John 1:6-13
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist,
7 to tell about the Light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.
8 John himself was not the Light; he was simply a witness to tell about the Light.
9 The one who is the true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him.
11 He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him.
12 But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.
13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
“In ancient history we…Caesar had a friend … whom he … gave a magnificent present. But when he offered it, the friend said: "This is too much for me to receive." To which the emperor replied: "But it is not too much for me to give." –unknown
God is offering something beyond our full understanding. Despite being what seems too much to receive…too good to be true…God gave His Son and enabled us to receive His Son, moving us into a covenant relationship with Him.
John 1:9-10
9 The one who is the true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him.
Unrecognizable Jesus. Jesus should have been recognizable. So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. Gen. 1:27
It seems logical that the created should know/recognize their Creator. Jesus should have been recognized.
Jesus and His coming wasn’t a secret. It was foretold/prophesied…
Virgin Birth - All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). Isaiah 7:14
Born in Bethlehem - But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on My behalf. Micah 5:2
Born from the lineage of King David - “For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. Jer. 23:5
Prophesied to come at an exact, appointed time -
Daniel 9:25a
Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a Ruler—the Anointed One—comes. …
“Bible scholars have concluded from much research that, hundreds of years before Jesus was even born, more than 300 prophecies were recorded to tell of His coming, His life and journey to the cross, and the power of His Resurrection.” https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/10-bible-verses-that-prophesy-christ-s-birth.html#:~:text=Bible%20scholars%20have%20concluded%20from,the%20power%20of%20His%20Resurrection.
It was all spelled out! Foretold, not a secret… Where Jesus would be born, How He would be born, to Whom He would be born, When He would be born - If you wanted to know/seek/recognize Jesus…it was all there!
We know when the wise men came looking for Jesus they followed a star… “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him.” Matt. 2:2
How did they know it was His star? They gathered that from prophecy. They had been looking, waiting, anticipating His “star” to arise… A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel. … Num. 24:17a
The Wise men recognized Jesus. They recognized His coming and His Kingship.
Even Herod’s advisors were aware. Remember when Herod asked them ...“Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a Ruler will come from you who will be the Shepherd for My people Israel.’” Matt. 2:4b-6
Herod’s own “wise men” knew what was foretold, proclaimed, declared. Jesus should never have been unrecognizable!
John 1:10-11
10 He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him.
11 He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him.
Why was Jesus unrecognizable? Because He was rejected. No one will ever find what they are not looking for? You don’t come to know Jesus by accident!!!
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
Jesus came into this world providing the way of salvation, revealing God the Father and the way to the Father to His creation. Yet, His creation rejected Him.
My people are being destroyed because they don’t know Me. … Hosea 4:6a
I read a verse earlier that spoke of Jesus’ coming in the book of Daniel. It even foretold His death… “After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing… Dan. 9:26a
Jesus should not have been unrecognizable.
However, Jesus physically did become unrecognizable. But many were amazed when they saw Him. His face was so disfigured He seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know He was a man. Isa. 52:14
Jesus became physically unrecognizable for you!
John 1:12
But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.
“He gave the right…” - “power” - other translations.
The “right” to become one of His is given…a gift…not by works…it is by His grace.
To whom is this given? To “all who believed Him and accepted Him…”
To those who reject Jesus - who don’t believe He accomplished anything… to those who do not believe/accept His coming, His death, His resurrection - Jesus is unrecognizable.
Yet, to those who do believe and accept - Jesus is undeniable!
“When a person receives Christ into his life (as Lord), Christ gives that person the power and right to become something he is not—a child of God.” –PO&SB
When I believed, I recognized Him. I received Him.
When I believed, I became a child of God.
Jesus took me in to be one of His own. I didn’t have to work or earn my way to be His child. I didn’t have to pay any money to be His child. It wasn’t because I was better than someone else in any way.
I’m one of His not because my earthly parents were, so therefore that automatically makes me one. My right to be one of His isn’t determined by my parents religion or faith, nor a decision they made or didn’t make for me…
John 1:13
They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
“reborn”... a second birth. Jesus talked about this with a man named Nicodemus…
John 3:1-4
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.
2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent You to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with You.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Nicodemus was knowledgeable about religious tradition, and the Law (Torah). He could tell you everything the Jews practiced. He was religious, however he didn’t yet recognize Jesus as the Messiah (“God is with You” vs. 2 - He didn’t understand Jesus was from God and is God!).
Neither did Nicodemus understand salvation by faith. He understood religion, tradition/ceremonial customs, and rituals. Nicodemus didn’t understand the spiritual truth Jesus spoke of…being “born again”. He was about too.
“born again” is interchangeable with “born from above” - same meaning. *Guzik Notes
John 3:5
Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
?Mother’s you well understand your water breaking before giving birth. “born of water and the Spirit.” - physical birth and spiritual birth.
John 3:6-8
6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
You do not have to understand to believe! You don’t have to have it all figured out in order to trust!
Explain the wind if you can…go ahead and try? I don’t need to understand wind to know it exists.
I don’t have to understand all the details of how Jesus saves…I just need to know/believe/accept that He does!
John 3:9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked. …
They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. John 1:13
John 3:13, 15-17
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. …
15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.
Belief makes Jesus recognizable!
Belief makes Jesus’ salvation receivable!
John 3:18-21
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s Light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the Light, for their actions were evil.
20 All who do evil hate the Light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
21 But those who do what is right come to the Light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
What keeps someone from recognizing Jesus? (vs. 19-20)
That’s why Jesus was unrecognizable and rejected by His own. That’s why Jesus is rejected today!
What must I do to be “reborn; born again; born from above”? … everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. John 3:15
Jesus didn’t come into this world, suffer and die…and resurrect in order to be unrecognizable. He came to save. Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection are not unrecognizable, but undeniable!
But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Matt. 10:33
Salvation/eternal life may seem too great a gift to receive but, it wasn’t too great a gift for Him to give. All you have to do to receive it is believe! Admit your sin to Him, accept/believe…become born again, born from above.
If you’ve already believed/received/accepted Jesus, what’s the message for you today? What role did John the Baptist play in people recognizing Jesus? The same role and purpose God has for you…
John 1:6-8
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the Light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the Light; he was simply a witness to tell about the Light.
Do people believe in Him because of your testimony?
Are you a witness to the undeniable, recognizable Jesus?
