JOHN CHAPTER ONE

1:2 He was in the beginning with God.........

This simply combines the 3 separate thoughts of verse one.

Jesus, who is from everlasting to everlasting, is fully man, and fully God!

Look at Psalm 33:6;

By the Word of the LORD the heavens were made,

And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

Also at Genesis 15:1

After these things the Word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

Verse 3 moves from the person of God, to the accomplishments of God.

1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Clearly here we can see that Jesus is the eternal source of all things.

Look at Romans 11:36.

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

And Colossians 1:15,16

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

And Hebrews 1:10-12

"You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same,

And Your years will not fail."

Yes, He is the eternal source of all things. These are but just a few verses, but clearly there is no room for pride. He is before all things, over all things, and it is all by his power and hand. All is Gods.

1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

LIFE.

Turn with me if you would to 1 John 1:1,2

THAT which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning THE WORD OF LIFE. The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us

And John 8:12...

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

And Psalm 36:9....

For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

These are only a few....how often throughout the scriptures do we see LIFE; and LIGHT used together!!!!

The word in the Greek is ZOE the very same word as used in Revelation 2:7 ,10 ; 3:5 ; 11:11

7: For with You is the fountain of LIFE;

In Your light we see light.

10: "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of LIFE.

3:5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of LIFE; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

11:11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of LIFE from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

AND in John 6: 48, Jesus said ;

"I am the bread of LIFE.

So ; check this....we see that LIFE and LIGHT are both names and attributes of God!! they are one and the same!!!

John 1:5

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Light shines in the darkness...........

The Greek for the word shines , literally means to MAKE MANIFEST So; the Light, that is God, come in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, was manifested in the darkness, that is, He was SEEN IN a dark and fallen world. The word manifest by the Webster definition is; shown to, readily perceived, and easily understood.

Romans 1:19,20 says;

What may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

................. And the darkness did not comprehend it

Romans 1:28-32

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

And 1 Corinthians 1:21;

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

I must shift gears here for a second, and touch on this verse in Corinthians. That word KNOW....in the Greek....ginosko

means nothing less than a close, personal, intimate relationship with

John 1:6

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Here, John the Apostle is speaking about John the Baptist, not himself. However, throughout the book of John we can see his humility and his desire to not elevate himself. In John 20:2-4.....here he and peter are rushing to the place where Christ had been laid, because Mary had just told them that the tomb was empty.

Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.

Whom Jesus loved....he doesnt stick his chin in the air and boast and say here; Jesus loved me best; nor does he brag and say, Peter

ate my dust when we ran to the tomb. What a lesson of humility we can learn from the one who penned the book of John. John the Apostle; loved the most by Jesus, yet he wont even mention his own name. His life, and actions and attitude really reflect the fact that he took serious the teachings on humility that he heard from his Lord.

John 1:7 (John the Apostle, speaking of John the Baptist)

This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

This was Prophesied in Isaiah 40:3-8

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.

Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth;

The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

The voice said, "Cry out!" And he said, "What shall I cry?"

"All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever.

John 1:8

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

No, he was not the light. Jesus is the Light. We all know John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

When questioned about this; John the Baptist even testified to this in verse 20 of chapter 1;

He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."

John 1:9

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

A more literal translation would read;

That true Light, by coming into the world, illuminates every man .....that is, by God becoming flesh, and making Himself manifest to all men, has made His Light and Life available to all who would see, and believe! We see this truth by verse 12

Verse 10 is hinted to by verse 5, but is not recognized, and then verses 11 and 12 repeat the facts that John, and we have already discussed.

John 1:10-12

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Here John makes the impact of all he has said up until this point compact, simple and grand!

The worlds Maker, walking His creation, in the world, among His own, and for the most part, being ignored. What a shame! But what glory for those who understood, and received Him!!!!! To be called

HIS CHILD!!!

John 1:11

.

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

It is impossible in English to give the full force of this verse.

His own. His own has a two part meaning here. First in that He came into His own (things) that is, His own Messianic rights and possessions. The Greek here is .........idia..........

In The second clause; The Greek for own is ....... idios. His own, meaning the peculiar people who were the more immediate subjects of His messianic kingdom, that is the Jews........ received Him not. That is, as a people, as we will see in verse 12.

Luke 20:14 says...... "But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'

John 1:12

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Received........that word is lambano....it means to take, to act upon that which was offered

In the original text, it says He gave the POWER......

That word is exousia....which is literally translated;

ability; privilege; force; freedom; mastery; delegated; authority; liberty; power; right and strength. WOW!!!!! Lets plug all those definitions in and see how that verse reads, gaining the full intended meaning................

Even though most of those who were given the opportunity to gain all of the rights and privileges as an heir to the kingdom of the living God, rejected that opportunity,.... For those who reached out and took hold of that which was freely offered, they were given all of the ability, all of the privileges, the freedom and the force; they were given mastery, and to them was delegated all authority, liberty, power, rights and strength!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sound cool? Want that for yourself? We just saw that we must believe ON his name.

PAY ATTENTION HERE...THIS IS CRITICAL

THE SCRIPTURES SAY ON HIS NAME.

Not in. Believing ON means nothing less than absolute, complete, and full trust. Connected with as a member.

In wont cut it. Remember, even the demons believe, and tremble. It is not just giving credit to His testimony, rather, it is

complete, supreme faith.

Verse 13 continues to tell you how!

John 1:13

Which were born How could this be anything other than

NEW BIRTH?. It is a change in nature. Jesus said in John 3:3-7;....

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' Again back to the verse;

Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We see here a three fold denial of anything that is human. It is beyond anything capable or even possible by man

Mark 10:26-27

And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

And the only, way...... It is the gift of God, accomplished and made available to all who would believe; through the shed blood of His son, Jesus Christ.

Now we come to the climax of this text, now we rise to the altitude that will set the pace for the next 13 verses.

John 1:14

And the Word became 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.

And the word....that is ...Jesus....became flesh.......

God; in all of his glory, left His rightful place in His glorious Kingdom to take upon Himself all of the things that belong to our temporal human nature. He took the frailty, He took the infirmity, and all of the things that belong to the flesh that is mans by the fall; while retaining His state of Glory; still being fully God, and now also fully man. By this he is fully conscious of all that is human, yet still fully conscious of all that is Divine.

By this, when we are born again, our nature in His person is Redeemed, Quickened, Enobeld, and transfigured! And as we saw from the very first verse of this Book, before God laid the foundations of this earth, He sees each of these gifts already bestowed on you who have or will accept Him!

And dwelt among us........................

Litterally, He pitched His tent.....that, is in the permanant sence.

Turn with me to Revelation 7:15......

"Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.

And to Revelation 21:3........

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

So, by this, we see that He is wedded forever to us.......indeed, those who are in Christ Jesus are called THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

And also, those who are born of the spirit of God, the Church, are also called THE BODY OF CHRIST.

This verse is nothing less than Gods Glorious residence, in the Person of Christ, in the midst of His people!!!!!

Psalms 68:18-20

You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the LORD God might dwell there. Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah

Our God is the God of salvation;

And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Leviticus 26:11-12

I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. I am the LORD your God.

John 1:14.....cont

........and we beheld His Glory...........

Beheld.......that word is = theaomai....it means to look closley at, to perceive, to understand, to visit....again, this is nothing less than a close, personal HEART UNDERSTANDING. The key you must understand here, is that it is far, far beyond a head/knowledge understanding. It is a matter of the heart. There hundreds of verses in the Bible that deal with matters of the heart. We as beleivers are to guard it carefully, for from the heart not only stems all that is pure, clean and pleasing to God, ....but it is also from the heart that every evil and corrupt thing that man can conceive begins.

We could talk for months on the heart, but i will only share one verse with you for now...Jesus had just asked peter who he thought Jesus was; and Pete answered and said...

Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Truely, Peter had a REAL HEART KNOWLEDGE of God!

..............the glory as...........

Not resembeling, or like to;; but; Such as became or in other words was only befitting the only Begotten of the Father!

The only begotten..............the oldest text available literally reads

THE ONLY BEGOTTEN GOD

Whenever Jesus said ; my father , it was in the proper sence.

The Jews understood it as it was meant. Jesus was claiming equality with God, AND His relation to the Fathers essence. They tried to stone Him for it. He claimed the old testament title and very name of God for Himself each time He said;

I AM

.......Full of Grace and truth.

Grace......... grace is the Whole, all the riches of Gods redeeming love to sinners of mankind; in Christ.

Truth.........the fufillment of all of Gods promises

God is faithfull to all of all of His promises!!!!!

I want to share some verses from Psalms 89 with you.

I WILL sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens."And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints. O LORD God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and all its fullness, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them; righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.

Blessed be the LORD forevermore!

Amen and Amen.

John 1:15-29

15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.' "

16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."

21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."

22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?"

23 He said: "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD," '

as the prophet Isaiah said."

24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

26 John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.

27 "It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."

28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Verse 15

John bore witness of Him....that is Jesus....and cried

that is, he shouted out, in testimony of the certainty and grandeur of the truth that he was proclaiming! The word cried in the Greek is krazo, which literally means to shout!

....... Bore witness..... In Matthew 3, we read

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.' "

Saying; this is whom I said He who comes after me is prefered before me, for He was before me.

Once again, our English language as falling short, in that our word before in this verse is two different words in the origional language.

`He who comes after me is prefered....... before........

This first before is emprosthen....literally, in place and time.

for He was .... before .........me.

This second before is protos which literally means in order of importance, first of all, in official rank. The root of protos is pro

which means in front of, above.

The EErdmans commentary interprets this verse beautifully. It says

My Successor has become my Superior, for He was my predecessor. This is a good way to say this, because, John was after all, born before Christ, so John was cleverly devising a riddle, getting his hearers to think, to try to solve his little pun, thereby getting them to listen a little more closely.

If you take both of those definitions of before, and use them together, that is exactly what John was saying in verse 14 when he said the glory of the only begotton

verse 16

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

.................And of His fulness............

Again; john is strengthening what he said in verse 14 when he said

Full of grace and truth. The fullness; all of that which God has to offer; those who have received Him, have received from Him;

Grace upon Grace!!!!

The greatest theme of the Word of God; is Jesus Christ; and the greatest theme of our Lord is Grace!

It is there, In this grace; that we find a personal relationship and intimacy with God. In this wonderful relationship, we find abundant, bounteous and generous provisions lavished on us by our Lord. . We find an internal working of God. God writes His will and His law on our hearts, changing us from the inside out. This is a critical working grace!!

(Ephesians 1:7) which says In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace So many Christians underestimate the richness of His grace. How little have we drawn upon those riches!! There was a wise preacher that once said it is like buying a very powerful car, and pushing it everywhere you go.

Forgiveness is just the barest and mere beginning! The ongoing grace of God is the inner development of His children. Another work is the inner enabling of the power of His grace!! (Hebrews 13:9) says ....for it is good that the heart be established by grace...... The original word established in the Greek means; strengthened, made stable, immoveable and steady.

What is grace? It is almost to big, to deep, and to wide to fully understand. It is unmerited favor, Gods riches at Christs expense. It is God freely providing for us; through the person, and work of his Son as we depend on Him and trust in Him for all that we need and yearn for. It is something that we are commanded to walk in; and become; and it is something that we could never earn, deserve or produce; even on the best of all of our efforts. The root of the word grace is beauty!! (Ephesians 2:4-10) is one of the fullest and most beautiful passages I know on the grace of God. It says; But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works lest any man boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Awesome!!

It is a undeniable fact that the God who loved, and still loves us, as undeserving as we are, wants us to grow. By His sovereign will and awesome might and power, and by His wonderful grace, He is developing us; and causing us to grow as we walk with Him. !!! praise His Holy name!

(John 1:14,16,17) we read And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. This says to me that God came to earth, full of grace, overflowing as a living vessel of the grace of God. I love verse 16.... and of His fullness we have all received, and GRACE FOR GRACE grace upon grace. Saved. Building us, transforming us, remaking us, using us.....all by grace!! This verse is so profound!! The Christian life is indeed grace upon grace!!

Verse 17

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

For the law was given.................the law that is; as opposed to

grace.

Romans 4:15 says;

For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

The law, that is Gods commandments, brings wrath.

Galations 3:10-13

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them." Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),

basicely what this tells us is that there is a superiority of living by faith in Jesus as opposed to living by the law.

Romans 3: 10-26

As it is written:

"There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one."

"Their throat is an open tomb;

With their tongues they have practiced deceit";

"The poison of asps is under their lips";

"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."

"Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Destruction and misery are in their ways;

And the way of peace they have not known."

"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

being justified freely by His grace

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God set forth as a propitiation

by His blood,

through faith,

to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Verse 18

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

No one. ...that is by immediate gaze; in the physisal sence.

or, no one has discerned clearly

When Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well in John 4:24; He told her God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

God is Spirit. The word that the bible uses here is horao

Again here, we see as we have seen in the past few weeks that the apostle is saying the only begotton God.

Remember, every time that jesus said MY FATHER, He was speaking in the proper sence, claiming equality with God. Also remember that He never did deny the charge, rather, even when speaking in the synagog, read scripture from the prophet isaiah, prophecy concerning Himself and His comming, and told them today, scripture is fufilled in your hearing.

John 5:18

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

When scripture says not sparing His own Son again, it is saying

The partaker of His very own nature

Lets get back to verse 18

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

He hath declared Him. Literally, this is saying that Jesus is the litteral reflection and expression of Himself!!!

So, John closes this section just as he began. With the Word.

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

JOHN 1:19

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

Well, starting here in verse 19, the apostle John declares his mission.

John, writing in Ephesus near the close of the first century long after the destruction of Jerusalem, constantly uses the phrase "the Jews" as descriptive of the people as distinct from the Gentile world and from the followers of Christ (at first Jews also). Often he uses it of the Jewish leaders and rulers in particular who soon took a hostile attitude toward both John and Jesus

When the Jews......

The Jews...this is referring to the Sanhedrin here. They were the Jewish council. Literally the most powerful and political body of the Jewish people. whose business it was to inquire into, examine, and try prophets, whether true or false and John appearing as a prophet, and being esteemed as a prophet by the people, they sent messengers to him to interrogate him, and know who he was. The persons sent were

Priests and Levites.....

The Priests and Levites were respected religious leaders in the Jewish culture at this time. The Priests served in the temple, and the Levites were their assistants. If you take a look at verse 24, we can see that they were Pharisees. Keep in mind what a noise that johns ministry was making at this time, for the place that he was baptizing was a full days journey from Jerusalem!

The pharisees were an interesting lot. One way that we can remember the difference between the pharisees and the Sadducees is this......the Sadducees did not believe in angels, demons or life after death. And that is so SAD, YOU SEE? And the pharisees really had a holier than thou attitude. In their eyes, they were so fair, you see?!

They were really filled with pride and greed. They were consumed with observing the law. They had between 4 to 5 thousand laws they were adamant about following. Many of them even went as far as wearing these little boxes on their heads. Inside these boxes were little scrolls, with their laws written on them. They did this because of a verse that is found in Deuteronomy 6:18

"You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

The name pharisees comes from the word peras, which literally means to separate, which is exactly what they did. They separated themselves from all people who were not part of their elite group, to exalt their pseudo holiness, and in their eyes, place themselves above others. This word peras is the same word that we see used in Daniel 5:28. In the interpretation of king Nebuchadnezzars dream, God said pera , or more literally, your kingdom has been divided. So, the pharisees hearts and lives were divided!!

Romans 10:2-3 says

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

They are also the ones who plotted against the life of Jesus. Also, they were the main voice in trying all they could to persuade people away from Him.

Matthew 16:6 says

Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."

Reading further in Matthew, we see that Jesus was telling His disciples to BEWARE OF THEIR TEACHINGS.

Matthew 23:

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'

17 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

19 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

24 "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

26 "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

28 "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

30 "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'

31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32 "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.

33 "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

34 "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

36 "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

So, we see, they

1. Exalted themselves

2. They were hypocrites

3. Jesus called them blind guided, blind men,

Fools, and a brood of vipers.

Their attitude was merely external, formal and mechanical. Their stress was not on what they did, but rather on its formal correctness, with their main focus and emphasis.

Note that this self exalted elite group of the Jewish culture was looking for the Messiah. Through all of the prophesies, they were really waiting for Him to appear.

There is an old Jewish history text that said

If Israel is ready, the Messiah will come riding upon the clouds. If they were not, He would come riding on a donkey.! Jesus fulfilled this prophecy at the triumphal entry, and they still missed it!!

Remember our study on verse 10?

The world was mane through Him,

and the world did not know Him!!

To this day, this has not changed. They are still looking for the Messiah to come!!!

Lets move on

JOHN 1:20

OK, so we see these pharisees coming to John asking him

WHO ARE YOU

He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."

Remember verses 6-8? It was there that we saw humility, and his desire not to elevate himself. Verse 8 clearly said

He was not that Light,

but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

There was a large sect that actually thought that John was indeed the prophesied Messiah.

I find it interesting that scripture says he confessed redundantly here.

1. He confessed....

That is; he confessed his flesh, his sin. John knew the scriptures. He knew that clearly all men are guilty of sin, no-one is perfect; except the prophesied Messiah. So, in knowing that these men had come to see if he really was the Messiah, knowing that scripture was clear that the Messiah would be perfect, without spot or blemish, free from sin, he first of all confessed hey guys, not me!! I am full of sin!!!

2. But confessed.....

This confessed here has a logos root...; that is, he swore....he gave his word; I AM NOT.

It is possible also here, that these men come to question John, were not really trying to see if he was the promised Messiah, rather, already trying to disclaim Jesus!

Note Johns devotion to Christs deity in verse 27

"It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."

I will go into this verse more in depth when we get there, but for know I just wanted to point out that john was saying that he was lower than a slave compared to Jesus.

VERSE 21,

And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?"

He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."

LETS BREAK THIS DOWN A BIT

First of all, john just clearly told these who had come to question him that he was not the Christ. Then, almost mocking him they asked

"What then? Are you Elijah?"

John answered saying.... I am not.

That is, not in his own proper person, who, the Jews expected to usher in the Messiah.

Let me read you a few lines from aan old Jewish text.

`that in the second year of Ahaziah, Elias was hid; nor

will he appear, till the Messiah comes; then he will

appear, and will be hid a second time; and then will not

appear, till Gog and Magog come.

``before the coming of the son of David, "Elias will come to bring the good news" of it.''And this, they say ,will be one day before the coming of the Messiah.``that there are of their wise men that say, "that before the coming of the Messiah, Elias shall come".''

MALACHI 4:5 says

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet

Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

This prophecy, recorded in the last book in the old testament, was given immediately before the 400 years of silence that spanned the time period before the old and the new testament.

Elijah lived approximately from 897 Bc to about 848 Bc. His name literally means my God is Jah

He is one of the only two people recorded in the Bible to not die, but to be taken up into heaven. We read in 2 kings 2:11

Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Jesus, speaking to His disciples about john the Baptist said

"And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

Jesus said that he was indeed Elijah.

Matthew 17:10-13

And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Jesus answered and said to them, Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

Remember, earlier I said that john told the pharisees questioning him he was not Elijah, in his proper person. However, we see from the 1st chapter of Luke that he did come IN THE SPIRIT AND IN THE POWER of Elijah.

LUKE 1:13-17

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, '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."

Scripture indeed said he will come first.....not in the physical person of; rather in the spirit and power of.!

The main doctrine of Elijah throughout his life was proving who God was; and telling people to repent John the Baptist had the same message.

VERSE 21

CONTINUED

"Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No."

TRICK!!!! DOUBLE-TALK!!!!

The pharisees knew that the verse about the prophet referred to the Messiah!!

Deuteronomy 18:18

'I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.

Look at JOHN 17:8

(Jesus speaking here)

For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

And JOHN 12:49

"For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

And JOHN 8:26-29

"I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."

LUKE 24:19

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

ACTS 3:20

"and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,

THIS VERSE REFERS TO THE PROPHESY IN DEUTERONOMY.

Back to verse 21, john wasnt shaken, he didnt even blink at their double-talk and attempt to trick him. He simply said

NO.

JOHN 1:22

Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?"

In a way they were saying; look, we didnt come all this way for nothing. We need to tell those who sent us something!

John answered them, quoting Isaiah 40:3

He said: "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD," '

as the prophet Isaiah said."

That verse in Isaiah reads

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make straight in the desert

A highway for our God.

Fulfilling the prophecy in MALACHI 3:1

"Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me.

And the Lord, whom you seek,

Will suddenly come to His temple,

Even the Messenger of the covenant,

In whom you delight.

Behold, He is coming,"

Says the LORD of hosts.

His master was the Word. The pharisees missed the point. They wanted to know who he was. He wanted them to see who Jesus was!!!

He said, I am the voice.

John answered, "You ask who I am. My identity is nothing; my message is everything. Ill pass away as a sound passes into silence; but the truth I am telling you is eternal." In his very answer John showed himself to be the spiritual Elijah, because he declared that he came to do the work of Elijah; which is., to prepare the people for the advent of Messiah. There were many echoes in the world, but few voices.

`he was a "voice", but not a mere voice; nor was his ministry a mere voice of words, as the law was, but it was the sweet voice of the Gospel, proclaiming the coming of the Messiah; encouraging men to believe in him; calling them to repentance, and proclaiming the remission of sins in the name of Christ, and pointing Him out as the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world: it says his voice was "crying"; it was not a still small voice, it was a very loud one;

The word in Greek is boao which is to shout in a tumultuos way.

John lifted up his voice like a trumpet; he delivered his message with great zeal and fervency; and it was "in the wilderness" where this voice was heard, in the wilderness of Judea.

The Ethiopic version renders the words, "I am the voice of one that goes about in the wilderness"; that is, in the several towns and villages which were in the wilderness, to whom John went and preached the Gospel: The words this voice cried were,

Make straight the way of the Lord;

He was calling people to reform their ways, and walk in the way of the Lord, to repent of their sins, believe in Christ, and submit to the ordinance of baptism: the Ethiopic version reads, "the way of God"; and such was the person he came to prepare the way for, even the son of God, and who is truly and properly God,

VERSE 24

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.

VERSE 25

And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

In a sense, they were asking him why then are you gathering followers?

VERSE 26

John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.

HE WAS BAPTIZING WITH WATER, TO REPENTANCE.

Do not mistake anyone telling you baptism is FOR repentance or forgivness.

MATTHEW 3:11

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

ALSO, ACTS 13:24

"after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

He was not baptizing to bring them to repentance, because he first required repentance before he would baptize them. One way to

say the phrase may be very aptly explained like this: "I baptize you upon the `profession' of repentance which you make."

One thing here; the word baptize, comes from the Greek

word bapto which means to wholly cover, to make fully wet, or to dip.

Note what is recorded in the book of MATTHEW , as to what john said about his baptizing.

Clearly; we see from just these two verses, that baptism is an outward act that is to show that repentance has taken place in ones life. It has nothing to do in itself with salvation. There are many who would tell you that it is necessary for salvation, necessary for forgiveness, however, it is in true repentance that we gain forgiveness, possible only through the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross of calvary.

In this verse, john says

there stands One among you whom you do not know.

This was spoken AFTER Christs baptism. john clearly knew who Jesus was. We will see that when we get to verses 29-32.

VERSE 27

"It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."

I said I would touch on this later, well here we are.

Who; coming after me.......

that is, was born after he was

and began His ministry after john began his;

is preferred before me........

that word preferred in the Greek is

Ginomai (pronounced ghinomahee)

Ginomai means to come continuedordained to be

Was preferred before me:

being not only of a more excellent nature, the son of God, even the Lord from heaven; but in an higher office, having greater gifts, and the spirit of God without measure on him; also being more followed by the people; for John decreased, but He increased: or rather, the words may be rendered, who was before me; being the eternal son of God, whose goings forth were of old, from everlasting; who was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was; the firstborn, or the one who brought into existance every creature; and therefore must be before all things, which are created by him;

John says whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.

The original text says whos sandal straps I am not worthy to unloose. Either way, unlatching or carrying the sandals of ones master was reserved for the lowest and the least of a mans slaves.

In the Jewish culture, if a rabbi told you to do something, you had to do it. Except; untie his shoes.

John was saying that he wasnt even worthy to be called the least and lowest slave of Jesus!!!

He was saying that it was too great of an honor for him to even be able to unlatch Christs shoes!!!

Talk about taking ones self on the throne and placing Christ there!!!! talk about humility!!!! again, we see johns heart here. He is saying dont even look at me im not worthy!! Look to Jesus!!!

JOHN 1:28

These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

JOHN 1: 29

First of all, I think it is important that we review a few of the main things that have been discussed so far.

RECAP

1. In the beginning was the word. Remember, the Greek used here for word is logos, and refers to an individual. It is Gods expression of himself to others.

The word was with God. The Greek is pros , meaning constantly nearby, and tells of nothing less than a warm, intimate, personal relationship.

Jesus prayed that we also may know God, even as He knows God!

3. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

He is the eternal source of ALL things.

4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

In John 8:12 Jesus said

"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

Remember how often LIFE AND LIGHT are used together!

Jesus also said that He was the fountain of life and living water .

5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Men simply did not WANT to know God.

6. John was introduced.

8. He came to bear witness of Christ.

9. He told us that Jesus was indeed the TRUE Light, which illuminates every man. Remember that the word illuminates means is made manifest everyone knows the truth, whether they accept or admit it or not.

10-11. Spoke of the sad but true fact that the worlds maker, walking His own creation, in the world, among His own, was for the most part, ignored, and even worse, denied.

12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe on His name:

Remember, the word received means to take to act upon

and that the original text says that He gave the power

and that word literally means ability, privilege, force, freedom, mastery, delegated authority, and liberty, power, right, and strength !!!!!!!!! All of that is given to anyone who will reach out and take hold of what is freely offered to all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember that the text says ON His name. ON. Connected with as a member. That means nothing less than absolute and complete trust. Complete and supreme faith. Unreserved and unhindered.

13. That is the verse about the unconditional NEED to be born again!

Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

We need to die to ourselves, and be alive to Christ.

14. We beheld His glory Beheld. That word means nothing less than a HEART understanding.

16. That was the grace upon grace verse. Grace upon grace. God freely providing in an exceeding way, ALL of His riches!!!!

19-26. The apostle john tells us how john the Baptist was questioned by the pharisees.

Ok. Keep all that in mind, and Lets move on.

JOHN 1: 29

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

This is such an awesome verse within itself. It was the whole heart and purpose of the ministry and the life of john the Baptist. The one thing he stressed with his words, his actions and his life was summed up in this one short, beautiful, brief and eloquent sentence. Dont look at me. Who I am is meaningless. I am not even worthy to be His slave! My words are nothing. My message is everything!!!!

BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!!!

Behold........ That word actually comes from a combination of two words in the Greek. One is Ide which means the act of the second word; which is Ido. That word Ido means To know, consider and understand. It means to gaze at something remarkable it means nothing less than an earnest and continued inspection. it means to discern clearly. Attend to experience and it means to take heed behold.... so much more than a mere hey check this out...... he cried listen up!! Dont miss this!!!

This verse was spoken, immediately after the temptation of Christ during the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness of Judea. John was still baptizing in the Jordan, and Jesus was on His way back into Galilee.

Every word here is empathetic and precious beyond description!!!

The lamb......

Everyone in his hearing understood the lamb because Up until this time, every morning, and every evening, and twice each morning and evening on the Sabbath, 16 times a week for each household, a lamb was sacrificed, to cover their sins.

You see, in the old testament times, every lamb that was slain for sins, was slain as a COVERING for those sins. But now, here john boldly proclaims that now, here is the Lamb who wipes away the sins. Not just covers them, and not just the sins of those for who the sacrificial lamb was slain, but rather FOR THE SIN OF THE WORLD!!!!

ISAIAH CHAPTER 53 is short, but sweet

Who has believed our report?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;

And when we see Him ,

There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

And they made His grave with the wicked

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,

And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,

Because He poured out His soul unto death,

And He was numbered with the transgressors,

And He bore the sin of many,

And made intercession for the transgressors.

And 1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Jesus,

The perfect Lamb of God, was sacrificed in our place!

And again

1 Peter 1:18-21

knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

John KNEW. He held Christ up as the God ordained, accepted sacrificial lamb; ONCE FOR ALL.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-15

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST LIVED A PERFECT AND SINLESS LIFE, HE IS THE PERFECT SACRIFICE

FOR OUR SINS!!!!

We are talking about complete forgiveness here. Forgiveness that is past, present and future!!!!!

HEBREWS 1:1-3

GOD, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

That place of heavens joy and delight, the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!

He loves you!!! He died for you!!! And he victoriously rose again on the third day!!!

John 3:16-18

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. OH!!!!! THE MATCHLESS NAME OF JESUS!!!!!!

Romans 5:6-10

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Lets get back to the text, I got a little sidetracked on

The lamb of God!!!!

Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!!!!

Takes...................

This word here is airo literally it means to take up, take away, remove, and get this......... to lift up, AND THE WORD IS USED IN THE PRESENT, AND ONGOING TENSE. It signifies an ongoing act!!! He has the power, both now and forever to take away our sins, that is, the ROOT of our sins, which is our corruption, not just that, but also the due penalty for those sins and that nature, a penalty that God explicitly says is DEATH. Even now, His shed blood takes away your sins!! That is so exciting!!! even now, He still takes away that sin that you wrestle with!!!

Jesus said in

JOHN 12:32

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth,

I will draw all peoples to Myself."

INDEED, OUR SIN WAS LIFTED UP. JESUS, THE PERFECT LAMB OF GOD BECAME SIN, THAT IS, A SIN OFFERING FOR US, BEARING THOSE SINS ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY.

JOHN 10:11,15-18

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

There, not only does Jesus talk about His crucifixion, but He talks about the glorious miracle of His resurrection !!!

Romans 10:9 says

if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Matthew 10:32

"Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

Revelation 3:5

"He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

overcomes.....what does this mean???? he who overcomes???

Look at 1 JOHN 5

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves Him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.

Revelation 5:9

And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain,

And have redeemed us to God by Your blood

Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

2 Corinthians 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Like I said earlier,

Every word here is empathetic and precious beyond description.

Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin..........

Sin................

This word here is used as a singular number, and denotes the complete and collective burden of EVERY SIN ever committed.

From the begining of creation, till the end of the age.

EVERY SIN. What I tell you here is the old Lutheran, Calvinistic, Augustinian, Pauline, Christian truth. Absolute.

There is NOT ONE sin in the book of God;

against anyone who believes.

Our sins were numbered on the scapegoats head. And there is not even one sin on the believers head that has any power to damn him, for Christ has taken the damning power out of sin, to, if you will allow me to speak a bold metaphor, to damn Himself, for it is sin that did condemn Him. So;.. as sin condemned Him, it CANNOT condemn us. This is our confidence, that all of our transgressions, all of our iniquities, all of our sin has BEEN atoned for. They were atoned for before they were ever committed. You can rejoice with Christ and cry with gladness it is finished!!!! sin IS pardoned!!!

MATTHEW 12:31

This is a verse we need to look at here for a moment, in light of what I just showed you.

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

The unforgivable sin, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit....... is to deliberately refuse to acknowledge Gods power in Christ Jesus. Not because that sin is worse than any other sin, scripture is clear. Sin is sin. God doesnt rate severity of sins, calling one worse than another. Sin is sin. In Gods eyes, you can tell a lie, or murder a thousand people. You are a sinner. Period.

It is an unforgivable sin because the sinner will never ASK for forgiveness. Although the spirit will explicitly let them know the truth, they will never repent. They will never accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!!!!!

ROMANS 1:28

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

ROMANS 1:21-22

because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 3:23-26

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Time is up

Are you ready ?

1 JOHN 2:18,23-25

Little children, it IS the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

And this is the promise that He has promised us eternal life. 1 JOHN 3:4-5

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

ARE YOU IN HIM????

1 JOHN 4:15-19

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

We love Him because He first loved us.

1 JOHN 5:10-15

He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

JOHN 1: 30-34

"This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' "I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

"And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

30.......I will not go into this verse too much, John is only reminding, and ratifying his hearers of what he had told them in verse 15. Just remember that it clearly showed us the humility of John the Baptist, content for Jesus to take the higher place.

31...... John starts here saying I did not know Him ....

He wasnt speaking of a normal human knowledge here, because we can see clearly from the book of Luke that Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins, however, he had never seen Him until this time, they lived at such a distance that they had not known one another or had any correspondence. John was in the desert until he was shown to Israel and came baptizing. And Christ had lived with His parents in Nazareth. The distance between them was about 90 miles, thus preventing them knowing each other. He did not know that Jesus was the Messiah until Christs came to be baptized at the Jordan. Lets read that account in

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

In verse 32, John says

"I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. (John 1:32)

This was prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah chapter 11, verse 2-5

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD

His delight is in the fear of the LORD,

And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,

Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;

But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,

And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,

And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

Also, the entire chapter of Isaiah 61 prophesies this very event!

33-34 will be the bulk of the message today

'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'"And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

Just before Jesus was led away to be crucified, while speaking to his disciples, he said

John 16:7

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

And in verse 13-14

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

And in John 14:26

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

There are many titles applied to the Holy Spirit found throughout the Bible.

Some of these are;

THE SPRIT OF GOD GENESIS 1:2

THE SPIRIT OF THE FATHER MATT 10:20

THE SPIRIT OF GRACE ZECH. 12:10

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH JOHN 14:17

THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS ROM 1:4

THE SPIRIT OF LIFE ROM 8:2

THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST ROM 8:9

THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION ROM 8:15

THE SPIRIT OF GLORY 1 PET 4:14

THE HELPER

There are also many ministries of the Holy Spirit.

That is what I would like to spend some time looking at. The ONGOING and INDWELLING work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers. His work is not only Omnipotent (Luke 1:35) but it is also Omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-13) Lets look at these two verses.

Luke 1:35

And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Ps. 139:7-13

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,"

Even the night shall be light about me;

Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

For the Holy Spirit to accomplish all that He can, and all that God desires for you, we first must heed the Biblical command to be filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:18

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Only when we are filled with the Spirit can the Spirit do His work within us.

Some of these works are;

He regenerates us!!

John 3: 3-7

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

"Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

Born of the Spirit of God. It is an absolute, undeniable, and unconditional requirement to be born again, born of the Spirit of God, to have your name written in the Lambs book of Life.

You may be saying to yourself; well, I believe..

Well know this. When Nicodemus came to Jesus he said

"Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."

If you were in the Jewish culture, you would understand perfectly these words. Nicodemus had just declared his belief.

He said come from God. When speaking about prophets, their language and culture would say sent by God. He was admitting what we saw in the first verse of this book. IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was acknowledging Christs sovereignty, and perhaps even His deity, yet Jesus told him that he still yet had to be born again

1 Peter 1:23 says

knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

1 John 3

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

And 1 John 5

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is He who came by water and blood Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.

The Holy Spirit indwells in true believers.

Romans 8:11

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The Spirit of God anoints believers who are in Christ Jesus.

1 John 2:20,27

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

The Holy spirit guides us

John 16:13-14

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

Gods Spirit empowers believers!!

Micah 3:8

But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD,

And of justice and might,

Here is one that is a crucial work of the Spirit

The Spirit sanctifies us!!

Romans 15:16

That I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

And again in 2 Thess. 2:13-14

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit bears witness to us.

Romans 8:16

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

and Hebrews 10:14-15

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Comforter. Indeed, one of the greatest ministries of the Spirit in our lives is the comfort that He brings.

John 14:16-26

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

John 16:15 says

"He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit whispers to our heart. He says things like Be of good cheer, there is one who died for you! Behold His wounds! There is your purchaser!! You are secure!! He loves you with an everlasting love!!

There is a scriptural prerequisite to this comfort and this peace however. This prerequisite is also a work of the Holy Spirit.... Have you been convicted of sin?? have you ever felt your guilt before God? Has your soul been humbled at Jesus feet? Have you been made to look to the cross of calvary alone for your refuge? If not; you have no right whatsoever for comfort, no right for the peace that surpasses all understanding.

I tell you the truth, the Holy Spirit comes to convict us of sin first, the Holy Spirit cannot impart a single blessing upon us until we have a clear conviction of our unrighteousness, and then, and only then can we heed the leading of the Spirit to accept the cleansing power of the shed blood of Jesus. Then, and only then can the Spirit bring this blessed comfort and peace.

Do you know the Comforter? Let this solemn question fill your entire being. Let it consume your soul. If you do not know the Comforter, then you will know the Judge. If you do not know the Comforter on earth, then you will know the condemner on the other side of this life. Which will it be? Do not let yourself be deceived. Let conscience have its perfect work in you. If you do know the comforter, then you will have joy!

The Spirit gives us joy!!!!

Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit gives us discernment

1 Corinthians 2:9-16

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

There is so much more that we can say of the Holy Spirit.

The spirit fills us, He baptizes us, He appoints us, He sends us out, He directs us, He sanctifies us, He teaches us, He helps us in our infirmities, He creates, He renews, He convicts us of sin,

John 16:13-14

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth;

Into........... mark that word. Into. I have been able to tell you the truth today. I have been able to bring you to the truth.

Now, you need to begin to live in continual dependance upon God the Holy Spirit, and to draw fresh supplies from Him continually. Get inside it. Like a snail, who not only carries his shell on his back, but lives inside of it. Like a sponge in the water, not only surrounded by it, but literally saturated by it.

The Almighty God promised you. It is up to you now to accept, and then rest in His promise.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Do you have the peace that is promised by God? Promised that He would impart upon you through His Holy Spirit? Do you have the comfort that is available to you in its fullness?

It is available. If you believe in Jesus Christ, and have accepted Him as you Lord and Savior, if you have invited Him to come into your heart, admitted your sinfulness and guilt before His Holy throne of grace, asked Him for the power of His shed blood to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and are not experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, then I will encourage you, even now as we pray to ask the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to fill you with His Spirit. Plead with Him for the baptism of His Spirit that He so desires that you have. He has said you have not, because you ask not

Perhaps you have never acknowledged Him as Lord and Ruler of your life. As was stressed earlier, you must be in submission to Him as the Lord of your life before you will be able to receive His blessings. Even as we pray, ask Him now to flood your life with Himself. He is here, awaiting your response. Perhaps you are not in possession of the comfort, not experiencing the peace that He has promised, even though you have made your honest confession of faith, and look to Him.

Then I will tell you that in some way, you have taken the reigns of your life and your heart back, and He is not seated upon the throne of your life. I encourage you to recommit your life and your heart to Him even now. His promises are true. He is here.

Whatt will you say?

35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.

And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Master), "where are You staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).

43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"

48 Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Well, it looks like we will be able to get through the first chapter today!!

We see here in verse 35, that the ministry of our Lord; Jesus Christ will begin. It is here that He begins to call His disciples. These new disciples used several names for Jesus. Some of these are:

The Lamb of God....( John 1:36), Rabbi.....( John 1:38)

Messiah.....(John 1:41), The Son of God.....(John 1:49) and The King of Israel.....also in (John 1:49). As they got to know Jesus better and better, their appreciation for Him grew. The more time that we spend with Jesus, through fellowship, praise, prayer and time spent in His word, the more intimate our relationship will become with Him, and we will be able to appreciate Him more, and better understand who He is!

THE SON OF GOD!!! LITERALLY, GOD HIMSELF! WHO TOOK UPON HIMSELF A BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD, THAT HE MIGHT BEAR ALL OF OUR INIQUITIES, AND PURCHASE OUR SOULS UNTO HIMSELF, FULLY PAYING THE PENALTY FOR ALL OF OUR SINS THROUGH HIS SHED BLOOD ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY!!

Even though these men readily made a verbal shift and began to follow Jesus, they would not fully understand Jesus until three years later

as we can read in (Acts 2). What they so easily professed had to be worked out through experiencing Him, and staying near to Him. We may find that our words of faith come easily, but a true and deep appreciation for Him can only come through remaining near to Him and living by faith.

VERSE 35

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.

The next day.....that is, the day following Christs baptism.

We also see that this verse begins with the word again, which tells us that this was a normal thing for John and his disciples to stand together. In reality, daily is implied. This to me is a clear picture showing the importance of daily fellowship with other believers!!

VERSE 36

And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"

Jesus was walking, Assumably alone, in silent meditation, and John cried

BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD!!!

We spoke of this back in verse 29. It is so important to fully understand these few powerful and prophetic words that I believe they need looking at again.

Behold........ That word actually comes from a combination of two words in the Greek. One is Ide which means the act of the second word; which is Ido. That word Ido means To know, consider and understand. It means to gaze at something remarkable it means nothing less than an earnest and continued inspection. it means to discern clearly. Attend to experience and it means to take heed behold.... so much more than a mere hey check this out...... he cried listen up!! Dont miss this!!!

Every word here is empathetic and precious beyond description!!!

The lamb......

The two disciples he spoke to understood very well the words and the thought behind The Lamb because Up until this time, every morning, and every evening, and twice each morning and evening on the Sabbath, 16 times a week for each household, a lamb was sacrificed, to cover their sins.

You see, in the old testament times, every lamb that was slain for sins, was slain as a COVERING for those sins. But now, here John boldly proclaims that now, here is the Lamb who wipes away the sins. Not just covers them, and not just the sins of those for who the sacrificial lamb was slain, but rather FOR THE SIN OF THE WORLD!!!!

This was even a subtle statement by John to these two disciples that this is the One that he had been telling them about all along.

The One of whom he had said .........

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

and again.........

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.' " (John 1:15)

and..............

And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. (Mark 1:7)

Remember, the word behold boldly implied dont miss this.

And these two disciples didnt, immediately they understood, because we read in the next verse;

JOHN 1:37

The two disciples heard him speak, and they turned, and followed Jesus.

VERSE 38

Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Master), "where are You staying?"

What a simple and gentle winning question! This is the first recorded words publicly spoke by Jesus at the beginning of His ministry.

Not only that, but I believe in reality, that these are the same words that Jesus uses to the heart of anyone who seeks Him......WHAT DO YOU SEEK?

This was not a question that was to be answered in a single moment, rather, remember that they were following Him. Apparent by Jesus reply to them.

VERSE 39

He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

COME AND SEE!!

This was His second public utterance, simple and yet more profound still!

The call that Jesus gave to each of His disciples.........

FOLLOW ME!!!

That word follow in the Greek is akoloutheo. It means literally as part of, in union with to be in the same way with.

That word see in the Greek is eldo it means to know behold perceive understand and TELL !!

It is the very thing that He says to you and to me. His spirit even to this day cries that very message and supplication to the very heart of mankind.........COME!!!! FOLLOW ME!!!! COME AND SEE!!!

I HAVE SO MUCH IN STORE FOR YOU!!!!, SO MUCH THAT I DESIRE THAT I GIVE TO YOU!!

David that great psalmist, who was a man after Gods own heart wrote.......

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

The tenth hour. According to Roman reckoning, this would be 10 in the morning, and according to Jewish reckoning, this would place it at 4 in the afternoon. Being written by a Jewish author, I will lean on it speaking about 4 in the afternoon, although some biblical scholars would disagree.

VERSE 40

One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

So we have Andrew, and the other of the two spoke of here is the Apostle John, the author of this text. The reason we can come to this conclusion, if it was anyone else, John would have named him. The only one that the Apostle John refuses to name in his writings, is himself. He always refers to himself as the other disciple. The descriptions that we see here are so vivid and full of intimate detail, that it is hard to deny that the writer himself is a party to what he describes. It was such an awesome experience for him, so intimately related to his life and his heart, that he even remembers the very hour!!!!

VERSE 41

He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ, or, the Anointed One!).

This encounter that John had just experienced in his life, had so profoundly made an impact on his life, forever changing his heart, the first thing that he does is diligently search our and find his brother, and boldly proclaim "We have found the Messiah"!!! And then

VERSE 42

And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).

He grabs his brother by the hand, and brings him to Jesus!!! He is so filled with joy, that he apparently interrupted whatever it was Simon was doing, not even giving him the chance to follow him, but rather brought him to Jesus! We call Simon Peter most commonly.

(Matthew 16:16-18) says of Peter,

Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

VERSE 43

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."

Now, it doesnt say right here that Philip did indeed follow Jesus, but it is evident that he did by the second to the next verse.

VERSE 44-45

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

This Nathaniel is also called Bartholomew, in the other gospels.

one of these many prophecies that Phillip was referring to is found in

(Deuteronomy 18:18-19)

I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 'And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

Nathanael was a person well versed in the law, and the prophets, and so he would immediately know who Philip was talking about: for Moses, in the law, or Pentateuch, in the five books written by him, frequently speaks of the Messiah as

The seed of the woman, that should break the serpent's head; and

The seed of Abraham, in whom all nations should be blessed; and

as The Shiloh to whom the gathering of the people should be; and as The great prophet, like to himself, God would raise up among the children of Israel, to whom they were to hearken: and as for the prophets, they wrote of

His birth of a virgin; of

The place of His birth, Bethlehem; of His sufferings, and the glory, that should follow; of His resurrection from the dead, His ascension to heaven, and session at the right hand of God; and of many things relating to His person, and office, and work. And Philip having given this general account of Him, proceeds to name Him particularly; and affirms Him to be.

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph; that His name was Jesus, which signifies a Savior; and answers to the promises, and prophecies, and character of Him in the Old Testament; that He was of Nazareth, a place not above three hours walk from Cana, as where Philip and Nathanael were: Nazareth was the place where Christ had lived almost all His days up until now, and so it is said that He is of Nazareth; even though Bethlehem was the place of His birth; and that He was the son of Joseph; which was according to the common opinion of people, for He was supposed to be the son of Joseph; He having married His mother Mary.

VERSE 46

And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

Nathanael asked this question because of the reputation that Nazareth had. It was one of the most dirty, ill-reputed towns known at that time. If I were to draw a parallel, in this day and age, it would be similar to saying that He was from the ghettos of east L.A. This town had a reputation of harboring the worst of society. Murderers, robbers, prostitutes and blatant pagan and false god worship just to name a few, were commonplace in Nazareth. Phillip probably also remembered that the Christ was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem, not Nazareth.

How profound and simple was Philips response to Nathanael. The simplest of an invitation to meet Jesus!!! COME AND SEE!!!

What a noble remedy against pre-conceived notions!!! He was unable to solve the difficulty, but knew exactly where Nathaniel could get rid of it. Verse 47

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"

The original word is dolos and it means literally to decoy and I think would be better translated in whom is found no hypocracy.

Some of the other definitions of dolos is to trick, and to deceive.

The thing that I see that we can learn from this verse here, is the simple fact that before Nathanael even came to Jesus, our Lord knew him, Jesus even knew his thoughts, and his heart. An honest person will be comfortable with thought that Jesus knows what we are really like. Through and through. Even your most personal thoughts!!! A dishonest person will feel uncomfortable with that. You cannot pretend to be something that you are not with God. God knows the real you, and wants you not only to come and see! but he really wants you to act upon His invitation to come, follow Me!

VERSE 48

Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

How do you know me? He asked Jesus. This question had to have surprised Nathanael, I can hear him thinking....hey, wait a second here...Ive never seen this man before, yet he knows my heart!!!

Clearly, Nathanael was seeking the truth, that he might know and embrace it, expressed by his willingness to follow Philips invitation without hesitation. Then Jesus says to him "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

Now Jewish history provides us with a clue to this text, because we know that students met under the shade of a fig tree to study the scriptures. Some scholars have even suggested that he may have been even reading prophesies about the Messiah when Phillip called him! That however is pure speculation. What I see by this verse is the omnipresence of our Lord is shown clearly.

VERSE 49-51

Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these."

And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

How quickly Nathanael sprang into belief!!! He clearly was more than familiar with the scriptures and the prophecies, for he clearly and eloquently attributes three crucial titles to Jesus in one short but profound sentence. He called Him Rabbi that is, Teacher. He immediately called Him the Son of God, which is a messianic title, but also a claim to deity. and also King of Israel a title clearly reserved for the Messiah!!!!

I like the response that Jesus gave to Nathanael!! He is already awed by Jesus, but Jesus tells him, you havent seen anything yet!!! just wait!!!

"Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."!!!!!

You shall see heaven opened, ......

A symbol of the fellowship opened to followers of Jesus Christ.

and the angels of heaven ascending and descending...............

This is a clear reference to Jacobs dream, recorded in (Genesis 28:12)

Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

Jesus, clearly becoming the ladder, between heaven and earth. Jesus was not saying that they would have a physical sight, such as they had at the transfiguration, rather, they would have the spiritual insight to truly see the purpose for Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Word, who was with God and who WAS God, coming to earth, as THE SON OF MAN.

This is the first time, in the beginning of His ministry that Jesus gives Himself the title THE SON OF MAN a title that is used in the old testament, for instance, when King Nebbechandanezar had thrown shaddrach, meshack and abbednigo into the furnace of fire, when he looked in to watch his victims burn, he saw one who looks like the Son of Man standing among them!!! It is a title, most importantly showing Christs humanity.

Remember the titles given to Christ in chapter 1 alone

1. Word 2. God 3. Creator 4. Light 5. Only begotten God

6. Lamb of God 7. Son of God 8. Messiah 9. King of Israel

10. Son of Man

The most profound thing of all of this chapter, is that great and primary proclamation and cry of all of the servants of Christ, from the beginning of time until this day, to all lands, people, ages, nations and tongues.

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!!

Email: bmcelhinney@hotmail.com