A
Study of the Book of John
“That
You May Believe”
Sermon
# 3
“Jesus – The Lamb of God!”
John
1:29-34
We are introduced to John the Baptist as he was
preaching in the wilderness. This gospel
account does not tell us as the Synoptic gospels do, that he was preaching a message of
repentance and baptism. Nor are we told that the people are flocking out of the cities and
villages to hear him. The religious leaders are deeply concerned over two things. First,
they are concerned that John is undermining their authority, And secondly, they are
worried that John the Baptism may stir the crowds into some action that cause the Romans to call in the soldiers to intervene.
This text deals with two crucial questions, “Who John is and Who
Jesus is!”
First, Who is
this one called “John the Baptist?” (vv. 19-28)
At some point the religious leadership became so concerned that they sent a
delegation to question John. Beginning in verse nineteen they attempt to determine
who John by asking him a series of five questions. “Now this
is the
testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,
“Who are you?”
· Question One: Who are you? (vv. 19-20)
“…“Who are
you?”(20) He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” Implied is the question, “Are you the
Messiah?” They are asking and John is denying
that he is “the anointed one” – the long awaited Messiah of Israel.
· Question Two: Are you Elijah? (v. 21a)
“And they asked him, “What
then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.?” This is not quite as easy a question to
answer as it appears. They are asking if he is the bodily return of Elijah. Yet, Jesus
says of John that he does fulfill the spirit of Elijah return in (Matt 11:14) “great and dreadful day of the Lord” prophesied in
Micah (4:5). John says, “I am not Elijah
returned in bodily form.”
· Question Three: Are you “that” prophet?
(v.
21b) “Are you the Prophet?” And he
answered, “No.”
They
asked John if he was the prophet spoken of in Deut. 18:15-19, a prophet like Moses who
they thought would accompany the Messiah. John simply said, No!
The delegation pressed him with possible
options but he persistently answered them in the negative, He is not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the prophet.
· Question Four: Then who are you?
(vv.
22-23) “Then they said to him, “Who are
The religious delegation
was not content to know who John was not. They wanted to know then who he was. But
John’s purpose was never to talk about himself his job was to prepare the way for
Jesus.
· Question Five: Why then are you baptizing? (vv. 25-26)
“And they asked him, saying,
“Why then do you
baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (26) John answered
them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not
know. (27) It is He who,
coming after me, is preferred before me, whose
sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
John’s baptism is distressing to the
Jewish leadership. Baptism is a well known practice in Judaism. It was a part of the
process by which Gentile converts became a part of the Jewish religious system. What made
John’s baptism distressing to the Jewish religious leaders was that it was not
Gentiles who were being baptized but Jews. It was not Gentiles but Jewish who were being
warned about their sins and their need for repentance. John was treating Jews as though
they were lost sinners in need of salvation. The
Jewish religious leaders were teaching that simply being Jewish and keeping the law was
sufficient to save them. Yet John’s ministry and message, was that this was not so! It’s
funny that people still are under the illusion that they do not need to repent, that
somehow they are going to make it to heaven on their own goodness!
The delegation still wants to talk to John about himself and his ministry, but
John’s ministry is all about magnifying Jesus.
Having dealt with Who John Is ….
Secondly,
“Who Then Is Jesus?” (1:29-34)
“The next
day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world! (30) This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for
He was before me. (31) I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with
water.” (32) And
John bore witness, saying, “I saw
the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. (33) I did not
know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the
Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the
Holy Spirit.’ (34)
And I have seen and testified that this
is the Son of God.”
When Jesus came toward John
on “the next day” it is obviously not their first
contact. In fact, John has already baptized Jesus. These are crucial events but John does
not retell them because they have been given in some detail in the synoptic gospels and
John assumes they are common knowledge among the people to whom he is writing. Instead
John goes on to deal with amazing story of Jesus’ true identity being revealed by the
Baptist.
John the Baptist declares, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world!’ (v. 29). The expression, “Lamb of God” is widely used in our hymns and in our
worship, “But do we really understand what it
means?” In this one sentence is the essence of the Christian message. It
is difficult for western minds to fully appreciate the import of John’s words, but to
the Jewish people of that day, these words were powerful in their significance.
Notice
with me these four powerful truths about the Lamb of God!
· He Was The Lamb That Was Promised. (Gen 22:7-8)
For centuries Israel had known about the
sacrificial lamb. They had learned about it first from the story of Abraham (Gen 22). God
had commanded Abraham to take Isaac his only son up on the mountain to sacrifice him.
Isaac had said, “… Look, the fire and the wood: but
where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for
himself the lamb for a burnt offering …” (Gen. 22:7–8). In
presenting Jesus as the Lamb of God, John is telling us that Jesus is the fulfillment of
the answer that Abraham had given to Isaac those many years ago. In one sense of the word,
the question of the Old Testament was, “Where
is the lamb?” John tells us that Jesus is the Promised Lamb.
Israel also knew the sacrificial lamb through
the institution of the Passover. The Passover was given as a means of delivering his
people from last plague, given to make Pharaoh release the Children of Israel from slavery
in Egypt, The death of the first born would visit every house that did not have the blood
applied to the doorpost. The blood of the lamb was the sign for the death angel to pass
by.
Moreover, historically two lambs were
sacrificed each day... one in the morning and one at twilight. Symbolically, the sins of
the people were removed from the people and placed on the two animals. In every instance
the sacrifices meant the death of an innocent substitute in the place of the one who had
sinned. John tells us that all the lambs that were slain on Jewish altars down through the
ages now find their fulfillment in Jesus. John marks him out when he said,. “Behold
the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”
· He was the Lamb That Was Pictured.
Because the Passover feast was near it may well
have afford John the perfect illustration to identify Jesus as the sin-bearing lamb of
God. As he stood to present Jesus it may well be that there were flocks of lamb being
driven up to Jerusalem to serve as sacrificial lambs in Jerusalem. The picture of Jesus as
the Passover Lamb vividly illustrated that Jesus was able to deliver from death all those
who believed in him.
Just as the blood of the Passover lamb saved those Jews who by faith applied the
blood to the doorpost of their homes, those who believed in Jesus likewise are saved
through his blood.
· He was the Lamb that was Provided.
John was telling the people that Jesus was to
be the sacrifice for their sins, God’s
provision for man’s greatest need. Central
to the good news is the fact that Jesus is the sin-bearer and that as “the Lamb of
God” he has taken the sins of the whole world upon himself. Peter explained this way
in (1 Peter 1:18-19) “knowing that you were not
redeemed with corruptible
things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your
fathers, (19) but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot.”
· He is the Lamb that is to be Praised.
(Rev
5:12)
I
read an illustration that I really struggled with
The
cut was deep, severing it’s throat, and blood sprayed everywhere. I let go of the
animal and it staggered as if it were drunk. Wit it’s blood all over my hands, I
dropped the knife in disbelief, as the next scene that I saw changed my life completely,
as a Christian.
The
lamb did not fall to it’s knees whisping for breath. The little lamb staggered back
to me and nudged my bloody hand for the second time with his nose, and started to lick the
blood from my hands! I could not believe what I was experiencing! I started to think of
how Christ endured his suffering and painful death for me on Calvary. Something wet
started splashing on the ground, and it was coming from my face. I was weeping. I quit
that job, that day."
This
young man realized what every Christian should be sobered by. The horrific events that
took place during the crucifixion of Christ were far worse than we could ever imagine. We
should always be humbled by the death of Christ.” [James Drake. “The Lamb of God”
John 1:29 – www. sermoncentral]
And as the John writes in
the book of Revelation 5:12 “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the
world truly is worthy of our all our praise. He
wrote, “Worthy is the Lamb who was
slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory
and blessing!”
Conclusion
According to verse thirty-seven, when two of the disciples of John the Baptist
heard him say, “look the Lamb of God” they
immediately followed Jesus. May our study of this passage lead us to do the same.
So let me ask, “Have you ever accepted the sacrifice
that Jesus Christ made with his blood on the cross of Calvary for you?” This
is too important to miss.
The one thing that is emphasized about John the Baptist over and over is that he
was above all a witness for Jesus Christ. You must understand this morning that if you are
uncertain about your relationship to Christ you will never be worth anything as a witness!
If you don’t know for sure why don’t you settle it today?
If you’re saved today, you know for sure that you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior, “How long has it been since you really considered what it cost Him to save you?”