John 1:29-34

Sunday, January 7, 2007

THIS IS THE TRUE SON OF GOD

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."

32 And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." John 1:29-34 (NKJV)

John is being faithful to the task that God has given him to do;  that being to prepare the way for the Lamb of God. This passage brings a picture to my mind of a group of people standing around John, listening to his words. John looks up and sees Jesus walking along the dusty path toward him. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the words written in the Bible could convey the emotions of the speaker? When John said "This is He," I imagine that those words were filled with excitement. This is He! This is He! This is the One I have been telling you about! This is the One on whom I saw the Spirit descending like a dove and remained on Him. I can see John wildly excited as he tells the people that God had told him that the one that the Spirit descends on and remains on is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Then I can imagine that this rough looking man, a man that appeared as one who came out of the wilderness, said in a voice that made it very clear that he meant what he said, "This is the Son of God.

In this Epiphany Season, it must be emphasized over and over again that This is the Son of God. The world is in desperate need of knowing Jesus Christ the Light of the World.

In this Epiphany Season it must be told over and over again that This is the Son of God.

In this Epiphany Season are we moving to a point where our faith is strong enough that, like John, the life that we lead says that without doubt, without question, This is the Son of God.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as you called John the Baptist to prepare the way for your Son to enter the lives and hearts of the Children of Israel, you have also called me to Prepare the Hearts of our families, friends, coworkers, and even strangers to welcome you into their lives. Lord, give me that same motivation and courage to say to others, "This is He! This is the Son of God."  Amen

A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THIS DEVOTION

Select three people to pray for today and in the days to come.  One of them should be someone that you believe has a strong faith; one should be someone that you think has no time for God in his or her life; and the third one should fit somewhere in between.