“Behold, the Lamb of God!” John 1:29-34

March 1, 2015

www.WORDFORLIFESAYS.com Uniform Series: “The Lamb of God” (Please Note: All lesson verses and titles are based on International Sunday School Lesson/Uniform Series ©2010 by the Lesson Committee, but all content/commentary written within is original to wordforlifesays.com unless properly quoted/cited) Introduction: John the Baptist has had a very special mission on his life from before the time of his conception. Luke 1:15-17 shows what the angel pronounced to Zacharias about his soon to be son: “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Already fulfilling what was spoken by the angel, there was a time, before he was born, when John the Baptist witnessed the power and the presence of Christ. When Mary was just in her first trimester, at the very beginning of her pregnancy, she came to visit her cousin Elisabeth, “And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost,” (Luke 1:41).

And so his life was characterized by preparing the way and being a true witness of Christ: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light,” (John 1:6-8). John the Baptist himself spoke, “I am the voice of the one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias,” (John 123). This was his purpose. This was his mission while on earth; to point the way, as the Word of God verifies, to the only one who can truly save; to give testimony to the true “The Lamb of God.” John 1:29 29) “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” In order to delve deeper into what’s being said we have to look back to what occurred prior to this verse. At that point the Pharisees sent some men to question John, saying, “Why baptizes thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?” (John 1:25). John’s answer to them was to solidify his own role and to, as was his commission, once again point the way to the ministry of Christ. He said, “I baptize with water,” (John 1:26a); that’s my part. My role is to get people ready. My role is dealing with the outward symbol of repentance. He said something similar in Matthew 3:11a, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. . .” “But there standeth one among you,” he said, “Whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose,” (John 1:26b-27). Why? Because the rest of Matthew 3:11 lets us know, “But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire,” (b, emphasis mine). I got you ready with the symbol of the water; but He is going to penetrate into the inner man by the Spirit! You look at me as though I am some great thing but He that is coming is “mightier than I!”

It was at that point in Matthew 3 that Jesus came on the scene to be baptized of John (see vss. 13-17). Immediately after, He went into the wilderness of His temptation (Matthew 4). Today’s lesson occurs when Jesus returns from His time of temptation. John is “in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing,” (John 1:28) and defending his actions to the questioners (as was stated in the first paragraph of this lesson). The phrase “the next day” speaks of the day after he answered his critics about why he baptized if he was not the Christ. When he saw “Jesus” he announced to those around him, “Behold the Lamb of God.” The phrase “The Lamb” has been referenced to and has been prophesied of the Christ:  Speaking of the Messiah to come, Isaiah prophesied, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter . . .” (Isaiah 53:7).  Peter saw Him as “a lamb without blemish and without spot,” (1Peter 1:19).  In his writing of what he viewed in the visions that we now know as the book of Revelations, John, the disciple of Jesus, saw Him as the “Lamb” that had been “slain,” and yet the only one “worthy to take the book, and to open the seals,” (Revelation 5:6-14).  In 1 Corinthians 5:7 He is seen as our “Passover” sacrifice (which was a lamb). All of these images portray images of sacrifice, blood being shed, and atonement that offers deliverance. No matter how you look at it, John is identifying Jesus as the “Lamb,” he is in essence identifying Jesus as the one who can completely save mankind from their sin and spiritual destruction. Which is why he followed it up by stating that, that same one to whom he is referring is in all actuality He that “taketh way the sin of the world.” I myself wonder at the reaction of those who heard these words? What expressions registered on their faces at the thought of this one man being able to erase the “sin” of all history?

The word “sin” here does not have an “s” on the end of it. Most of us hear this verse and we automatically say “sins of the world” instead of how it is written “sin of the world.” Sin is sin. All sin needs an answer of atonement. That’s where Jesus comes in. As the Lamb, He is the answer to the sin of all humanity; past, present and future. He is the answer to sin to all who dwell in the north, south, east or west. And He is the answer to sin no matter the ethnicity or origin of a person. The Bible says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). “All” need the blood of the Lamb to save them from the effects of sin. Jesus is He that “taketh away the sin of the world.” “Taketh away” means removal of, but it also means to “bear.” Jesus is our sin-bearer; He carries the weight of it for us. Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many . . .” (emphasis mine, see also 1 Peter 2:24). Jesus, as the Lamb, does so much more than remove our sins as the sacrifice on the altar of the cross (see 1 John 3:5); He carried the weight of it upon His own body much as the scapegoat found in Leviticus 16:21-22 and took it away for good, never to return. Isaiah tells us, “He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,” (53:12, emphasis mine). Jesus in Luke 22:37 said that, that very verse had to be “accomplished” in Himself. John 1:30-32 30) “This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31) And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32) And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.” “After me cometh a man which is preferred before more: for he was before me.” Don’t let the wording here confuse you. In His earthly ministry, Jesus

comes “after” (speaking of the current time of that day) John’s ministry has already gotten under way. Yet, Jesus is “preferred before” John. John had a powerful ministry! Even Jesus said of John, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. . .” (Matthew 11:11). But, his ministry was to prepare for the better; it was to pave the way to something or Someone Who could do so much more. That Someone was Jesus. John the Baptist’s ministry paled in comparison to what Jesus would do on the cross. Jesus’ ministry was superior and greater to John the Baptist’s making Him the “preferred.” Remember even John said He is, “mightier than I,” (Matthew 3:11). Later, John will be known for saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” (John 3:30). “For he was before me.” As God’s Son, Jesus has always existed. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth,” (John 1:1, 14). Jesus has always been! There was never a time in all of eternity that He was not. That’s why in Revelation He boldly states, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last,” (Revelation 22:13; see also Revelation 1:8). “And I knew him not.” Though while in his mother’s womb John the Baptist reacted to the voice of Mary by “leaping,” (Luke 1:41), he had not yet received the full revelation of who the Christ was. As verse 33 will tell us, he was waiting for a particular sign that would point out for assurance that this is He whom they have been waiting for; that this was the One whom will “be made manifest to Israel.” So, what we see here is John the Baptist was operating on a faith walk. He was doing as God had instructed him: he was “baptizing with water” while waiting for the big reveal. John the Baptist teaches us what many Bible characters do: we really do “walk by faith and not by sight,” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We are to keep

doing what God has instructed us to do while we are waiting for Him to reveal the next step or the next level. This is where a lot of Christians lose their footing in the walk by faith. Waiting for the revelation of the next step is hard to deal with especially when facing the questionings of others, as John the Baptist was; and possibly some questionings of self-doubt as well. We want to arrive at the manifestation of the promise as quickly as possible not realizing that it’s “In your patience possess ye your souls,” (Luke 21:19); it’s through the perseverance of not giving up that will lead us to where God wants us. Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles beings with one step.” One will never finish that journey if they don’t keep walking. John the Baptist kept going to the river and baptizing day after day without the next level revelation, yet. He kept going down there dressed in his camel hair outfit and eating his locusts, looking like the least of all. That didn’t stop him. He maintained the hope of what God told him and held on to it by faith. Hebrews 10:36 tells us, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” The promise only comes after the perseverance to keep going and to keep doing in spite of it all; in spite of how it looks! “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.” One cannot “bare record” without being an eyewitness. Therefore, John the Baptist said, “I saw. . .” If this were a court of law, he could testify to the validity of Jesus as the Lamb of God because he witnessed the revelation of what God told him to look for. He saw the proof in the evidence of the “Spirit” coming down from “heaven” in the form of a “dove” and it stayed with Jesus; it “abode upon him.” “It abode upon him.” Please note: Jesus did not get the “Spirit” at this time. He was already Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This was a physical manifestation for the witness who would verify His identity. Jesus cannot get something that is already a part of who He is. That’s why I like the usage of the word “abode” here. With

that word come thoughts of permanent residence. The “Spirit” is at home with Jesus. There could be no delineation from any part of His identity and the “Spirit” is just as much a part of Him as any other member of the Trinity. “The Spirit of the LORD GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me . . .” (Isaiah 61:1). John 1:33-34 33) “And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34) And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.” “But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, that same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” John the Baptist reiterated that without the full revelation of God he “knew him not.” Somewhere along the lines God showed him what to look for. By God’s guidance his eyes of faith were open with the expectation of hope to “see” the evidence of the One who would be distinguished from all others. Any ministry we receive from God has to be worked by God’s direction; by what God reveals. More often than not we feel led by God to do this or that and forget that this is His show. We have to move and groove to His holy beat. “Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?” (Proverbs 20:24). He has to do as John the Baptist and wait for God to show him; for God to lead him in what to look for. God will not always show up to lead and direct in a huge wonderful display like a great pillar of fire or a great pillar of cloud like He did when He led the children of Israel through the wilderness. But, when He is guiding you to your promise; to the place where you are waiting for the manifestation of what He said is to be revealed to you, God will “guide me with thy counsel,” as the psalmist once stated (Psalm 73:24).

God will never fail to lead us in the right way if we trust in Him. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye,” (Psalm 32:8). John the Baptist trusted in God’s leading and knew that what he witnessed revealed the One who “baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” The next verse shows the reaction of seeing this One. “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.” At the onset of this lesson, John the Baptist revealed Him as “the Lamb of God.” Here, he makes known to those whom he is speaking that as the “Lamb” He is none other than the very “Son of God.” He was not just a man. He was not just a sacrifice to save humanity from their sin. He was and is the authentic “Son of God!” Psalm 2, a Messianic Psalm, prophesied and said, “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee,” (vs. 7). When John the Baptist witnessed the descent of the Spirit on Jesus, God Himself spoke, declaring, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). Before His conception, the angel told Mary, “That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God,” (Luke 1:35). Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, whose promise of arrival traveled down through history to end up where John the Baptist was on that day that he might witness what God would reveal to him and through him. What God revealed and what he “bare record” to, or testifies of is “this is the Son of God!” He is the chosen one by whom salvation will come for all mankind, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, by have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved,” (John 3:16-17); thus also fulfilling the role as the “Lamb of God.” Conclusion:

This is John the Baptist’s testimony: Jesus is the “Lamb of God” and Jesus is the “Son of God.”