John 1:24-28 PODCAST
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John 1:24-28
John the Baptist came preaching a message of repentance. He baptized people indicating they had made a decision to turn from their way to God's. In that day, baptism was a new thing. No one had ever baptized. Under the Law there were certain washings provided for those who were unclean or who had defiled themselves in some ceremonial way. But nobody went around baptizing as John did.
When asked why he baptized, John's answer emphasized the coming of the Lord Jesus as the One. In v.28, the Apostle John notes John's baptism's took place in Bethany, on the other side of the Jordan River. Tradition held that this was where the Israelites entered the promised land under the leadership of Joshua.
This incident took place at least six weeks after Jesus had been baptized by John in the Jordan River. From our text, we learn Jesus actually stood in the midst of the crowd. John implored these religious leaders to take note of the Lord Jesus. John notes the nature of the work that the Lord Jesus would do would be far greater than the work he would do. John said, "I am a servant who takes off his master's shoes when he comes into the house; and I am not even worthy to do that." In other words, John is saying, "the Lord Jesus is the Messiah and he is His master!"
Our text tells us that John baptized with water, which is to be a picture of the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is what places us into Christ. Paul says exactly the same thing in 1 Corinthians 12:13: "Some of us are Jews, and some are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit."
There are those who say we need to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit after we have become believers, but there is no way to become a believer without being baptized with the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit happened first.
On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first came upon 120 people who were gathered in the temple courts, making them into one body.. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is not something that is felt; it is not something we can know through our five senses when it takes place; it is something the Spirit does to our human spirit. Yet this baptism is very essential to becoming a Christian. It is part of the process by which we share the life of Jesus Christ.
Notice the result of this baptism of the Holy Spirit found in v.27 ... service to the Lord Jesus. We have been so trained to seek symbolism over substance, we lack the ability to see the real workings of God. We prize the silver tongued among us more than those who have the greater substance. A servant's heart is the product of being joined in and with Christ.
A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole that he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.
The bearer smiled said to the pot, “Have you not noticed that there are flowers on your side of the path but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I only planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day while we walk back, you’ve watered them. For two years, I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace His house.”
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