [Acts 1.8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…]. The Spirit of Messiah living IN you and me is the Ultimate Game-Changer! [Gal. 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.] Christ lives in me. He will show up in our life. His power will show up in and through us. The fruit of His Spirit, His breathtaking goodness will be seen in our life - because Jesus will be seen in our life. Or should. [no power? need to be filled…]
John says, God told me, “the One you (and everyone else) is looking for? THIS is how you’ll know for sure Who He is. The Holy Spirit will descend onto Him and remain on Him.” And John is saying, I saw that happen (probably not long before Day 2). I saw Him - He’s the guy. And so Jesus shows up here on Day 2, and John’s like, there He is!!! [29] Look! Behold! Pay attention! [Check it out!] There He is!!! He’s the One, the One Who needs to come first!
So, John doesn’t just say, Behold, Mashiach. THERE’s Messiah. He could’ve said that. No - John says, Behold the Lamb of God. He calls Jesus, the Lamb of God. This title only appears twice in the entire Bible - right here, as Jesus comes on the scene. God’s people had been waiting for Messiah the Prince for centuries. THE Anointed One. THE once and forever King of the Jews. And now, Messiah the King finally shows up, in this amazing fulfillment of prophecy, and what does John call Him? What’s the first thing John says when he sees Jesus? [picture a lamb]? The Lamb of God? Really?
The Lamb. Known for weakness, vulnerability. A totally defenseless baby sheep —> [i.e. Prey]. But God chose the [lamb] as THE symbol for conquering death and evil and sin. Taking away the sin of the world. The Lamb of God. The Greek word for “take away” here means to pick it up and remove it. [ i.e. not how many of us pick up our room] This is what the Lamb of God does. Completely picks up our mess. Our messy mass of sin. Filthy rags. Everything that has and will ever separate us from God. And that’s what Jesus has done with our sin. Picked it all up and removed it - as far as the east is from the west. [Psa. 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.]
The Jews understood (or should have) that God’s Lamb means Substitution. In Genesis, God provides Abraham with a grown male sheep as a substitute sacrifice for Isaac. In Exodus the blood of the lamb provided the way for God’s destroying angel to pass over the people. Each year they celebrated that Passover by sacrificing a lamb. [Ex. 29:38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously.] God had for centuries been preparing His people to understand that THE Lamb of God was His final ultimate substitute sacrifice for our sin [Is. 53:1-6 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted.But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. 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.] [Behold the Lamb of God], taking up the sin of the world...
The sin of the world (singular). Not just the sins of the world, but all the iniquity of us all. The Lamb of God is He Who picks up and removes not just the deeds we’ve done or failed to do, but every aspect of sin that separates us from God. Up to this point in Israel lambs had been sacrificed for individuals and for families and for the nation. But now, for the first time and finally, God is fully dealing with the sin of the entire world. The iniquity of us all. All the separation that exists between God and people. Taken up and out of the way, fully and forever. Behold, the Lamb of God…
*On getting to help: "While living in Michigan, during a terrific snowstorm, my infant son became very ill ... We bundled up our ailing son; my old Plymouth refused to start in the subzero cold. Just then, a neighbor that we did not know, who had recently moved in, was returning from an errand and noticed our distress ... He insisted I use his car to get our son to the doctor. 'No argument,' he declared. Off we went. A few miles down the road I noticed this car had less than a hundred miles on it. It was BRAND NEW! Upon returning I thanked him profusely and asked how could I repay him. 'When you have the opportunity to help someone in distress and you help them, I will be repaid.’"
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