Behold The Lamb Of God Has Come (John 1:19-34)

I remember being a Freshmen as a student at Harrison Junior High. At that time 9th graders were lumped in with the 7th and 8th graders at the Junior High. I saw my own sinfulness and rebellion. I felt the twinge of guilt as I seemed to be a bigger sinner to myself than most people realized. I was that Junior High Student who was extremely vulgar with what I thought about, watched, and said with my mouth. I was a prolific curser and a bully. I did, however keep a good standing with teachers and make good grades, but in other areas I was a wretch. In fact, I still remember getting angry at my parents on a few occasions for not letting me go camping with friends. They already knew that I was wanting to go get trashed with friends, or at least they suspected it so I wasn’t allowed to go.

Looking back on it all I believe that God was preparing me to hear the gospel. I think that I was being convicted of sin so that I would see my own sinfulness more clearly when confronted with the work of Christ. That is a good thing.

One difficulty that emerges today is that this is becoming a more rare reality. Our culture has attempted to eradicate the idea of our own personal sinfulness. Today, we are taught that following our heart and chasing after our dreams is what is important. Gone are the days when the culture teaches us that there is anything bigger than ourselves out in the Universe. It is just harder for people to get to a place of feeling their own sinfulness today. But, it does happen. And, it does happen because God is working in the lives of people, drawing them to himself.

Last week we found in the prologue that John came “to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.” The King is coming, in fact, He has come. And all are to repent and believe in the Lamb of God “who takes away the sin of the world! We begin to see something transpire in John 1:19-23.

The Priests and Levites want to know what John the Baptist is doing and who he is. If we look at what was going on from other accounts than we begin to understand that there were large numbers of people coming to hear him (Matthew 3:5-7). It makes sense for the religious leaders to be concerned with who John the Baptist is.

As John the Baptist is interrogated he makes three things clear to them. 1) He is not the Christ or the Messiah. 2) He is not Elijah. 3) He is not the prophet. Let’s briefly look at each one of these claims of John the Baptist for a little understanding of the context of today’s message.

1. In the midst of a time period when people are looking and longing for the Messiah these leaders thought it possible that John the Baptist was the Messiah. Those who believed the promise of God knew that there was coming one who would save the people of Israel. They believed that this salvation would be a political one in which the Christ would come and redeem the Israelites from Roman rule. We know that this is not the salvation that the Christ brought, but this had not happened yet. None of this really matters yet because John the Baptist emphatically said that he was not the Messiah.
2. Prophets of the Old Testament declared that Elijah would come and prepare the way for the Christ (Malachi 4:5). John the Baptist declared that he was not Elijah. This is a bit tricky because Jesus says that he is Elijah in Matthew 11:13-14. It seems that, though John the Baptist was the Elijah character, he did understand himself to be preparing the way for the Messiah. This is the exact thing that the Elijah character would do before the coming of the Messiah. This means that John the Baptist did not fully understand how God was using him. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing and God was using him in ways that he couldn’t imagine.
3. John also states that he is not “the prophet”. This is a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15-18. God promised to raise up another prophet like Moses. John the Baptist emphatically stated that he was not this prophet that the people had looked forward to since the days of Moses.

John is then asked the obvious question. You’re not the Messiah. You’re not Elijah? You’re not the Prophet? Who are you and why are you baptizing people? John answers by saying that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness. He is quoting Isaiah 40:3. Then he goes on to explain why he is doing what he is doing. His answer is that the Christ has come. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is here.

John the Baptist understood what I hope we will also understand. Jesus came to take away your sin and shame.

“(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet? John answered them, ‘I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” – John 1:24-28 ESV

Salvation Is Coming, Trust In Him (John 1:24-28)

John the Baptist’s explanation is that he is announcing the coming of one who he is not even worthy to untie his sandal. This is the one who he already said that he is preparing the way for. He is heralding a particular message in preparation for the One who is to come.

From our further context it is easy to see that John is announcing the coming of the Christ. This is what he seems to understand his job is. He has already said that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness and that he is making straight the way of the Lord. He sees himself as preparing the way for the Messiah. Salvation is coming very, very soon and John is announcing that message. And remember, John 1:6 states the purpose for this preaching. He was delivering this message so that people would believe in Christ through the message that he was preaching.

John the Baptist is calling people to repent (John 1:23). He is calling out a holy people from within Abraham’s descendants. He is calling them to “make straight the way of the Lord”. This is not a message calling people to feel better about themselves or their own way. This is not a message calling people to consider their own goodness. This message was about their badness and their need to turn from ruling their own lives and trust in the promise of God. They were to repent and believe.

Personal repentance and faith are necessary responses to the promise of God. This was the message that John the Baptist preached (Matthew 3:1-10; Mark 1:2-5) and then the message that Jesus preached as well (Mark 1:14-15). The people are being prepared for the coming of the Messiah through the work of John the Baptist. They repented of their sin and then they were baptized. That’s why it is called “a baptism of repentance” in Acts 19:4. Lots of things have changed, but something here has not. We are called to repent and be baptized. We trust in the promise of God, it has come through the work of Christ, and be baptized.

You are called to do the same today. Repent and be baptized. Trust in Christ, quit ruling your own life and be baptized. Everyone who hears this and reads this needs to know that this is what God is calling you to do in response to His promise. Stop ruling your own life and trust in Christ. Then be baptized. If you have already trusted in Christ and have not been baptized please go speak with your pastor about being baptized. Be obedient to the call of Christ.

The next day something interesting happens. John the Baptist sees Jesus coming toward him and some absolutely amazing things begin to happen.

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to him. And John bore witness: ‘I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.'” – John 1:29-34 ESV

The Lamb Of God Has Come To Take Away Sin (John 1:29-34)

What transpires as Jesus approaches John the Baptist is a public declaration of who Jesus is to all who can hear him. Apparently, Jesus’s baptism had happened earlier  and John described the events that had transpired. In the other gospel accounts the exact same situation is described (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11). Jesus was baptized by John and the voice of God the Father’s voice of approval thundered forth from the heavens and then the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus from heaven like a dove. The Holy Spirit’s falling on Jesus is what John declares to everyone. What John declares about Jesus is amazing.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” is what John the Baptist yelled as he saw Jesus coming. Picture it because this is an outstanding moment. Jesus is walking toward him when he yells this amazing phrase to everyone within hearing distance. This is spectacular because of the connotation that “Lamb of God” would mean.

Many years before God had declared that He would send One who would be a sacrifice for the sins of God’s people.

“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; 

he has put him to grief

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.”

-Isaiah 53:10-11 ESV

Jesus came and would be crushed by the Father for us. He would make “an offering for guilt”, namely our guilt. It will be out of the “anguish” of Christ that many will be “accounted as righteous”. And, it would one day soon be that Jesus would “bear their iniquities”. Day after day lambs were slain because of the guilt of God’s people. Day after day priests would slit the throat of lambs and slaughter them as a symbol of the crushing of the Son that would one day occur. We “like sheep have gone astray” but our sin was placed upon Him. Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice. He was the ultimate sin bearer. He was also the ultimate wrath bearer that all of these sacrifices pointed to. Jesus was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.

As the Lamb of God Jesus made perfect sacrifice for our sins. In Him we are cleansed from sin. He took upon Himself the full weight of God’s punishment for those who believe.

Here is the truth of the matter the wrath of God hangs over every person. We are people who are guilty of rebelling against God. We like sheep have gone astray from the One who Created us and owns all things, God (Isaiah 53:4). Either God’s wrath will remain upon us or it has been taken by Christ who bears our sin and shame (Isaiah 53:4-11). Trust in Him.

My Hope For Us Going Forward

My hope for us going forward is quite simple. My hope is that we as a group would be people who trust in the Lamb of God who was slain for the forgiveness of our sins. My hope and prayer going forward is that each of you would trust in the One who died for you. When you feel as if all is lost and that your pile of sin reaches to the heavens that you would know that Christ died for you and he has taken care of that sin. He came as the Lamb of God slain for the forgiveness of sins.

This means that my hope and prayer for you, going forward is that you will as an individual trust in the One who paid it all. If you have never trusted in Christ then the wrath of God currently hangs over your head. Were you to die right now then you would be paying for that all your own. Jesus came, lived a perfect life, and died as the perfect sacrifice so that you might live. He took the punishment upon Himself. Your response is to do what John the Baptist called people to do long ago. The response is the same today as it was so long ago. Repent, turn from ruling your own life and trust in Christ. Then, as a public declaration of your decision be baptized.

 

R. Dwain Minor