Jesus Messiah, Lamb Of God

I think that's the effect of having two mics next to each other.

Thanks, Ben. That was great.

John, wonderful passage, a long passage.

And I encourage you guys to open your Bibles and follow along with me

because I'm going to be going throughout to explain

and to teach what God is seeking to communicate to us through it.

And this past year, last year actually, I read a book.

It was a New York Times bestseller called Word of Mouth Marketing

by a guy named Andy Cernovitz.

And in the book, he makes a bold claim.

And he says that the traditional advertising...

And the reason for that, he says, is the advent of the Internet

and the proliferation of blogs and reviews online

have made it very easy for the consumers to have the power

to shape an image of a product.

So in the past, you could have a really shoddy product

and then mask it with really good advertising, glamorous advertising.

But nowadays, you can't do that

because there will be blogs and reviews that expose that.

You can only have honest advertising.

And because of these reasons, customer service becomes a premium.

It becomes a must that you have, really good customer service.

It becomes...

They don't want to minimize negative word of mouth marketing.

And that's why I think, in part,

a lot of these large corporations and companies nowadays

try to get in on the discussion of the trending topics

and get involved in charity work, right?

Because they're trying to build their image,

trying to build a brand so that people talk about them in a good light.

And that becomes, for them, word of mouth marketing.

And I don't know if you guys remember from last year,

Starbucks attended something like this

in order to get into a conversation about race discussions, right?

They started something, a campaign called Race Together.

And then they encouraged their baristas

to start conversations with their customers

and write something on the cup

to discuss the problems about race relations in America.

Unfortunately, that backfired, right?

Because people, most of them,

they just wanted to pick up their quick box,

you know, cup of joe and go to work

and didn't want to have a heavy morning conversation

with a complete stranger at that, right?

So they left.

And because...

And what they were trying to do

was to get in on this national buzz

because everybody was abuzz about this

and wanted to talk about it.

So they wanted to get a slice of that publicity pie

and then build their image as progressive

and healthy and promoting the social good.

That's what they sought to do.

But people saw through it, right?

They saw it for what it was

and called it inappropriate and opportunistic.

And because the campaign didn't stem

from a settled conviction,

but rather from a calculated strategy,

a marketing strategy,

as soon as it became unpopular,

they quickly abandoned it, right?

Now, their ill-founded campaign

was this attempt to create

positive word-of-mouth movement.

And in a culture like this,

it was a byproduct of a culture

that values authenticity

and seeks authenticity,

but is inauthentic to the very core.

It's...

They're supposedly...

Even...

They care more about public perception

than personal conviction, right?

And so in that kind of society,

these kind of...

Even the word-of-mouth marketing

that's supposed to be authentic

has seemingly become a gimmick

and a strategy.

And when we see that,

we become cynical

and we begin to ask ourselves,

then is there anything anymore

that is worth truly being excited about?

Is there anyone anymore

that is really worth the hype?

Right?

There is.

And in John 1, 19-51,

we see the beginning

of the most successful

word-of-mouth movement

in the history of the world.

It begins with the few people

that are described in this passage

where they begin to talk about something,

someone, rather,

of supreme, surpassing,

transcendent beauty

and value and worth.

And they begin talking about it.

Begin telling people about it.

Begin in the first century,

and now, two millennia later,

it boasts 2.2 billion adherents today.

And by recounting this story,

John, the apostle,

Apostle John,

wants us to...

wants to invite us to this.

He wants us to come

and see the Son of God

who gives us access to God.

Come and see the Son of God

who gives us access to God.

And he's going to tell us that,

invite us in that,

by telling us about Jesus' identity,

Jesus' promise,

and finally,

Jesus' invitation.

So his identity,

promise,

and invitation.

So follow along with me

in verse 19.

Because we had talked

about the prologue.

We were in the prologue

of John's Gospel last week

where the apostle said

that John the Baptist

came as a witness.

He was not the Messiah.

He came as a witness.

And now,

in this verse,

he begins to tell us

exactly what the nature

of that witness was.

So verses 19 to 23.

Follow along with me

as I read it.

And this is the testimony of John

when the Jews sent priests

and Levites from Jerusalem

to ask him,

Who are you?

He confessed

and did not deny,

but confessed,

I am not the Christ.

And they asked him,

What then?

Are you Elijah?

He said,

I am not.

Are you the prophet?

And he answered,

No.

So they said to him,

Then who are you?

We need to give an answer

to those who sent us.

So what do you say

about yourself?

He said,

I am the voice of one

crying out in the wilderness.

Make straight the way

of the Lord,

as the prophet Isaiah said.

So we see here

that a delegation

was sent out

to interrogate

John the Baptist.

So we know that

this is probably

from the Sanhedrin,

which is the ruling

kind of elders

or judges

who ruled on

religious matters

that pertain to Jews

in the various cities.

And they were largely

controlled by the family

of the high priest,

which is why

they're a group

of Levites and priests

that were sent

to Jesus to question him.

And they wanted to know

about John the Baptist's identity.

That was their

ostensible question.

So who are you?

And in John,

the apostle,

it can get confusing,

so keep those straight.

Apostle John

and John the Baptist.

Apostle John

can't be more unequivocal

in his report

of John the Baptist's answer.

He's saying,

He confessed

and did not deny,

but confessed,

I am not the Christ.

That's very emphatic.

So John the Baptist

said,

No, definitely not him.

I am not the Christ.

I am not the Messiah.

He confessed,

he denied it.

Lest anyone think

that John the Baptist,

that special prophet

who seemed to have authority,

is someone

that they've been waiting for.

Lest you think

that he's the Messiah,

John is very clear,

No, he confessed it.

He didn't deny

that he's not the Christ.

In the same way,

if you go to a jewelry shop,

the diamond's always placed on,

I mean,

most cases placed on

a plain white cloth.

That's to showcase

the real brilliance

and color of the diamond.

It's a backdrop.

In the same way,

John the Baptist

functions like that

in Apostle John's gospel.

He's the backdrop.

His ministry was temporary.

It was transitory.

Yeah,

it was not permanent.

And Jesus' ministry,

on the other hand,

is ultimate.

It's significant.

It's permanent.

And for that reason,

it brings him

and Jesus' significance

into sharp relief

by comparing him

to John the Baptist.

So then,

given John the Baptist's

plain denial,

he's not the Christ,

the delegation continues

their interrogation.

They say,

What then?

Are you Elijah?

He said,

I am not.

Are you the prophet?

And he answered,

No.

So first century Palestine

was pregnant

with this Messianic expectation.

Everybody was looking

for the Messiah

and searching.

And one of the possible

people that they were expecting

was Elijah

because according to

2 Kings 2,

Elijah had never died,

but he was taken

up straight into the heavens.

And so in the end times,

they expected

that he would come back

because there was a prophecy

in Malachi that said

that Elijah would come

to prepare

for the day of the Lord.

So they were expecting

an Elijah.

But John the Baptist

says he's not the Elijah.

And similarly,

the prophet

refers to a prophecy

in Deuteronomy 18

where Moses prophesies

that someone like him,

God will send a prophet

like himself

to lead God's people

and to speak to them

about all that God

demands of them.

So people expected

a prophet like Moses

to come in the end times

to redeem.

But John answers

in the negative

for both cases.

And that's really interesting

because, well,

Moses, we understand

because John the Baptist

is definitely not

the prophet like Moses

because Jesus was

and other Gospels

make that very clear.

But Elijah,

the other Gospels

make it very clear

that John the Baptist

was in fact

the Elijah

that was supposed

to come

and make way

for the Lord

and prepare for the Lord.

But according to this passage,

John doesn't know that.

He's clueless

about his own

identity and call.

Even though he knew

very clearly

he was supposed

to prepare the way

for the Lord,

he self-consciously

was not aware

that he was that Elijah

that was prophesied about.

And that, I think,

could be an encouraging

thing for us

because, I mean,

Jesus basically

made more of his ministry

and his life

than he himself did.

And oftentimes

in our ministry,

in our service,

in our lives,

we can think the same way.

We can say,

well, what I do

is not significant.

You know,

what I do

is just a little

small thing.

But in God's

omniscient perspective,

can you imagine

John the Baptist

going to heaven

and finding out

I was the Elijah?

I mean,

talking to God.

I mean,

the work that you do,

the service that you do

in his kingdom,

you cannot,

you know,

you cannot underestimate

the significance of that

because God only knows

and we will not know

until we get

what the implication of that,

what the effect

of all that we do

for the Lord was.

So then John

self-consciously

does not identify

as Elijah

or the prophet

like Moses.

So then,

they're still curious.

So then,

who are you?

They ask,

verse 23.

We need to give an answer

to the people who sent us

because we're accountable.

So what do you say

about yourself?

And John the Baptist

finally gives his answer.

He says,

I am the voice of one

crying out in the wilderness,

making straight,

the way of the Lord,

as the prophet Isaiah said.

See,

even though John

didn't identify as Elijah,

he knew that he was supposed

to prepare the way

for the Lord

and making straight

the way of the Lord

is a metaphorical way

of talking about,

you know,

basically paving the new roads,

improving the road system

for the king to come,

for God to come.

So he talks about leveling,

so he's leveling the valleys

and then,

you know,

raising down the hills

and straightening out

the curved roads

so that,

in order to make way

for someone to come.

Because when God Almighty comes,

when the creator comes,

the creation,

he's not going to bend

toward creation.

The creation is going

to bend for him.

The valleys are going to rise,

hills will be flattened,

and the curved roads

will be straightened out,

and he will walk.

That's what he's talking about.

In the spiritual sense,

John the Baptist believed

that that was his call,

to prepare that way

for God to come.

And apparently,

even though he gives

a very good answer,

the delegation

is still not satisfied.

So now we get a closer look

at what they're really after.

Verses 24 to 28.

Follow along with me.

It says,

Now they had been sent

from the Pharisees.

They asked him,

Then why are you baptizing

if you are neither the Christ

nor Elijah

nor the prophet?

John answered them,

I baptize with water,

but among you stands one

you do not know,

even he who comes after me,

the strap of whose sandal

I am not worthy to untie.

And we learn here

that the delegation

that was sent from the Sanhedrin

were made up primarily of Pharisees.

So they were the group

that belonged to the theological sect

of the Pharisees

that were very concerned

with meticulous observation

of every minute details

of the law.

And they were not satisfied

with John's answer.

They're asking,

Why are you baptizing

if you're not any of these

eschatological figures?

If you're not the Christ,

you're not the Elijah,

not the prophet,

then what right do you have?

Why do you have to baptize

these people?

But you see,

the problem was not

with baptism itself

because Jews were aware

and practiced baptism.

They practiced what they called

proselyte baptism,

meaning that when a Gentile

decided to become a Jew,

decided to follow God,

they would baptize them.

And usually,

the baptism was self-administered.

People baptized themselves.

Now,

then immediately,

you notice two things

that are very different

about John's baptism.

John's baptizing people himself.

He's not letting people

baptize them.

He's baptizing them

as if he's something special.

So that's why they're wondering,

why are you baptizing them yourself?

But even more controversially

than that,

perhaps,

is the fact that

he's baptizing Jews.

These are Jews.

They are God's people.

They are not converting

to anything.

They are not,

why are you baptizing

these people?

What right,

what warrant do you have

to baptize these Jews?

Obviously,

John's making a statement,

right,

that repentance is for all.

All need to come

to repentance and faith.

So then,

so John,

in essence,

is saying,

and his response

is so characteristic

of John the Baptist.

He says,

well,

you think me baptizing them,

myself,

with water,

baptizing Jews,

you think that's a big deal?

Well,

guess what?

Someone standing among you

who's going to baptize

with the Holy Spirit,

with fire,

with the very Spirit of God,

he's going to baptize you,

right?

And so John the Baptist,

this is consistent

in his pattern

in his life,

right?

You try to make

something about him,

and you try to ask him questions,

make him the focus of attention,

make a big deal

of what he's doing,

and it just bounces right off,

deflects right off,

and goes directly to Jesus.

He says,

guess what he's doing?

Look at what he's up to.

Look at who he is,

right?

And that's Apostle John's

concern here as well.

No,

John the Baptist

is not the main character

in the story.

Jesus is.

So look to him,

that's precisely

what John the Baptist

would want,

because he says this,

even he who comes after me,

the strap of whose sandal

I am not worthy to untie.

I mean,

if you understand

the cultural context

of that statement,

that's a staggering statement,

an extraordinarily humble statement,

because in that age

when John the Baptist lived,

the precedence

and age,

seniority,

that was everything,

right?

People who came before you,

people that were older than you,

people who had more experience

than you,

they accorded greater honor,

significance,

and way to all of those things.

So when John says,

he comes after me,

that's significant,

because not only

is John the Baptist older,

but he is older,

he's been in the ministry

far longer than Jesus has,

and Jesus comes after him,

yet he says,

of this person

that comes after him,

he's not worthy

to untie the strap

of his sandal.

And in this context

of discipleship,

of rabbis,

and disciples following

the rabbis,

the culture believed

that a disciple,

a follower of a teacher,

a rabbi,

should do everything

that a slave does

for the master.

So go fetch things for him,

go do things for him,

go prepare,

wait on him,

prepare food for him.

They were supposed to do

everything that a slave

was to do,

that they expected

the disciples

to do for their teachers.

Except one thing,

untie the strap

of the sandals

of the people.

That, they thought,

was so beneath

the dignity

of a person

that they believed

that only a slave

should do that.

Not even the disciples

should do that

for his teacher,

only a slave.

Yet John

doesn't make an exception

even for that.

Not only does he

not make an exception,

not only is he ready

to remove the sandals

off Jesus' feet,

he says he's not worthy

to untie the straps

of Jesus' feet.

And obviously,

there's a lot of things

we could apply

to ourselves

in that great example

of humility, right?

It's the attitude

that says,

I will do anything

for the Lord.

Whatever you would

have me do, God,

I will do it.

Or do we have,

instead,

an attitude

of entitlement?

You know,

that I can do,

but that,

no,

I will not stoop

to that level.

I will not serve you

in that way.

I will preach

at the pulpit

for you,

but I will not

go downstairs

to teach children's ministry.

I will stand on the stage

to lead music

in public,

but I will not

be in the background

preparing sound.

Do we have

that kind of attitude

in time,

or do we speak,

or do we like John does?

I will do anything

for you.

In fact,

I'm not worthy

to do any of these

things for you.

someone that walks

into church,

it's easier to talk

to a nicely kept,

you know,

a lady or a gentleman

that walks in.

What if a homeless person

walked in

disheveled,

smelly,

right?

Do we go up to that person

the same love,

speak to him,

love that person,

right?

Are we ready to say

what John the Baptist

is willing to do

anything that he

tells us to do?

Yes,

so John the Baptist's

humility is certainly

instructive for us,

but as I mentioned,

he's not the main

character,

right?

Because what he's

saying is true.

It seems amazing,

relatively speaking,

but what he's saying

is precisely true.

He is not worthy

to untie the sandals

off Jesus' feet,

right?

As we were just

singing about,

we tread where

angels fear to tread,

by grace alone,

right?

We have no right

to approach God.

We have no right

to serve God.

We don't even,

we can't even bear

to be near God

because of our

simpleness,

because of our

dependence.

That's what,

that's how actually

the German philosopher

Immanuel Kant

defined humility.

He said,

it's a proper

perspective on oneself

as a dependent

and corrupt agent,

right?

Humility is simply

a proper view

of ourselves.

It's a right view

of ourselves,

recognizing that we

are dependent beings,

we have a derivative

experience,

I mean,

existence from God

and we owe

everything to him

and we are sinful.

We cannot approach him

on our own

and that's the position

of humility

that we must be in.

So,

John simply

has a correct estimation

of himself.

He knows.

And if that's the case,

then who then

is this Jesus?

who is this man

that is so supremely

worthy

that what John

the Baptist says,

probably the greatest

prophet

before Christ

to say,

I'm not unworthy

to untie the sandals

with his feet.

And that's where

John gives us

these series of titles

to describe Jesus.

And it's great

because it's kind of like,

if you guys have ever

seen this,

I remember first time

I saw a picture of Mosaic.

You guys know

what I'm talking about?

It's a whole bunch

of different pictures.

They all have

their own images on them

yet together

they form a bigger picture.

I remember being blown away

the first time I saw that.

And it's kind of like that.

John's painting

an image here

with all these titles

and descriptions

and epithets of Jesus,

who he is,

in order to form

a fuller picture

of who he is,

what his identity is.

And so you see

the Lamb of God,

verse 29, 36,

Son of God,

34 to 49,

Messiah,

King of Israel,

Son of Man.

I'm not going to cover

all of these in detail

because John unpacks them

later in his Gospel

and I want to,

but I will just cover them

briefly as we go by.

First,

verse 41,

we learn that Jesus

is the Messiah.

When Andrew finds

his brother Simon Peter,

he tells him,

we have found the Messiah.

And Apostle John

adds the explanatory note there

that which means Christ.

So that's what Christ means.

It's not Jesus' last name.

Rather,

it's a description.

It's an epithet

that describes the fact

that he's the Messiah.

And it means literally

anointed one.

And in the Old Testament,

anointing was the process

by which you consecrated

someone for God's service.

You set them apart.

And in the Old Testament,

it was only the kings

and priests

and prophets

that were,

I mean,

not were they,

they were anointed

with oil.

The kings,

prophets,

and priests.

The normal people,

the people of God,

they were not anointed.

So when it says

that Jesus is the Christ,

then he's the,

he's the anointed one

par excellence,

right?

He is the ultimate

prophet,

priest,

and king.

And the designation

king of Israel

also speaks to that,

his kingliness,

right?

So that's what

the Messiah refers to.

Jesus is the fulfillment

of all of that.

He's the consecrated,

anointed one.

But not only is he

the Messiah

that Israel's been waiting for,

he says that he's

the Lamb of God,

in verse 9,

who takes away

the sin of the world.

Not just for the people

of Israel,

not just for the ethnic Jews,

but he's the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sins of the world.

And that has,

in the background,

of course,

passages that talk about

the sacrificial lamb,

like Isaiah 53

or Leviticus 1 to 5.

But chiefly,

and most importantly,

the lamb refers

to the Passover lamb,

right?

In Exodus 12,

where Israel's in captivity

and slavery in Egypt,

and God's promise

to deliver them

and the way he does that

is through the Passover,

which is the last plague

that comes,

where he instructs

the Jews,

his people,

to kill a lamb

without blemish

and then to rub its blood

on the lintel

and the doorposts.

And when they do that,

the destroyer

that God sends

will pass over,

right,

those doors

that were painted

by the blood of the lamb,

painted with the blood

of the lamb.

But the destroyer

went through,

passed over all the doors

of the Israelite people,

but destroyed the firstborn

of all the Egyptians.

And that's how

they were delivered

from the grip of Pharaoh.

And that points,

of course,

to Jesus

as the lamb of God.

He's the unblemished lamb,

the blameless one,

the holy one,

the one who is without sin,

who now dies

for the sinfulness

of people.

All those Israelites

deserve the judgment

of that destroyer,

yet they were spared

because of the blood

of the lamb.

In the same way,

all people deserve

the judgment of God

because of our sin,

yet we are spared,

we are forgiven

through the blood

of the lamb.

So he's the lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

But it gets even more cosmic,

bigger than that.

Verse 34,

John the Baptist testifies,

I have seen

and borne witness

that this is

the Son of God.

I want to explain

this a little bit

because sometimes

the expression

Son of God

can be confusing

because it's used

differently

throughout the Bible.

And sometimes

it means

not much more

than this person

is like God.

So for example,

if you look at

Sermon on the Mount,

Jesus says that

peacemakers are

sons of God.

That's not saying

that they're divine.

It's not saying

that they're even

believers,

followers of Christ.

It's just saying

that they're like God

in a sense

that they're imitating him.

And that's a typical

Hebrew idiom

because Hebrew,

the language

doesn't have a lot

of adjectives.

So when they're

trying to say

that something,

describe something,

they say son

of something.

So example,

Psalm 89, 22.

In order to describe

the wicked,

it calls them

a son of wickedness.

Proverbs 31, 5.

The afflicted

are called

the sons of affliction.

Deuteronomy 3, 18.

It calls courageous men

sons of valor.

So sons of God

could simply mean

they're like God

in that,

peacemakers like God.

But because it could be

used in such varied ways,

we have to look

at the context.

And in the context

of John,

son of God

is extremely significant.

It's a very,

very loaded term

because it's a special

designation for Messiah

referring to his kingship.

He's going to be

the king in the line

of David that comes

to redeem Israel

as it was promised

in 2 Samuel 7,

13-14

where God says

that he will establish

the kingdom

for a son

in the line of David

and he says,

I will be to him

a father

and he shall be

to me a son.

And we talked last week

how John describes,

John Apostle

describes Jesus

that he is

the only son

from the father.

The only son.

And he says

at the end of the prologue

that he's the only God

who is at the father's side

who makes the father known.

In other words,

when he says

that Jesus

is the son of God,

he's saying

he's the son of God

in the sense

that no one else is.

He's a unique son of God.

He is the only son of God.

The only begotten son

as we used to say.

And John concludes this

that Jesus

is the son of God

after seeing

the spirit descend

from heaven

like a dove

and remain on Jesus.

And the reason for that

is that's a very

distinct proof of that

because in the Old Testament

as well,

the spirit of God

comes temporarily

to empower

his special envoys

for a specific task

and then he departs.

That's the pattern

in the Old Testament.

But here on Jesus,

the spirit of God

comes and he remains

on him.

That's significant.

So Jesus,

now being that only son,

the unique son of God,

he will always be full

of the spirit of God.

He is the second person

of the Trinity.

He is God himself.

So that's Jesus' identity.

Not only is he

the Messiah of Israel,

he's the lamb

that takes away

the sin of the whole world,

and his mission

is for the whole world

and not just that

he's the son of God.

He is God himself,

the second person

of the Trinity.

And because that's

Jesus' identity,

he's able to make

a unique promise.

What's Jesus' promise?

And in verses 43 to 51,

Jesus interacts

with Nathaniel,

who's probably Bartholomew,

who,

in the other lists,

in the other Gospels.

And Jesus amazes him

by commenting

on the fact that

Nathaniel is an Israelite

indeed,

in whom there is no deceit.

This doesn't seem like much

to us when you hear that.

I mean,

you could say that

about anybody,

but apparently

there was something

about that

that really resonated

with Nathaniel.

And that character

assessment was correct

because then he asks

in surprise,

how do you know me?

Because that's who he was.

He was an Israelite

with no needy.

So how do you know me?

It's like,

how did you know that?

And Jesus further displays

his supernatural knowledge

by telling him,

well,

before Philip called you,

well,

before we met,

when you were under

the fig tree,

I saw you.

I saw you

when you were sitting

under that fig tree.

Which is particularly meaningful

because fig tree

in the Old Testament

can refer to Israel,

can signify Israel.

So he's sitting

under the fig tree

and Jesus somehow saw him

even though he wasn't there.

And so that convinces him

and he says,

you are the king of Israel.

You are the son of God,

king of Israel.

And Nathaniel is

immediately convinced.

But then Jesus tells him,

you know what?

What I just told you

is nothing

compared to what

I'm going to show you.

Truly,

truly,

I say to you,

verse 51,

follow along with me.

You will see heaven opened

and the angels of God

ascending and descending

on the son of man.

This is a reference

to Jacob's dream

in Genesis 28.

Right?

And it says that

when Jacob dreamed,

behold,

there was a ladder

set up on the earth

and the top of it

reached to heaven

and behold,

the angels of God

were ascending,

angels of God

were ascending

and descending on it.

And behold,

the Lord,

the Lord himself

stood above it

and said,

I am the Lord,

the God of Abraham,

your father

and the God of Isaac.

Jacob was so struck

by the vision.

He said that this is

the very house of God,

the gate of heaven.

So he named the place

Bethel,

which means house of God.

Now,

then Jesus is saying

something incredibly remarkable

because he's saying

that that house of God,

that gate of heaven,

that amazing vision

that Jacob the patriarch had,

that is me.

You will see

the angels ascending

and descending

on the son of man,

who is Jesus.

Jesus is the new Bethel.

He is the son of God

who gives us access

to God.

And Jesus is uniquely

able to do this,

not only because

he's the Messiah

and the Lamb of God

and the son of God,

but also because

he's the son of man,

as he describes himself here.

He was the word

that made flesh,

the son of God

who dwelled among us

and atoned for our sins

so we can now

be forgiven of our sins

and reconciled to God.

And it's easy to think

of son of man

simply as another

roundabout way

of saying that

I'm a man,

right?

And it does mean

that he's a man,

son of man,

right?

But it's not just a man.

He's not just saying

that I'm just a man.

He doesn't say

I'm a son of man.

He says I am

the son of man,

right?

And who is the son of man?

It's the vision

in Daniel 7

where in Daniel

the prophet

sees a vision.

He said,

my vision at night

I looked

and there before me

I saw in the clouds

a son of man,

a man like a son of man

coming down

with the clouds of heaven.

He approached

the ancient of days,

that's God,

and was led

into his presence

and the ancient of days

gave him authority,

glory,

and sovereign power.

He says he gave

this son of man

a sovereign power

and that all people,

the peoples of every language

and tongue

worshipped him.

you're not supposed

to worship anything

other than God,

especially in

strictly monotheistic Judaism,

yet they worship

this son of man

and God gave him

authority,

glory,

sovereign power

and his kingdom

will never be destroyed.

That son of man,

the ideal son of man,

the perfect son of man,

the ultimate son of man

that will represent

all of humanity,

that son of man,

that's me,

says Jesus.

That's what he's talking about.

And because he is

the son of God

and he's the son of man,

he's uniquely able

to give us access

to God,

which is why

he baptizes

with the Holy Spirit.

It's similar

with the concept

of anointing,

which was restricted

in the Old Testament.

Spirit of God

was not in all people

in the Old Testament.

He came at particular moments

to empower people

for things.

But in the New Testament,

as Prophet Joel prophesied,

the Spirit will be poured out

on all flesh.

Now because of Christ,

because of him,

he who is

the son of God

and son of man,

now all of his followers

will be baptized

with the Holy Spirit.

We will have

the very Spirit of God

dwelling in us,

empowering us.

That's the promise.

It's a pretty amazing promise,

isn't it?

And after telling us

about Jesus' identity

and telling us

about his promise,

John issues

a very simple invitation.

And his invitation

is to simply come

and see

the son of God

who gives us access

to God.

Come and see

and follow him.

So the phrase

come and see,

those verbs

and the word follow

are both,

it's a motif

throughout this passage.

It occurs again

and again

and again

if you look with me.

Verse 39,

Jesus invites

the two disciples

of John the Baptist

who are following him

to come

and you will see.

He says that.

Now in verse 46,

Philip says

to his skeptical friend

Nathaniel,

come and see.

And then similarly,

the verb follow

is used several times

and in fact,

in the Gospel of John,

the word follow

really is used

almost in a technical sense

to follow

as the disciple.

So it implies

a commitment.

It implies

an entrusting

of oneself

to this teacher,

to this Lord.

And it says

in verse 37,

to the disciples

of John,

follow Jesus

and Jesus saw

them following.

Verse 30,

Andrew follows Jesus.

In verse 40,

Jesus tells Philip

in verse 43,

follow me.

Right?

That's the point

of this passage.

Come and see

the Son of God

who gives us

access to God.

Come and follow

this Son of God

who gives us

access to God.

perhaps if you're

in this morning

and you have not

yet made a decision

to follow Christ.

And if you have not

decided to become

his disciple.

If that's the case,

we want to thank you

for being here

but we want to issue

this invitation

that John has for you

simply to come

and see.

Stay with us

for a little while.

Keep coming

to our corporate

worship services.

Get involved

in the life

of the church

as we do

life together.

Get to know us

and through us

and through God's word

come and see

the Son of God.

Get to know Jesus.

He's the only one

that can give us

access to God

the Father.

Maybe you're skeptical.

Maybe you're like

Nathaniel.

Because when Philip

first told Nathaniel

that Jesus of Nazareth

is the Messiah,

Nathaniel said to him,

can anything good

come out of Nazareth?

Nazareth was a measly town

of about a thousand people.

So the college town,

I went to Williams College

in Western Mass.

It was in Williamstown

which the college

was the only thing there.

We had a downtown

that was literally

one street

and even that town

had 2,000 people

or a little more.

I mean 2,000 people

in school.

But this Nazareth

is even smaller than that.

In fact,

it was so bad

that Galileans

who are mocked

by the Judeans,

people who lived in

Judea,

mocked people

who lived in Galilee.

The Galileans,

on the other hand,

mocked the people

who lived in Nazareth.

So now,

you understand Nathaniel

because the king

the Messiah,

the Son of God

from Nazareth.

He's skeptical, right?

But even though

he was skeptical,

he came without

a duplicitous motive.

He came without deceit,

it says in verse 47.

Even though

he was blunt

in his criticism,

even though

he was skeptical,

he came with

the genuine desire

to see,

come and see

if this was true,

if this was really

the Son of God.

And that's all

we ask of you.

One commentator,

F.F. Bruce,

says this about

this conversion

of Nathaniel.

He says,

Honest inquiry

is a sovereign cure

for prejudice.

Nazareth might be

all that Nathaniel thought,

but there is an exception

to prove every rule,

and what an exception

these young men

had found.

You might think

that Christians

are ill-informed

or that

Christianity itself

is outdated

and regressive.

You might be skeptical.

That's okay.

We invite you.

But come without deceit.

Come like Nathaniel did

to see for yourself

if this really is true,

if Jesus really is

who he claimed to be,

that he is the Son of God

who gives us access to God.

And if you do,

I believe that you will be

like the thousands,

the millions,

the people

who have gone before you

since Nathaniel

and before our time

who have come

to confess Jesus Christ

as their Lord and Savior.

As C.S. Lewis,

the famous Oxford professor

and atheist

turned Christian said,

I believe in Christianity

as I believe

that the Son has risen

not only because I see it

but because by it

I see everything else.

When you come

and see the Son of glory,

the Son of God,

you will not only see him

but you will see

that through him

everything else

in and around you

makes sense

because he is the God.

He is the creator.

Maybe you were born

into a Christian household.

Maybe you were

even baptized

as an infant

or you grew up

going to church

but I want to ask you

did you really have

a relationship with God?

Have you come

to see this God?

Do you know him?

Not just know Jesus

but do you love

this Jesus

because that's what

he demands.

We noted earlier

that John the Baptist

deviated from the practice

of the normal practice

of the Jews

of baptizing only

the Gentile converts.

He baptized Jews

and he did that

to make a distinct

theological statement

that no,

no one is except

doesn't matter

if you could trace

your lineage

back to Abraham himself.

Doesn't matter.

Doesn't matter

that you're a Jew

and you grew up

observing the law

that your parents

were Jews

that your grandparents

were Jews.

You have to repent

yourself.

You have to confess

your own sins

and believe in this Jesus

the Son of God.

That's what John the Baptist

was trying to say

and that applies

to us as well.

Doesn't matter

that you could trace

your lineage

to, I don't know,

seventh generation,

maybe Puritans,

Jonathan Edwards even.

It doesn't matter

how long you've been

going to church.

It doesn't matter

whether you were born

in a Christian household

or even baptized

as an infant

because that was a faith

that you did not own.

You had not repented

and believed.

So you must repent

and believe yourself

and if that's you

then I invite you

to do that.

I invite you

to consider baptism.

That's coming up

in a few weeks,

October 16th.

To make a public profession

of your inward faith

saying that I have repented

and believed

and I own this faith

for myself.

And if you are

a true believer,

you have repented

and you have believed

and been baptized

and I pray to God

that we will never

become so familiar

with this Jesus

that we take him

for a grant.

You can't.

Continue to behold him.

Continue to come

and follow him.

Continue to see him

because his riches,

his beauty,

they're inexhaustible

and you will get

to know him deeper

and you will come

to love him more

and more as you do so.

And I also want to

ask you to consider

the implications of this

if you are a believer

because if you are a believer,

you became a believer

because someone

in this great chain,

this movement

of word of mouth evangelism,

someone in that great chain

of sharing about Christ

told you,

invited you to come and see.

Someone told you

to come and see

Jesus,

the Son of God.

And that's been

the foundational principle

of Christian expansion

from the very beginning.

New followers of Jesus

bear witness to Jesus

to other people.

Those people then in turn

become followers of Jesus

and then repeat the process.

That's how church growth

has happened

throughout the centuries.

Yes,

there are formal means

of evangelism,

like the service

or like Bible study

for evangelism,

like evangelistic Bible studies

for unbelief.

There are ways

we can do that as well.

But by and large,

the way the church grew

was through informal missionaries,

all of us ministering,

telling people,

come and see.

There's a really humorous account,

at least from my perspective,

of a,

I guess he was probably an atheist.

He was a pagan writer.

I guess he's not an atheist.

He's a pagan writer

from the time,

early Christianity.

His name was Kelsis.

And he writes this scathing work,

satirical work,

mocking Christians.

He sounds a lot like

some of the more vociferous atheists

that we see in our day.

And he writes this.

He says,

we see in private houses

the most illiterate

and bucolic yokels

who will not dare

to say anything at all

in front of their elders

and more intelligent masters.

But they get hold of any

who are as ignorant

as themselves and say,

we know how men ought to live.

If your children do as we say,

you will be happy yourselves

and make your home happy too.

He's mocking Christians.

But brothers and sisters,

that's nothing to be ashamed of.

Nothing to be ashamed of.

They're following the example

of the first disciples of Jesus

who simply said,

come and see.

He said,

this is how we were taught to live.

And you will see.

You will experience God for yourself.

And you will come to see

that He is the truth.

You will come to see

that He is the Son of God.

And you will come to see

that He is the only way

to have access to God.

So out of their excitement

of having found

this greatest treasure,

person most worthy

of being excited about

and being shared about,

they just simply went

and told people,

come and see.

That's what the early Christians did.

So then,

I want to invite all of you

to do the same.

Tell your family.

Tell your friends.

Tell your neighbors

to come and see

the Son of God

who gives us access to God.

And notice that

in the invitation

that you see here,

there's no sense

of desperation.

They are not,

Jesus and Philip

are not engaging

in this intense argument

trying to convince

these people

to prove to them

that Jesus is the Messiah.

There's a place for that.

Paul engages in some of that

in Acts.

But for this,

generally speaking,

there's no elaborate

marketing strategy