The Lamb of God Revealed

Would God’s people please take
their Bibles. We cannot without great carelessness
blend this account in John’s Gospel with the synoptic accounts
because they don’t fit. John the Baptist did at one time
baptize Jesus, but it isn’t even recorded here in John’s Gospel. And neither can we conclude that
either Jesus’ baptism or His wilderness temptation followed
this account that we read here in John’s Gospel. As we said
previously, those things have already taken place. The Apostle
John doesn’t address either of those well-known accounts, Jesus’
baptism or His temptation. All three of the other gospel
writers do address them. They all present those two events
sequentially. All three introduce them in the
context of John the Baptist preaching. And so there has been this natural
tendency to meld all of these accounts together as if it doesn’t
matter. If you would turn first, keep
your finger in John, and turn to Matthew’s gospel chapter three. Matthew’s gospel to chapter 3. And as I said, it wouldn’t matter
to which particular synoptic gospel we turned. Mark chapter
1, Luke chapter 3, Matthew chapter 3, because they all follow the
same pattern here. They all begin to introduce the
ministry of John the Baptist. which, in large measure, we have
already done here in John’s Gospel. Once John the Baptist is introduced,
the nature of his ministry, the interaction with the religious
leaders, the foreshadowing of the Messiah all take place. Glance
down at Matthew’s Gospel in verse 13. Chapter 3, verse 13. Then Jesus arrived from Galilee
at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. But John
tried to prevent him, saying, I have need to be baptized by
you, and do you come to me? But Jesus, answering, said to
him, Permit it at this time, for in this way it is fitting
for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he permitted him. Look,
if you would, at chapter four. The synoptic writers, all, Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, present Christ as immediately entering into
the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. And now, if you would,
back to John’s gospel. And as we find ourselves in the
midst of this discussion, between John the Baptist and some followers,
and it’s very undefined who actually was present here in this section,
verse 29 and following. We have to keep in mind that
Jesus has already been baptized by John. He has already been
through the wilderness temptation. Jesus needs only to be introduced
in order to begin his very public ministry. One school of thought
here is that Jesus had come even directly from the wilderness
temptation. And while that is not explicitly
stated anywhere, not only is there nothing that stands in
the way of that understanding, it absolutely fits. Jesus Christ
is now fitted and ready for ministry. Like never before, having been
baptized, the sign that we’ll read about in a moment has been
given to John. John knows precisely who Christ
is. Christ goes into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil, comes out, and now, fully ready for
his public ministry. Would you consider reading along
with me, beginning in verse 19. We’ll take this in full. This
is the testimony of John when the Jews sent to him priests
and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? And he
confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. They asked him, what then? Are
you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you
the prophet? And he answered, no. Then they
said to him, who are you? So that we may give an answer
to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?
He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make
straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said. Now
they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him and said to him,
why then are you baptizing? If you are not the Christ, nor
Elijah, nor the prophet, John answered them, saying, I baptize
in water. But among you stands one whom
you do not know. It is he who comes after me,
the thong of Husandal. I am not worthy to untie. These
things took place in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John
was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming
to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world. This is He on behalf of whom
I said, After me comes a man who has a higher rank than I,
for he existed before me. I did not recognize him, but
so that he might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in
Israel. pardon me, baptizing in water. John testified, saying, I have
seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He
remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but
He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, He upon whom
you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this
is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. I myself have seen
and have testified that this is the Son of God. This morning I have purposed
to intentionally avoid a very tempting tendency in this passage. Four little words. And it’s a phrase so common and
so uplifting and so appealing that even at the mere mention
of it, one is inclined to savor and meditate upon the biblical
significance of the phrase in God’s plan of redemption. The
phrase is that four-letter phrase, the Lamb of God. And while I
do intend to savor it and I do intend to present it in the greater
biblical context, I thought that it might be appropriate to do
something unique. To stay within the context of
this passage. And before we hear what Isaiah
has to say about the Lamb of God, or Moses, to hear first
what John the Baptist’s thoughts are on the Lamb of God. He does,
as we will find, have some great insight revealed by the Spirit
of God into the nature of Jesus Christ. So as John the Baptist
introduces the Lamb of God, let us consider also his characterization
of the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God is not merely
introduced, He is revealed. And not just by a riveting title, but by a series of gripping descriptions. Want us to look this morning,
even as we prepare for the Lord’s table at the Lamb of God revealed. Look at verse 29. The next day
he saw Jesus coming to him and he said, behold, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world. This had to be shocking
to the Jewish people who may have been present, whether they
were religious leaders or not. The Lamb We want a Messiah. We want a conquering king. A
lamb? And not just any lamb, but a
lamb who would take away not just the sins of God’s people,
but the sin of the world. And as I said, we’ll look at
it next week. But I want to look at the Lamb
of God as John the Baptist presents Him and proclaims Him. The Lamb of God First, according
to John, was eternally present with God. He was eternally present
with God. Look at verse 30. This is He. John the Baptist doesn’t park
on the Lamb of God. He issues one little phrase that
follows, who takes away the sin of the world. And that is one
of the most grandest phrases of all. but he immediately begins to
describe this Lamb of God. This is He. This is He on behalf
of whom I said, after me comes a man who has a higher rank,
for He existed before me. He reminds them that He had already
told them this. He had already been declaring
this truth. It was recorded back in verse
15, you remember. He who comes after me has a higher
rank than I, for He existed before me.” No wonder John would seek
to recede into the background. Because not only is Christ more
important, He has been more important throughout all eternity. What he points out when he says
that He existed before me, It’s not that Jesus was born first. That would be a natural inclination,
especially for Jews, to give preference to the one who is
older. It would be a natural inclination
to give preference to one who entered into the ministry first.
And neither one of those things was true about Jesus and John. John was born first. John entered
into the ministry first. And yet he says, Jesus Christ
has a higher rank than I. Jesus Christ is preeminent, and
he’s preeminent quite simply because he existed from all eternity. He was preexistent. Prior to
any work that John the Baptist ever did, prior to any birth
of any man, much less John the Baptist, Jesus Christ was already
in existence. This is crucial to John. This
is crucial to point this out. This is everything to John the
Baptist. That Jesus Christ was eternally
existent from all eternity. And then John says something
almost bewildering. Look at verse 31. I did not recognize
him. But, so that he might be manifested
to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” This statement obviously
needs to be clarified and understood. When John says, I did not recognize
him, it’s only remotely possible that he’s speaking literally
here. He was, after all, as you’ll
remember, a close relative of Jesus. What John seems to be
indicating here is that he did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. He knew who Jesus was. It’s almost
a certainty. He just didn’t know who He was
completely. He might recognize His physical
appearance, but not His divine position and calling. The fact
that John the Baptist knew Jesus Christ in their early years is
very likely. Let me take you just back. We
won’t take the time to turn there. Just take you back in your mind’s
eye to the Gospel of Luke, remember? In fact, Jesus’ birth isn’t even
presented first. John the Baptist is presented
first. Zacharias and Elizabeth are told they’re going to have
a child. It’s a miraculous thing in their advanced age. The angel
greets them as such. And then as it unfolds, Mary
finds that she too is going to be pregnant, also by miraculous
means, different than Zacharias and Elizabeth. And Mary is so
excited, even in her condition, she goes to visit Elizabeth. Listen just as I read. Now at
this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country
to a city of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting
the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit. This is not a forgettable scene. This is not something that you
would just casually tuck away And she cried out with a loud
voice and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb. How has it happened to me that
the mother of my Lord would come to me? The fact that Mary was carrying
the Lord Jesus Christ wasn’t lost on Elizabeth. Mary knew. Elizabeth knew. She tells why, for behold, when
the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my
womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her
by the Lord. They both knew. In other words,
not only did these moms know one another, Not only were they
related, they had this incredible experience, miraculous pregnancies,
introduced by God’s angels, sharing all that they knew together in
this most intimate exchange. The moms certainly knew of God’s
plan of redemption unfolding even within them. Now all of
that notwithstanding, I would still tell you, it’s possible
It’s possible that Mary and Elizabeth’s sons did not become intimately
acquainted with one another. We’re told that John the Baptist
largely lived in the wilderness. Jesus, however, grew up in more
of a city setting. You say, how is it that these
moms, you know, moms are always eager to brag on their children. How is it that they did not share
notes with their sons? Do you know who you’re going
to be? Let me just remind you of one
little tidbit. Remember Mary’s response to the
shepherd’s visit? Mary treasured up all these things,
pondering them in her heart. I get the sense she was the last
one to go around boasting, do you know that my son is going
to be the Messiah? Luke 2.51, when Jesus stayed
behind in Jerusalem, remember with the older men interacting
with them in that profound scene, went down with them and came
to Nazareth and he continued in subjection to his parents
and his mother treasured all these things in her heart. What
seems likely is that even though John knew who Jesus was, it was
his cousin. He knew who he was as a person,
a relative, and even likely, as he looked at Jesus and watched
His life, as a godly young man. He knew Him. But he didn’t yet
know the full report on Jesus. That’s what Scripture says. He
wasn’t aware of Jesus’ role in His calling, that He was indeed
the Messiah. John knew his own role. that
he was to introduce the Messiah, he just didn’t know precisely
who that was yet. Jesus was the eternal God, but
John didn’t know him as such. As one said, though John may
have recognized Jesus even as the Messiah at the moment before
his baptism by spiritual insight or divine prophetic impulse,
yet he was bound to wait for the divine sign. We’ll see what
it is in a moment. And he alludes to it here in
verse 31. I did not recognize him. I didn’t
know that he was the Messiah. But so that he might be manifested
to Israel, I came baptizing in water. Now all John does here
is allude to this connection. That somehow his baptism ministry
is tied to Christ’s introduction. And that’s a crucial element
in the presentation of the Messiah. But he doesn’t even complete
this thought. Not here. And his statement as it lies
here in verse 31 is somewhat cryptic, and John leaves it so. You might even come away with
saying that John’s baptism ministry was only about preparing people
for repentance, but it’s about so much more. The whole goal of his ministry,
as he alludes to it here, is to introduce this amazing provision
of God, the Messiah, the One who had come, the Mighty One,
the Lamb of God. That’s John’s whole purpose,
whole purpose for life. We’re looking at the Lamb of
God revealed, and we see first of all that the Lamb of God was
eternally present with God. That’s important to John. That’s
important not only to John the Baptist, it’s really important
to the Apostle John as well. The Lamb of God was not only
eternally present with God, look at this, the Lamb of God was
the one who imparts the Spirit of God. Look if you would at
verse 32. John testified saying, I have
seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and He remained
upon Him and I did not recognize Him. But he who sent me to baptize
in water said to me, he upon whom you see the Spirit descending
and remaining upon him, this is the one who baptizes in the
Holy Spirit. Now John begins to explain himself. He says prior to all of this,
God had in some way, shape, or form pulled him aside and given
him a message. Now look, when you go about the
countryside, and tell me this wouldn’t motivate your ministry,
When you go about the countryside, sooner or later you’re gonna
baptize one, and when you see the Holy Spirit flutter down
from heaven in the form of a dove and a light on the top of the
head of the one you’ve baptized, that’s Him. That’s the Messiah. John would go around grabbing
people I imagine and man preaching the gospel to him and you know
baptizing as many as he possibly could. Look at verse 32 again. John testified saying, I’ve seen,
I’ve seen this. It’s already happened. I have
seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and it remained
upon him. Now the event Jesus’ baptism
to which John is alluding here You could turn to any one of
the three, turn to the Gospel of Luke on this occasion. Keep
a finger in John, we’re back in a second. The Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter three, verse 21. Now when all the people were
baptized, Jesus was also baptized. And while he was praying, heaven
was open. What an amazing scene this must
have been. I have no idea how you even begin to describe that.
I mean, he just takes human words and says, heaven was in some
shape opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in a bodily
form like a dove. And a voice came out of heaven.
You are my beloved son and you I am well pleased. And when John says, I’ve seen the Spirit descending
as a dove. The form of the verb here indicates
the effect that remained long after John witnessed this. It’s
as if he said, I saw it and I’ll never forget it. Heaven itself
opened, the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and
it indicated the Messiah. Back to John, if you would. Let’s
entertain a few questions here. Was it a real dove? Some people
are just doggedly insistent that this had to be a bird. When Luke
says, I’ve seen the spirit descending as a dove, perhaps it fluttered,
perhaps it even had the form of a dove, but this was not just
a pigeon. And there’s no hint that what
he’s talking about here is just some kind of a spiritual vision
that only Jesus and John can see. It doesn’t say that anybody
else witnessed it. But all four of the Gospel writers
say it almost the same identical way. They indicate that it was
like or as a dove. In other words, not a literal
dove. Perhaps a fluttering figure,
like a dove, alighted on Jesus’ head, and perhaps it was only
visible to Jesus and John, but it doesn’t say that. It’s only
recorded as having been seen by John and Jesus. It was a real sight. It was an
amazing sight to behold. Jesus saw it. John the Baptist
saw it. Is there any significance in
John’s detail that this figure remained upon him. I couldn’t
even, I lost count of the commentaries that said that this is Jesus’
reception of the Holy Spirit. That’s blasphemy. Jesus wasn’t lacking in anything
in deity. He didn’t need the Holy Spirit
because he was already in intimate fellowship with all the members
of the Godhead, the Father and the Spirit. Was this in any way? a filling or equipping by the
Holy Spirit? Not at all. Did Jesus have the
need? No. What was the significance
then of this event? That if this truly was this image
of a dove, an image of tenderness and innocence, gentleness, fluttering
down and alighting as it were on Jesus’ head, He’ll tell us. How did those
who know it know that it was the Holy Spirit?
Well, John had already been let in. Matthew, Mark, and Luke certainly
were let in after the fact. They likely heard the story or
saw, witnessed the event, recorded it, in the course of writing
their gospel, and in the course of writing their gospel, they
were clearly told, informed that this was the Holy Spirit. John, at least, was foretold
of the image of the dove. We pick that up as the verse
unfolds. Look at verse 32 and 33. John
testified, saying, I’ve seen the Spirit descending as a dove
out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize
Him, not the dove, the Messiah. He’s already told us that. He’s
already told us that up to this point He did not recognize Jesus
Christ as the Messiah, but now He has the sign. But He who sent
me to baptize, and I take that to mean God Almighty Himself,
He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, He upon Him
He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon
Him. This is the one who baptizes
in the Holy Spirit. This was such an amazing moment,
I’m certain, to John. Powerful. He had not recognized Jesus for
who He was, the Messiah. He had not recognized Him as
the Christ. But God pulled him aside, gave
him this message, when you see the dove, that is the Messiah. That’s the one who will baptize
in the Holy Spirit. And as soon as it happened, John
knew. Look at verse 33, I did not recognize
him. What is meant by this phrase,
baptizes by the Holy Spirit? Let me tell you what it doesn’t
mean. I found this out years ago as I took a friend to the
Billy Graham crusade years ago when I first came to Christ.
And as God would have it, my friend repented, we got to the
front, repented, we’re walking back, and who do we bump into? We bump into a charismatic who
says, oh, glory be, now you have to get the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. This individual hadn’t even been
baptized in water yet. They had barely made a profession
of faith and all of a sudden now we have this extra baptism
that is not supported anywhere in scripture. Certainly not here. It’s not what it means. As I’ve indicated, this is effectively
point two that Jesus Christ is the one who would impart the
spirit of God. It is the Holy Spirit that ultimately
leads people into a relationship with God. It is the Holy Spirit
that does the work of conviction of sin. It is the Holy Spirit
that does the work of regeneration, a bringing to life. It is the
Holy Spirit that imparts faith. It is the Holy Spirit that enacts
that peace treaty between a sinner and a holy God, and He brings
them to repentance. It’s a life, a life of faith
that’s the Holy Spirit. And not only that, but immediately
upon regeneration, the Holy Spirit takes residence, personal residence
in a believer, and He begins a life of sanctification in that
individual by convicting them of sin and bringing them to repentance
of individual sins. He empowers them with God’s grace
to avoid evil and perform any good thing. It’s the Holy Spirit. And so, when John mentions this
here, that God had told him this is the one who baptizes in the
Holy Spirit. The same image that we had a
couple of weeks ago about Romans 6 that we are baptized into Christ. This is what Christ does with
believers. He takes us and he immerses us
wholly and completely in the Spirit of God. What a glorious
image that is. Jesus Christ is the one. It’s
the Lamb of God that does this. I’m glad that we took time to
hear first from John, what John thinks of the Lamb of God, before
we go off gallivanting all around the 66 other books of the Bible. The Lamb of God revealed, was
not only eternally present with God, He is also the one who imparts
the spirit of God and look at point three simple. In verse
34 the Lamb of God is himself the son of God. Verse 34 I myself have seen and
have testified that this is the son of God and this is essentially
the end of John the Baptist testimony. What a way to end it. This is the final word on the
Lord Jesus Christ. He’s God. He is the Son of God. He is the incarnate Logos, the
Word of God that has come. He is God’s provided Messiah. And there is much to be seen
as we back up and consider all that that means and the significance
of those four little words, the Lamb of God. The first thing we need to get
our arms wrapped around is that this little lamb was eternally
preexistent with God from all eternity. And he was so because
he was God. He is very God and not just some
image or form of God. When John places this title,
Son of God, At the very end of this sentence, essentially he
strikes a profound climax. And it dovetails perfectly with
John the Apostle’s purpose of this gospel. In John 20 we read, therefore
many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples
which are not written in this book. I mean, who could contain? But these have been written so
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you may have life in His name. That’s the whole point of the
entire book. That’s the whole point of God’s
entire plan of redemption. John the Baptist was eager to
tell us about the Lamb of God. And he tells us, not only was this Lamb of God
preexistent from all eternity, he was the one that would impart
the very Holy Spirit. He himself was the one who is
indeed the Son of God. Do you know him? Do you know
that element of the Lamb of God? Let’s examine our hearts. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your presence. Lord, to think that from eternity
past, you have planned out, mapped out with intricate detail that
we can’t even begin to recognize your plan of redemption that
touches even us. Lord God, we are so humbled.
We are so humbled to know that you sent the Lamb of God, your
own Son, from your eternally existing
side, to come and impart God to us. Lord God, we thank you. And if
there are any here who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as
their Savior, Maybe they’ve heard the facts. Maybe they’ve heard
what they believe is the gospel. But if you have not placed your
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, if you have not
trusted Him and Him alone to forgive your sin because of what
He accomplished on the cross, before we go, to the Lord’s table. Let every heart examine itself. Let every person here look to
their own heart and examine whether indeed they
have trusted in the Lamb that God provided. It’s in Jesus’
name that we ask. Amen. Before we come to the table,
if you would take your bulletins and let’s stand together and
sing the first three verses of the