IT’S NOT A SECRET ANYMORE
John 1:29-34
S: Jesus as our salvation
Th: My Life as God’s Light
Pr: WE ARE TO LOOK TO JESUS.
?: Why?
KW: Reasons
TS: We will find in John 1:29-34 four reasons why we are to look to Jesus.
The ____ reason why we are to look to Jesus is He is…
I. (our) SACRIFICE (29)
II. SUPREME (30-31)
III. SPIRIT-DIRECTED (32-33)
IV. (the) SON OF GOD (34)
RMBC 01/14/01 AM
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever tried to keep a secret?
ILL Notebook: Secret (I’ll give you a hint)
When Lisa Zerr found out that they were expecting a new baby, they carefully explained the news to their kindergartner, with instructions to keep it a secret. When the carpool mom brought him home the next day, she had a twinkle in her eye. “Alex tells me you have a big secret, but he can’t tell me what it is until his mommy’s tummy gets bigger.”
You know, there always seems to come a time when the secret gets out.
As much as we try to keep it under wraps, the secret comes out.
It is as if that’s the nature of secrets.
There comes a time when it is not a secret anymore.
TRANSITION:
1. Last week, we studied how John the Baptist communicated Jesus to people (John 1:19-28).
When the Baptist came, he was not interested on dwelling on himself.
The Jewish leadership questioned him on who he was—was he the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet?
He answered rather succinctly that he was none of those.
Instead, he said he was a voice, a voice that was preparing the way for the Lord’s coming.
When we come to today’s text, it is the next day.
And the very thing that John has been waiting for happens.
The Lord comes…
2. In our study today, Jesus arrives on the scene.
And it’s not a secret anymore!
His time of preparation is over.
His baptism has been accomplished.
His time of temptation has come and gone.
His time of ministry has begun.
And now John gives us some specific advice about Him.
He says, “Behold!”
It is time to look.
He says…
3. WE ARE TO LOOK TO JESUS.
John knows his time is coming to an end.
And although he will continue on in his ministry for a little while longer, He has essentially fulfilled his mission.
He has been a voice preparing for the Lord’s coming.
It is now evident to him that this is the very thing that has happened.
It is now time to look to Jesus.
So…
4. We will find in John 1:29-34 four reasons why we are to look to Jesus.
(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! (30) This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ (31) I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” (32) Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. (33) 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.’ (34) I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”
OUR STUDY:
I. The first reason why we are to look to Jesus is He is our SACRIFICE (29).
John says: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
He refers to Jesus as the Lamb.
Admittedly, the idea of a lamb does not compute with most of us as well in today’s culture, for we are so far removed from the rural scene.
Nevertheless, it connected powerfully with those of that day.
For the common Israelite understood that…
1. Lambs were living symbols of innocence.
Lambs were often pets and were greatly loved.
Their playfulness and innocence often had a profound impact on the family.
But profounder still was the price innocence paid.
Because…
2. For every Hebrew, the lamb is the reminder of the Passover—a symbol of salvation through sacrifice.
It was a matter of atonement.
In the old covenant, it was the innocent lamb that took on the guilt of sin.
The lamb was killed so that the Hebrew would know the terrible cost of the reality of sin.
When John exclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” these images would come and stir in their minds.
ILL Notebook: Salvation (realist)
A story is told about a man who was on a luxury liner and suddenly he falls overboard. He can’t swim and in desperation he begins calling for help. Now it just so happens that there are several would be rescuers on deck who witnessed the incident. The first man, when he saw the man fall overboard, immediately reached into his briefcase and pulled out a book on how to swim. He tossed it to him and yelled, “Now brother, you read that and just follow the instructions and you will be all right.” The man next to him, when he saw the man fall overboard he immediately jumped into the water and began swimming all around the drowning man saying, “Now just watch me swim. Do as I do and you will be all right.” When the next person looked upon the drowning man’s plight, with deep concern he yelled out, “Now, just hold on friend. Help is on the way. We are going to establish a committee and dialogue your problem. And then, if we have come up with the proper financing, we will resolve your dilemma.” The next man on deck happened to be a representative of the school of positive thinking, for he yelled out to the drowning man, "Friend, this situation is not nearly as bad as you think. Think dry!" The next man on board happened to have led too many revival meetings, for by this time the drowning man was going down for the third time and desperately began waving his arm. Seeing that, the revivalist yelled out, “Yes brother, I see that hand, is there another? Is there another?”
Finally, the last man on deck, immediately plunged into the water, at the risk of his own life, and pulled the victim to safety.
This was what Jesus has done.
He came to perform the rescue.
And this is how He did it…
3. Jesus came to die.
At the very beginning of this gospel, the apostle John is pointing us to the cross.
Like it or not, Christianity is a bloody religion, for it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us of all sin.
For we are sinful.
This is the awful truth.
And the judgment on sin is death.
Listen…
We make all kinds of interesting excuses.
We say that we are poorly adjusted.
We come from a dysfunctional family.
We were disadvantaged.
We even claim that we are victims of abuse.
Now listen more…
There is only one victim!
He tasted death for everyone.
He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
II. The second reason why we are to look to Jesus is He is SUPREME (30-31).
1. Though Jesus follows John, He is preeminent in both time and importance.
John the Baptist has continually drummed out this theme.
He said, “He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.”
The Baptist knew that Jesus was eternal.
He has always existed.
He has the supremacy.
He is above all.
So…
2. John’s mission was to prepare people for that which is supremely the best.
He did it through the practice of baptism.
He asked people to be baptized as an act of repentance.
He asked them to prepare their own hearts for what God was going to do for them and in them.
ILL Notebook: Baptism (in the hole you go)
There were a couple of little girls who went to a Baptist church with their aunt. They had been a number of times, but this was the first time that they had ever witnessed a baptism. When they got home, they couldn’t wait to tell their mother how different it was from their Methodist church. The oldest daughter started, “It was really cool, Mom. They have a swimming pool right in their church. This guy dressed in white and the preacher climbed in the deep end. The preacher took a hankie, covered the man’s face and pushed him under the water.” Not wanting to be left out, the youngest daughter jumped in and said, “Yeah, and then the preacher said, ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, in the hole you go.’”
In the same way, the Jewish leaders misunderstood John’s baptism.
John’s baptism was concerned largely with leading men to repentance, but this was not the final purpose.
John baptized so that Israel should know the Messiah.
It was his task to bring to light the fact that the Messiah was coming.
So when Jesus came, John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
III. The third reason why we are to look to Jesus is He is SPIRIT-DIRECTED (32-33).
1. The Spirit remained with Jesus, thus proving and approving Him as the Messiah.
As I mentioned before, the baptism of Jesus was a previous event.
In fact, it seems that after Jesus’ baptism, He went immediately into the wilderness for what we know as the temptations of Jesus.
Now Jesus is returning after these temptations, ready to begin the ministry.
So John the Baptist’s testimony is significant here.
He is testifying to a time element.
In the original text, it is a perfect tense implying the continuing effects of what he has observed.
He saw the Spirit come down, and it stayed.
It was still there.
It was permanent.
Until that moment of baptism, John did not know it was Jesus, or did not know it for sure.
But now he was.
And so, his testimony continues…
2. Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit.
When you discuss the meaning of the word baptism, you cannot avoid the aspects of dipping and submersion.
They are there in its root meanings.
So when John had been baptizing in the Jordan, as I understand it, he had been dipping them into the water.
He did this, offering it has a negative symbol to get clean.
But what Jesus was going to do was even more radical and positive.
Jesus would offer a baptism of the Spirit that would be more than a symbol.
It would give us new life.
We would become a new creation.
This brings us to…
IV. The fourth reason why we are to look to Jesus is He is the SON OF GOD (34).
1. The Baptist wants us to be clear about who Jesus is.
As we come to this final verse, it is the climax of John the Baptist’s testimony.
We are to look to Jesus because there exists for Him the closest personal relationship with God the Father that there possibly can be.
John calls Him the Son of God so that we will unmistakably understand the Deity of the Messiah (a claim, by the way, that the opposing Jewish leaders did not miss).
2. Jesus is no less than God’s Chosen One.
This is a divine matter from beginning to end.
He is the Son of God.
APPLICATION:
So…
1. Will you look to Jesus?
John tells us to behold.
And note this—it is a command.
It is our duty to behold the Lamb of God.
We must have eyes of observation and eyes of admiration.
We are to have eyes of gratitude.
We are to possess eyes of faith so that we will have eyes of obedience.
We must behold the Lamb of God.
For Christ’s sacrifice is effectual for every person, but it is only effective for those who will behold Him with the eyes of faith.
Will you look to Jesus, or it something to be put off…again?
ILL Notebook: Decision (Silverstein)
Shel Silverstein, Falling Up, “HELP!”
I walked through the wildwood, and what did I see
But a unicorn with his horn stuck in a tree,
Cryin’, “Someone please help me before it’s too late.”
I hollered, “I’ll free you.” He hollered back, “Wait—
How much will it hurt? How long will it take?
How hard will you pull? How much must I pay?
Must you do it right now or is Wednesday okay?
Have you done this before? Do you have the right tools?
Have you graduated from horn-savin’ school?
Will I owe you a favor? And what will it be?
Do you promise you will not damage the tree?
Should I close my eyes? Should I sit down or stand?
Do you have insurance? Have you washed your hands?
And after you free me—tell me what then?
Can you guarantee I won’t get stuck again?
Tell me when. Tell me how.
Tell me why. Tell me where….”
I guess that he’s still sittin’ there.
Maybe for you today, it is a time of decision.
It’s time to stop sitting there.
For…
Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the guilt of our willful committed transgressions.
Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the power of sin to master us.
Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the pollution and stain of our sin.
Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the contamination and stains of our sin.
ILL Notebook: Salvation (she wouldn’t let me save her)
There is a story of an English firefighter that scaled a ladder three stories up to save a woman. When he broke the window, she was hiding in the corner and he was barely able to see her because of the thick smoke. He called to her to take his hand that was only a few inches away, but the frightened woman panicked and withdrew further into the smoke only to perish. When interviewed all the fireman could say, “She wouldn’t let me save her.”
Will you look to Jesus?
Will you let Jesus save you?
You see…
2. Jesus wants to soak us with the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13).
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
He wants to make us new creatures.
He has the power to change our lives.
He can help us leave our life of sin and enjoy the fullness of eternal life.
And it can come—with a good soaking of the Holy Spirit.
There is a fitting response for each of us today.
We find it in the last writing of the Bible called Revelation.
3. In Revelation, we find a picture of the conquering Christ as a Lamb who is worthy of our worship (Revelation 5:1-14).
(12) “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Jesus is worthy of your worship today.
Look to Him and celebrate that you can belong to Him.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Look to the Lamb of God…for He is our sacrifice; He does for us what we cannot do on our own; as the innocent Lamb, He tales our sin and pays the served penalty—death.
Look to the Lamb of God…for He wants to make us new and fresh; He wants us to know rich, full, abundant and eternal; and to make it happen He fills us and soaks us with His gracious Spirit.
Look to the Lamb of God…for He is worthy of our worship, for “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
Amen.
