9. Out of the Foxhole (John 1:24-29)
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
October 25, 2007 at
2:20PM EST
Out of the Foxhole
(John 1:24-29)
24Now
some Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, "Why then do you
baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
26"I
baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not
know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I
am not worthy to untie."
The church leaders were concerned
about John because the people were moved by his teachings. He was
teaching the Scripture, but there was something new in how he presented
it. It was real and fresh and alive, no longer laws written in stone
merely to impress and oppress. The Holy Spirit was stirring something
in the hearts of men, he was drawing them to the heart of the law --
the heart of God -- and preparing them for Christ to set all things in
order. The ground was being broken so the seed could take root in their
hearts. It was the groundwork for a transformation from a dead faith to
a LIVING faith.
John openly told them that there was someone
among them, someone now on the earth, that was about to affect the
world far more than he had. He was telling them that this person was
about to be revealed, and that John's ministry was so much less
important than His would be.
John was letting them know that
not only was he unable to fill the shoes of the One that was coming,
but he wasn't even worthy enough to touch His feet or to untie His
shoes. John was trying to help them understand that the One who was
coming was Messiah, the holy One, so much greater than himself that to
even compare John to Him was crazy.
John understood that he
wasn't worthy to bow at the feet of the One who was coming -- or to
even serve him. He was humbled at being the one to announce His
arrival, and he wanted to be sure that all glory remained His.
28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
The
next day after declaring that this person was among them, the man is
revealed to John. In that moment, he shouts the declaration that
defined his calling, the one thing he was sent to teach and preach and
announce... the sacrifice had arrived, the time of cleansing and pardon
and restoration had come. The fulfillment of the promise made in Gen 3
mentioned earlier had come to restore all. God had sent Him, and He was
finally here among us. Immanuel.
It makes you wonder if the
people who heard John make this declaration were a little confused by
it. What did he mean that this man was the LAMB OF GOD, how could a man
'take away their sin?' The mindset was that a lamb from their herds was
to be taken to the priests and offered up on the altar of God. And
suddenly, this man walks up, the One that John had raved about for so
long, and He is referred to as the Lamb of God. What might have flashed
thru their minds in that moment...
It must have felt like
quite a time of transition. It must have had an air of shakiness as the
focus shifted from John to Jesus. For so long now, the people had
flocked to the desert to hear John, to be baptized, to be a part of the
movement.... and now suddenly the whole dynamic was changing and
shifting. Perhaps that is a word for us today as well. Many of us find
ourselves in a place of transition as the Church is entering into a new
Phase. I wonder what great thing the Lord will lead us into next.
Transition is a scary thing, but a necessary thing. No one can live in
a foxhole forever -- who would want to?
Whatever He has planned... I know that it will only bring us one step closer to home <3
