Day two! Who & What Are You?

John 1:29-34

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is 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 has priority over me [Who takes rank above me] because He was before me and existed before I did. 31 And I did not know Him and did not recognize Him [myself]; but it is in order that He should be made manifest and be revealed to Israel [be brought out where we can see Him] that I came baptizing in (with) water. 32 John gave further evidence, saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and it dwelt on Him [never to depart]. 33 And I did not know Him nor recognize Him, but He Who sent me to baptize in (with) water said to me, Upon Him Whom you shall see the Spirit descend and remain, that One is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. 34 And I have seen [that happen—I actually did see it] and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!

Food for thought!

Here we come to the second day of this momentous week in the life of Jesus. By this time his baptism and his temptations were past and he was about to set his hand to the work which he came into the world to do. This work is summed up in the words LAMB OF GOD! Another name for Jesus!

The name "the Lamb of God" says much. It is one of the most precious titles of Christ. In one word it sums up the love, the sacrifice, the suffering and the triumph of Christ. Jesus is the lamb that the Father in heaven has given us to atone for our sins. It is the lamb that has been missing since Abraham. You remember the story of Abraham and his son Isaac in Genesis chapter 22? You remember Isaac's question to his father:

“The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

Well, the lamb that Abraham talked about is now provided in the person of Jesus! Jesus is the lamb of God.

John says that he did not know Jesus. What John is saying is not that he did not know WHO Jesus was, but that he did not know WHAT Jesus was. It had suddenly been revealed to him that Jesus was none other than the Son of God, sent to take away the sin of the world. Each one of us came with a mission to realize in this life; we were created for some what, some function, some mission. For Jesus we know: he is the Son of God, whose business is to take away our sin. 

The same with us. There's both a who and a what attached to our person; we are someone and we are something. Do you know who you're and what you're? As John said yesterday, he is not the Messiah or any of the prophets. This is the who. He is the voice calling on the people to get ready for Jesus. This is the what of John; this is what John came into this life to accomplish.

As John has shown us, Jesus is the Son of God (who) and the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (what). John's function (what) is clear: to point men to Christ. He was nothing and Christ was everything. He claimed no greatness and no place for himself; he was only the man who, as it were, drew back the curtain and left Jesus occupying the lonely centre of the stage. John is our model of humility.