Original Hipster
Notes
Transcript
John 1:19-34
Delusions of Grandeur
Delusions of Grandeur
2 People in my life have prophesied over me. They were both crazy.
The Prophet Isaiah.
Discovered-by-Peter
This is not helpful to an arrogant 19 year-old who is already wrestling with a little bit of megalomania along with the arrogance.
What are the limits of me? What are the mountains I simply can’t climb?
We live in a culture that is all about challenging the limits of what’s possible. Find the strength within yourself to be more, to be better. Self-fulfillment is what it is all about.
In that culture… what does it look like to find the end of yourself?
There is self-confidence, and there is megalomania – straight up craziness.
You are great. You are gifted. You are a wonderful creation of God… but there are limits to you. There is an end to you, beyond which you simply can’t go. You can lift a 100 pounds. If you train like a beast you can lift 1000. But you will never lift 10,000.
You’re great… but there is an end to yourself.
Profile of John
Profile of John
Born to Grandeur
Born to Grandeur
Luke 1 tells us the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who could not have children, having this miracle conception of their own. There were angel messengers, miracles, Holy Spirit prophecy… he had all the things.
And he is 6 months older than his cousin Jesus. He is growing up out in the desert.
And I wonder what that was like. Apparently he had recognized Jesus in the womb, that’s crazy… and his mother Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and recognized Jesus as Lord while he was still in Mary’s tum tum.
So imagine this guy, growing up, and there are these great expectations on him. Everyone seems to know he is going to do great things. There is this great to-do about his birth and his potential. And he grows up into that potential:
Original Hipster
Original Hipster
Description:
Mark 1:1-6
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
So he is fulfilling ancient prophesy.
He is dressed like an ascetic, like an old school prophet.
He is preaching repentance. Holiness. A rejection of sin, a turning away from something…
So he is old school all the way. Hipster John. And people are flocking to him. This might be a bit of hyperbole but “all the country of Judea and all of Jerusalem were going out to him.” He is the Billy Graham of the 1st century. He is Beatle-mania. He is Bieber-fever.
And he is preaching a baptism of repentance.
(Define repentance). A turning away.
But repentance turns away from something… but you have to turn toward something. I don’t know exactly what John taught them repentance towards. Probably back towards the law, back towards righteousness, but that is a call to trying harder that is ultimately doomed.
Turn away from your sin, be baptized in water, and try righteousness. You failed. Turn away from your sin, be baptized in water, and try righteousness.
And so the message and ministry of John sets up this poignant expectation: something greater is needed. Repent! You are in desperate need of repentance, again and again. And John has this expectation his whole life. Something greater is needed. Something greater is coming.
The Testimony of John
The Testimony of John
John 1:19-
19 And 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 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 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.”
This “make straight the way of the Lord” comes straight out of Isaiah. Isaiah is writing about the people of Israel in exile, out to the East. They have been conquered by Babylon, they are in captivity, but they will return! Lower the mountains, raise up the valleys, prepare the road for God is returning with his people to Jerusalem.
But even then it had this double meeting, looking forward to the day of the Lord, to an ultimate returning, a God-with-us event that Isaiah prophesies so clearly at times.
And John doesn’t identify who he is. He seems to have no self-understanding as Elijah. He knows he isn’t the Messiah. He isn’t the Prophet, a Messianic expectation of a prophet like Moses who would speak the words of God. And the Elijah thing is confusing because Jesus later says that John did come in the spirit of Elijah, but that doesn’t say that John knew it. He didn’t.
But he had this absolute conviction, this very clear message. I am not just any prophet, not just another holy man, I am the voice. The one Isaiah talked about. And I am a preparing voice, making the road straight for the Lord’s coming.
Something greater is coming. This is the defining reality of his life.
24-28
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)
Explain Pharisees.
Better: some of those sent were Pharisees and they asked him…
25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
So they are wondering what we are wondering: who is this guy? Especially when Jesus says he came “in the Spirit of Elijah.” But John is like “dude, I am John.” So… If you mean do I have memories of a past life where I was Elijah? No. Am I Elijah in disguise? No.
But his star was rising. He had grown so popular that the religious leaders down in Jerusalem felt they had to find out what the deal was with John the Baptist. They sent a delegation. Find out who this guy is. In particular, find out who this guy thinks he is.
And the Pharisees question is one of authority. Judaism at this stage had baptism. There was baptism for converts to Judaism, but it was a ceremonial cleansing and they did it to themselves. People going into the temple would cleanse themselves in water ceremonially, pretty close to baptism.
But John is baptizing other people. And there is an assumption of authority there. Who do you think you are baptizing people in water for repentance of sin!? By what authority do you act? The Pharisees in particular would ask this as scholars, students of the law, in particular students of the law who put a heavy weight on the oral tradition added to and around the Scriptures… so this was maybe not adversarial but curious. What do you know? Why do you do this?
26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
And John responds with his mantra: something greater is coming. Something greater is coming. His life started in that, he continues that through his ministry.
Something Greater Comes
Something Greater Comes
29-34
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
And this kind of answers that question of what John knew going in about Jesus. He didn’t grow up with Jesus, no family reunions, it seems. Jesus is growing up in Egypt and then up in Galilee. John wouldn’t recognize the man, he just had this expectation.
… but I recognized him.
And this Lamb of God business. He doesn’t use the word for “sacrifice lamb” and we can’t be sure what he meant by that exactly. Know we think about it as obvious, but John certainly didn’t seem to expect a sacrificial Messiah. Nobody did. And John later has a crisis of faith wrestling with his own expectations of Messiah. There is a lamb led to slaughter in Isaiah, but contemporary Judaism saw that as a partial substitutionary suffering, not one leading to death.
And taking away, not only the sins of Israel, of the faithful Jewish people, or those baptized by John and thus ready for the final judgement… the sins of the world.
John speaks better than he knows. Over and over we see this in John: people say the right words that are only understood in full long after. The words of Jesus, but even the things others say about Jesus. You don’t know how right you are.
How did he recognize him?
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
He saw the dove, landing on Jesus. Actual dove? Spiritual dove? It says Spirit like a dove, so
All of his life, with all this expectation. And hear it is fulfilled.
34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
John the Baptist recognizes Jesus as the Son of God because he saw the Spirit descend on him like a dove.
John lived in expectation of something greater. His baptism ministry prepared the way for something greater. And then he saw Him… and bore witness.
And this is included in the gospel probably because it is his witness that launches Jesus’ ministry. As we will see in a few weeks, many of Jesus’ first disciples were disciples of John and something had to cause them to jump from John at the height of his ministry and popularity over to this no-name from Nazareth.
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
This is the Son of God.
The End of Yourself
The End of Yourself
The end of
Preaching at Denver Seminary. The very best I could provide. The end of myself. I can do nothing better. Something greater is needed.
The end of yourself.
Waiting for something greater.
Do you know that you need something greater? That you need someone greater?
We see this in evangelism: does someone know their need for salvation? Their need for Jesus? Their need for the love of God?
You can tell someone that God forgives them… but if they don’t think they have done anything wrong… you are just an imposition.
I want you to sit with this for a while. Today. This week.
What is your sense of expectation for Jesus? Not, what is it supposed to be… what is it really?
This is a room full of very talented and gifted people. Lots of people with a lot of life success. Great families, great values, great morals, great bank accounts, good things!
Like John, you may kind of be doing awesome, and greater things are expected! And likely!
What is your sense of expectation for Jesus?
Are you desperate?
Are you interested?
Are you curious?
Are you bored? Tired of waiting for God to show up in a way you can recognize?
What is your need for Jesus? For a Savior?
What is your need for God to say something about himself? Something you can actually hear and know?
Something new?
What is your Jesus need? Share that with someone.
