Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ranks before me, because He was before me. ... This is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’ (John 1:29, 30, 33). John the Baptist is testifying about Jesus, and you have to wonder how much John understood. Only after the resurrection did the disciples understood that Jesus must suffer, though it had been hidden in plain sight in the Scriptures (Luke 24:25-27). The concept of a sacrificial lamb went back to Abraham (Genesis 22:8). It was the blood of the lamb on the lintels of door post that caused the Angel of death to pass over the children of Israel at Passover (Exodus 12:1-13). And the sacrificial system at the temple regularly offered a spotless lambs as sacrifices for sin. These things were but shadows of things to come, but the substance was Christ (Colossians 2:17). In fact it is not possible that the blood of animals would take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). Only the spotless Lamb of God could do that (1 Peter 1:19).

Jesus of course was born after John (Luke 1:26, 36). In Hebrew thought the one who came first ranked before those who came after. So ranked in order we have Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses etc. So how could John say Jesus ranked before him? Well “the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the World” (Revelation 13:8). And Jesus could say “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). We are to understand that Jesus is God and that God operates outside of time. Do I understand that? Well not really, but if I understood God I would be God, and I am not! Did John understand it? I don't know, he was a prophet of course (Luke 7:28), but that does not mean he understood.

Then there is the reference to the Spirit. How much of that did John understand? In the Old Testament the Spirit came upon particular people, at particular times, for a particular purpose. But John's understanding of baptism is that he would baptize anyone who came to him to be baptize. So it's clear that he understood that Jesus would baptize anyone who came to Him with Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). And Jesus would later tell us “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13). So we just need to ask! This would not happen until Jesus was taken up to heaven (John 16:7). And it is better for us that Jesus would go because we now how the Spirit living within us. In fact we are the temple of Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and the Christian is a kind of Holy Spirit sandwich, He is with us on the inside, and we are immersed in Him from the outside.

Father, thank You for sending both You Son to be the saviour of the World, and the Holy Spirit to be our guide, our comforter and our teacher. Help us Lord to live in the reality that You will never leave us nor forsake us. We worship and praise You again this morning for You our amazing, incomprehensible, lovely, loving Trinitarian God. Thank You for Jesus, thank You for Holy Spirit, thank You that You have adopted us and that we can call ourselves Your children in Jesus Name Amen