JOHN075 - John the Baptist Holds on Loosely

John 1:35-42

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Music by Jeff Foote

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hey my friends, Matt. This is the 10 Minute Bible Hour Podcast. And I've made a bunch of friends around the internet over the years of doing internet things. You probably know some of them. Probably you don't know others of them. I've also made a lot of associates, acquaintances, people that, you know, maybe it doesn't rise to the level of friend, but you get to know stuff about people and how they do things. And what I find is that there are some people on the internet who are very jealously guarded of their audience. They want to hold on real tight. And there are other people who are very generous with their audience. They like to point their audience toward other things they think they would like. I've got some really good friends who I think are magnificent about this. They just don't hold on tight. If they encounter anything that they think is great, they will point people toward it enthusiastically and are just happy that people they might never meet who are in their audience might find this new thing that they might like. Likewise, John the Baptist is not clingy with his audience. He is downright eager, downright pushy, even, to get his followers, his audience to follow Jesus. And when I think about what that looks like in the lives of people who I know who, you know, are leaders and do internet things. There's uh there's something really beautiful about the kind of person whose identity isn't all wrapped up in seeing how popular they can get and how many people they can get to like them. And they can't, you know, they can't afford it if a few people go over this direction or that direction. You know, they're always panicked about it, they're hand-wringing about it. And there's a calm and there's a peace and there's a clarity about my friends who were very generous, very eager to nudge those who like their content out to go and find you know other great things. Well, John the Baptist comes off awesome in this passage. Well, he comes off awesome in the whole Bible. I mean, Jesus says he's great, like the greatest. But he comes off great in this passage because he's secure in his own skin. He's weird, he dresses weird, he lives weird, his life is weird, it's going to be cut short. Kind of get the impression that he maybe knows that he's not going to be around for that long. Everybody likes him and is fawning over him. Yet it's almost like he's trying to push that off. It's like he's bristling at all of the attention and affection that's being heaped on him. You know, these people come out here starting in verse, what is it, 19? And it's almost like you know, they want to do a feature on him. We're the religious leaders. Tell us about you. Who are you? What's your reputation? No. Well, are you this really great thing? This great title we'd like to heap on you. No. Are you the reincarnation of this great guy? No. Are you this mysterious prophet? No. Well, who are you? We need to know who you are. I'm the voice. I'm just a voice. I'm just a voice. And there's somebody coming after me. He's the actual point. So that happens in scene one of John the Baptist out in the desert here baptizing in John chapter one. He deflects all of the affection and says, You know, there's one who's coming, I'm gonna point you to him. And then in scene two, the one who was to come shows up, and that's Jesus. And John says, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And in pointing to Jesus, John is pointing away from himself. And now in the next scene, which we started looking at yesterday, that starts here in John 135, it's like he's actively shoving his audience members to stretch the metaphor. He's actively shoving his followers, like, go quit following me. Go follow Jesus. Here's how the passage goes: John 1.35. The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look, the Lamb of God. Now remember, this is the second time he said that. So he's really driving home the point. When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, What do you want? They said, Rabbi, which means teacher. Come, he replied, and you'll see. So they went and saw where he was staying and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. All right, let's break down this scene a little bit more carefully here because I think it is socially and emotionally remarkable. I think John looks amazing here. Now, remember, we get the benefit of hindsight when we're reading passages like this. So we already know that Jesus is the giantest of deals, the most like even for the person who would say Jesus, you know, he's not God in the flesh, he's not the son of God. Even people who are very skeptical about Jesus, they'd still have to admit this is the most influential person who's ever lived ever. He's the divider of time for crying out loud. When you look at Jesus on the timeline, we count backwards from him one way and forwards from him the other way. He's a gigantic deal. So we know that, but they didn't know that. The people on scene here, they'd only been suspecting Jesus was a gigantic deal for like a day. Because you know, remember, in John, in this little sequence, there's a lot of nebulous language about time, but then also we get some very specific language about time. So, you know, the the first scene happens sometime. John the Baptist, he was uh he was out baptizing, and then people came. And then it says in verse 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. So I don't know, I don't think we get any clue in the text as of what day of the week everything is, but let's just say that the first scene is happening on Tuesday. That means that on Wednesday, Jesus showed up, and John was like, That's the guy I was talking about. I told you, that's why I was not pointing to me. That's who I was pointing to right there. Then in verse 35, in the third scene here in the baptism sequence, it says again, the next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. So, all right, let's say that's Thursday then. So now it's Thursday. There's probably enough of a rhythm established here. I mean, this movement is a big deal. People are coming out to see him. So, you know, there's like a daily rhythm, and John has disciples and helpers who are facilitating all of this, presumably young men who are trying to figure out what they're doing with their lives, and two of these disciples of John who know him well enough to know his rhythms and to look up to him, they're treating him in a rabbinical tradition. He's mentoring them. They are probably kind of thinking to themselves, these two disciples of John, that like their fate is hitched to his. They've cast their lot. We went out into the desert, we put our name next to John's. Maybe our parents weren't even totally crazy about this decision, but we wanted to go see. So we came out here and we could see that God was behind it, and it was a big deal. And where John points, we will go. Where does John point next? Away from John. Verse 36. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look, the Lamb of God. It really does feel like remember? Like from Wednesday, when I was saying, like, that's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and remember how you all didn't immediately go follow him? What are you doing, everyone? What do you think the point of the exercise is here? Why are we all out in the desert? Why is there a religion? Why is there a Judaism? Why are there sacrifices? Why is there baptizing? Why is there a temple? Why do we have priests? Why was there a Moses? Why is there an Abraham? Why was there an Ezekiel? Why is there an Elijah? Why is there an Elijah who is to come? What is the point of everything? Come on, guys. It's the whole story, the whole point of all of it is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the point of the exercise. And I told you yesterday that is him. He is the point of all the things. And it's just like I'm paraphrasing just a tiny bit here, but it's like now that we're on Thursday, John is like, it's just it's really weird to me that you two disciples are still standing by me. Because remember, yesterday I told you that's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So let me just say it one more time, gentlemen. Look, the Lamb of God. Well, now they catch on. When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Honestly, that's pretty good. I mean, to turn that around in 24 hours and catch on with just uh you know two rounds of nudging. Props to these guys. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, What do you want? We talked about that yesterday. They said, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? I think it's kind of a funny question. Like th I mean their answer is uh we don't totally know, but we have it on good authority that you are it. That you are what we want, even if we're too young and green to really understand the question or to know how to answer it. So I guess we want to be where you are. Again, a lot of paraphrasing, a little bit of reading between the lines, but feels like the gist. So Jesus replies, Come, and you'll see. Man, that's John's account of how this all started. Now it looks like as we get into some specifics here in verse 40 that we'll look at next time around, it looks like you know we're talking about Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, and then we're gonna meet Simon Peter, and there's another disciple being referenced in here who doesn't get a name. Usually the disciple who doesn't get a name in John is John, which means that that little exchange right there is the launching point that would send all of these guys on the trajectory of their lives, their reputation. This was the call to action, the nudge from John the Baptist toward Jesus and this tiny exchange with Jesus is what would decide all of these guys' fate. Every one of these guys but John is going to happily go to their violent death, preaching the good news about this man who their former master, John the Baptist, just pointed them to, and this man with whom they just had like a two-sentence little miniature exchange. That's where they're all headed. Old man John sitting here writing the gospel of John. He remembers this day, and he's thinking back on the exchange. Man, that's how it all started. Hey guys, that's the Lamb of God. Quit following me, follow him. Oh, okay. Then Jesus is like, What do you all want? And they're like, uh, where are you staying? I think you idiot. It's a terrible question. It's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Where are you staying? That's the best you could come up with. Come, he replied, and you will see. That's it. That's the that's the whole exchange. Now I say again though, John the Baptist, the more I get to know him, the more impressed I am by him. Because I know how alluring it is to try to hold tight to all the things that you get, to try to hold tight to, I mean, heck, an audience, uh, a group of people who are willing to give you attention, hang out with you. Ah, you don't want to let that go. I find meaning in that. Well, the people I respect the most hold on very loosely to that. And the people who I think are maybe having the hardest time who kind of do what I do with their lives, well, they hold on very tightly to that stuff. John the Baptist clearly knows who he is, clearly knows who Jesus is, clearly knows what the point is, and not even for a second does he hold on tightly to his disciples, his followers, with massive clarity of mission and humility. He just says, look, the Lamb of God, and steps back out of the scene. Pretty cool. Um Matt, this is the 10 Minute Bible Hour Podcast. Let's do this again soon.