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Good MONDAY morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
With only two days remaining in 2019, are you almost ready to transition to a new year?
I wonder what some of the most important life lessons were that you learned in 2019 and how might those life lessons change the rest of your life, my friends?
In these last days of 2019 we’re looking at John the Baptist and Jesus, as they came out of their years of silence from their childhoods, and stepped on to the world stage. Today let’s look at the first time it is recorded that Jesus was identified in public as more than just a normal man. You’ll find it in John 1:28-34.
All four Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John give us some details of John the Baptist and his coming from his desert years of study and encounter with God, into the limelight of public awareness. He was radical for sure, both in his attire and diet, but also in his powerful message of calling the people to repentance of their sin and readiness to receive God’s Messiah. John the Baptist said this Messiah was soon coming, in fact He was already among them (John 1:26)!
John 1:28 says “This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” None of the Gospel writers tell us how long this period of John the Baptist preaching and baptizing was going on before Jesus arrived, but suddenly, look, John 1:29 says: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said ‘Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the One I meant when I said, ‘a man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me. I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”
Now my friends, let’s put ourselves alongside that Jordan river, among the small crowd listening to this powerful preacher standing in the river, baptizing people as he preaches about repentance, and suddenly he stops, right in the middle of a sentence. He stares at the crowd, then he points… right at a man standing there, and says “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the One I meant…” All eyes turn toward the man. There’s nothing unusual looking about him… just an ordinary guy. But words like these have never been spoken about any living human being. “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!!!!”
For every Jewish person in the crowd, immediately their mind would be drawn both to the Passover lamb, and the ‘Day of Atonement scapegoat’. The Passover Lamb, of course, was a perfect lamb, slain and its blood sprinkled on the doorpost so the angel of death would ‘pass over’, and everyone in that home was spared and protected. Later that night those who had believed God’s promise and prepared, were set free from Pharaoh’s Egyptian slavery bondage (Exodus 12), and God led them out of Egypt. This event is celebrated every year by Jews world-wide, on the day of Passover.
The ‘Day of Atonement’ is also an annual day of celebration for Jews the world over. This day was prescribed by God as the only day on which the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle/Temple. He would take in the blood of the sin-sacrifice goat and sprinkle it on the atonement cover of the Ark of the Covenant, the ‘mercy seat’, and before God, the High Priest would repent of Israel’s sin. After that time of repentant prayer, the High Priest would come out from the Most Holy Place and the live “scapegoat” was to brought forward to him. The High Priest would place his hands on that goat, and confess the sins of Israel, symoblizing all the sins of the people were being placed on that goat. Then this ‘scapegoat’ was led out into the desert symbolizing that the sins of Israel were taken away by God. You’ll find an entire chapter describing this in Leviticus 16.
Friends, do you see John the Baptist was identifying BOTH these very powerful annual days in Jewish life, as being fulfilled in Jesus when he said “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”? Do you also see John was identifying Jesus as having come from God, sent on a mission, to take away the sin of the world. And do you see John did not specify Jews only, but the entire world!
This moment is a defining moment in human history. Just as much as Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah about his old wife Elizabeth soon to be pregnant with John. Just as much as Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about her virgin pregnancy. Just as much as the angel’s announcement of the birth of a Savior for all people in the town of David. In fact, more than all three of those, or any other moment pointing forward to the Incarnation of God on our planet, THIS moment was His unveiling, His introduction, His ‘coming out’ from the quiet years of anonymity.
Jesus, “Immanuel”, was making His appearance to the world. God was standing in the crowd, on the banks of the Jordan, with John pointing at Him! Imagine yourself standing there.
This moment, John identified Jesus as Messiah for Jews and Savior for the entire world! Words cannot over emphasize the significance of this moment.
The Gospel writer John doesn’t give us detail of Jesus’ baptism, but Matthew does in Matt. 3:13-17. Do you see Matthew tells us Jesus had come south from the Galilee area, and we presume His home in Nazareth, for the purpose of His identification / announcement by John. But there’s more. Matthew explains Jesus insisted John not simply point at Him and announce Him, but baptize Him as well! Matthew records John said to Jesus “I need to be baptized by you…” Jesus explained: “Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matt. 3:15)
Now let’s be very careful here my friends. Jesus is “Immanuel” and God has no sin, right? Jesus was born of a virgin, thus He did not inherit a sin nature from Adam through Joseph. Jesus was sinless and fully God. John knew that, thus it would be logical he would resist baptizing Jesus as he had others, for Jesus had no sin of which to repent.
But in this moment, Jesus was not repenting of His sin, for He had no sin. Jesus was beginning the process of taking upon Himself the weight of human sin for which He would, about 3 years later, pay the full atonement price, as He hung on the cross and received God’s full wrath justice for our sin. You might consider it this way. As Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, He began taking upon Himself the contamination of all the sin that was symbolically in that water from all the people whom John had baptized in repentance of sin before Jesus.
This event, the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan river, provided God the Father the platform for His historic announcement. Look at Matt. 3:16,17 “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
My friends, do you see the power, the eternal significance of this moment in history?
All three persons of the Divine Trinity are present.
Jesus, God the Son, stands in the Jordan river being baptized by John the Baptist.
God the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus, visibly, in the form of a dove, but in power the Holy Spirit fills Jesus with His power.
And God the Father speaks, audibly, as He did when He spoke the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai (Ex. 20), declaring this Jesus is the Son of God.
There was now no reason for anyone present to have any doubt. The long awaited Messiah was there, standing before them, declared to be Messiah, by God Himself, and declared to be GOD in the flesh, Immanuel! When combined with the Christmas story, as we have studied this past month… God had inserted Himself into human history and was ready to begin the Mission for which He had come to earth: God’s Redemption Plan, making salvation from sin and eternal life with God possible for ANY human being.
This same baptism scene is reported by Mark in Mark 1:9-11 and Luke in Luke 3:21,22.
John the apostle reports that John the Baptist said: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him. I would not have known Him except that the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify, that this is the Son of God!” (John 1:32,33,34).
Now that, my friends, should take your breath away!
The Christmas story which we celebrated for almost a month of Advent, is amazing, that God came to earth, taking on human flesh, “Immanuel” – ‘God with us’. But this profound day of Jesus’ baptism and God the Father’s proclamation, and God the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus, this great day launched “Immanuel’s” public life and mission. Christmas came alive as adult Jesus is identified for who HE really is. . .here standing in the Jordan river!
Now as we close today, what are your answers to some of the most important questions every which every human being must answer:
1. WHO is this man Jesus? Who did John declare Him to be, who did God declare Him to be and who do you and every other person declare Jesus to be?
2. With one day left in 2019… What has been your response to this Jesus? How do you define His relationship with you, or your relationship with Him? What difference does Christmas and Jesus’ baptism day make in your life?
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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