John 1:29–34

Introduction:

John the Baptist says he did not know Jesus, but came for the purpose of revealing him to Israel. Do you know Jesus? When you look at Matthew 25, it says that those who do not feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and help the needy do not do it unto Jesus. In other words, the beggar, the poor, the homeless person who we refuse to help is Jesus. How often we are guilty of not recognizing Jesus!

But as John baptized in order to reveal Jesus, Jesus is revealed to us in Baptism. It is in Baptism that we come to know Jesus. And as the Holy Spirit came and rested on Jesus at Baptism, John tells us that Jesus baptizes with the Spirit. In other words, Jesus is the one who baptizes us today and He gives us the Spirit when He baptizes us. So that the Spirit resides in us today, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives faith to know and recognize Jesus.

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' ³¹I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." ³²And John bore .witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³I 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.' ³⁴And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."

"I did not know him!" John the Baptist says he did not know Jesus. Of course he knew the man Jesus, they were cousins, but he did not know Jesus as the Son of God; the Savior of the world. "I did not know Jesus."

Neither did you. You were all born sinners. You are by nature sinful and unclean. And your sin is demonstrated by what you do and say every day of your lives. Your sin is demonstrated when you do not recognize Jesus. Jesus said, "what you do unto the least of these, you do unto me." How many times have we refused to help the needy; when you don't give to the poor, feed the hungry, or give shelter to the homeless. Jesus said, "What you do for the least of these, the least significant, the poorest person, you do unto me." Being tight fisted with God's money and possessions when you are called to help the needy to not recognize Jesus. Like John the Baptist, you did not know Jesus. He was that poor beggar standing in front of you and you did not recognize him, because "...what you did not do unto the least of them, you did not do them unto me." So, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Because what you do for the poor, needy person you do unto Jesus.

Who can save you from your sin? Only Jesus! Turn from sin and look to Jesus. But how can you know Jesus? John came to make Jesus known to you and to all people. "For this purpose he came baptizing with water, in order that Jesus might be revealed to Israel." Jesus is revealed in Baptism. Your baptism revealed Jesus to you. It was in baptism that you knew Jesus. It was in baptism that God opened your eyes of faith to see and know Jesus who is the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

So who is this Jesus? Who is he that you first knew by Baptism? He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But what does that mean?

At the time of John, a lamb was sacrificed every morning and evening in the temple to forgive the sins of the people. A lamb was the sacrifice a person brought to the priest to have his sins forgiven. The lamb was the sacrifice for sin. For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sins. There indeed must be a sacrifice of blood.

So who is Jesus? He is God's lamb. He is the lamb that God himself offered on the altar as a sacrifice for your sins. God provided the lamb to take away your sins. Even better, God himself was the lamb. It is the holy blood of Jesus that was shed for the forgiveness of your sins.

Jesus is the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. That's actually a weak translation. It really says, "Sin was destroyed, smashed, torn apart and demolished in order to be gotten rid of, thrown away, removed." Your sin has been destroyed. The sin of the whole world is destroyed and thrown away. God has cast out the world's sin. He destroyed and removed it on the cross. He destroyed and removed it by shedding his perfect blood. He destroyed and removed it when he went to hell in your place to make compensation for your sin.

It is Baptism that manifests Jesus to you and shows you who Jesus is. That is what Epiphany is; the manifestation of who Jesus really is. John did not recognize him, just like you, but John revealed him by baptizing. In Baptism Jesus was revealed to you. Your Baptism manifest Jesus to you as your Savior, the one who destroyed and took away your sin.

And when you were baptized, God made it personal. God destroyed your sin. God threw your sin away, as far as the east is from the west. He cast it into the deepest part of the sea. Your baptism is the seal, the guarantee, the irrevocable promise of God that he will not count your sin against you on the day of judgment. That's the remarkable thing about Jesus. He did not come for the good and righteous people. He did not come to save holy people. He did not come looking for loving and caring people. He came for the sinner. He came for you, the broken sinner, who did not recognize him. He came for bags of filth wallowing in their sin and lack of love. He came to save sinners.

When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended on him and remained on him. By that, John recognized Jesus, because the one who sent John told him that the man upon whom the Spirit descended and remained was the Son of God.

Now sometimes we have a mental picture of the dove descending on Jesus and sitting on his shoulder for a few minutes until his baptism was over with and then flying off somewhere. After all, the Bible doesn't say there was a dove sitting on Jesus' shoulder when he turned water into wine, or when he walked on the sea. But our text says nothing about the Spirit flying away. It says that the Spirit remained on Jesus. In fact, it literally says that the Spirit dwelt on Jesus, it lived in him, he took up his residence in Jesus, it made Jesus his home. Jesus was the earthly residence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that lived in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that Jesus gave back to His Father when he died. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that Jesus baptized you in.

John says, "The one who the Spirit descends on and remains on is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." Who baptized you? Was it pastor so-and-so? Was it your parents or god parents who took you to the church? No! You were baptized by Jesus. It is Jesus who baptizes. And he baptizes in the Holy Spirit. Just as the Spirit was poured out on Jesus at his baptism, Jesus now pours it out on you at your baptism. And the Spirit remains in you; it takes up his residence in you just as he did in Jesus.

That same Spirit who gave you faith and opened your eyes to see and know Jesus is the same Holy Spirit who opens your eyes to see and know Jesus in the homeless person shivering in the cold, in the poor man begging on a street corner, in that hungry person asking for food, in the drug addict trapped in the prison of drugs, in that alcoholic enslaved by a bottle, in that prostitute who feels lonely and dirty, in that lost sinner on the road to hell.

And what are you going to do about it? "Whatever you do to the least of these you do it unto me." You say you know God, but if you do not have love, you do not know God, for God is love (I John 4:8). Let us love, not in word or talk, but in deed and in truth (I John 3:18). For the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:23). Put away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:12), because you are the son of God and his Spirit dwells in you.

Yes, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Jesus gave him to you when he baptized you. He not only destroys and throws away that old man of sin in you, he gives birth to a new man, a spiritual man. You are born again, from on high. You are a son of God. Repent of your sin and do not let sin take hold of your life. You are a son of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you. Put away all sin and hardness of heart and put on the righteousness of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord. You are a new man; the old has passed away; the new has come. For now it is not you who live, but Christ who lives in you, because Jesus baptized you in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.