Month: May 2020

Come: The Testimony of John the Baptist, Part 2

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The Return of the Goddess, Holy Spirit, Shekinah and The Doves of ...

Read John 1:15-37; 3:22-36

Is there any new piece of information that Holy Spirit has brought to light in the testimony of John the Baptist during your reading?

 

We have already seen that testimony was a very important construct for Jewish legal understanding during the days of Jesus.  This is so key because later in John (as in all of the gospels) we will see that the Pharisees are desperate to find reason to convict Jesus of blasphemy, to therefore impose a death sentence on Him, to crucify Him. (Matthew 26:57-65)  Eventually they resort to accusing Him of the very truth that John the Baptist reveals in our passage today.

Jesus is the Son of God

I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.  John 1:34

This little piece of testimony is precisely what the Apostle has set out to show his readers.

“…but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”  John 20:31

One could argue that the Apostle John arrived at this conclusion through personal experience.  John the Baptist, on the other hand received a revelation indicating that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. (John 1:32)  He tells his disciples and the curious who had started to follow him around that he didn’t know Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, until he received this vision or revelation, that of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and settling on Him.  (John 1:33)  Keep in mind that Jesus and John the Baptist were relatives through their mothers.  It is likely that their paths crossed numerous points in time before God revealed to John just exactly who Jesus was.  (Luke 1) When John receives the revelation, he waits for the dove (i.e. Spirit) to settle on the Christ.  That happens when Jesus comes to John to be baptized. 

Every gospel writer except John makes mention of the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22), with Matthew giving the most detail.  It is in these gospels that we see the details of the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove and alighting on Him.  Matthew, John Mark and Luke all indicate that God spoke as Jesus was being baptized, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22) The apostle John doesn’t give details of the baptism, but he does highlight the presence of the Holy Spirit with Jesus in the Baptizer’s reference.  This Holy Spirit’s presence, according to John the Baptist’s testimony, signifies that Jesus is the Son of God.

How were you shown that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?

 

Jesus is The Bridegroom

He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.  John 3:29

Bridegroom.  What do you think when you hear that word?  If you’re like most people (me included), you immediately think of a wedding, the start of a new relationship. 

It was John the Baptist’s calling to usher in the era of new covenant or relationship.  He was the “voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the LORD.’” (Matthew 3:3, quoting Isaiah 40:3)  So when his followers question him about some new teacher who is baptizing as well but garnering more attention than their master, John replies,

“A person cannot receive even one thing unless God bestows it.  He is the Bridegroom, and the bride belongs to him. I am the friend of the Bridegroom who stands nearby and listens with great joy to the Bridegroom’s voice. And because of his words my joy is complete and overflows!  So it’s necessary for him to increase and for me to be diminished.”  John 3:27, 29 – TPT

The Baptizer here uses the language of relationship to help his disciples understand that he’s okay with this “new guy” on the scene.  In the culture of the day it’s the groom (or technically the groom’s father) who gets the party started. (More on this later…)  When the okay is given, the groom parades through the street to sweep away his bride.  This act on the groom’s part signifies to anyone observing that a new relationship is beginning.  It brings joy to the participants and observers. (We’re going to have an opportunity to step into such a celebration very soon.) 

The objective of the bridegroom is to take a bride.  John explains that is what Jesus is doing…and he’s not worried about it.  In fact, he’s happy about it!   John is unconcerned about his diminishing role in the story.  He basically declares that it’s not his story to tell.  His calling was to point others to a relationship with Jesus.  His actions and teaching were not the main event.  He was just the warm-up act.  Jesus, God’s Kingdom Bridegroom, is now taking center stage!  

Who has acted as a “John the Baptist” for you?  How are you being called to point others to a relationship with Jesus?  To be a “John the Baptist” for someone else?

 

One final note.  More of an aside really.  But one worthy of contemplation.  Jesus doesn’t seek to drink in all the glory.

Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John…He left Judea and went away again into Galilee.  John 4:1, 3

Ponder that a moment.  What does this tell us about Jesus?

Come: The Testimony of John the Baptist

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Worship Prayers - Experience Breakthroughs in Praise

Read John 1:6-8, 19-34

Our man John’s first mention of John “The Baptizer” occurs only a few sentences into His introduction of Jesus.  The mention of John is to serve as a testimony or a witness and evidence of what is true.  It is as though the Apostle is saying, “Don’t just take my word for it.  I have backup proof for you.” 

Testimony is a legal construct which serves as a witness, or gives account or evidence.  In the Old Testament several different, yet connected, words were used, sometimes interchangeably, to convey this concept.

If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.  (Numbers 35:30)

On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.  (Deuteronomy 17:6)

A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.  (Deuteronomy 19:15)

It is most likely this last reference that compels John to lay out many evidences of the Deity and nature of Jesus in his Gospel writing.  Testimony played a very important role (and I would argue it still does!) in the formation of relationships and alliances.  One could trust the character of another based upon the evidence of a trusted companion.  Even Jesus defers to this construct.

33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. 34 But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

36 But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

37 And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. 38 You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.  John 5:33-39

What testimony or evidence of Jesus does John the Baptizer bring to light in the verses you have just read?

 

The testimony of John the Baptist (or the Baptizer as I will sometimes call him) is thick with meaning.  We will take more than one sitting to consider to what he actually testifies concerning Jesus.

Jesus is Great and Worthy of Worship

It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.  John 1:27

Much of the life of the Jew in Jesus’ day was defined by worship.  Their calendar was measured by it.  John lifts Jesus up as an object of worship and in the process he makes himself nothing, even though throngs had started to follow him, a fact which did not escape the notice of the ruling Jews.  For John to say that he wasn’t worthy to even untie Jesus’ sandal to the Jewish mind was inconceivable.  Even Caesar, the present king of the known world at the time and self-declared god, had those who untied his sandals.  And Caesar demanded worship of his constituents. The Baptizer’s statement flies in the face of such practice.  John upholds Jesus as superior in his statement.

As you ponder John’s statement in verse 27, how do you see Jesus differently?

 

Jesus is Timeless

After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.  John 1:30b

You might want to read this one again, for John states that Jesus existed after him (*this is true.  John was conceived to Elizabeth before Jesus was conceived in Mary) yet Jesus existed before him.  It is His timeless nature that makes Jesus greater than John.  It is apparently something John has been preaching because he quotes himself when Jesus actually makes an appearance on the scene.  (John 1:15, 29-30)  It is this statement that also affirms the Apostle’s assertion that Jesus was “in the beginning.”  (John 1:1)  The character of timelessness, that of existing outside of time, sets Jesus apart in a category all His own.  It is part of what makes Him holy, or set apart.  It gives Him the firsthand knowledge of the past (see John 8:48-58), allows Him to observe the unseen realities and thoughts of men in the present (John 2:24-25) and gives Him immediate access to the future at any given moment (John 2:19-20; 12:31-33; 13:21) It is a character of God Himself. 

Think about the fact Jesus exists outside of time.  How does this change your perception of Him?  How does it motivate you in your own faith?

 

Jesus is the Lamb of God

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  John 1:29

In ancient Israel, a lamb was a symbol of sacrifice and atonement.  Much of Jewish worship centered on a sacrificial system of which the offering of an unblemished lamb was at the core.  Therefore when the Baptizer states that the Lamb of God would take away the sin of the world a lamb taking away sin wouldn’t have sounded terribly foreign.  What would have been foreign was attributing this accomplishment to a man.  What the Jewish culture of the day (and probably even John the Baptist) didn’t understand, at least not fully, is that the sacrificial system to which they dedicated their lives wasn’t what was most real at all.  It was merely a pattern of the true reality that exists only in the actual kingdom of God, as God Himself had indicated to Moses. (Exodus 25:9, 40)   The author of Hebrews lays this out in rather great detail. (See Hebrews 8)  Jesus is the only true and worthy sacrifice to take away sin once and for all.  There is much wrapped up in John’s statement, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  Much of the New Testament has been written to unfold this exact message.

 Consider the implications associated with having your sins taken away by the Lamb of God.  How do you respond?

 

Come: Let Me Introduce…Part 3

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Podcast 42: From Full to Overflowing - theegeneration.org

Today we will conclude our initial study of John 1:1-14.  So far we’ve seen that Jesus is God, that He became human, that He is life and gives life and that He is the true Light.

Read John 1:1-14 one more time.

Given what we’ve learned so far, are there any more insights you gained in your current reading through this passage? 

 

Jesus is Full of Grace and Truth

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.   John 1:14

 

How would you explain the phrase full of grace and truth?

 

This phrase, perhaps, embodies who Jesus is more than any other phrase John has used thus far.  The Greek word that John uses for full, pleres, denotes something that is brimming.  It is impossible to add anything to this understanding of what is full; it is complete in itself.  In our context this means that there is nothing, grace or truth, that can be added to the character of Jesus to make Him more complete.  Jesus in His person fully embodies not only the essence of grace and truth but the reality of it as well. 

It would do us well to also consider what John intends by using each of the words “grace” and “truth.”

A widely used acronym for grace (that I learned at an early age from a sermon) helped me remember what constitutes grace:  God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  This acronym may give us a glimpse of what grace is but at the same time it also lacks depth of understanding that we will need in order to interpret the many relational interactions John’s narrative shows us.  While it is helpful to remember that grace is an outpouring of God’s riches, we need to know it is so much more than that.  Grace, or charis in the Greek, is a word rich with meaning.  It denotes lovingkindness (i.e. covenant keeping love) and goodness.  But it also refers to that which is pleasurable and delightful, words and actions characterized by sweetness, favor, loveliness and joy.  It is both compassionate and playful.  Grace is like a glue that strengthens the relationships we are about to see.  It is the compassionate, joyful, inclusive nature that gives Jesus His winsomeness.

What ways do you experience the fullness of Jesus’ grace?  How have you seen grace (as we are framing it) played out in the Bible narrative or the experience of someone you know?

 

Similarly, truth has a deeper understanding than might meet the mind’s eye.  Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words identifies alethei, the Greek counterpart to the English word truth, as “the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter.”  It is not just truth, it is the origin of that truth.  Truth originates with Jesus.  He declares it.  He defines it.  He is, as He affirms, truth. (John 14:6)  One could add nothing to His character to make Him truer than He is now or has ever been or ever will be.  Truth is woven throughout the pages of John. It, like grace, is central to who Jesus is. 

In a world that struggles to find the identity of truth, how does it feel to know that truth is a Person?  How does this change your perspective of what you believe about yourself? God’s Word? Your neighborhood, church, community, etc.?

 

Imagine it.  Jesus is full to the brim of unending tender mercy (i.e. grace) and beyond-the-conception-of-the-human-mind truth.  This statement, full of grace and truth, therefore characterizes a being who is both mercifully tender and infinitely wise, One whose grace and truth are immeasurable.  This describes a benevolent God.  It describes Jesus.  This is directly in keeping with John’s purpose for his gospel:  “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…”  (John 20:31)

When you consider that Jesus is complete in grace AND truth, what understanding does that give you regarding your relationship with Him? 

 

Please remember that this was not meant to be an exhaustive study of John’s introduction to his gospel.  The things that we have focused on were meant to draw the attention to Jesus, to His character, and give us a framework for understanding the remainder of John’s narrative with regard to the relationships that we will see Jesus develop over the course of this study.  I pray we will all receive blessing by learning more about the personal side of Jesus.  I pray it will teach us about the relationship God wants to have with us both individually and corporately.