Sunday's Coming

Jesus was crucified on a Friday. That day was filled with brutality, humiliation, pain, and death. But Jesus knew that Sunday was coming. He knew that He would rise again. [See video in previous post]

In this life, we go through our own Friday experiences: sickness, pain, sorrow, disappointment. But there is also a Sunday coming for us. There is a future day of resurrection for every follower of Christ.

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.

Because of Good Friday, we can look back and not be afraid. Because of Easter, we can look ahead and not be afraid.

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant [uninformed] about those who fall asleep [those who have died before the coming of the Lord], or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. [Since] we believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

What will happen on the day of resurrection?

1. On the day of resurrection, we will receive a new body.

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:1-4).

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55).

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).

2. On the day of resurrection, we will receive a new home.

“‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am’” (John 14:1-3).

3. On the day of resurrection, we will begin a new life.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Revelation 21:1-4).

4. On the day of resurrection, we will enjoy a new experience.

“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

5. As we await the day of resurrection, we have a new outlook: hope.

“Therefore encourage [comfort] each other with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

“While we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

In 1971, Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote the popular gospel song “Because He Lives.” Back then, America was in turmoil with a bloody war in Southeast Asia and riots at home. At the same time, Bill contracted mononucleosis, which left him exhausted. When they suddenly discovered they were expecting another baby, Bill and Gloria asked themselves, “If this world is like this now, what will it be like in sixteen years for our baby? What will this child face?” While grappling with that question, they realized that the power of the resurrection of Jesus gives hope for tomorrow, whatever the circumstances. Their song reflects the truth about Easter:

Because He lives I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

Sunday's Comin'

The First Disciples

John 1:35-51

In these verses, Jesus gains five of His original twelve disciples:
(1) Andrew
(2) An unnamed disciple (probably John)
(3) Simon Peter (Andrew’s brother)
(4) Philip
(5) Nathanael (perhaps also known as Bartholomew; Bartholomew is linked with Philip in the other three Gospels – Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14)

What is a disciple? “Disciple” = one who follows another:
· Disciples of Jesus follow His teaching (John 8:31).
· Disciples of Jesus follow His example (1 Peter 2:21).

Discipleship is not a one-time decision; it’s a lifelong journey.

1. The journey of discipleship is best traveled with others (vv. 40-42a, 43-46).

Andrew found his brother Simon; Philip found his friend Nathanael.

Every time we meet Andrew in this Gospel he is bringing someone to Jesus (1:41; 6:8; 12:22).

“Come follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).

2. The journey of discipleship brings personal transformation (vv. 42b).

Jesus changed Simon’s name to “Cephas”/“Peter” (“rock”):
· In Jewish culture naming is a significant event. Names unveil something of the character of the person (e.g., Jacob means “he clutches” [his brother’s heel], Genesis 25:26), and renaming indicates something of the authority of one person over another (as God gave Jacob the name “Israel,” Genesis 32:28).
· Peter is anything but a rock in the Gospels; he is impulsive and unstable (John 13:37-38; 18:10, 15-27).
· The pronouncement by Jesus was really a diagnosis of Peter’s personality. Simon, or Simeon (cf. Acts 15:14), was the name of Jacob’s second oldest son (Genesis 29:33), who, with his brother Levi, ruthlessly avenged the violation of their sister (Genesis 34:25-31). The rash and impulsive character of Simeon was mirrored in Peter’s tendency to violence (cf. John 18:10). Jesus accepted Simon as he was but promised that he would become “a rock.”
· Jesus changed Peter’s character to fit his new name (Matthew 16:16-18 – “this rock” refers to Peter’s confession of faith; Acts 1:15; 2:14; 4:18-20). Jesus named Peter not for what he was but for what, by God’s grace, he would become.

3. The journey of discipleship leads one into God's presence (vv. 47-51).

Jesus knew about Nathanael before the two ever met. Jesus said, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree” (v. 48). What was Nathanael doing under the fig tree? We are not told. My guess is that he was meditating upon the OT story of Jacob. When Jesus approached Nathanael, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom is nothing false [no deceit, NASB; no guile, KJV]” (v. 47). This is probably a reference to Jacob—the biblical character most known for deceit (“Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing,” Genesis 27:35). Nathanael is unlike Jacob; he is an honest man. Nathanael’s honest evaluation of Jesus was “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (v. 49).

Nathanael (and the other disciples; “you” is plural in verse 51) were told that they would “see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (compare with Genesis 28:10-19).

The most requested and most played song on radio in the United States is Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” The song is about a materialistic woman who thinks she can buy a stairway to heaven. The Bible says there is only one stairway to heaven.

Jesus is the stairway to heaven (1 Timothy 2:5):
· Jesus is God who came down to man.
· Through Jesus we can go up to God (John 14:6).

NOTES

“Cephas” (v. 42) – Neither “Cephas” nor “Peter” are usual names but actually nicknames (like the American “Rocky”), which often point to some feature of a person’s character.

“The Law and ... the prophets” (v. 45) – This is a common Jewish designation for the Hebrew Scriptures in their entirety.

“Nazareth!” (v. 46) – Nathanael was from Cana, a village north of Nazareth (John 21:2); Nazareth was a small, insignificant town of no more than two thousand people.

“Son of Man” (v. 51) – The expression is fused in John’s Gospel to denote both Jesus’ heavenly origin and destination (John 15:1; 3:13; 6:62; cf. Daniel 7:13) and his “lifting up” (substitutionary sacrifice) on the cross (John 3:14; 6:53; 8:28; 12:23, 34; 13:31).

The First Witness

John 1:19-34

1. WHO JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS NOT

“Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was” (v. 19).

a. He was not the Christ (v. 20).

“He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Christ.’”

With us “Christ” has become little more than a personal name for Jesus, but properly it is a title, “the Christ,” which means “the anointed” (as does “the Messiah”). In the OT various people were anointed, but notably priests and kings (for the latter, cf. the phrase, “the Lord’s anointed”). The ceremony was used to set men apart for special functions. When the expectation grew that one day God would sent into the world an exceptionally great Person, a mighty Deliverer, One who would represent Him in a very special sense, this coming great One was thought not of as “an anointed one,” but as “the anointed one,” “the Messiah.” So the title was applied by believers to Jesus, and it remains to remind us of this public and official aspect of His ministry.

b. He was not Elijah (v. 21a).

“They asked him, ‘Then who are you? Are you Elijah?’” “He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’”

“Are you Elijah?”:
· It had been foretold by the prophet Malachi that before “that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes” God would send Elijah the prophet (Mal. 4:5). This was understood to mean that Elijah would precede the Messiah.
· The appearance of John and Elijah was similar. “John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey” (Mark 1:6). “He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist” (2 Kings 1:7-8).

“I am not”:
· John’s denial puzzles many, because Jesus clearly asserted that John was “the Elijah who was to come” (Matt. 11:14; 17:12; Mark 9:13).
· The solution to the difficulty is probably that there was a sense in which John was Elijah and a sense in which he was not. He fulfilled all the preliminary ministry that Malachi had foretold “And he [John] will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah . . . to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). In a very real sense Jesus could say that John was Elijah.
· But the Jews remembered that Elijah had left the earth in a chariot of fire without passing through death (2 Kings 2:11), and they expected that the identical person would reappear. John was not Elijah in this sense, and he had no option but to deny that he was.

c. He was not the Prophet (v. 21b).

‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’”

“Are you the Prophet?”:
· “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him” (Deuteronomy 18:18).
· The Jews distinguished between “the Prophet” and “the Christ” (John 7:40-41).
· “The prophet” was Jesus (Acts 3:22).

2. WHO JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS

a. He was the one who was to get people ready for the Christ (vv. 22-23).

“Finally they said, ‘Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ ‘John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the Lord”’” (cf. Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4).

“I am the voice…”
· John’s reply is a quotation from Isaiah 40:3 (cf. Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4). “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God’” (Isaiah 40:3).
· The point of the quotation is that it gives no prominence to the preacher whatever. He is no more than a voice. He is a voice, with but one thing to say.
· John’s real function was not to teach ethics, but to point people to Jesus. “Make straight the way for the Lord” is a call to be ready, for the coming of the Messiah is near.
· The imagery is that of preparing a roadway by clearing away the obstacles. This was an important process in ancient times, especially for roads in the wilderness country.

b. He was a man of amazing humility (vv. 24-27).

“Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, ‘Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’ ‘I baptize with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’”

“Among you stands one you do not know.” The Christ stood among them, though they did not know Him (cf. v. 11).

“The thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie”
· Loosing the sandal was the task of a slave; a disciple could not be expected to perform it. To get the full impact of this we must bear in mind that disciples did do many services for their teachers.
· 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. “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John” (Luke 7:28). If such a great person felt inadequate even to be Christ’s slave, how much more should we lay aside our pride to serve Christ! When we truly understand who Christ is, our pride and self-importance melt away.
· “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). “He must increase, but I must decrease” (KJV).

The Jews wanted to know who John was, but John wanted them to know who Jesus was.

3. WHO JESUS IS

a. Jesus is the Lamb of God (v. 29-31).

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, “A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.’”

Verses 26 and 32-33 show that John had recognized Jesus as the Christ on an earlier occasion.

“The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”:
· “The lamb” = the sacrificial lamb or the victorious lamb. John was not excepting Jesus to suffer (see Matthew 11:2-19). It may be a case in which John was speaking better than he realized (cf. 11:49-52). Every morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple for the sins of the people (Exodus 29:38-42). Isaiah 53:7 prophesied that the Messiah would be led to the slaughter like a lamb. To pay the penalty for sin, a life had to be given.
· “Of God” = provided by God or belonging to God.
· “Takes away the sin” = atonement or judgment.
· “Of the world” = He is sufficient for the need of all people.

b. Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (vv. 32-33).

“Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”

John is not talking about a vision. He actually saw the Holy Spirit come down upon Jesus in a form like that of a dove. The Spirit not only descended but remained on Him. We should probably understand that the Spirit remained with Him permanently.

The early church preached that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power” (Acts 10:38):
· “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him” (Isaiah 11:1-2).
· “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him . . . .” (Isaiah 42:1).
· “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Isaiah 61:1; cf. Luke 4:18).

“I would not have known him”
· This does not necessarily mean that he did not know Jesus at all. It is quite possible that this is his meaning, for Jesus was brought up in Galilee and John in Judea. They may never have met until now, although they were related.
· But it seems more probable that John means that he did not know Jesus to be the Messiah who would baptize with the Holy Spirit until he saw the sign.

The outpouring of the Spirit came after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven (see 20:22; Acts 2). This too anticipates the fulfillment of OT prophecies, which looked forward to the time when God’s people would have the Spirit poured out on them (e.g. Ezek. 36:25-26).

c. Jesus is the Son of God (v. 34).

“‘I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.’”

LIFE LESSON: Like John, we should lay aside our pride to serve Christ.

What Child Is This? (Part 4)

John 1:14-18

To fully understand John 1:14-18 you need to study Exodus 33-40.

1. God cannot be seen (v. 18a).

“Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence…. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live’” (Exodus 33:18, 20). Moses received a glimpse of God’s “back” (33:23). It was a partial revelation of God’s glory.

OT saints were usually terrified of seeing God (Exodus 3:6b; Judges 13:21-22; Job 13:11; Isaiah 6:5; cf. John 12:41).

The reason for humanity’s inability to see God is twofold: (1) God is spirit (John 4:24); (2) mankind fell into sin and was expelled from God’s presence (Genesis 3; Isaiah 59:2).

2. God became human (v. 14a).

The word of God once came to man on stone tablets (Exodus 34:1); now “the Word” (Jesus) has come in the “flesh” (see 1 John 1:1-2).

Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He lived:
· John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me”’” (v. 15).
· “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6b).
· “But you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times [or, from days of eternity]” (Micah 5:2).

“Dwelt” = “to set up a tent.” God once dwelt among men in a tent (Exodus 33:9-11); now He has dwelt among us in a human body.

Jesus is fully God and fully man.

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:22-23).

3. God made Himself known (v. 14b, 18b).

As our words reveal who we are, so “the Word” (Jesus) reveals who God is.

In the NIV, verse 18 describes Jesus as “God the One and Only.”

Jesus “is at the Father’s side” (v. 18). The KJV says “in the bosom of the Father.” Literally, John says that Jesus is “in the Father’s lap.” This expression is used elsewhere in the NT: (1) the beggar “was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22 KJV); (2) “there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23 KJV). This expression brings out the closeness between the Father and the Son.

Jesus “has made [the Father] known” (v. 18). The KJV says “hath declared him.” This means that Jesus has given us a full account of the Father. God is as Jesus revealed Him.

Verse 18b is similar to verse 1:
· “In the bosom of the Father” is parallel to “with God”;
· “God the One and Only” is parallel to “was God”;
· “Has made him known” is parallel to “the Word” (God’s self-expression).

As “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:35b), so His glory filled the body of Jesus.

How did people see God’s glory through Jesus? The glory could only be seen with the “eye” of faith:
· Through His miracles - “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (John 2:11; cf. 11:4, 40).
· Through His crucifixion and resurrection - “Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds’” (John 12:23-24; cf. 13:31).

God told Moses that He is a God of “grace and truth” ("love and faithfulness," Exodus 34:5-7), but now God has shown us through Jesus. The love and faithfulness found ultimate expression in God’s sending of Jesus, His one and only Son.

4. God came to bless us (vv. 16-17).

God came not just to show us love, but to give us love.

The blessings of God (eternal life, forgiveness, hope, peace) are available only through faith in Jesus Christ.

The greatest blessing will be to know God and live with Him forever in heaven:
· “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).
· “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3).

[A sermon by John Piper, “The Word Became Flesh,” was used in the preparation of this sermon.]