(John 1:30)
�This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.�
John saw Jesus.
What a sentence is that! John saw Jesus!
Just imagine opening your mailbox and finding a registered letter. In the letter are these words, �You don�t know me; but, I have something that I wish to give to you.� Along with this short note is a cashiers check for one million dollars. What would be your reaction upon seeing this?
Ratchet up that reaction infinitely and you might just approach the thrill which John felt when he saw the face of the Savior! The entire life and work of John had been spent for this one moment. John saw Jesus!
The great awe and thrill of the moment is not understandable. It is too far above the pace of our own lives.
But, we are also given the thrill of seeing Jesus with the eye of faith. We can look upon Him as our Savior. We can look upon Him as our Example. We can look upon Him as our constant Contemporary. And, joy of joys, we can look upon Him as Friend.
Jesus came to this earth with the express purpose of offering Himself as the sin bearer for your personal load of sins. Jesus came to this earth with the express purpose of giving you salvation from those sins so that you could be free to enjoy fellowship with the Father and a home in Heaven. Jesus came to this earth with the express purpose of searching for you so that He could impart these gifts to you.
This is better than any gift of money from an unknown benefactor. I know getting a check for $1,000,000.00 would be great. Why, you�d be a millionaire! But, if you sent a note to someone, telling them of the great fortune you had, you�d not be able to call yourself a millionaire. After buying the stamp you�d only have $999,999.61 left. You�d no longer be a millionaire.
But the riches which have entered your life through the Person of Jesus Christ can never diminish. These riches will only grow as we spend that faith through its exercise!
It is good to have riches. It is better to have Christ in your life!
John looked upon Jesus and saw the King of Prophecy. �This is he of whom I said...�
The ancient prophets of Israel had foretold of the coming Messiah. There are, quite literally, hundreds of incidents where Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament witnesses. There are far too many of these for their fulfillment to have been simple chance. The fulfillment�s are too minute in detail.
Sometimes the prophecies were fulfilled by the enemies of Jesus. Look at Psalm 22; this is a Messianic Psalm. In it is foretold the suffering of the Savior as He was on the Cross of Calvary. Two things stand out about this prophecy.
First, there is a vivid description of the agony which one experienced during crucifixion. Since this type of punishment was unknown in ancient Israel, this insight could only have come from the inspiring Hand of God as The Spirit moved upon the human instrument who penned the words. It would have been impossible for the human penman to write in such detail about something with which he could have had no familiarity.
Second, pay special attention to verse seven and eight in the Psalm. Compare this with the crucifixion accounts in the New Testament. You will find that the opponents of Jesus, those who would deny Him the most voraciously, were themselves fulfilling prophecies which proved Him to be the very Messiah of prophecy.
Now look back to Isaiah 7:14. �Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.�
Many critics have derided the use of this verse as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus. They will argue that this prophecy was only related to the political realities of the day of Ahaz. Their claim is that there was a young woman in Israel who would have a child. Before this child would reach the age to know the difference between good and evil (see verse 16) Israel would be delivered.
In following this line of reasoning the critics have ignored the fact that Old Testament is a physical picture of things God wants to teach of spiritual truths. Quite often the prophecies of the Old Testament would refer to events in the near future which gave physical manifestations of future events of which God was speaking.
In theology this is called, �The rule of double fulfillment.�
This is one of those times.
Notice that this child, of Isaiah 7:14, was to be called, �Immanuel.� The word means, �God with us.� Jesus, as we have seen in the first chapter of John, is in actuality, God with us.
The critics have also claimed that the word translated as, �Virgin.� in our King James Bibles could be translated ether �virgin,� or it could be translated, �young woman.� Many of the newer translations have opted for the latter translation of �young woman.� Why? They could - by their own admission - have chosen either word.
A fidelity to Scripture would have demanded, if they were unsure which word to use in this instance that they use the word, �virgin,� rather than, �young woman.� After all, this is an easy choice. The Holy Spirit made His Own commentary on the passage in Isaiah when He inspired the New Testament Book of Matthew. �Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name, Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.� (Matthew 1:22-23)
There seems to be a bias in some commentaries (I hesitate to call them Bible versions in this instance!) toward the supernatural. They would seem anxious to find naturalistic reasoning rather than accepting the supernatural involvement of God.
Isn�t that a sad commentary on the spiritual vitality of the translators who mistreat this passage? Doesn�t this make their entire work suspect from the spiritual standpoint?
These were accurate prophets which had foretold the coming of Christ.
There are many prophets in this day. Read almost any newspaper in the U. S. and you will find a column of advice called a �horoscope.� Most of these do contain very good advice. They are rarely to be seen telling young children to play in the street, or to run with scissors. But, they also give very general advice. Were they to give more specific advice we would see them as what they are, often wrong.
Many fortune tellers and seers have amazingly high percentages of correct prognostications. God has a higher standard: �When a prophet speaketh in the name fo the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shall not be afraid of him.� (Deuteronomy 18:22)
God demands perfection. The prophecies of Jesus were just that - perfect. They were all fulfilled of Him.
As to the other, extra Biblical, �prophets� of the day, they are not of God. They are occultic. From such turn away. They are of Satan. What God would have us to know, He has given us in His Word. He has always displayed His anger toward those who would attempt to rob Him of His glory, or to lead others toward another way.
It was anointed prophets who had foretold His coming.
There is a Word which is from God. And, there is a word which is not from God. Not everything that is said is strictly religious and edifying. We need to differentiate between those things that are not Biblical and those things which are anti Biblical.
�Studebaker makes a better car,� is not anti Biblical. It is, quite obviously, not correct. But, it is not a thing said against the Bible and the God of the Bible.
�Read your horoscope daily to find the best way to live your life,� is anti Biblical. It purports to tell a person another way to find guidance than that which God has given. It is not correct and it is against the Bible and the God of the Bible.
We need to seek guidance of God, as revealed in the Bible, as we go through our daily lives.
John looked upon Jesus and saw the King of Preference. �...After me cometh a man which is preferred before me...�
Jesus was anointed for a mission. So was John. The missions were similar in that they both involved bringing the message of God to the people of the day. But, the missions were not the same. John was to point the way to the coming Savior. Jesus was to come to be that Savior.
I was just talking on the phone with an old friend. I�ve known him for about fifty years. We were both in the scouting program back at our elementary school when we were still young friends.
He mentioned that one of the regrets of his life was that he�d never, personally, led anyone to salvation in Jesus. I tried to explain something that he already knew. Each of us has differing jobs in God�s economy. Some of us are to lead people through example. Some of us are to pray for the Holy Spirit�s convicting power. Some of us are, to use my friend�s term, to be �closers.� No one job is more important than another.
We should each be prepared to take the Scripture and lead a soul to Christ, should God give us that task. But the one who �waters the plant� is as important in the growing of the grain as is the one who harvests the field. Had the corn not gotten the proper water for the growing season there would be no work for the gatherer in the harvesting season.
Whatever is the task God has given, it is our duty to fulfill it to the best of our ability. A truck driver in the military is as important as is the rifleman. The rifleman is as important as is the medic. The medic is as important as is the company clerk. All must be at their post, and assuming their duty, for the mission to be successful.
Each job we do for Christ is infinitely important. We need to do as did Jesus and be accepting of our missions.
There is a person who brings me the daily paper every day. They do not publish the paper. They do not write, generally, articles for the paper. Without their efforts I would not have a newspaper to read with my evening meal. (I don�t know if I could digest the food without my daily dose of �news and commentary!�)
Even though this person does not write, edit, or publish the newspaper, they are - in a very real sense - the person most responsible for my having that newspaper every day. They are the teenage �paperboy� and �papergirl� who deliver that newspaper faithfully.
Jesus was also accepted in His mission.
Only Jesus could fulfill the task of being the sin bearer for the sins of the world. Only Jesus could do this job. Because He was faithful to His task, we have the opportunity to obtain salvation even unto this day.
As we live in the will of God, we must live - and work - so as to be acceptable to Him. Notice, I did not say that we would do these things to be accepted. We have already been accepted because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. Now, in glorious thankfulness to Him, and in service to the humanity to which He came to offer salvation, we need to be faithful to the task given us as spiritual soldiers of the cross.
John also looked at Jesus and saw in Him the King of Permanence. �...for he was before me.�
Jesus is the Eternal Son of God even as He is God in the flesh of humanity.
John the Baptist must have understood that Jesus, his cousin in the natural - the Son of God - did not begin His existence in Bethlehem. John the Apostle, the writer of this Book, surely understood this fact as inspiration led him to pen the words of this first chapter which clearly state the divinity of Jesus.
John 1:1 clearly says that Jesus was in the beginning. The verse does not say that Jesus began, or was created, at that point. The verse does say that Jesus was in existence at the beginning of all things physical that exist in the physical universe. In point of fact, John 1:3 credits Jesus as the Creator Who made all things.
Jesus is powerful and eternal because Jesus is God.
I can not properly understand, or explain, that fact. But, the Bible says that it is so. I accept on faith that which I might not understand, realizing that God is Spirit and understands all things. What He has said is so.
John also saw Jesus as the Exalted Christ.
�Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.� (Philippians 2:9)
The culture of the world, not just the Western world, has been changed by the Name of Jesus. He has influenced societies to be philanthropic. Hospitals, libraries, organizations of mercy, have come to man through the influence of this Man.
The very dates of our calendars bear testimony to the fact that Jesus lives. Even where the naming of the date has changed, through the secularization of modern society, from A.D. to C.E., the dates stem from the life of this God/Man. Not all societies, to be sure, use this system in their internal lives; but, commerce and international relationships are bound in this method of measuring time.
What is true in the natural is also true, in this instance at least, in the spiritual. The Name of Jesus is the only name by which man can access true salvation. There is no other standard which God will accept! (see Acts 4:12)
Jesus is also the Everlasting Savior.
I went down to the store yesterday. There were bags of precut lettuce which were on sale cheaper than I could have bought a head of lettuce. I bought a couple of bags and brought them home. Now I realize that I�m going to eat salads for a couple of days so I can consume the lettuce before it spoils.
Food stuffs tend to spoil if we don�t freeze them, or otherwise find a way to preserve them. They will still spoil even if we do this. It may take them longer, but they will spoil.
While I was talking to my friend earlier, we spoke of a church in town that is experiencing some financial problems. They have a very large building and a small congregation. They are spending much more on upkeep than they can afford.
Buildings tend to need constant upkeep or they will fail. Roofs must be repaired. Windows must be replaced. Even at my home we recently had to call in a plumber to fix some pipes that had ruined beyond the competence of me, or my son even(And, he�s a ton better a fixing things than am I!), to repair.
But, Jesus... His power to save will never diminish. He has called us to an eternal salvation.
He is calling you, as well.
Have you accepted Him as your own personal Savior?
Why not do so right now!