Preparing For Prophetic Manifestation

Westhill Community Church

12 March 2023

Preparing for Prophetic Manifestation

Reading: John 1: 19-34

Today we are starting a series of topics selected from passages in John’s gospel. John’s objective in writing his gospel was to bear witness to what he and others had seen and heard. We have seen a wonderful and powerful manifestation of God’s glory, he said, a revealing of what God had said long ago would happen. It wasn’t that God’s purposes were hidden. Far from it, God had repeatedly declared through the prophets what would take place. But before this it had just been anticipated, eagerly awaited. Promised but not yet fulfilled.

John gives an introduction to his gospel in which he summarises the message he wants to get across to his readers. He finishes this introduction with the words:

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (John 1: 18)

We’ve witnessed a manifestation of who God is and what he is like, he said, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. And then he starts his recollections by talking about John the Baptist. That’s interesting. He didn’t start with himself or the other disciples. He didn’t even start with Jesus. He started with John the Baptist. Why was this, I wonder? Well I think it was because he wanted to make it perfectly clear that their understanding of Jesus and his ministry wasn’t something they had dreamed up, or worked out for themselves, as if they had some kind of superior wisdom or understanding. No, right from the outset he said that this was something that God had revealed. He spoke it in days gone by through the prophets. And He sent his messenger, John the Baptist, to point out Jesus and declare that this is the One God had promised. And, said the apostle John, when we heeded John the Baptist’s message and followed Jesus we found out for ourselves that he is indeed the promised Messiah.

In this opening account John introduces three characters or groups of characters. There was John the Baptist of course, and Jesus himself, and then there were the Pharisees.

The Pharisees

The apostle John actually says that the Pharisees were a contingent of priests and Levites, sent from the ruling religious authorities in Jerusalem to find out more about John the Baptist and his ministry. You see John the Baptist had aroused considerable astonishment and discussion. By birth he was destined to be a priest, but instead of commencing regular duties in the Temple offering up sacrifices he was called by God instead to preach in the desert regions and call upon people to repent. It wasn’t a new philosophy or religious movement he was setting up. He merely announced to the people that they were far from living the holy lives that God required, and that they should repent, for soon God would be sending his promised Anointed One, the Messiah. And people responded and queued up to be baptised in the Jordan River. Even Roman soldiers responded and asked John what they should do (Luke 3: 14). Imagine in our day if one of the church leaders in Westhill were to start living in a tent in Denman Park, announcing day by day to passing folk that they should repent and turn back to God, and then baptising in the Denman stream those that willingly responded. That will maybe help give you an idea of how unusual and startling John’s ministry was, and the wonderful revival that God was bringing about through him. No wonder the religious authorities wanted to find out what was going on. Uppermost in their mind, indeed according to Luke in the minds of all the people (Luke 3: 15), was the question, is he the promised Anointed One, the Messiah?

You see, although these same religious leaders rejected Jesus and crucified him, they were in fact constantly looking out for the appearing of the promised Messiah. They knew the prophecies in the scriptures, and many believed the time was imminent for his appearing. So they asked John directly whether he was the Messiah. And when he denied this they then asked whether he was Elijah, whom they believed from Malachi’s prophecy would appear before the Messiah came, and again John denied it. John went in the spirit and power of Elijah, as the angel had said before he was conceived (Luke 1: 17), but the physical return of Elijah himself had yet to happen.

But the Pharisees persisted in their questions. Was John the prophet whom Moses had said God would raise up like him (Deu 18: 15)? Again he denied it. So who are you they asked. And John replied that he was the voice declaring the way of the Lord that Isaiah had spoken about (Isa 40:3). Well, then, what are you doing baptising people was their response.

It is difficult for us to understand just how these priests and Levites would have been viewed by the Jewish people of that day. You see they weren’t some kind of pressure group or small sect on the periphery of society. These people directed and oversaw the religious life of the people, as well as many aspects of local government. The people gave tithes to support them. In our situation today the closest analogy would be if a revival broke out in Westhill, and the Edinburgh government sent a contingent of ministers and priests and deacons to our church asking us to explain what we were doing and why.

There is an important lesson to learn from these priests and Levites. They had a thorough understanding of the Scriptures, and were totally committed to the religious practices and procedures prescribed in the Law. Their visit to learn more about John’s ministry was evidence of how particular they were that everything should be done in an orthodox manner. And yet Jesus challenged these same leaders time and time again, because they were more concerned about doing things in exactly the right way than they were about truly knowing God and loving him. Their religion consisted of rites and rituals, regular habits and procedures, but sadly for most of them without a personal relationship with God. Jesus commented that their diligence when tithing could not be faulted, extending even to the garden herbs they used in cooking, but their attention to more important matters such as justice, mercy and faithfulness was sadly lacking. (Matt 23: 23). They were like those that the apostle Paul described later, “having a form of godliness but denying its power”.

So there is a lesson for us today. I am so thankful for this church, for what God has done here over the years, and for the commitment of God’s people here to live godly lives. But one trap we need to be aware of, and carefully avoid, is that of having a form of godliness but denying its power. The development of regular habits to express our worship of God, our dependence on his grace, and our encouragement of one another is entirely appropriate. Indeed God’s word bids us to so to do. But, just as an oft-repeated liturgy can easily become vain repetition if we are not careful, so too regular spiritual habits – even prayer, worship, confession and fasting – can become just an ineffective religious ritual if we do not use them as an opportunity to open our hearts to God and receive his transforming grace. None of these religious observations in and of themselves can make one jot of difference; we describe them as “means of grace,” which means that firstly they are repeated reminders to us of our need of God’s grace, and secondly they are ways that God uses to open our hearts to receive Him, and allow his grace to perform its transforming work in our lives.

This is a pitfall that every one of us can fall into so easily. I spend much of my time studying different parts of the Bible, and looking at other historical documents that shed light on the Bible story. I try to solve some of the chronological puzzles that have caused much confusion over the years. But frequently I have to pull myself up and ask myself, is this becoming just an academic exercise for me? Yes, an attempt to understand the Bible as accurately as possible, but am I forgetting the reason God gave me the Bible in the first place – that I might know him, and come to love him with all my heart? Relationship before ritual.

John the Baptist

The character the apostle John was mostly focussing on here was John the Baptist. Other gospel writers tell us more about him. But John introduces him when his ministry was already well established. He was preaching and baptising on the eastern bank of the river Jordan, at a place called Bethany. This is not to be confused with the Bethany near the Mount of Olives where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived. There has been much uncertainty as to precisely where the Bethany on the other side of the Jordan was. However there is now a significant possibility that it was at Al-Maghtas, about seven miles north of the Dead Sea, and just east of Jericho, where recent excavations beside the river have uncovered the remains of a number of ancient church buildings celebrating the site of the baptism of Jesus. Just eight years ago this site was given World Heritage status by UNESCO.

John’s preaching called people to repentance. The angel announcing his conception to his father Zechariah said,

“He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1: 16-17)

And John the Baptist said of himself that the essential reason he himself was called to baptise people was that God’s Chosen One, the Lamb of God, would be revealed. From what John the Baptist said in the passage we read from today we understand that a messenger from God sent him to baptise people. How and when this happened we do not know. But the messenger said to John that he would see the Spirit of God descending to anoint and remain on a person he was baptising, and that person was God’s Chosen and Anointed One, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So we can imagine John as he baptised one after another in the Jordan, asking himself each time, “Is this the One?” And then one day the predicted event became a reality. John baptised Jesus, and he saw the Holy Spirit descend on him and remain with him. And from then on John pointed him out to those who were with him, “This is the One, this is God’s Chosen and Anointed One.” And the result was that those who were with him, like Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, began to follow Jesus instead. You see John’s baptism had prepared the hearts of those like Andrew to understand that Jesus was indeed God’s Chosen and Anointed One. It was because they were now seeking God that they were able to see clearly what God was revealing to them.

Now notice what John said. He himself had no idea who the Anointed One was. All he knew was that it would be made clear to him at the right time. In the meantime his calling, his responsibility, was to call people to turn back to God, and baptise those who repented. As it turned out God’s Anointed One was John’s own cousin, Jesus, but John did not know that beforehand.

God leads his people one step at a time. He rarely, if ever, announces all the details of the journey to us beforehand. And this means that at every stage in our life’s journey we must remain close to him, listening to his voice, ready to respond when he bids us turn to the left or the right. John the Baptist’s task was to be faithful to the task God had given him until the next step was revealed. So it is for us, as individuals and as a church.

Jesus

Now the third character in this opening narrative in John’s gospel is Jesus himself. From the outset the apostle John has made it very clear what Jesus means to him. In his introduction, his preface to this gospel that we did not read this morning, he reveals many wonderful things about Jesus, how he was the Word in the beginning, the creator of all things, the life and the light, the one who shines with the glory of the Father. But in this narrative he is relaying to his readers John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus, and John the Baptist focusses on the two aspects of the work of Jesus that for us are the most essential to grasp, even if everything else is beyond our understanding.

Firstly, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Secondly Jesus is the one who baptises us with the Holy Spirit. Hundreds of years before this the prophet Ezekiel had revealed God’s wonderful purpose:

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezek 11: 19-20)

God has many purposes to be worked out in the lives of those who follow him, and many things to reveal to us about his Son, Jesus. But these are surely the most essential things for us to grasp. Firstly he wants to change our hearts, to remove all that is hard and resistant to God’s will and purpose. Secondly he wants to put his Spirit within us, so that we will walk in his ways in close fellowship with him. This is what Jesus came to do, said John the Baptist. This is the wonderful “good news” of the gospel said John the apostle.

So, let me ask you, what is the most important thing about Jesus to you? Is it that he was a teacher of good moral principles, that he showed us how to live peacefully, caring for one another and sharing with one another. Is it that he introduced a new framework for worshipping God and serving him, establishing a worshipping community within which we can find and give loving fellowship and support? Or is it that he is the one who will forgive and take away that propensity in each one of us, to sin – to fall far short of what God wants us to be and to do – and by the power of his Spirit within us to empower us to walk with God?

Sometimes we cannot see the wood for the trees. There are so many aspects of the Christian religion, or of church life and ministry, that can attract us, or indeed sometimes put us off. But what John the Baptist announced so simply and succinctly to his hearers is the most important thing for us to understand. Jesus died, the sacrificial Lamb of God, to forgive and take away all that is wrong in me, all that grieves God. And he rose again and ascended to heaven to bestow on me his Holy Spirit, to empower me to live a life that pleases God. Maybe you have never thought of that before; if so then this morning, before this service ends, bow before him, the one who loves you and gave his life for you, and ask him to forgive you, cleanse you and empower you to follow him all the remaining days of your life.

And for those of us who have experienced his wonderful forgiveness and empowering by his Holy Spirit, let us commit ourselves afresh to share with those we know and love our own testimony of God’s wonderful grace. Listen, we can say, Jesus is the one who has forgiven me for all my wrongdoing, and has changed my heart to want to do what pleases him; he has given me his Spirit to guide me and help me. He can do the same for you, too, if you ask him.