Chapter 1 Part 2, we get to meet Jesus for the first time and also meet some people who also met Jesus. Have you ever been around someone who gives off an awe-inspiring presence and you can't quite put your finger on it. There are certain people we meet in life who have what psychologists call a magnetic personality. You don't know why you feel what you feel but you suddenly feel out of your depth like they're giving something off but somehow, they make you feel little in awe of them. Some people get this feeling when they meet someone famous. We're not talking about fame today, we're talking about the feeling you get when you actually meet someone, and they slightly unnerve you and you don't know why. Well today we will encounter six different people who met Jesus and were in awe of him they weren't struck by his fame because he wasn't famous yet, besides this is bigger than fame. They were struck by who he was the Messiah. John picks up in chapter 1:14 where we left off and I'd like you to follow along with me as we read, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The word became flesh and those few short words, John takes us from the epic creator of the universe who created space-time and matter and puts him in a human body this is the transition verse from the first part of John chapter 1 where Jesus is the epic creator of the universe to now being a guy who for the rest of the chapter is going to walk around meeting people. The Word, the eternal one himself, became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Now there is a cool word picture here, John uses the word dwell as if God were camping out, pitching a tent among us. In the Old Testament God famously met with Moses in a tent known as the tent of meeting, that’s because God's glory or radiance was too bright for people to handle. Looking at God would be like looking directly into a million Suns and it would kill you dead. So, God met inside of a tent and covered his glory, so he could meet with us and it wouldn't kill us. This is what John is saying here about Jesus taking on flesh, that's why John continues in verse 14, we've seen his glory the glory of the one and only son. It's like John saying his glory may have had a tin of flesh over it but he still couldn't hide who he was. To understand how powerful this is, let's remember the design of the Tabernacle or the tent where Moses met with God. Do you remember how God told Moses to design it? Well from the outside it was covered with the skins of animals but on the inside, it was a tent made-up of three different colors of cords woven together red cords, blue cords and purple cords. Why those three colors, let me ask you; when you think of the skin in those three different colored cords what does that remind you of? Well as a paramedic, I've done a lot of human anatomy, and I can tell you what the inside of a human body looks like. Oxygenated blood vessels are red, unoxygenated blood vessels are blue and mixed vessels are purple. Doesn't that kind of sound like a human body? Three colors of cords, like our arteries and veins and then all your veins and arteries are covered over with skin to hide it. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Here's the kicker. For God to be able to meet with people he had to first deal with their sins and to do that they'd sacrifice an innocent lamb at the tent of meeting outside of it, who is a symbol of someone innocent dying in their place and absorbing the judgment of God to take away their sins, so God could meet with people face to face. And that brings us to John the Baptist, are first person in this chapter who beholds Jesus’s glory and calls him the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Look at verse 19-34, the wind is blowing across the Jordan and out pass the reeds waist deep John the Baptist pauses and awe, as he sees Jesus approaching. Verse 29, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” Skip ahead to verse 32, “Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit of God come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him, and I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” John the Baptist says, “I didn't know him.” His glory was covered with flesh. In other words, Jesus seemed to be like anyone else John baptized, but now John the Baptist identifies and testifies this is God's chosen one. John saw his glory; we beheld his glory. But like one preacher said, John the Baptist job had been to announce the way point the way and get out of the way and John's gonna get out of the way but first he points the way to two other of his disciples who start following Jesus instead those two are John and Andrew the next to see Jesus’s glory. Let's read about it verse 35, “The next day Jesus was there again with two of his disciples when he saw Jesus passing by John said look the Lamb of God”, when the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus turning around Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” What a question. It seems to put them on the spot. What do you want? When Jesus turns and asked the disciples what do you want? They seem to be like deer in headlights. I don't know why they answer, Lord where are you staying ? Perhaps they just blurted it out or maybe they wanted to have more of a conversation and find out more and where like, Lord we can't talk here about things could we go somewhere else? If Jesus suddenly asks you today what do you want? What would you say? Perhaps you're asking yourself this deeper question today and like the disciples you're following behind Jesus, by being here trying to see what he's about listening to what other people like John the Baptist say about him, not sure what all this Lamb of God stuff is all about but still intrigued. If that's you, be encouraged Jesus has these brief encounters with people but then makes himself available. Look at verse 39, “Come”, he replied, “and you will see.” So, they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.” I love the little eyewitness details like this, it was about four in the afternoon. It lets you know this actually happened somebody actually really experienced it this, is John's story. So, from there we see Jesus called Simon and gives him a new name Peter then in verse 43 we meet the final two disciples in this chapter that behold Jesus’s glory, “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip like Andrew and Peter was from the town of Bethesda. Phillip found Nathaniel told him, “We have found them Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph.” Did you notice that word found again we have found the Messiah and then finding fellow and then Philip found Nathaniel. John likes the word found here everybody thinks they found Jesus but who's finding who really in these passages? Verse 47, “When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said to him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathaniel asked. Shocked that Jesus although they've never met knows who he is. Back to meeting famous people, what would you do if the next time you met a famous person or like I'm one of your biggest fans and they said, “Hey is this that you?” I follow you on Instagram, you’d feel shocked like Phillip here. Like how do you know me? Why did you even take the time to find out who I was? Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathaniel declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” And Jesus tells him, “You will see greater things than that.” Friends we will too, as we keep reading and we keep beholding his glory that though it's veiled in flesh just can't be hidden.
Comments