Lesson 3

And Then Along Came John

John 1:6-34

Wanna know who Jesus is? It is a very important issue. In fact, the single most important question that could ever be asked and answered in, "Who is Jesus?" "Whom do men say that I am? Whom say you that I am?'

Who is Jesus? Just ask John! John the Baptist, that is. There are two John's here. There is John the apostle who wrote the Gospel according to John. And in 1:6-34, John the apostle introduces us to John the Baptist.

John the Baptist takes the witness stand and testifies as to who Jesus is. Well, who is John the Baptist? The testimony is only as good as the witness. If the witness is unqualified to testify, if he wasn't there, if he didn't see, if his character is questionable, then his testimony is unreliable.

We must first know that John the Baptist is a reliable witness and then we will listen to what he was to say about Jesus.

Who Is John The Baptist?

We learn about him in verses 6-8, 19-23. In fact, that is the very question that the Jews wanted to answered, see v. 19, 22.

Let's see if the text answers that question.

John was a man. "There was a man ... whose name was John" (v. 6). He was a great man, but he was just a man. He made no claims of being anything other than a man. John 1:20-21 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ (Messiah). And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? The Jews knew that according to Malachi 4:5-6, Elijah was coming back. Maybe this man is the return of Elijah. And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? Back during the days of Moses, God had promised to send a special Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15,18). Is that who John is? And he answered, No. John was a man. God chooses and God uses men - people, ordinary people with every limitation that being human has. John was a man, with human limitations, but he was a man with divine authorization - "sent from God" (v. 6). And John was sent with a spiritual occupation.

The Job Of Witnessing. Notice, how many times the Bible tells us that John's purpose for coming was to be a witness. V. 7 - "came for a witness, to bear witness"; V. 8 - "to bear witness of the light"; V. 15 - "John bare witness of Him." John's occupation was to be God's witness. He didn't live his life to see how much money he could make, how much of this world's goods he could acquire, how young he could retire. He didn't worry about making a name for himself. By some estimation, John's ministry was less than spectacular. He did not dress stylishly. He wore the rough clothing of camel's hair. He did not eat all that well. He ate locust. He had no miracles to his credit, 10:41. Yet in the estimation of Jesus, John the Baptist was truly a great man. "Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:11). Great because he was given completely to the task of witnessing about Christ. The job of John was to witness. This is how John described himself (v. 22) - "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias" (v. 23). John understood that he had a very special calling. He was the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. John was the forerunner of the Messiah. His job was to witness. The job of every Christian is to witness - Acts 1:8 "Ye shall be witnesses..."

The Joy Of Witnessing. V. 7 reminds us that the result of our witness is "that all men through him (Jesus) might believe."

John was not the Word - Jesus was the Word. But John was the voice. John was not the Light - Jesus was the Light (v. 8) but John bare witness to the Light.

His job was to witness, His ministry was to baptize. Actually, the Gospel of John does not say a great deal about John's baptizing. It is mentioned in v. 28. V. 31 - "... Therefore am I come baptizing with water." In v. 25, John was asked why he baptized. His answer, according to v. 33, God sent him to baptize with water and according to v. 31 was that this was God's plan for manifesting Messiah to Israel. John, then, had authority from God to baptize. Jesus had to be baptized by John because only John had authority to baptize. Jesus walked about 60 miles to be baptized by John. We Baptists, we at D.B.C. place a high priority on authority to baptize. Many say, "It does not matter who baptized you, only that you were baptized." Well, it mattered to Jesus who baptized Him. He was baptized by the one whom God had authorized to baptize, and walked 60 miles to make sure. John baptized. According to Matthew 3, John preached repentance and baptized only those who had shown evidence of a transformed life. John introduced water baptism to Christianity. He was sent from God to baptize those who had repented and also to introduce Jesus to Israel and to prepare the nation to receive her Messiah. We understand that just as God authorized John to baptize, Christ has authorized his local church to baptize. The church is commissioned to make disciples, to baptize them and to teach them to observe Christ's commandments. In many ways, we follow the model of John the Baptist in our baptism. We believe that baptism that is in keeping with the scriptures requires the right candidate ( a repentant believer), the right mode (immersion), and the right authority (the local New Testament church). That's why we want to know not just that you were baptized but when and how and by what authority you were baptized.

We are introduced briefly to John the Baptist. God revealed to John to look for the one on whom he saw the Spirit descend and remain, v. 33. He would be the one whom John had come to bare witness about.

Who Does John The Baptist Say That Jesus Is?

Having been introduced to John, we must allow John to introduce us to Jesus. What does John say about Jesus?

It was upon Jesus that John saw the Spirit of God descend and remain, v. 32. Thus, John knew by revelation from the God that had sent him to baptize some things about Jesus. He tells us that Jesus is first, v. 15-18, 27, 30. John tells us over and over that Jesus not only pre-existed him as the eternal one but was also to be preferred above him. John spoke of the pre-eminence of Christ, the one who brought grace and truth, the only begotten Son.

Jesus Is Light, v. 9. Every man has some degree of light. He might not have the light of commandments and covenant like the Jews, but even the heathen had the light of creation and conscience. Jesus is the light of the world.

Jesus Is The Lamb Of God, v. 29, 35-36. The people of Palestine in John's

day understood about lambs. Every year thousands of lambs were offered as a sacrifice for sin. John wants us to know that Jesus is God's lamb. All of those thousands of lambs were types of the Lamb of God that would come and not just cover sin, but take it away.

Jesus Is Lord, v. 34. That's what John the Baptist said. He is the Son of God. That's what a man sent from God said about Jesus. That's what the one who was sent to prepare the way of Messiah said.

That's what John had to say about Jesus. But how was his message received? The answer is in vs. 10-13.

To some, Jesus is Unknown, v. 10. It is astonishing to think that Christ's own creatures knew him not, see also v. 26b.

To some, Jesus is Unwelcome, v. 11. "He came to his own and his own received him not." The Lord was rejected by his own countrymen. Jesus came to the Jewish people.

But to some, Jesus is Undeniable, v. 12-13. They did not reject Him. They received him, they believed on his name and became the sons of God. They experienced a birth, a new birth. Not of blood - by human descent. Not of the will of the flesh - by human desire. Not by the will of man - by human design. Born of God.

Who is Jesus? Ask John. Well, who is John. John was a man sent from God to introduce us to Jesus. And John said that Jesus is Light, Lamb, and Lord.

Do not reject Him. Receive him and be born of God!