The Lamb of God

Scripture:  John 1:29-31 (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

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! 30 He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him as the Messiah, but I have been baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” (John 1:29–31 NLT)

John said, “I did not recognize him as the Messiah.” John the Baptist and Jesus were related, probably cousins. Luke Chapter one tells the story of Mary’s visit from the angel Gabriel, Zechariah’s visit from Gabriel, and Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy with the child who would be John the Baptist. As soon as Mary knew she was pregnant, she traveled to visit Elizabeth and stayed with her for the first three months of her pregnancy with Jesus which was the last three months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John. Zechariah, John’s father was a priest in Judea, Joseph was a carpenter in Galilee.

We know their mothers were close and we know that Jesus’ family traveled to Jerusalem, each year for the feasts and religious festivals. John and Jesus, only six months apart in age, probably spent time together growing up and knew each other well. John was likely influenced by the Essenes in Judea and Jesus likely was taught in a Pharisee-led synagogue school in Nazareth.

My point in today’s consideration of this statement by John the Baptist is that it’s often hard to recognize God at work in those we’re already familiar with. It’s so easy to put people in a sort of box and think of them in a particular way! Then we just can’t seem to see them in any other light. John was a young priest candidate and Jesus was a carpenter in training. John and Jesus both saw things prophetically, through the eyes of the Spirit. In every reference John makes to the Messiah, whom he would soon know is his cousin Jesus, he says “He is greater, I’m only a servant.” But John didn’t know Jesus was the Messiah until he received a specific revelation from the Holy Spirit at Jesus’ baptism. (More about that tomorrow!)

Prayer:

Father, Please help us to see greatness in the ordinary, and uniqueness in the familiar. We get locked into a certain perception or viewpoint and it’s so easy to miss something really important. Help us to see the creative potential in the people around us. Help us to see those you place in our lives through eyes of faith and to see ourselves and others as servants to your greater purpose. For the Kingdom’s Sake! Amen!