JOHN 1:27-30 JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD THAT TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD

John 1:27 "It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 29 The next day John 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 is preferred before me, for He was before me.'

            In this tremendous passage of scripture we see John the Baptist still saying he is nothing compared to Jesus. He tells us that before he talks about Jesus and then again after he points us to the Lamb of God. He will tell us about that glorious Lamb that takes away the sin of the world and was predicted all the way back in Genesis 3:15, and spoken of so many times in the Old Testament sacrifices. He tells us that Jesus is the only one who can take away our sin and provide salvation.

 Verse 26   "I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

John replied by implying that his authority to baptize as he did came from an authoritative figure who was present but yet unknown. John did not identify Him then. This would have exposed Jesus to the scrutiny of Israel's leadership prematurely. John only realized that Jesus was the Messiah after he said these words (cf. v. 31). John simply referred to this One and implied that he baptized in water under divine authority. He stressed the great authority of Jesus by saying he was unworthy to do even menial service for Him. Thus John bore witness to Jesus even before he identified Him as the Messiah.

1^st He tells them he only baptizes with water and cannot do any more

• The baptism signified when the Gentiles were converted into Judaism
• It signified repentance and becoming a people of God
• This was amazing as they hated Gentiles and they were saying they were as Gentiles
• Repenting in anticipation of the return of the Messiah

2^nd He points them to the one all of our lives should point to Christ

• One that can do for them what he cannot

Next he tells them that Jesus stands among them

• God is often nearer to us than we know
• Christ is to be preferred over him
• Notice that the priests and Pharisees do not ask John where the Messiah is
• They wanted to harass him
• The did not come to receive instructions so their ignorance was willful
• They might have known Christ but would not, this is willful rejection of Christ

Psalm 84:10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

"To get the full impact of this we must bear in mind that disciples did do many services for their teachers. Teachers in ancient Palestine were not paid (it would be a terrible thing to ask for money for teaching Scripture!). But in partial compensation disciples were in the habit of performing small services for their rabbis instead. But they had to draw the line somewhere, and menial tasks like loosing the sandal thong came under this heading. There is a rabbinic saying (in its present form dating from c. A.D. 250, but probably much older):  ‘Every service which a slave performs for his master shall a disciple do for his teacher except the loosing of his sandal-thong.' John selects the very task that the rabbinic saying stresses as too menial for any disciple, and declares himself unworthy to perform it."

Verse 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

• Notice the place where this happens

Bethany – Signifies the house of passage two Bethany’s, one where the disciples live and one near the Jordan, confuse it by calling it Bethabara

 There's one down there by Jerusalem where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived. And there's another one,

• Some think it was the very place where Israel passed over into the promised land under the guidance of Joshua
• Now Jesus opens a way through here to the Gospel

2. The Presentation at Christ’s Baptism

Verse 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Ex 12:3; Isa 53:7,11; Joh 1:36; Ac 8:32; 1Co 15:3; Ga 1:4; Heb 1:3; 2:17; 9:28; 1Pe 1:19; 2:24; 3:18; 1Jo 2:2; 3:5; 4:10; Re 1:5; 5:6

Genesis 22:1-14 Abraham sacrificing Isaac

• The use of a Lamb as a sacrifice was very familiar to the Jews
• A lamb was used as a sacrificed during the Passover

Exodus 12:21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. 24 "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.

• A lamb was to led to slaughter in the prophecies of Isaiah

Isaiah 53:7

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

• A lamb was offered in the daily sacrifices of Israel

Leviticus14:12 "Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering, along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

• Jesus was the Lamb that was sacrificed to take away the sin of the world when he died on the cross

Verse 30 This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'