The Father Testifies - Jan 6, 2013

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Thematic Statement: Today God the Father testifies that Jesus is His Sinless Son.

Sermon:

One of the great blessings of living in the United States is that we have a police force to protect us, and a judicial system dedicated to defending the innocent and punishing the guilty.

But of all the tools the judicial system has to pronounce just verdicts, a crystal ball is not one of them. Judges and juries have no way of being transported back to the scene of a crime to see what happened for themselves. So, they have to depend on physical evidence, and on the testimony of witnesses who were there.

During the season of Epiphany we seek to learn who Jesus really was. We have no way of being transported back to the time of Christ, so, like a judge or a jury we also must depend on the testimony of witnesses who were there. Today, we hear the testimony of a voice that spoke from heaven when Jesus was baptized.

Matthew 3:13-17 (ESV)

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

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God the Father is the star witness for Jesus today. But before we get to the Father's testimony, we've got a couple other witnesses to hear from. The first of these is John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was sent by God to get the people ready for Jesus. His main message was, "You're all going to hell unless you get some serious help. You're guilty sinners who don't have a chance unless you turn around and come back to God for cleansing."

In addition to preaching, John baptized people in the Jordan river. The Bible says that John's baptism was a "baptism of repentance". In other words, when people came to John to be baptized, they were effectively saying, "I'm a sinner, and I need God to cleanse me. Help me God!"

When people came to John openly, confessing their sins, he baptized them, reassuring them that God forgave them because of the Savior who was to come. But people who were genuinely sorry for their sins were not the only ones who came to John. The Bible says that the Pharisees and Sadducees came also. These people were the hypocritical church goers of the day. John knew they were coming out to the Jordan River just to see what was going on out there in the desert, or perhaps to somehow add to their holy reputations.

John did not welcome these people. This is what John said to them: (Matthew 7)

"...when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:7-10 ESV).

John had no room for the two-faced Pharisees and Sadducees, and neither did God. Not if they continued to embrace sin. Not if their confidence of heaven continued to rest on their own ethnicity, or on the goodness of their own lives.

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But when JESUS stepped into the Jordan River to be baptized by John, John's fiery tone changed completely. John knew Jesus. How much John knew about Jesus is a bit unclear, but from our sermon text alone it's obvious that John considered Jesus much holier than himself. The idea that Jesus would come to John for cleansing seemed all wrong to John. John should be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around!

But what John didn't understand was that Jesus wasn't coming to His baptism as a sinner seeking cleansing. You see, John's baptizing had created a division among the people. There were those who accepted God's prophet and his message and therefore came to be baptized, and there were those who rejected God's prophet and his message and therefore refused to be baptized. Jesus didn't need cleansing from sin because He had never sinned. But He certainly wasn't going to associate Himself with people who rejected God's message, so Jesus came to be baptized anyway, even though He was not a sinner. He would be grouped with God's true followers, and not with the hypocritical Pharisees.

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But there was even more to Jesus' baptism than this. In the past, kings and prophets were anointed to show that they were chosen by God for their office. This anointing was done with oil. It was poured on them in a ceremonial way. Today we don't use oil when installing people into the office of president or judge or whatever, but we often observe some sort of ceremony to show they have been chosen.

Jesus' baptism marked the beginning of His public ministry in Israel. But instead of merely being anointed with oil, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit. As He stepped up from the waters of the Jordan River, the sky was split open above, and the Holy Spirit fluttered down in the form of a dove and rested on Jesus. This was to show that what the Old Testament prophet Isaiah had foretold was coming true.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound" (Isaiah 61:1 ESV).

Up to this point Jesus had lived a quiet and unassuming life. He had learned how to be a carpenter. He had quietly attended worship at the synagogue. He had been a model citizen, but one that didn't stick out from the crowd. Now things would change. Now the power of God would shine out from Jesus in everything that He said and did. Now the time to teach and perform miracles had come. Now the world would see who this Jesus really was - the very Son of God and promised Savior of the world. This man would win forgiveness for all people by taking their sins on Himself.

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Our sermon text includes a very important word. A word that is used in the Bible to get our attention. In fact, when this word is used, it's like writing "ATTENTION" in all capital letters. The word that I'm talking about is "behold".

We've heard the testimony of John the Baptist, and we've seen the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Now the Gospel writer uses the word "BEHOLD" to introduce the most important testimony our text offers - an audible voice from heaven. After the Holy Spirit was resting on Jesus' shoulder we read…

"…and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’" (Matthew 3:17 ESV).

In saying this, God the Father made it clear that Jesus was not just one more of His followers, this was the unique Child of God, the beloved, only begotten Son of God. This was the Son who had always existed at the Father's side in eternity, and had now come to earth in true human form to rescue sinners from hell.

Do you remember from Sunday School what God said after each day of creation? After each day God declared that what He had created on that day was "good". And when everything had been finished God put the final seal of approval on His perfect and sinless creation by pronouncing that it was "VERY GOOD".

At Jesus' baptism God the Father put this same seal of approval on the Son. "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am WELL PLEASED."

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You know, there's a old proverb that says, "Familiarity breeds contempt". If you spend your days sorting through gorgeous pearls in a factory, pearls because common. I think that we Christians are so familiar with the idea that Jesus was sinless, that we lose perspective on this fact. Jesus was the only human being who EVER met the Father's demanding standards when it came to pure thoughts, right actions and good words. Nobody else even came close.

As the ONLY sinless human being, only Jesus could stand before the Father and offer a sacrifice capable of washing our sins away. And because Jesus was also fully God, His sacrifice was valuable enough to cover the sins of more than one other person. His innocent suffering and death was enough to wash away the sins of ALL people.

When our conscience kicks in and condemns us for our sins, lets remember the Father's testimony: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Through faith in Christ, this becomes our status. Through faith in Christ, God is well pleased with US.

In Romans 10 it says...

"...with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:10-13 ESV).

When Jesus was baptized, God the Father testified that Jesus was His Sinless Son. Through faith in Christ we have become the same. God’s children. Sons and daughters of the Holy God. Glory and thanks be to God.

Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.

The Subtle Testimony of Water to Wine - Jan 18, 2009

WORSHIP INTRODUCTION:

Last week in our study of John, chapter one, we heard John the Baptist declare that Jesus is both the Lamb of God and the Son of God.

This week we continue our study of John’s Gospel in chapter two. Here we will hear the testimony of Jesus’ first miraculous sign: water changed into wine.

SERMON:

Greetings. May you all fully realize the joy of the Father’s forgiveness though the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who comes by the message of Jesus. Amen.

Though I only saw the back of it in my rearview mirror, the sign must have said “Bump”. What it should have said was “Chasm”.

I was driving down the empty South Dakota highway in the middle of summer. The road crews had been out in force, but now they were done for the day. Without a flagger on the side of the road, I totally missed the warning sign.

When my big Chevy Citation shot out into the void of space, it hung for a moment and then pounced onto the grooved cement of the highway’s foundation. Sparks flew from the rusty muffler that cushioned the car’s fall.

The road crew had removed part of the highway’s surface, down about 8 inches I would guess. Though, in the rearview mirror the drop off looked more like a foot.

Since I wasn’t driving a Ferrari, it was pretty funny – for a moment. Then I saw the cement wall ahead and the meager packed dirt along it’s edge that was supposed to put my car back on the surface of the roadway. There wasn’t enough time to stop. I figured my muffler was gone for sure.

With a jarring jump, I was back on the painted surface of the highway - muffler intact, thank the Lord. That car was ugly enough. It didn’t need to sound ugly too.
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The signs on the side of the highway are important because they points us to things that we need to see. The sign can be bright, shiny and new, or old crusty and worn. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s seen and understood. You see, the sign doesn’t matter as much as what it points us to.

In our sermon reading for today, the “sign” of water changed into wine grabs our attention. It points us to Jesus and says, “This Man comes from God.”

PRAYER:

Holy Spirit, as we approach your Word today give us a humble spirit so that we consider them with care. Help us to understand everything that You reveal about Jesus in this part of your Word. Build our trust in Christ through this time of meditation. Amen.

John 2:1-11 (NIV)

1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
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“SOMETHING ONLY GOD CAN DO”

As any wine maker will tell you, making wine isn’t all that hard to do – but it takes time. When you buy wine at the supermarket, you there are no dry mixes. It can’t be mixed up from a powder like Kool-Aid.

The yeast needs time to eat up the fermentable sugars in whatever fruit juice is being used. Then the wine needs time to clarify and for all sorts of chemical reactions to take place. The wine might be SAFE to drink before it has been properly aged, but it won’t be GOOD.

For the average human being, making water into wine takes months, sometimes years. For Jesus, it took but a moment. And we’re not just talking about a bottle or two. We are told that Jesus had the servants fill six stone water jars up with water. Each jar held 20-30 gallons. That adds up to at least 120 gallons of wine. That much wine would fill about 605 standard size wine bottles.

And this wasn’t just a quantity of wine, this wine was of the highest quality. It was of such noticeable quality that it shocked the master of the banquet when he tasted it. He called for the groom and expressed his disappointment that this prize wine had been saved until this late time in the feast. “You have saved the BEST till now”, he said.

Wine in an instant. Lots of wine. Really good wine. All these details point us to the power of God. That power was at work in this Man, Jesus. That much was clear. Now, was it because Jesus was God’s prophet? Or was there even more to it?

Because we have the New Testament of the Bible we know that Jesus was able to do this miracle, not just because He was God’s prophet, but because He was God Himself. Son of Mary, yes, but also the very Son of God.
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“CONCERN FOR GREAT AND SMALL”

This first miracle was astonishing to those who realized what had happened. But overall, this first of Jesus’ miraculous signs was subtle. It was not done out in the open for all the people to see. Jesus simply drew the dots, if you will, and let the anyone who saw connect them.
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Jesus’ mother Mary had been invited to the wedding. So had Jesus and His disciples. While they were celebrating the wine ran out.

Perhaps the wedding couple was poor. Perhaps they were simply unprepared. Either way, it would have been a very embarrassing thing to run out of wine in the middle of the celebration.

Jesus’ mother was troubled when she found out that the wine had run out. Mary knew what it was like to be in a potentially embarrassing and hard to explain situation. She had once found herself pregnant without ever having slept with a man. Mary knew what it was like to have to make do with what little she had. The cradle of her firstborn Son had been a straw-stuffed feed trough. Mary knew what it was like to do without. While we don’t know for sure why, the Bible doesn’t mention Joseph after the visit to the Temple when Jesus was twelve. It is quite likely that Mary was now a widow.

Yes, Mary could put herself in the wedding couple’s shoes. She could understand their predicament. And searching her mind for solutions, it didn’t take her long to think of her Son. Jesus could do SOMETHING about this wine situation.

I’m curious as to what exactly Mary expected Jesus to do. It’s hard to say. From Jesus’ response to Mary it certainly seems that she expected Him to do something extraordinary. Something miraculous. Something that would reveal who He was and who His true Father was.

In response to Mary, Jesus said,

“Dear woman, why do you involve me? …My time has not yet come” (John 2:4 NIV).

Even from the tender age of twelve Jesus had been concerned with doing what His Heavenly Father had put Him here to do. Jesus was dedicated to carrying out the plan which would bring sinners forgiveness, and save them from an eternity of sorrow.

Now a full grown man, Jesus was just as focused on His Father’s plan. And He knew that right now was not the time or the place to reveal His identity in an outward show of His astounding power.

In His voice we hear a gentle rebuke, but a rebuke all the same.

“Dear woman, why do you involve me? …My time has not yet come” (John 2:4 NIV).

And yet, even though she had overstepped her bounds a bit, Jesus did not dismiss His mother’s concern altogether. Though His higher concern was carrying out the Father’s plan in just the right way, Jesus was also concerned with responding to His earthly mother. Yes, Jesus was sensitive to the small problem that this wedding couple had unknowingly bumped into.

So, with grace and eloquence, Jesus found a way to do it all. He satisfied His mother’s request. He provided a lasting gift for the wedding couple. And He did it all in an unpretentious way. Jesus’ first miraculous sign showing Himself to be the Messiah was a quiet, hidden miracle.

If only we could imitate our Savior in this. If we could have the wisdom and grace to kindly listen – even to words spoken out of turn. If we could take all words – even the words of blustering fools and diligently wring out the value from them. If only we too could ponder what our Heavenly Father would have us do, and then faithfully do that - regardless of what others are saying and doing. May God give us the wisdom and grace to imitate Christ in this way. To listen, to evaluate, to find the Father’s will and to do it.

“SEEKER OF TRUE DEVOTION, NOT MERE APPLAUSE”

In the Gospel of John, John calls seven of Jesus’ miracles, “signs”. He considers these miracles of Jesus to be more than supernatural occurrences. John considers them to be like bright blinking arrows pointing to Jesus. They point to Him and announce, “Clearly, this Man does the works of God. Now listen, for His words come from God also.”

Sadly, not all who saw these signs believed what they indicated. In John 12 it says,

“Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.” (John 12:37 NIV).

After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together and discussed all that Jesus was doing.

“’What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him,’” (John 11:47b-48 NIV).

Jesus could have perform that first miracle in Cana in a way that stole the spotlight form the bride and groom. He could have performed this astounding miracle so all could see His unlimited power as the Son of God. But Jesus didn’t for two reasons. First of all, He knew that wouldn’t be the right way to reveal Himself to the world. That wasn’t the Father’s plan. Secondly, while drama and sparkle would get Him fame and applause, that wasn’t what Jesus was seeking. Jesus wanted people to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He wanted true devotion, not people to come to His show.

Jesus knew that true devotion is not produced from the mere seeing of miracles. True devotion springs from faith. And faith comes from seeing and believing what the miraculous signs of Jesus point to.

This is the Messiah. The promised Savior. The Son of God.

That’s why your voice has power. When you talk about your Savior to friends and family, your voice has real power because it can serve as a sign that points to the Savior.

Imagine an old sign on the side of the road. It’s been there for years. It’s faded. It’s got some bullet holes in it and a sticker or two on it. But it says, “Stop”. And when people see it and understand what it means, they stop.

When you tell people about how everyone on the planet was born a sinner and was doomed to hell, but then God’s Son became one of us to win us forgiveness for us, and lead us to heaven – that Gospel is a sign which lights up like neon and points to salvation.

Each of you has your own witness to bear, your own sign to hold. You know how God has had mercy on you. And you can talk about that easily enough. Your sign might not be perfect, but if it points to the Savior, its good enough. That’s what counts. He’s what counts. And His Holy Spirit will work through you when you hold up His cross for others to see.
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In Cana, the disciples who had recently joined up with Jesus saw the sign of water to wine. They understood what that sign pointed to. Because it pointed to Jesus as the Son of God, their faith was built stronger. This man WAS from God. This man IS from God. He is our Savior.

I invite you to pray with me.

PRAYER:

Holy Spirit give us eyes to see the miracles that Jesus is still doing in the lives of His people. Father, give us the honor of pointing others to Your Son with every part of our lives. Jesus, be near us today and every day. Hear our praise. Direct our lives. Remake us in Your image, dear Savior. Amen.

John Testifies Concerning the Christ - Jan 11, 2009

WORSHIP INTRODUCTION:

January sixth marks the beginning of the Church season called Epiphany. The word “Epiphany” means “manifestation” or “striking appearance”.

During the season of Epiphany we will be examining the first seven chapters of the Gospel of John. There we will see the ways in which Jesus, the Son of Mary, was revealed to be also the Son of God.

SERMON:

Grace and Peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Perhaps you’ve never heard of the “Jesus Seminar”. Let me tell you a little bit about them. The Jesus Seminar is a group of around 150 people with advanced degrees in Bible study, religious studies or related fields.

In 1993 they published a book called, “The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus”.

Basically, they color-coded the Bible by voting on its verses using different colored beads. If they thought Jesus actually said what was quoted in a passage, then they cast a red bead. If they thought Jesus said something like the passage, they cast a pink bead. If they thought that Jesus didn’t say what was in the passage, but it contained Jesus’ ideas, they cast a grey bead. And if they believed that Jesus most certainly did not say what the passage included, they cast a black bead.

The result was a thoroughly shredded version of the Bible. Scholars of this type should be stripped of their titles. They are more interested in reading the mysterious and invisible words between the lines, than they are in understanding what the actual words of the Bible say and mean.

Today, in our sermon reading, we hear a much better testimony. John the Baptist testifies there, and because God wanted people centuries later to hear what John said, the Holy Spirit has preserved his words for us.

May the Holy Spirit preserve us also from ever growing so arrogant and faithless that we place our own judgment and imagination above the solid, God-preserved Word of the Bible.

PRAYER:

Holy Spirit, as we approach your Word today give us a humble spirit so that we consider them with care. Help us to understand everything that You reveal about Jesus in this part of your Word. Build our trust in Christ through this time of meditation. Amen.

John 1:29-34 (NIV)

29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33I 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.”
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“THE LAMB OF GOD” (v29)

The Passover is still celebrated by people of Jewish descent. It commemorates the final plague that God sent on the people of Egypt which caused Pharaoh to let the Israelite slaves go free.

God had told Moses that He was going to pass over the land of Egypt and kill the first-born of every family. The only way to escape this plague was for a family to butcher a healthy lamb, and use its blood to mark the doors of their houses. If this was done, God assured them that death would not enter their houses in that night of terror and judgment.

The people who crowded the banks of the Jordan river to hear John the Baptist speak knew all about the Passover. Ever since they were little children they had celebrated it. Many of them had probably gone with their fathers to purchase the lamb for their family.

Each family had its own lamb. Its life would help them remember how God had spared and freed their ancestors so many years ago.

John’s statement must have filled these people with wonder and awe. As Jesus approached, John pointed to him, saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NKJV).

When the families of Israel brought their lambs, one was required for each family. But when God the Father brought His Lamb for the sacrifice, only One was required for the whole human race. Jesus was that Lamb.

Note that it does not say that this Lamb takes away the “sins” of the world, but the SIN of the world. God views the sins of mankind as one colossal S-I-N. Each individual sin of ours was a brick in the wall separating us from God, but God’s Lamb has demolished that wall completely.

What a comforting thought that singular word is. Your individual sins, great and small, hidden and obvious, they are all included in that phrase, “the SIN of the world!”

Remember this when the false religions of the world say that you must bring a sacrifice to God and thus earn your own forgiveness. The Lamb of God takes away the SIN of the world. God has not asked for your sacrifice, nor can God accept it. God’s Lamb has already been offered. Through God’s Lamb, you stand forgiven.
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“SUPERIOR TO JOHN” (v30-31)

Perhaps you noticed how our text begins, “The next day John saw Jesus”. On the previous day, an envoy of priests had come to ask John the Baptist if HE was the Christ whom the Bible predicted would come.

John was not hesitant to answer, “No.” His job was the prepare the people for the Christ. He was the forerunner. He revealed the people’s sins to them so that they would understand their need for the Savior who was about to be appear.

John understood his role in God’s plan. He was not the main event. To the envoy from Jerusalem he had said,

“…among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:26-27 NIV).

In our text John says a very revealing thing about the Christ. He says,

“A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me” (John 1:30 NIV).

Jesus would indeed be revealed to Israel after John. But Jesus was not born before John. He was born six months later than John. How could it be true that Jesus was before John? You know of course. John is talking about the fact that the Christ was the Son of God who had existed from eternity. He was not created when He was conceived in the womb of Mary. He had always been, and was therefore ranked high above the messenger who prepared the way for His revealing.

There is a lesson to be learned here. Jesus is the rightful focus of the Christian faith. His is the destination of all the Old Testament Word. He is the origin of every New Testament teaching. He is greater than any messenger. He is the jewel in the center of all God’s communication to us. A Christianity without Christ at it’s pinnacle is a lopsided thing destined to topple. And any religion without Christ altogether is a dead and empty shell.

“IDENTIFIED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT” (v32-33)

John the Baptist says in our text that the reason he started baptizing in the desert was so that the Christ might be revealed to the people of Israel. Luke 3:2 says it like this:

“2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Luke 3:2-3 NIV).

When John went out to do what God had instructed him to do, he didn’t know who the Christ was for sure. But we do have reason to believe that he suspected that it was his relative Jesus.

Matthew records that when Jesus approached John to be baptized, John thought that Jesus should be the one baptizing him, not the other way around.

This was either because John suspected that Jesus was the One sent from God, or because John considered Jesus to be more pious than he, and thought it would be more fitting to be baptized by Him instead of the other way around.

When John finally consented and baptized Jesus, the sign that God had promised appeared to John. The sky opened up and a Dove descended through the air. It was the Holy Spirit in visible form. Fluttering in the air above the Jordan river, He settled on Jesus of Nazareth, just recently baptized. Now John had no doubt. This was the Christ. He had not come to John’s baptism because of personal sins, He came to be revealed to John and all Israel. This was the sinless Son of God!

But the sign of the Holy Spirit Dove had double meaning. Jesus had not been anointed with oil like a king or a priest. Jesus had not been merely anointed with water either. Jesus had been anointed with the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit would remain with Jesus throughout His ministry, working powerfully in the message that Jesus preached. Changing the hearts of sinners. Causing people to trust that Jesus was their hope for forgiveness and everlasting life.

And Jesus still pours out the Holy Spirit on people as they hear His message. In fact, it is only through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God that anyone can come to know and trust in Jesus. As Romans 1:16 says,

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16 NIV).

Just as the Holy Spirit identified Jesus as the Savior to John, so also today the Holy Spirit still identifies Jesus as the Savior to sinners in desperate need of His forgiveness.

“THE SON OF GOD” (v34)

In the last verse of our text, John the Baptist makes his clearest statement concerning Jesus. It can hardly be misunderstood. John declares,

“I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34 NIV).

Some false teachers try to lower Jesus below God-status by saying that He was only a Son of God like the angels are called “sons of God” or sometimes even humans are called “sons of God” because they are God’s followers.

Clearly, Jesus is no angel. Nor is he just another follower of God. Jesus is the unique, singular Son of God. The only-begotten Son of God. The One who existed from eternity with the Father and became human only two thousand years ago so that our sins could be removed.

If John’s testimony is true, than Jesus is worth our utmost devotion. He is worthy of our daily, hourly, minute-ly, second-ly praise. For He was there in the silence of eternity before the voice of God said, “Let there be light”.

If John’s testimony is true, than our Creator has become our Savior, and we have nothing to fear so long as He is with us.
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Man’s testimony is untrustworthy. Man can lie or be mistaken. This much is shown by the foul testimony of the 150 so called “Jesus Seminar” scholars.

The testimony of John is greater than the 150 Jesus seminar judges. His testimony was based on the sign God told Him would identify the Christ.

In a sense, John’s testimony is God’s testimony. For it is the Holy Spirit who moved John the Baptist to say it. It was the Holy Spirit who moved John the apostle to write it. It was the Holy Spirit who preserved it through the long centuries that stand between us and John so that we could hear it. And it is the Holy Spirit who still testifies to it’s trustworthiness in our hearing today.

May the Holy Spirit convince us all of the trustworthiness of John’s testimony, so that Jesus lives in our lives by faith. May our God enable us to make this testimony our own: Jesus is the Son of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Amen.