NEW BEGINNINGS
John 1:29-51
1) Jesus’ new beginning.
• New title (Vs. 29-31). Lamb of God. In fact, this is the only place in the bible where this title is found; here and in verse 36. Nearly 30 times in Revelation Jesus is referred to as the Lamb. On the eve of the plague of the firstborn, when the Israelites were being delivered from the Egyptians, God told his people to sacrifice a lamb without defect and put its blood over the doorframes of their houses. In doing this the angel of death would pass over their house and all inside would be spared. This would be henceforth known as Passover. Now, in the person of Jesus Christ we see the new Lamb. In 1st Cor. 5:7, Jesus is referred to as our Passover Lamb. In this we understand the new sacrifice; the new way to deal with sin. The old way to deal with sin was to sacrifice a literal lamb. But the new way, the new sacrifice was the new and final Lamb-Jesus. 1st Pet. 1:18-20. Through Jesus, the new Lamb, we have been redeemed from our old, empty way of living. We have embraced the new life; the new way. Jesus is our pure Lamb.
• New baptism (Vs. 32-34). Baptism itself was a new thing (OT does not mention the word ‘baptism’). Jesus received the Holy Spirit coming upon him at his baptism. Why does anyone think it strange that the same wouldn’t be true of his followers at their baptism? Acts 2:38, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The old baptism, John’s baptism, was one of repentance. It was foreshadowing the new, true baptism that would follow-the one done in the name of Jesus. This new baptism was a complete baptism. Here there would be remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s decent on Jesus was a new thing. Until this point the Holy Spirit had either come upon people (in Isaiah 59:21-The Lord told Isaiah ‘My Spirit, who is on you’) or the Holy Spirit had influenced someone but we see here that in verses 32-33 John makes it clear that the Holy Spirit not only descended upon Jesus but also remained on him. The Holy Spirit would indwell Jesus. Thus it would be indicative of what would take place later with the followers of Jesus. Today there are people who have had experiences with the Holy Spirit, they may have had the Holy Spirit come upon them in power but that’s not the same as having the Holy Spirit take up residence in them. Jesus was introducing a new thing; a new and wonderful concept-the Spirit of God living in me. A new beginning.
2) The disciples’ new beginning.
• New direction (Vs. 35-39). Before they were following John the Baptist but now they were going to follow their new teacher-Jesus. Jesus asked them “what do you want?” The first words of Jesus in the book of John are a question. As if he was saying to them, “Do you want the same old-same old or are you ready for something new? Are you ready for new teaching? Are you ready for new heights? Are you ready for new identities?” What about us; what do we want? Are we ready for something new? Are we ready to go in a new direction? Or are we too comfortable with the same old-same old? When we responded to Jesus saying “follow me” we responded to a new calling, a new way; a new life. That’s what the disciples were doing in their answer. By asking Jesus where he was staying they were expressing a desire to know Jesus. They wanted to go to where he was staying so they could sit with him and learn from him. Often times the place where Jesus was staying was not a nice, cozy place but the disciples still wanted to be with Jesus. What about us? Are we “fair-weathered followers” or are we willing to be with Jesus no matter where we are? Whether the place we’re staying is in a mansion or in a hut or under a bridge, our devotion and desire to be with Jesus shouldn’t change. When we decide to follow Jesus we have to answer Jesus’ question, “what do you want?” What kind of Christianity are we looking for? The kind that receives a ticket to heaven without the desire for a transformed life? Do we want the Savior Jesus without the Lord Jesus? It doesn’t work like that. We can’t have a relationship with Jesus on our terms. We come to him as we are but we can’t choose to stay as we are. Jesus was going in a new direction when he started his ministry. His focus changed. He went from being a carpenter to being the Teacher, the Master, the miracle worker; the sacrificial Lamb. What about us. Did our focus change when we were born again? Did it become new? Or has our lives pretty much stayed the same? Do we find ourselves thinking new thoughts? Are our attitudes or behaviors new or have they stayed the same? If we’re going to live for Jesus our lives need to go in a new direction. A new beginning.
• New identity (Vs. 40-42). As soon as Jesus sees Peter he changes his name. I’m sure Peter was taken aback by this. Here’s this guy he never met before. He not only knew his name, he changed it. The name Simon meant hearing/obedient. Peter had heard about Jesus and he was being obedient to following his brother’s invitation to go and see Jesus. Cephas (Hebrew) or Peter (Greek) meant stone/rock. The ironic thing is that Peter was not rock solid in his devotion to Jesus; he would end up denying him three times. However, eventually Peter became a pillar of the church. Barclay’s commentary, “The great thing about this story is that it shows us how Jesus looks at people. He does not only see what a person is; he also sees what a person can become. He sees not only the actualities in a person; he also sees the possibilities. To Abram, the one who had no children God gave the name Abraham (father of multitudes). What he would become. “Give your life to me, and I will make you what you have it in you to be.” 2nd Cor. 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” New beginnings. Once someone came upon Michelangelo chipping away with his chisel on a huge shapeless piece of rock. He asked the sculptor what he was doing. “I am releasing the angel imprisoned in this piece of marble,” he answered. Jesus is the one who can see and release the hidden hero in every person.” Typically we see only the negative in ourselves. We focus on our shortcomings. We need a new focus; a new attitude. Not one of arrogance but of godly confidence. Not one of narcissism but one of proper perspective. What new possibilities are hidden in you? Are you letting Jesus chip away so that new thing in you can be released? Are you focused on pursuing and discovering who the new you is? If not you’re missing out on discovering you.
• New discoveries (Vs. 43-51). Jesus is continuing his new focus by gathering some new companions. And Jesus was revealing a new way of obtaining these new followers. He said to them, ‘follow me’. Typically, a rabbi did not pick his students; the students picked the Rabbi. But here we see Jesus doing a new thing-he chose who he would teach. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (46). Ironically, not only did something good come from Nazareth, the greatest thing the world has ever seen came from Nazareth. God is in the business of bringing great things from unexpected origins. “Son of God” (49). Nathanael who, given his prejudice against Nazareth, would’ve readily agreed to pronounce Jesus to be simply the son of Joseph; that is until he encountered Jesus. Same is true for us. We don’t see Jesus for who he really is until we encounter him. “You shall see greater things than that” (50). Jesus’ whole ministry was itself a new thing as well as being filled with new, unconventional things. There would be new revelations with new adventures. These new beginnings for these new followers would be filled with wonder and excitement but along with that there was also an element of concern. The disciples were going to be leaving their livelihood behind to follow Jesus. (James, John, Peter, Andrew-fishermen; Matthew-tax collector). Being fishermen and tax collectors would be predictable. Following Jesus would be anything but predictable. Being fishermen and tax collectors would be something they knew; it wouldn’t be much of a challenge to them. However, doing the things they would be asked to do as followers of Jesus would be completely new (and scary). Accepting the call to follow Jesus can be scary. We’ve decided we’re going to allow Jesus to direct our lives and that can mean being asked to do new things. But we like things to be comfortable and predictable. Perhaps you don’t have an adventurous spirit about you and you are perfectly fine with routine and the comfort of knowing what to expect day in and day out. You see that as a good thing-you stay out of trouble that way. But what you also do is deprive yourself. You don’t think so because your perfectly content keeping things as they are. But what if you’re being disobedient? What if you’re being rigid and inflexible? What if Jesus is calling you out of your comfort zone to try that new thing and you’re saying “no way”? The problem is what we think we know our limitations. We think “oh, the Lord would never ask that of me”. No one knows our limitations other than God himself. And if he’s asking something of us we can be sure that he will equip us to the task. He didn’t call a bunch of fishermen to new heights because they couldn’t do it; that would be foolish. Why would Jesus put forth the effort if they could never live up to the challenge? I’m sure they often thought, ‘there’s no way I can do this’. I’m sure they thought when Jesus sent them out two by two they were scared and felt inadequate for this new task without their leader going with them. But Jesus wouldn’t have sent them if he hadn’t equipped them. Doing new things for Jesus can be scary; but rewarding. If we are willing to ‘pursue the new’, we will see great things. Jesus said in Rev. 21:5 “I am making everything new”. That sounds great to me.
