WEBVTT 00:00:01.905 --> 00:00:03.750 Yes, oh, turn it down just a little bit. 00:00:03.750 --> 00:00:07.490 You don't need me that loud in your ears. 00:00:07.490 --> 00:00:10.166 Good morning again. 00:00:10.166 --> 00:00:17.972 I've been excited about doing this series through the book of John, and that's where we'll be if you want to turn your Bibles there. 00:00:20.443 --> 00:00:27.914 This Gospel of John is wonderful for so many different reasons, apart from just the simple fact that it's God's inspired word. 00:00:27.914 --> 00:00:38.854 John addresses things, tells a story of Jesus in a particular way that is very engaging. 00:00:38.854 --> 00:00:49.594 It hits us where we need to understand and know things, but it also identifies Jesus for us if we have questions. 00:00:49.594 --> 00:01:06.736 We'll notice as we go through the book of John that oftentimes the discussions that we find ourselves looking at in this text are questions of people who are trying to figure out the truth, and they're trying to figure out who Jesus is. 00:01:06.736 --> 00:01:13.447 Pastor Royce did a great job in the first 18 verses of chapter 1. 00:01:13.447 --> 00:01:19.936 The last two weeks he spent his time preaching through the beginning of this book. 00:01:19.936 --> 00:01:30.131 This is the bones of the passage. 00:01:30.131 --> 00:01:37.980 It is the theological foundation for how we are to understand the rest of the book. 00:01:38.381 --> 00:01:42.367 As we go through the rest of the book we are going to begin today. 00:01:42.367 --> 00:01:49.939 In the storytelling part of the book, we will begin to start seeing these narratives that John starts telling us about. 00:01:49.939 --> 00:02:01.614 They're building off of this foundation at the beginning of John 1 that Pastor Royce preached the last couple weeks. 00:02:01.614 --> 00:02:08.854 We will see over and over these Christ-shaped themes that we've read from chapter 1. 00:02:08.854 --> 00:02:14.991 In the beginning we'll find that Christ is at the center of everything that we read. 00:02:14.991 --> 00:02:26.989 We'll see in this Gospel that John helps us to understand Jesus from various directions, very different places. 00:02:26.989 --> 00:02:36.757 We'll see this thread of Christ that is woven throughout the whole fabric of the telling of the story of the Gospel. 00:02:36.757 --> 00:02:40.384 We'll see it from the very beginning all the way to the end. 00:02:40.384 --> 00:02:47.335 I want to remind us that Pastor Royce talked about this on the first Sunday that he preached in the book of John. 00:02:47.335 --> 00:02:52.264 I want to remind you what John said at the end of the book, in chapter 20,. 00:02:52.264 --> 00:03:04.056 He said that these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:03:05.099 --> 00:03:11.192 The purpose of writing the book of John and telling us all that he tells us is so that we would believe. 00:03:11.192 --> 00:03:23.818 We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and for those of us who have been in church for a long time. 00:03:23.818 --> 00:03:25.402 That's pretty commonplace. 00:03:25.402 --> 00:03:36.451 We're like duh, but the reality is that oftentimes we live our lives in a way that we don't reflect that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and he came to earth. 00:03:36.451 --> 00:03:49.324 We don't believe that the way that we ought to believe, and so John's goal in writing this book is that the reader believes that Jesus is the Son of God and that we can have eternal life through Him. 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:57.937 John is going to start telling us these stories of common, ordinary people. 00:03:57.937 --> 00:04:07.407 He's also going to tell people who don't understand everything yet, so they come to Jesus with questions, or Jesus comes to them with questions because he knows their needs. 00:04:07.407 --> 00:04:15.001 He's going to interact with people who are marginalized by society, people whose society wants nothing to do with them. 00:04:15.001 --> 00:04:21.404 We're going to see people who need some sort of intervention in their life in order for them just to continue on. 00:04:21.404 --> 00:04:26.262 These stories that John is going to share with us will connect with each of us. 00:04:26.262 --> 00:04:33.846 As we go through the book of John, we will find places where in our current life situation, we're like I can connect with that. 00:04:33.846 --> 00:04:39.346 I can understand where this person is coming from and I have a similar situation. 00:04:39.346 --> 00:04:40.490 I have similar questions. 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:47.992 I have similar ideas that I need answers to, and Jesus is the one who's going to provide the answers. 00:04:47.992 --> 00:04:52.430 He is the promised hope, he is the chosen one. 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:56.202 He is the Christ, the Son of God, who has come to save sinners. 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:02.430 Now I like John Williams music. 00:05:02.430 --> 00:05:08.185 Matter of fact, we got in the car this morning because I was thinking about this illustration. 00:05:08.185 --> 00:05:08.987 We got in the car. 00:05:08.987 --> 00:05:17.384 I don't know how this is when your car turns on and it's connected to Bluetooth, it automatically fires up the last song or the song that was on. 00:05:17.384 --> 00:05:23.309 So we got in the car this morning, turned the car on and it goes dun dun dun, dun, dun dun dun. 00:05:23.309 --> 00:05:25.213 And we were like whoa, and it was really loud. 00:05:25.213 --> 00:05:27.966 And Carl was like what is that? 00:05:27.966 --> 00:05:29.315 Why are we listening to Star Wars? 00:05:29.315 --> 00:05:31.142 And I was like, well, because I was preparing for my sermon. 00:05:31.142 --> 00:05:37.576 So we turned it off. 00:05:37.576 --> 00:05:40.423 But then we said no, we're going to turn it on and we're going to listen to it on the way to church. 00:05:40.423 --> 00:05:40.985 So we did. 00:05:43.779 --> 00:06:00.319 I like John Williams because and I know a lot of other composers do something similar to this but John Williams, if you're a fan of Star Wars or like for me, one of my favorites at trilogy growing up was Indiana Jones, which he also did the music for Indiana Jones as well. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:22.666 But when you listen to the credits scene it has this final rendition of the music that is captured throughout the movie and what you'll see is you'll see it go from the main theme into this other theme where you'll hear the quieter, like in Star Wars, the Princess Leia theme, where it's softer and woodwinds and really nice. 00:06:22.666 --> 00:06:27.925 And then it goes into and you've got Darth Vader's theme. 00:06:27.925 --> 00:06:50.406 And every time you hear those themes you have an image in your mind like, oh, I know what character is connected to that theme and you can follow this score that is written all the way through and you can kind of remember oh, that's this person's theme and that's this person's theme. 00:06:50.406 --> 00:06:56.173 All these different characters are connected to these themes that the composer wants to capture in this. 00:06:56.173 --> 00:07:00.567 But it's one solid piece of music with all these themes interwoven. 00:07:00.567 --> 00:07:11.000 And in a lot of the older classic movies, like we watched White Christmas over Christmas if you turn on White Christmas it actually has that same kind of score but it's at the beginning of the movie. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:14.014 You have like seven minutes of music before the movie even starts. 00:07:14.014 --> 00:07:18.826 But you can see, you can hear all the music that's going to be in the movie. 00:07:18.826 --> 00:07:21.151 It's kind of already represented in that main theme. 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:22.744 Well, that's what we have here in John 1. 00:07:22.744 --> 00:07:24.348 John 1 is. 00:07:24.348 --> 00:07:27.283 We have these themes that we can see. 00:07:27.283 --> 00:07:37.632 There are these sub themes that are scattered all throughout the beginning of John 1 that later, as we read the whole Gospel of John, we're going to begin to hear oh, wait, a minute. 00:07:37.632 --> 00:07:38.423 I remember that. 00:07:38.423 --> 00:07:42.500 I remember hearing that in the beginning, I remember connecting with that at the beginning. 00:07:42.500 --> 00:07:44.966 I remember this particular thing about. 00:07:44.966 --> 00:08:09.144 So I put together kind of a list of sub themes or themes that we might, that we need to in order to be able to see what John wants us to know about Jesus, these themes that we see in the first 18 verses, this opening score that we're going to begin to connect with throughout, probably one of the most predominant themes that we're going to see. 00:08:09.245 --> 00:08:18.384 Actually, I'm going to ask you this Can anybody just glance at the beginning of 18 verses and throw out one of the themes that seems dominant in the first 18 verses? 00:08:18.384 --> 00:08:27.988 I know this is not a teaching, it's supposed to be preaching but I'm going to ask you Is there a theme that seems dominant, specifically connected to Jesus, in the first 18 verses, that you could throw out at me? 00:08:27.988 --> 00:08:30.857 Bearing witness? 00:08:30.857 --> 00:08:38.472 Okay, so you will see this idea of bearing witness to who Jesus is throughout the book of John. 00:08:38.472 --> 00:08:38.860 What else? 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:43.729 The light, the light of the world. 00:08:43.729 --> 00:08:47.982 You will see the light come in and out from different passages throughout the book of John. 00:08:47.982 --> 00:08:48.342 What else? 00:08:48.342 --> 00:08:50.706 He is God. 00:08:50.706 --> 00:09:02.166 The stories that will tell who he is and that he is in fact the Son of God, and there will be disputes and arguments and there will be like amazing moments. 00:09:02.166 --> 00:09:05.472 But is he God or is he not? 00:09:05.472 --> 00:09:11.720 And John claims that he is by this inspiration of the spirit and we will hear that are you throughout the book. 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:12.061 What else? 00:09:15.328 --> 00:09:18.543 I'm going to give you one theme that I think is probably one of the most predominant in here. 00:09:18.543 --> 00:09:22.340 It's not stated like this, but I think it is captured this way. 00:09:22.340 --> 00:09:24.083 It's the I am theme. 00:09:24.083 --> 00:09:26.970 The I am theme, I am theme. 00:09:26.970 --> 00:09:30.806 If you look at the beginning of John, he says in the beginning was the word, was with God. 00:09:30.806 --> 00:09:31.908 The word was God. 00:09:31.908 --> 00:09:33.500 He was in the beginning. 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:38.293 All things were made through him and without him was not anything made. 00:09:38.293 --> 00:09:40.792 That was made In him was life, and that life was light. 00:09:40.792 --> 00:10:04.106 He basically is going back to the same idea that he presented to Moses when Moses went to Egypt and he says I am who I am, I have been here, and what you will find is, in John, seven times he says I am, and he gives a connection to something I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the vine he gives these I am. 00:10:04.106 --> 00:10:22.313 And then in John eight is like the real big argument about him being the I am, and we have to wait till we get to John eight before we talk about that, because that's a big one but the I call it the I am theme, where he is connecting to the name that he gave to Moses to tell his people who he was. 00:10:22.313 --> 00:10:23.518 And so we'll see. 00:10:23.658 --> 00:10:30.221 All these themes I put in here some of you already had them, but I had the word theme I have light life. 00:10:30.221 --> 00:10:38.714 The children of God theme, the glory of God, grace and truth, seeing God. 00:10:38.714 --> 00:10:49.619 All of these things are things that I want us to connect and all I am doing is just a quick, brief recap of this beginning section because, as we get into these narratives. 00:10:49.619 --> 00:10:55.783 I don't want us to think that we can just set aside the first 18 verses and jump into the stories now. 00:10:55.783 --> 00:11:07.326 No, if we don't understand the first 18 verses, we're going to kind of miss the whole point of the reason why he's telling us everything he's going to tell us, and so he lays that theological foundation. 00:11:07.326 --> 00:11:14.005 So now that I spent a little time on that, let's start looking at our text for this morning, which begins in verse 19. 00:11:14.005 --> 00:11:20.826 Read with me as I read from beginning John 1.19. 00:11:22.128 --> 00:11:29.407 And this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who are you? 00:11:29.407 --> 00:11:34.985 He confessed and did not deny, but confessed I am not the Christ. 00:11:34.985 --> 00:11:37.530 And they asked him what then? 00:11:37.530 --> 00:11:38.351 Are you Elijah? 00:11:38.351 --> 00:11:40.342 He said I am not. 00:11:40.342 --> 00:11:42.046 Are you the prophet? 00:11:42.046 --> 00:11:43.308 He answered no. 00:11:43.308 --> 00:11:46.020 So they said to him who are you? 00:11:46.020 --> 00:11:48.129 We need to give an answer to those that sent us. 00:11:48.129 --> 00:11:50.015 What do you say about yourself? 00:11:50.015 --> 00:11:59.708 He said I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. 00:11:59.708 --> 00:12:02.136 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 00:12:02.136 --> 00:12:08.371 They asked him then why are you baptizing If you are neither the Christ or Elijah, nor the prophet. 00:12:08.371 --> 00:12:18.995 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 sandals I am not worthy to untie. 00:12:19.817 --> 00:12:23.650 These things took place in Bethany, across from Jordan, where John was baptizing. 00:12:23.650 --> 00:12:31.881 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and he said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:12:31.881 --> 00:12:38.283 This is he of whom I said after me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. 00:12:38.283 --> 00:12:44.485 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water that he might be revealed to Israel. 00:12:44.485 --> 00:12:46.451 And John bore witness. 00:12:46.451 --> 00:12:52.129 I saw the spirit descend from heaven like a dove and it remained on me. 00:12:52.129 --> 00:13:09.402 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 have borne witness that this is the Son of God. 00:13:09.402 --> 00:13:11.325 This is the word of the Lord. 00:13:11.325 --> 00:13:19.635 This is a great opening for us to understand. 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:22.326 I can going on with that movie idea. 00:13:22.326 --> 00:13:33.206 You can see the credits peeling away and then also, we are going down and we zoom in on a character and we are like, oh, this must be the main character of the movie, of the story. 00:13:33.206 --> 00:13:39.570 And we zoom in on this character and then it is the main character of the movie and we find this happening. 00:13:39.570 --> 00:13:40.857 These guys come into him. 00:13:40.857 --> 00:13:41.620 Who are you? 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:43.044 You are significant. 00:13:43.044 --> 00:13:45.350 I can tell by the way you act, the way that you talk. 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:46.344 You are significant. 00:13:46.344 --> 00:13:47.652 You must be the Messiah. 00:13:47.652 --> 00:13:48.114 No, I am not. 00:13:48.114 --> 00:13:48.395 Okay. 00:13:48.395 --> 00:13:49.380 So he is not the main character. 00:13:49.380 --> 00:13:59.851 We find out at the very beginning that they think he is the main character, but it sets us up to think who is the main character, who is the person that matters the most? 00:14:01.280 --> 00:14:06.309 I am going to put together three points that I see from the text. 00:14:06.309 --> 00:14:17.934 They are three questions, very short questions, that we are going to look at this morning to help focus our attention on what John wants us to see from his account here from the very beginning. 00:14:17.934 --> 00:14:27.885 The first two points that I am going to talk about this morning are more directives that help us to ask the right questions to see who Jesus is. 00:14:27.885 --> 00:14:40.100 And the final point is a question it is more of a point of application to help us consider what we are to do with Jesus, who is the chosen one from God. 00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:58.456 So, as we go through this text, I want us to direct our minds, our thoughts, toward trying to understand who Jesus is and what is it that brings him into the world. 00:14:58.456 --> 00:15:07.041 So the first point, the first question I am going to ask is this who is who you are like? 00:15:07.061 --> 00:15:15.383 What, well, you might recognize that name who is who from something that has been around for over a century. 00:15:15.383 --> 00:15:23.505 In 1898, a guy named Albert Marquis founded what is called the who's who in America. 00:15:23.505 --> 00:15:37.663 He said quote that it was to chronicle the lives of individuals whose achievements and contributions to society make them subjects of widespread reference, interest and inquiry. 00:15:37.663 --> 00:15:42.337 So who's who has been published since 1898 in America. 00:15:42.337 --> 00:15:48.210 It was actually taken from the UK that had started the who's who back in 1849. 00:15:48.210 --> 00:15:50.941 But the who's who in America he is like. 00:15:50.941 --> 00:16:02.653 We have to recognize people who are significant in our society, the people who are influencers in our society, who have made a significant difference in our country. 00:16:02.653 --> 00:16:16.826 So I think what we find here, as these priests and scribes come to John and asking him they have a short list of who's who to try to figure out who he is. 00:16:16.826 --> 00:16:23.446 We already see that John mentions Moses in the first 18 verses. 00:16:23.446 --> 00:16:32.081 So Moses might be the biggest who's who, he or Abraham might be the biggest who's who of Israel, but we see Elijah. 00:16:32.081 --> 00:16:34.046 Elijah was significant. 00:16:34.767 --> 00:16:38.673 And why was Elijah mentioned here in relationship to this? 00:16:38.673 --> 00:16:51.436 Well, as we look at, there was a framework by which people were anticipating the promises of God. 00:16:51.436 --> 00:17:10.349 They were anticipating how God would reveal him, how his kingdom would come, how he would rescue them again, and so there was a promise that they looked back at in Malachi, where he says this behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 00:17:10.349 --> 00:17:19.794 He says I'm going to send you Elijah and he's going to come here in the final days of the Lord. 00:17:19.794 --> 00:17:24.571 So they had good reason to ask why are you Elijah? 00:17:24.571 --> 00:17:26.585 Are you the person? 00:17:26.585 --> 00:17:28.470 Is this the end? 00:17:28.470 --> 00:17:30.635 Is this when God's setting up his kingdom? 00:17:30.635 --> 00:17:31.859 And are you Elijah? 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:34.839 They also asked are you the prophet? 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.405 Now, what's interesting is, I didn't even plan this. 00:17:37.887 --> 00:17:51.092 The scripture reading that we had this morning was part of our normal rhythm, our lectionary that we follow for our scripture reading, and it was the passage that they were looking at when they were asking this question. 00:17:51.092 --> 00:17:53.165 So look at it. 00:17:53.165 --> 00:17:58.859 Open up your bulletins, your worship guides there, and you can look in Deuteronomy chapter 18. 00:17:58.859 --> 00:18:01.365 Michaela read it for us this morning. 00:18:01.365 --> 00:18:11.859 In Deuteronomy chapter 18, the Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you and your brothers. 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:16.502 It is to him you shall listen, just as you desire. 00:18:16.502 --> 00:18:17.443 Of the Lord, your God. 00:18:17.443 --> 00:18:25.847 At Horrib on the day of assembly, when you said let me not hear the voice of the Lord, my God, or see the great fire anymore, lest I die. 00:18:25.847 --> 00:18:28.688 And the Lord said to me you were right in what you have spoken. 00:18:28.688 --> 00:18:36.532 I will raise up for you a prophet like you from among your brothers, and I will put the words in my mouth and I will speak to them as I command him. 00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:50.859 So, deuteronomy 18, there is this idea that God is going to send a prophet that they are anticipating, that they are looking for that is going to be similar to Moses, and they are anticipating this. 00:18:50.859 --> 00:19:07.854 Now there are varied ideas within the camp of Israel as to who the prophet really is, and some anticipated that the prophet was in fact the Messiah, or the prophet was some other guy that was going to come at the same time. 00:19:07.854 --> 00:19:30.152 But, either way, there was a question of whether or not this was the prophet that was to come, and so we kind of have this who's who of Israel, the short list, trying to figure out is this guy that's making a difference and going around and baptizing and proclaiming and preaching in a very unique way and the wilderness? 00:19:30.152 --> 00:19:36.471 Is this one of these guys that are preparing for the kingdom of God to take place? 00:19:36.471 --> 00:19:44.327 And John is very, very quick to say no, I'm not Elijah, I am not the prophet. 00:19:44.327 --> 00:19:54.352 As a matter of fact, I love the fact that he uses the phrase and I know it's in the English, but he uses the phrase I am not, because the I am that Jesus comes in. 00:19:54.352 --> 00:19:54.594 This is the. 00:19:54.594 --> 00:19:56.605 I am the bread of life, I am. 00:19:56.605 --> 00:19:58.859 So Jesus very, very much leans into that. 00:19:58.859 --> 00:20:03.859 John is basically I am not Elijah, I am not the prophet, I am none of these people. 00:20:03.859 --> 00:20:12.413 As a matter of fact, john is kind of he seems to be kind of like he doesn't mess around, he doesn't goof around like guys. 00:20:12.413 --> 00:20:13.839 Why are we having this conversation? 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.839 I'll tell you who I am. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:27.689 I am, he says, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, these guys that were coming to him, these priests and scribes. 00:20:27.729 --> 00:20:40.593 They were looking for the promise of God to be fulfilled, as God said it would be fulfilled, and it was also taken upon themselves to make sure no one was out of line or that they would get undue credit for themselves. 00:20:40.593 --> 00:20:48.053 Now this is the first time we know, having been in church, the Jews and the Pharisees, those guys they stir up trouble. 00:20:48.053 --> 00:21:06.859 I mean, they have such a hard, tight system that people have to follow that they are like we are going to make sure if somebody is doing something that's going to impact the religious rhythms of our community, we're going to find out who it is, we're going to find out what they're doing and we're going to figure out why they're doing it. 00:21:06.859 --> 00:21:11.592 And if it's something that is out of line, that's not from God, we are going to shut it down. 00:21:11.592 --> 00:21:19.374 But also, if it is something from God, we are the ones who have taken authority upon ourselves to validate it. 00:21:19.374 --> 00:21:22.769 We're going to be the ones that are going to give permission for them to do it. 00:21:22.769 --> 00:21:37.550 So these guys are coming thinking, oh, we want to find out what's going on here, we want to find out who you are and why you've come, and at the same time, they're like if you're not who we think you are or we hope that you are, then we need to deal with this. 00:21:37.550 --> 00:21:46.413 And so this is one of the first times that we see this questioning of who is this person sent from God? 00:21:47.181 --> 00:21:50.368 Now, the great thing about this is that John is not Jesus. 00:21:50.368 --> 00:21:51.511 He was not the one. 00:21:51.511 --> 00:21:56.007 Matter of fact, the beginning of John here says it talks about John. 00:21:56.007 --> 00:22:00.574 He was not the light, but he came to bear witness of the light. 00:22:00.574 --> 00:22:06.511 We already know that John is mentioned actually twice in this opening prologue. 00:22:06.511 --> 00:22:13.353 It says that he was not the one, but he came to talk about the one who was going to come. 00:22:13.353 --> 00:22:17.647 And so they have this questioning who are you? 00:22:17.647 --> 00:22:18.210 Who are you? 00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:18.730 Who are you? 00:22:18.730 --> 00:22:29.423 John wants to identify himself to them, not as another one of the greats, not Moses, not Elijah, matter of fact. 00:22:29.423 --> 00:22:32.859 He doesn't even care about his name, that his name was mentioned here. 00:22:32.859 --> 00:22:35.859 He says I am a voice. 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:40.711 I am the voice crying in the wilderness, just like Isaiah talked about. 00:22:40.711 --> 00:22:43.544 I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. 00:22:43.544 --> 00:22:49.374 Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the highway for our God. 00:22:49.374 --> 00:23:02.756 John recognizes that he is just sent from God to prepare the way for the one who truly was great. 00:23:02.756 --> 00:23:08.750 The Jews were all concerned about who's. 00:23:08.750 --> 00:23:10.252 Who are they? 00:23:10.252 --> 00:23:24.632 This and matter of fact, within their own community there was a lot of significance given to different priests or different Pharisees, different others who were respected by the community, and probably rightfully so in many ways. 00:23:24.632 --> 00:23:32.673 But the bottom line is that when Jesus shows up on the scene, there's only one who matters. 00:23:32.673 --> 00:23:37.731 There's only one that truly, that truly matters. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:45.673 In verse 8, I'm sorry, verse 6, I just referenced this, but in verse 6 of chapter 1, there's a man sent from God whose name was John. 00:23:45.673 --> 00:23:52.292 He was a witness, to bear witness about the light that all who believed through him, that all would believe through him. 00:23:52.292 --> 00:23:55.608 He was not the light that came to bear witness of the light. 00:23:55.608 --> 00:24:00.832 John was preparing the way, he was clearing the way for Christ. 00:24:00.832 --> 00:24:02.362 John was the. 00:24:02.362 --> 00:24:04.486 This is interesting. 00:24:04.486 --> 00:24:07.431 John was a voice. 00:24:07.431 --> 00:24:09.394 Jesus was the Word. 00:24:09.394 --> 00:24:14.029 John was the one proclaiming. 00:24:14.029 --> 00:24:17.859 He was an instrument that was used, but Jesus was the Word. 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:20.628 That's how we find him introduced in the beginning. 00:24:20.628 --> 00:24:22.403 In the beginning was the Word. 00:24:22.403 --> 00:24:23.267 The Word was with God. 00:24:23.267 --> 00:24:24.169 The Word was God. 00:24:24.169 --> 00:24:31.092 John is just a voice of one who is speaking, as God had sent him to do that. 00:24:32.903 --> 00:24:40.169 And the other thing that John identifies for them is this John was only there to baptize with water. 00:24:40.169 --> 00:24:42.823 It was a symbol. 00:24:42.823 --> 00:24:49.674 There was nothing spiritual in the sense of like it didn't save anyone, it didn't convert anyone. 00:24:49.674 --> 00:24:54.692 He just came to baptize with water as a symbol of people who were turning to God. 00:24:54.692 --> 00:25:02.819 But he says I'm just baptizing with water, but the one that comes after me is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:06.651 He is going to change you from the inside out. 00:25:06.651 --> 00:25:15.473 This might be a symbol of your turning to God, but he is going to bring the Holy Spirit and it will change you. 00:25:15.473 --> 00:25:20.888 And so what we have here is John giving clear testament. 00:25:20.888 --> 00:25:24.923 To listen, guys, I'm not into your who's who, I'm not into your. 00:25:25.545 --> 00:25:32.788 Let's put all the significant names of history up here and let's see where we rank, because you know what he says to them. 00:25:32.788 --> 00:25:34.743 He says the one that's coming. 00:25:34.743 --> 00:25:39.452 He ranks so much higher than any of us. 00:25:39.452 --> 00:25:41.189 The one that's coming. 00:25:41.189 --> 00:25:42.859 I'm not even worthy. 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:49.859 If you think I'm significant, if you think that I kind of looked like I might be Elijah to you or I might be the prophet to you. 00:25:49.859 --> 00:25:52.151 That's the way that you kind of thought. 00:25:52.151 --> 00:25:53.237 This is who I was. 00:25:53.237 --> 00:25:59.191 I'm telling you this, the one who's coming after me, the one that I'm coming to prepare the way. 00:25:59.191 --> 00:26:05.810 He ranks so much higher, I am not even worthy to unlatch his sandals. 00:26:05.810 --> 00:26:16.173 And so he gives this proclamation of look, you guys have all your names and your people and your credentials that you're trying to prove here. 00:26:16.173 --> 00:26:21.511 I don't even want to mess with that, because when Jesus comes, none of that's going to matter. 00:26:21.511 --> 00:26:24.909 When Jesus comes, that's all that's going to be gone. 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:31.269 And so the second point, the second question I want us to look at from this text, the first one being who's who? 00:26:31.269 --> 00:26:32.431 The second one is who's he? 00:26:32.431 --> 00:26:34.314 Who's he? 00:26:34.314 --> 00:26:42.089 Who is this one that ranks so much higher than any of these others? 00:26:42.089 --> 00:26:53.824 This is the question that we see in different forms through the rest of the book, as John interacts with different people who's he? 00:26:53.824 --> 00:26:54.346 Who's he? 00:26:54.346 --> 00:26:58.795 They want to figure him out, they want to figure out what he's coming to do. 00:26:58.795 --> 00:27:06.730 They have questions about who he might be and testing him to see if he is who he says he is. 00:27:06.730 --> 00:27:10.758 We must ask for ourselves who is Jesus? 00:27:10.758 --> 00:27:11.653 Who is Jesus to you? 00:27:11.653 --> 00:27:15.494 Who is he in your life. 00:27:15.494 --> 00:27:20.038 Jesus ranks so far above the rest. 00:27:20.829 --> 00:27:42.614 One of the reasons and this is going to be just a slight aside, real quick one of the reasons that Redeemer why we have chosen on purpose to share the pulpit and we've been doing this for years at Redeemer, where we don't have just one preacher it's not saying that churches that have just one preacher are doing it wrong or we have a problem with that. 00:27:42.614 --> 00:27:46.339 God gifts and calls different people in different ways to do different things. 00:27:46.339 --> 00:27:48.739 One of the reasons why we do it is number one. 00:27:48.739 --> 00:27:52.375 God's blessed us with different people who are gifted to do this. 00:27:52.375 --> 00:28:02.923 One of the reasons we do it is because it's not about me as a pastor, my words being heard. 00:28:02.923 --> 00:28:06.997 It's not about Pastor Royce In a couple of weeks, daniel is going to preach for us. 00:28:06.997 --> 00:28:09.155 It's not about Daniel's eloquence. 00:28:09.155 --> 00:28:11.193 We share this why? 00:28:11.193 --> 00:28:12.818 Because we are insignificant. 00:28:13.170 --> 00:28:17.898 Jesus is the one that matters when he gifts the church, when he calls to the church. 00:28:17.898 --> 00:28:24.516 He gives people the ability to communicate through the power of the Spirit. 00:28:24.516 --> 00:28:26.740 Words about Jesus. 00:28:26.740 --> 00:28:30.017 Jesus is what truly matters. 00:28:30.017 --> 00:28:36.421 When we think about what does it mean for Jesus to rank far above all others? 00:28:36.421 --> 00:28:47.376 It means that he is first and foremost, it's not about any individual human being that's a part of the church of God or a part of the family of God or part of the people of God. 00:28:47.376 --> 00:28:53.941 It's about him, and this is where the focus ought to come. 00:28:53.941 --> 00:29:01.300 For us, when Jesus is present, there are no others that make the who's who's list. 00:29:01.300 --> 00:29:05.999 The who's who list goes out the window because Jesus is here. 00:29:05.999 --> 00:29:11.573 The only thing that makes Elijah significant was that he was pointing ahead to the one that was coming. 00:29:11.573 --> 00:29:22.721 The only one that would make Moses significant is that he was preparing and helping the people of God to follow and obey the things in faith that would one day lead them to the Messiah. 00:29:22.721 --> 00:29:33.119 The only thing that makes the prophet significant is that the prophet was going to come and be there to reinforce the attention that was to be on Jesus. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:37.838 When Jesus comes, there is no other name on the list. 00:29:37.838 --> 00:29:40.433 There is only Jesus. 00:29:40.433 --> 00:29:44.053 He is the only one of significance. 00:29:50.006 --> 00:29:56.480 We find that in John's testimony here we don't see the actual account, but we remember the account from the other Gospels. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:29.458 In John's testimony here he says in verse 32, he says this If you remember the account of Jesus being baptized, he comes to John who is baptizing in the river. 00:30:29.458 --> 00:30:37.836 And John sees him and recognizes him and by the other accounts of the other Gospels, he says Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 00:30:37.836 --> 00:30:39.949 Jesus says I need to be baptized, you need to baptize me. 00:30:39.949 --> 00:30:45.871 And John says no, you need to baptize me, Like I don't need to be baptizing you, you need to be baptized me. 00:30:45.871 --> 00:30:49.058 He goes no, you need to baptize me because this is what needs to happen. 00:30:49.058 --> 00:30:51.343 It has to happen this way. 00:30:51.343 --> 00:31:13.913 And then as he's baptizing him, he puts him under the water and as he comes up, it's like I mean the heavens are ripped open and the Spirit of God comes down like a dove and God, the Father, says to him this is my beloved Son, this is the Son in whom I am pleased, I have great favor on. 00:31:13.913 --> 00:31:19.122 And John experiences that and he's like oh, my goodness, now it's interesting. 00:31:19.221 --> 00:31:26.771 John says to them he talks about the way that people received Jesus. 00:31:26.771 --> 00:31:33.008 In the first 14, 18 verses of this he says you did not know him. 00:31:33.008 --> 00:31:37.382 When he talks to the original guys that come talk to him, he says you do not know him, but he is coming. 00:31:37.382 --> 00:31:40.588 But John, interestingly twice says I did not know him. 00:31:40.588 --> 00:31:47.471 I did not know him, which is interesting, because do you remember who John the Baptist was in relationship to Jesus? 00:31:47.471 --> 00:31:50.303 He was his cousin, right? 00:31:50.623 --> 00:32:01.000 You remember that story where Mary goes to visit Elizabeth and Elizabeth is there and he's like, oh, the baby jumped in my stomach, because the baby is connected, Like I know. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:03.866 Look, John's in my tummy, jesus in your tummy. 00:32:03.866 --> 00:32:06.492 And John got all excited when Jesus shows up. 00:32:06.492 --> 00:32:13.500 So there's already this family connection there and there's this supernatural connection between John and Jesus. 00:32:13.500 --> 00:32:38.114 What's interesting is and I've read a few of the commentaries on this they basically assume the fact that, even though John and Jesus kind of were aware of each other as cousins, and he knew that Jesus was somebody special and John knew that he was sent from God the commentators say we don't have any indication that John and Jesus ever interacted before this point. 00:32:38.114 --> 00:32:39.060 They knew of each other. 00:32:39.060 --> 00:33:01.094 John knew that Jesus was significant, but apparently, based on this, he must not have known that he was not just another person sent by God to do something great, but that he actually was God, he actually was the Messiah, and in this moment, when he baptizes him and he sees him, he's like whoa, this is not just another dude on the on the sent from God list. 00:33:01.094 --> 00:33:03.363 This is like God himself. 00:33:03.363 --> 00:33:12.645 And God ripped open the heavens and tells him this is my son, and whom I am pleased, and so John is bearing witness of this. 00:33:12.987 --> 00:33:17.519 There is one other instance where that happens, at least one other instance where that happens in the gospel. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:18.723 Do you remember where that was? 00:33:18.723 --> 00:33:24.624 Where God opens up the heavens and speaks and a voice comes from heaven and declares when is that? 00:33:24.624 --> 00:33:26.894 Daniel Mount of Transfiguration? 00:33:26.894 --> 00:33:27.480 You guys remember that? 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:28.701 Now this is. 00:33:29.022 --> 00:33:32.169 I've given you spoilers, so if you haven't read the book of John, this is a spoiler alert. 00:33:32.169 --> 00:33:46.519 This comes down the road a little ways, but Jesus is up there with his disciples and they look and they see Jesus there and they're with Moses and Elijah. 00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:47.604 Wait, a minute. 00:33:47.604 --> 00:33:49.450 Is the who's who's list back on again? 00:33:49.450 --> 00:33:58.084 Like we've got Jesus with these dudes that we've been talking about for centuries, right, they're there. 00:33:58.806 --> 00:34:02.173 And Peter, after all of that is gone. 00:34:02.173 --> 00:34:04.480 Peter's like oh, my goodness, we've got to do something about this. 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:10.519 We've got to make a temple or a monument for Moses and for Elijah and for Jesus. 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:12.123 And what happens? 00:34:12.123 --> 00:34:15.871 The heavens rip open again and the Father says this is my son. 00:34:15.871 --> 00:34:17.161 He heard him. 00:34:17.161 --> 00:34:20.128 And when the cloud goes away and all that goes away, what happens? 00:34:20.128 --> 00:34:21.271 Jesus is left standing there. 00:34:21.271 --> 00:34:23.826 God wants us to recognize that. 00:34:23.826 --> 00:34:24.226 Listen. 00:34:24.226 --> 00:34:30.731 There's only one person that matters, there's only one person that is significant, and that's Jesus Christ. 00:34:32.581 --> 00:34:37.092 When Jesus is present, there are no seconds, there's no room for a second place. 00:34:37.092 --> 00:34:41.070 We only exist because Jesus did first. 00:34:41.070 --> 00:34:43.947 That's one of the things that John tries to help us understand. 00:34:43.947 --> 00:34:48.050 He says he ranks more than me because he existed before me. 00:34:48.050 --> 00:34:48.780 Wait a minute. 00:34:48.780 --> 00:34:49.242 John was born first. 00:34:49.242 --> 00:34:51.789 No, because he's God from eternity past. 00:34:51.789 --> 00:34:53.742 He existed long before me. 00:34:53.742 --> 00:34:55.226 He is the first. 00:34:55.226 --> 00:34:56.831 He is all that matters. 00:34:56.831 --> 00:34:58.523 He is before everyone. 00:34:58.523 --> 00:35:00.849 He is the firstborn of creation. 00:35:00.849 --> 00:35:03.485 He is the Alpha and the Omega. 00:35:03.485 --> 00:35:04.688 He is everything. 00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:06.362 Colossians 1,. 00:35:06.362 --> 00:35:13.007 I love the way Paul expresses this when he's talking about Jesus. 00:35:13.007 --> 00:35:32.192 Colossians 1 in verse 15, he says this talking about Jesus he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities. 00:35:32.192 --> 00:35:34.460 All things were created through him and for him. 00:35:34.460 --> 00:35:38.411 He is before all things and in him all things hold together. 00:35:38.411 --> 00:35:42.271 He is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning, firstborn from the dead. 00:35:42.271 --> 00:35:45.065 Then everything he might be preeminent. 00:35:45.065 --> 00:35:55.519 Paul wants us to be reminded as well of the fact that Jesus is the most significant. 00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:59.469 He is the thing, he is the person that matters the most. 00:35:59.469 --> 00:36:03.813 So, first of all, john indicates who is he. 00:36:03.813 --> 00:36:06.862 He ranks far above us, he is preeminent. 00:36:06.862 --> 00:36:14.548 The second thing he wants us to understand, and this is so important what does he speak when Jesus shows up? 00:36:14.548 --> 00:36:22.092 Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:36:22.092 --> 00:36:23.442 What? 00:36:23.442 --> 00:36:27.311 The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 00:36:27.311 --> 00:36:28.822 You know, it's interesting. 00:36:28.842 --> 00:36:31.429 The Old Testament sacrifices were done for sin. 00:36:31.429 --> 00:36:34.987 They were done because people were sinners. 00:36:34.987 --> 00:36:39.849 So people would come to the temple to sacrifice because they had committed sin. 00:36:39.849 --> 00:36:50.766 When you look at Hebrews 10, 1-4, and I'll read this verse just for a quick moment Hebrews 10, 1-4. 00:36:50.766 --> 00:37:07.708 The writer of Hebrews wants us to see the significance of the sacrifices, which is not as significant as maybe it was treated, but then he wants us to understand the significance of Jesus. 00:37:07.708 --> 00:37:15.500 He says this For, since the law has but a shadow of good things to come instead of the true form of these realities. 00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:22.186 It can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect for those who draw near. 00:37:22.186 --> 00:37:32.480 Otherwise, they would have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sin. 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:36.519 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 00:37:36.519 --> 00:37:42.170 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 00:37:42.170 --> 00:37:49.309 It's impossible for animal sacrifices to take away sins. 00:37:49.309 --> 00:37:53.864 Then why were they doing it? 00:37:53.864 --> 00:38:07.793 They were doing it because God had commanded that he wanted there to be a distinct imprint on their mind that these sacrifices had to be of a certain condition they needed to be pure, spotless. 00:38:07.793 --> 00:38:11.519 They needed to be exactly the way God expected for them to be. 00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:18.500 He wants those sacrifices to point them to the hope of the promises that were to come. 00:38:18.500 --> 00:38:23.371 But they by themselves, were not capable of taking away sin. 00:38:23.371 --> 00:38:31.233 But we have John here proclaiming Jesus. 00:38:31.233 --> 00:38:37.128 Here is the Lamb of God, who what Takes away the sins of the world. 00:38:37.128 --> 00:38:44.251 The sacrifices couldn't do that, but here is a sacrifice who can take away the sin of the world. 00:38:44.739 --> 00:38:53.284 Now I'm going to re-emphasize something that Pastor Royce said in the previous weeks, in case there is any mistake. 00:38:53.284 --> 00:38:58.114 I want us to understand that the John that is writing this book is not John the Baptist. 00:38:58.114 --> 00:39:00.204 They are two different Johns. 00:39:00.204 --> 00:39:05.268 We have a problem here with Jake's. 00:39:05.268 --> 00:39:11.251 We have a Jake, jake the Potter, and Jake the guy who claims everything about football. 00:39:11.251 --> 00:39:14.168 We have two Jake's. 00:39:14.168 --> 00:39:20.106 We can say Jake did this and I'm like what he would never do that. 00:39:20.106 --> 00:39:21.630 Oh, you are talking about the other Jake. 00:39:24.182 --> 00:39:32.394 In this moment we have John declaring John the Baptist, who is the person dressed in camel's hair, eating locus and honey. 00:39:32.394 --> 00:39:34.489 He is the guy in the story. 00:39:34.489 --> 00:39:35.614 He is not writing the book. 00:39:35.614 --> 00:39:36.500 He didn't have time for that. 00:39:36.500 --> 00:39:38.427 He is preparing the way for the Lord. 00:39:38.427 --> 00:39:45.273 John the Evangelist is what he is referred to, or John the disciple of Christ is the one who is writing the book here. 00:39:46.181 --> 00:39:59.012