“CONFESS JESUS, SON OF GOD.” JOHN 1: 19-34.
JOHN 1: 19-21, 22-23, 24-25, 26-27, 29-31, 32-34.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOHN 1.
Since the lessons for this month focus on Jesus, let’s look at the “One Solitary Life.”
The author of our lessons for December is Michael Martin who became a Christian at age 9 and was called to the ministry at the age of 18. After receiving his B.A. degree at Dallas Baptist Seminary and his Master of Divinity and Ph.D from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft.Worth he was for 19 years professor of N.T. and Greek at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California.
In 2003 Dr. Martin came to O.B.U to become Dean of the Joe L. Ingrim School of Christian Service. Michael and his wife Beth are members of the Immanuel Baptist Church in Shawnee, Ok. He has at times played the piano for us and suggested we might call him Dean Martin.
The four lessons for the month of December focus on Jesus
Three lessons come from John’s Gospel and one from Luke’s Gospel. These lessons are about individuals who had encounters with Jesus. The lesson from Luke 2 looks specifically at the account of Jesus birth. All four lessons help us understand who Jesus is and why we celebrate His birth.
This first lesson explains that Jesus is God’s Son. John the Baptist recognized Him as God’s Son because of the sign given by the Father.
The second lesson focuses on the disciples who heard John’s testimony. They recognized Him as the Messiah and celebrated His arrival by telling their friends.
The third lesson is the birth narrative from Luke’s Gospel. Shepherds heard angels proclaim the arrival of the Savior. The final lesson is about Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. The Son of God, the Messiah and Savior, told her that He could give her new life. Together the four parts of the study theme for this month tell us what Jesus did and why we celebrate His birth. This study theme is designed to help us confess Jesus as God’s son, follow Jesus as the Messiah, praise Jesus as our Savior and announce Jesus as the source for new life.
On Dec. 25th, people throughout the world celebrate the birth that forever changed history. No other birth has had as profound an impact on the human race as that of the baby who was born in a stable in Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary.
The significance of His birth was not lost to a band of common shepherds. These first visitors had the rare privilege of gazing on Immanuel—God with us. Jesus is the marvelous and indescribable gift of Christmas, sent to earth on a daring mission to rescue and reconcile sinful humanity to a holy God.
In a world that exalts tolerance and places Jesus alongside gods and false beliefs, we must courageously declare the truth about Jesus. He is vastly superior and unique in comparison to any other person or god because He is indeed God’s Son who can take away the sin of the world. This study theme involves four lessons drawn from encounters with Jesus, helping adults understand what to do with the ultimate Gift of Christmas.
Many believers recognize they ought to testify for Jesus during the Christmas season, but too many do little beyond sending cards and singing carols. These are good things to do; but a stronger, clearer, more complete witness for Christ is needed. For many non-Christians, Jesus is only a baby in a manger scene. They fail to see who He is and what He came to do. Christians should testify that Jesus is the Son of God and that he is the only One who can take away our sin and guilt.
The gift of Christmas is Jesus Christ, not simply a baby in a manger but the One who lived and served, died for our sins, was raised form the dead, and is now our living Lord and Savior. We remember each state of the gospel story. At Christmas we focus on the miracles surrounding His birth, but we also follow Him all the way. After all, the manger is empty. The cross is empty. The grave is empty. He is alive.
Today’s lesson tells of John the Baptist’s public and private proclamation of Jesus as the Lamb of God. This is the evangelism lesson for this quarter.
PLEASE READ JOHN 1: 19-21.
John the son of Zebedee and brother of James certainly was an old man when he wrote the Gospel of John. He was going back in memory over the three and half marvelous years with Jesus, remembering the crowded days and the incidents of all those wonderful days. Why did he write? He said in John 10:31 “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Did he write all that Jesus did? No! In john 21:25 we read, “there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
The first 18 verses of Ch. 1 is usually called the prologue. In these 18 verses we have an explanation of everything that follows from vs. 19 of Ch. 1 to the 19th vs. of ch. 20. All that follows is to prove the accuracy of the things declared in the first 18 verses.
John’s Gospel in vs. 1 introduced “the Word, or Greek “logos.” This term refers to the preincarnate Christ. He was in the beginning with God, and He created all things. John’s Gospel does not contain a narrative about Jesus’ birth (as do Matthew’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel), but it does refer specifically to the incarnation in John 1:14, that is, He became a man, Jesus of Nazareth.
John’s Gospel begins the narrative about Jesus’ ministry with the account of John the Baptist during his ministry. The other Gospels tell us more about the beginning of John’s ministry. He was the son of a priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. Luke provides details about John’s birth and gives a brief glimpse of his growing up years. John grew physically and spiritually strong and lived in the unpopulated Judean wilderness.
Such living set John in sharp contrast to the religious leaders of the day, who enjoyed their positions of authority and comfortable life-styles.
John began his public ministry in the 15h year of Tiberius Caesar; that is about A.D. 29. He arrived on the scene near the Jordan River. John’s preaching emphasized baptism for the forgiveness of sins, ethical living, and the coming of the Messiah.
As word spread about John large crowds from the Judean countryside and Jerusalem assembled to hear his message. Those from Jerusalem walked a distance of at least 20 miles to hear John preach near the Jordan River. People from all walks of life, including tax collectors, soldiers, ands religious leaders, wanted to hear what John had to say. He called for his hearers to repent because the Kingdom of heaven has come near.
True repentance for John required not only a change in thought and attitude but also a change in behavior. He refused to baptize some people until they had demonstrated true repentance by changing the way they lived. Many people not only responded to John’s message, but they also became his disciples.
John’s growing popularity concerned the religious leaders in Jerusalem. The designation the Jews dos not refer to the Jewish people as a whole, but the religious leaders in Jerusalem in particular. These religious leaders probably were members of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish council in the first century. Caiaphas, the high priest at the time, presided over this council made up of 70 Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem.
These influential men regarded themselves as guardians of the faith and sent a delegation of priests and Levites to interrogate John. Priests conducted worship and offered sacrifices, and Levites served as temple helpers. Their intent in questioning John was to ascertain who he was, what he taught, and whether he was a threat to them.
This group of religious leaders was suspicious of any religious movements not under their control. The popularity of John the Baptist was disturbing to them, for John’s work had no official sanction from them and it seemed to compete with their own work.
Those sent to John asked a logical question: “Who are you?” John was more than willing to give the emissaries from Jerusalem the clarification they sought. He did not want others to be confused about his identity or his purpose. John seemed to have been aware of rumors that he was the promised Messiah. John made it perfectly clear that he was not the Messiah. The Hebrew term translated “Messiah” and the corresponding Greek term translated “Christ” literally mean “Anointed One.”
In ancient times people were anointed with oil as a way to set them aside for a special purpose. In John’s day the people were looking for the Messiah, an anointed deliverer who would defeat their Roman oppressors. All the Gospels record the fact that John pointed beyond himself to the One who would come after him and who was greater than he.
Since John emphatically denied he was the Messiah, the emissaries asked him if he was Elijah. Malachi, in Mal. 3:1; 4: 5-6, had prophesied that Elijah would return before the Messiah appeared.
When John began his public ministry, Matthew in Matt. 3:4 and Mark in Mark 1:6 noted that he was dressed in a garment of camel’s hair with a leather belt, and he ate locusts and wild honey---just like Elijah the prophet in 2 Kings 1:8. Although John came “in the spirit and power of Elijah and fulfilled the function and role of Elijah,” he emphatically denied he was Elijah. Jesus in Matt. 17: 10-13 identified John as the fulfillment of the prophecy about Elijah, yet John was not literally returned from heaven which is what the Jews expected Elijah to do.
So when they asked if he was Elijah, he told them “I am not.”
The Jewish emissaries next asked John if he were the Prophet, a reference to the individual Moses mentioned in Deut. 18: 15. The Jews expected a prophet like Moses to appear. John said he was not the prophet. Later that week, Philip told Nathaniel in John 1:45, the Prophet of whom Moses spoke was Jesus. Jesus Himself also told the Jews in John 4; 46-47 that He was the One spoken of by Moses. And Peter told the crowd at Pentecost in Acts 3: 22-23 that Jesus was the Prophet spoken of by Moses.
PLEASE READ JOHN 1: 22-23.
John denied he was any of the figures the Jews were expecting. Frustrated and worried about what they would tell those who had sent them, the inquisitive delegation finally asked John to tell them who he was. Their question gave John the perfect opportunity to set the record straight concerning his identity, his mission and his purpose. John quoted from Isaiah 40:3, one of the most quoted prophets in the N.T., to identify himself and his mission.
He identified himself as a voice of one crying out in the wilderness. The word “crying” means to cry out with strong feeling.” John was a voice or a means of communicating a message. John communicated his message to the people of Israel with deep and impassioned conviction.
He identified himself only as a voice. His answer displayed no arrogance and no ambition. John’s attitude is an example of godliness, especially to ministers. He proclaimed God’s Word. His ministry was designed to bring sinners to the Lord, not to bring accolades to himself.
John’s message was simple: “Make straight the way of the Lord.” This expression anticipates the arrival of a king. In ancient times when a king traveled, his subjects would go before him to remove any obstacles that might interfere with his progress. Also, a herald went before the king to announce his coming.
John identified himself as the herald who went before the king, calling people to set their lives in order as indicated y his call to repentance. He called on people to clear the path in their hearts so they could welcome and receive the coming King. Eventually in John 1:30 John would point to Jesus, God incarnate, and identify him as “the One I told you about.”
Many people are willing to recognize Jesus as a good man or a wise teacher—but no more. Yet to recognize Jesus as any thing less than God falls far short of the divine message about Him, and this is in fact a failure to recognize Him at all.
Perhaps you feel as if you live or work in a wilderness---a place inhospitable to the gospel. If so, no not underestimate what God can do through you. Like John, believes today have a responsibility to communicate God’s message of Jesus’ superiority in clear and unmistakable terms.
People today are no different from the people of John’s day. They have obstacles and erect barriers that keep them from Christ. Allow God to use your voice and trust Him to work in the hearts and lives of those who hear your witness. Like John, we are only a voice, nothing more.
PLEASE READ JOHN 1: 24-25.
The inquisitors did not seem to hear John at all. Intent on their assigned tasks they returned to the matter of his identity and the related issue of his authority. The Pharisees commissioned these emissaries, and they did their job with the narrow-minded focus of errand boys.
The ruling body of Israel was the Sanhedrin, which consisted both of Pharisees and Sadducees. John’s Gospel does not mention the Sadducees. This likely reflects the fact that John wrote his Gospel about 20 years after Jerusalem was destroyed (A.D. 70), which is when the Sadducees ceased to exist.
The Pharisees survived the destruction and would have been known to the people of John’s day. Apparently the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin were more interested in John’s ministry than the Sadducees, which is why they wanted to send people to find out about John.
The term “Pharisees” means “separated ones.” They were the largest, most influential group of Jews in N.T. times. Paul was a Pharisee before becoming a Christian. The Pharisees were concerned about the proper interpretation and application of the Mosaic Law. They went to extremes to avoid violating the law and placed so many rules and regulations on the people that religion had become burdensome. Jesus often criticized and rebuked the Pharisees because of their unhealthy legalism. .
John was baptizing Jews who had responded to his message. Yet John had denied that he was the Messiah or any of the expected forerunners of the Messiah. The Jewish leaders considered themselves part of the kingdom of God, so they wanted to know what John thought his baptism accomplished. They also wanted to know if he was a threat to their ministry.
Those sent to question John were concerned about the authority behind his baptizing. Our English word baptize comes from the Greek word baptizo which means “to submerge” or “to immerse.” John’s questioners were familiar with the practice of Baptism and ritual washings similar to baptism. Gentiles converting to Judaism underwent baptism (in addition to meeting other demands). And priests underwent ritual washings prior to offering sacrifices.
John called on fellow Jews to repent and to change their way of living in anticipation of the Messiah’s coming. He personally baptized those who responded to his message. John’s baptism was a symbolic act of their repentance.
John’s baptism meant two things: (1) It meant cleansing. It meant that a man was being washed for the impurities that cling to him. (2) It meant dedication. It meant that he went out to a new and different and better life. Jesus baptism was a baptism of the Spirit.
John’s questioners were concerned because he was not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet. Any of these would have had recognizable authority to baptize. The Jews wanted to ascertain why and by whose authority John baptized. The question of John’s authority to baptize will surface again in a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders in Matt. 21:23-27. Then Jesus indicated John’s authority came from God.
PLEASE READ JOHN 1: 26-27.
In reply to the question in vs. 25 John interpreted his mission. “I baptize in water.” That is all. They knew what his baptism in water had meant. They knew what had preceded it, in his preaching, and what baptism in water at his hands had signified. He had called them to repent and he baptized unto the remission of sin; repentance, the confession of guilt, and baptism, a sign of the need for remission.
Then John said this amazing thing. “In the midst of you standeth One Whom ye know not.” I think that statement must be taken quite literally. John knew Jesus was standing in the crowd that day. Why he did not identify Him that day I cannot tell. I have no doubt there was some reason. But he did definitely declare: “ in the midst of you standeth One Whom ye know not, even He that cometh after me, the latchet of Whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.”
That was the witness of John. I am not the Christ; I am not Elijah; I am not the Prophet; I am the voice, crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord and in your midst is the One Whose way I am preparing by the uttering of my voice.” These words also anticipate the rejection Jesus would experience.
In vs. 27 John described the “Someone” as the One coming after me. John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus (Luke 1:36) and was at the height of his popularity when Jesus began His public ministry. However, John had testified in John 1: 15 that Jesus existed before Him. Jesus existed before the world began—long before John ever appeared on the stage of history.
John acknowledged Jesus’ preexistence and His superiority. He said that he was not worthy to untie the sandal straps of God’s Anointed One. John’s statement reveals his humility and an understanding of Jesus’ significance. He understood that his role was to prepare the way for the Messiah and to point people to Him.
The Jewish leaders were put on notice. They were warned of their ignorance and challenged to open their eyes and seek the One they did not know. Readers today must hear the same challenge. Jesus is the only answer to their spiritual quest. He is the light and the giver of life, and only though Him can a person become a child of God. Believers today must still point people to Jesus by telling them of His greatness and of the life He brings to those who know Him.
PLEASE READ JOHN 1: 29-31.
Then “on the morrow” ---mark it carefully. “The next day, he seeth Jesus coming unto him.” The day following his conversation with the inquisitive delegation from Jerusalem, John saw Jesus. The text does not specify whether the delegation was still present. Most likely these individuals had returned already to Jerusalem to report to those who had sent them, leaving John with his disciples.
Let us remember that these things took place about six weeks after the baptism. When Jesus had been baptized, John had seen the Holy Spirit descending upon Him; and by that sign had known that He was the Messiah. He had not known before. Following the baptism Jesus had been in the wilderness 40 days being tempted of Satan.
Allowing for the journey to the wilderness and the journey back, six weeks had elapsed. Now “on the morrow” John saw Jesus approaching him. As he came John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the World.”
Hundreds of years earlier Isaiah had prophesied in Isa. 53:6 that God would lay our iniquity on Jesus. Jesus did not come just to take away or to bear the sins of Israel, but of the whole world—people of all tribes, languages, and nations. He came to shed His blood for the whole world.
In Vs. 26 John had told the Jewish delegation they did not know or realize the Messiah was already among them. Here in vs, 31 John said he did not know Him.
What did John mean? John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins, and their mothers knew each other. (Luke 1:36) Although John left home to dwell in the wilderness, he most likely knew his cousin Jesus. I think John meant that he did not know the identity of the Messiah. He did not know that Jesus was the Messiah until he baptized Him.
PLEASE READ JOHN 1: 32-34.
In vs. 32 John explained how he came to know that Jesus was the Messiah. When he baptized Jesus, John watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting upon Him. All four Gospel writers include this important detail about Jesus’ baptism. John then believed Jesus was the Messiah. This was the sign by which John had been told he would be able to identify the Messiah.
The two-fold mission of the Messiah was that of taking away sin, a cleansing process; and baptizing with the Holy Spirit; an enabling process.
As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, determine that you will tell others the rest of the story! Many people are familiar with the baby in the manger but need to understand the implications of Jesus’ birth. The baby in the manger was indeed the Son of God who came to take away the sin of the world. Let’s spread the news that God gives eternal life to all who confess Jesus alone for salvation. That is the best Gift anyone can receive this Christmas.
NEXT WEEK IN JOHN 1: 35-51 WE ARE COMMANDED TO “FOLLOW JESUS, THE MESSIAH” altav@swbell.net www.theweeks.org/av/ SS12-05-04.doc