Let Me Introduce You To Jesus Series

Each of us need to have a road to God. We need to make that road straight, clear, and flat. There are things in our lives that mess that road up: pride, belittling God or maybe just ignoring God, criticizing others, sins, desires, and boulders that we put on that road. We need to spend some time clearing off our road to God. Then we need to take that road to God often. John was a voice saying this. John was a voice, but Jesus was much more than a voice.

5. Jesus Is So Much Greater

John 1:24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent

John 1:25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

John 1:26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.

John 1:27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

John was not worthy to untie the straps of Jesus' sandals. Wealthy people and great people in this time had servants to tie and untie their shoes. John was a popular preacher during this time, yet he saw himself as someone who was not good enough to even be a servant of Jesus. Jesus was so much greater.

Jesus is something else though.

6. Jesus Is The Lamb Of God

John 1:28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

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

What insight John had. He knew before Jesus even started His ministry that Jesus was the Lamb of God, that He would take away the sin of the world. No one else knew this. I wonder if he knew that this lamb had to die? That is the only way a lamb could take away someone's sin.

Don't you ever forget this. Jesus was the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world. He came to be a sacrifice for your sin, for everyone's sin. He died. He died a horrible death in order to absolve your sins. Your sins are taken away. Let's continue.

John 1:30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’

John 1:31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Did John know Jesus or not? Jesus' mother, Mary, had gone to see John's mother, Elizabeth, when they were both pregnant. They had discussed their children and what God had revealed to each of them. Surely, John and Jesus had met each other growing up. Surely, John's mother had told him about who Jesus would be. How is it that he didn't know Jesus?

Yes, I think that John knew who his mother had said Jesus would become, but he had not heard it from God. God had told him to baptize with water. God had told him that the person that he sees the Spirit coming down on is the One. But God had not told him that that person was Jesus.

John realized the difference between what people say and what God says. Two things here, what people say and what God says. What people say, even if they say that God told them it, even if that person is your mom, what they say can be wrong. What God says is never wrong.