A Witness for Jesus

We’re taking a bold step in our study through the gospel of John this morning. This is week five, and we’ve yet to see Jesus do or say anything at this point in the book. We’ve talked a lot of about him, the prologue in the first 18 verses introduced him as fully God and fully man, and now we’ve met his cousin, John the Baptist. But today, even though we haven’t really started looking at Jesus’ ministry yet, I want us to talk about what it means to be a witness for Jesus. I want to talk about evangelism.

Now, depending on your background, the word “evangelism” might bring all kinds of connotations to your mind—maybe you think of a street preacher down in the French quarter or Billy Graham in a stadium during one of his crusades. But really, whether they’re good or bad, those are just approaches to evangelism. The word in the Greek literally just means gospel, so at its root, to evangelize is to gospelize—to share the good news of Jesus. And there’s nothing wrong with sharing news. That’s not inherently a bad thing. But the way you share it can be.

In an episode of the comedy, Arrested Development, one of the family members, a man named Buster, is attacked by a seal while he’s swimming in the ocean. The family gathers at the hospital waiting to hear how he’s doing. The doctor comes out and shares that he’s going to be all right. Everyone’s relieved and hugging, and the doctor looks surprised. He says he’s really impressed with how well they’re all taking the news. Of course, they ask what he means, and he tells them that Buster has lost his left hand. He’s going to be all right.

The way you share news matters. So, we’re actually going to spend some time in July offering a class on how you can easily and compellingly share with others about the good news of Jesus. Because the way you talk about Jesus, and sin, and atonement, and repentance, and faith—the way you talk about those things matters. But this morning, I want us to to focus on the content of our evangelism: What do you need to know in order to be a witness to others for Jesus?

And this is where our passage this morning becomes equally relevant for both the long-believing Christian as well as the person currently on the fence or skeptical and still exploring the claims of Jesus. Because the content of our witness for Jesus is all the elements we also need in order to follow Jesus. It’s the same thing!

So, if you’re a Christian here this morning, as we walk through John the Baptist bearing witness about Jesus in these verses, you can be reminded of what it means to know him and what’s foundational for telling others about him. And if you’re not a Christian and are just exploring right now, then I hope each of these elements can provide clarity on what it means to follow Christ.

So, what do you need to know in order to be a witness for Jesus? Five things:

• Know who he is,

• Know who you are,

• Know why you’re here,

• Know what he’s done, and

• Know why you believe

First, in order to be a witness for Jesus, you have to know who he is. I can tell you that Vincent Van Gough cut off his ear, and he painted that picture with the stars in the sky. And that’s about it. I’m not going to convince many people about his work because I don’t really know much about who he is.

Verses 29-35 are bookended with John the Baptist making two declarations about Jesus. If you remember, in the previous section a group of religious leaders were sent to approach John the Baptist and figure out if he’s the Christ or a prophet or someone else. Ultimately, John directs attention away from himself to say who he is and what he does is all about pointing to Jesus. So, who does he say Jesus is? Let’s start with verse 29.

John 1:29 ESV

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

And now jump down to verse 34.

John 1:34 ESV

³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Verse 29 tells us this takes place the next day after the Sanhedrin approached John the Baptist. Chances are they’re still there. And when John sees Jesus walking toward him, he can’t help but exclaim, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” What’s he talking about here? Well, lambs were often associated with sacrifice in Judaism. Most notably with the passover lamb when God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

Throughout the Exodus story, you see God send 9 other plagues because Pharoah won’t let the Israelites go. And then, on the 10th plague, he strikes down every firstborn person and animal throughout the land—with one exception. He tells the Israelites to cover the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb so that the Lord would pass over their door and they would be saved. Jesus is the true and better Passover Lamb. The blood on the doorposts saved the Israelites from judgment that one night, but the blood of the Lamb of God saves his people for all eternity.

He “takes away the sin of the world.” And by that he means that the entire world can have their sin removed through the sacrifice of the lamb. If I told you I was going on a vacation to travel the world, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to visit every part of the entire world. But it does mean I’m going to go out into the world.

I could go any place, but I’ll also be going to a specific place. Jesus didn’t remove everyone’s sins, otherwise the Bible wouldn’t need to talk about hell or judgment because no one would have any sin that wasn’t paid for. But any person in the entire world can have their sin taken away by the hope of the world—the Lamb of God.

This is who John the Baptist says Jesus is as he’s walking toward him. But how does he know? Remember, we have the benefit of hindsight. Spoiler alert, Jesus is going to die on a cross, which helps make that “sacrificial lamb” connection much clearer. But John the Baptist doesn’t know how Jesus’ ministry is going to play out. Sure, as we look at the rest of our passage, we’ll see why John believed Jesus was the Messiah, and verses 1-18 have already made a case for how he’s the Son of God that John calls him in verse 34, but the Lamb of God language is really specific. I think a couple things are in play here.

For starters, there were some Jewish texts outside of the Old Testament that talked about the “apocalyptic lamb” or the “warrior lamb”, so understanding Christ through the image of a lamb was already present by the time John the Baptist comes on the scene. That might have been the framework he was thinking with, and it’s entirely possible that John was only partially understanding what it meant for Jesus to be the Lamb of God when we can look back now and see it more fully.

The same kinda thing’s going to happen again with Caiaphas, the high priest, in John 11:49-52. He prophecies to the Pharisees that Jesus would die for the people without even realizing the true meaning of what he’s saying. John, the author, says in verse 51: “He did not say this of his own accord.” So, just like Caiaphas, it wasn’t that John the Baptist was wrong in his understanding; his understand was just incomplete. But that understanding also grows over time when you continue to learn about him.

Think about your own understanding of Jesus. As a toddler, I knew he was the Son of God. But I had no concept of the Trinity. I didn’t understand that Jesus was fully God. I just thought he was God’s kid.

You’ve got to keep reading the Bible and praying and learning from other believers because, just like your relationship with any person, there’s always more to learn. You never arrive and know all there is to know about the infinite God of the universe.

And as you grow in reading Scripture and learning about Jesus, you’ll grow in your understanding of who he is, which means you’ll become a better witness telling others about him.

The extent we know about Jesus shapes how we talk about him. But the extent we know about Jesus also shapes how we think about ourselves. John declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and what is it that he says next? Look with me at verse 30.

John 1:30 ESV

³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’

Because I know how great Jesus is, I understand that I fall short of that greatness. That’s a massive confession from John the Baptist, and I would say you cannot be a witness for Jesus and you cannot even be a follower of Jesus without being able to make the same statement about yourself.

This verse is recalling what was said back in verse 15, but back then it was prefaced with the words, “John bore witness about him and cried out…” It’s interesting that a statement is considered to be bearing witness about Jesus when the content of that statement is, “He’s greater than me.” That means you cannot properly understand who Jesus is without seeing yourself in contrast.

A couple weeks ago we introduced our 3 year old to Mario Kart. It’s his first real video game, and he loves racing with mom and dad. A lot of times it’s just me and him playing, but when all three of us race, there’s really a couple different races happening at the same time.

Macie’s not bad. She has fun, but she doesn’t come in first. It’s a nice little boost to my ego to hear her talk about me being “too good” at Mario Kart and how “I always win.”

But Oliver seems like he’s in a different race. He doesn’t drive backwards much, but he does like it when he drives off the road into lava or something like that, so it can take a long time for him to finish. He doesn’t fully get what he’s doing or what the point is.

But when he crosses that finish line, he always shouts out, “I won!” He has no idea that we were better than him because he’s just focusing on his own screen.

We can treat Jesus the same way. When our main focus is our own performance, then as far as we know, we’re not doing that bad. An athlete thinks he’s great until he meets a superior athlete. Oliver doesn’t realize that we lap him during the race. He thinks he’s winning every time he drives into the lava because he’s having fun when the things he’s celebrating are actually the opposite of the things he’s meant to do on the track.

But the second he would take his eyes off his own race and watch his father’s, he’d know he needs help. And for John the Baptist, that wasn’t a bad thing. Seeing Jesus as greater was a source of joy and relief. He’s greater than me, and that’s incredible news! I can’t take away my sin, but the Lamb of God can.

These two things—our need and God’s provision—they go hand in hand. If you think Jesus was just a good man and you’re not that bad yourself, then you might look to him as a coach. But if you see him as the God-man and yourself as a sinner who falls short of God’s glory, then you’ll look to him as a Savior. You won’t just want his help with your race. You’ll trust him to win it for you.

That’s what’s offered in the gospel, and only because Jesus is who he is as fully God and fully man, as the fullness of grace and truth like we saw earlier in John 1—only because of who he is can we have the security and the confidence to humbly take an honest look at who we are apart from him and how we fall short.

Glen Scrivener, a pastor in England, describes Jesus like a doctor who makes house calls. If you’re so sick that a doctor has to come out to see you, you don’t tell them everything that’s right with you. That’s not why they’ve come. You tell them everything that’s wrong with you. Your sickness doesn’t keep you from the doctor; it qualifies you for the doctor. Because Jesus is good news, we can have the confidence to humbly own the bad news of our own sin. When we look to him to run our race, the Lamb of God takes the penalty of that sin away.

But just because Jesus runs our race for us doesn’t mean we have nothing to do. In order to be a witness for Jesus in every place where you live, learn, work, and play, you also need to know why you’re here. John continues in verse 31:

John 1:31 ESV

³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

It’s a hard thing to do a task in your job when you don’t know why you’re doing it. Did you catch that in the verse? John the Baptist identifies his purpose in life as “baptizing with water, [so that the Lamb of God] might be revealed to Israel.” And he thought that was his purpose before he even knew that’s who Jesus was.

Now, he would have known about Jesus as a person. They were cousins. But before he knew Jesus was the Messiah, he had dedicated his life to preparing people for the Messiah. Can you imagine that? Preaching repentance and baptism was a way of preparing people’s hearts to trust in Christ rather than themselves once he was revealed, but how do you prepare a people for someone you don’t know? If we jump ahead to verse 33, we get a pretty important clue:

John 1:33 ESV

³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

So, John was being given direction and purpose by the one who sent him. And who was that? We can rewind all the way back to verse 6:

John 1:6 ESV

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

When God tells you, “This is why I made you”; “This is why you’re here”—that’s a pretty solid foundation to build your life on, right? Even when you don’t have all the answers, just like John the Baptist didn’t have all the answers. He knew why he was there; he knew his purpose in life because God told him and God sent him.

And God has done the same for every one of us here this morning. Through Scripture, God has spoken to you, and his Word never changes. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that,

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

And what does God say about our purpose in the Bible? Why does he say we’re here? 1 Corinthians 10:31.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We are here to glorify God with all of our lives. We’ve said before that a simple definition for God’s glory is the communication of his character. It’s the display and exaltation of all he is, which means that no matter what we’re doing in life, we will find our greatest satisfaction in knowing God and making him known. Even when we’re like John the Baptist and don’t have all the answers. It’s why we’re here, and it’s why we’re called to be witnesses for Jesus.

Think about it. If God’s the greatest thing in the universe—and that comes with the territory of being God—then there’s nothing greater we could enjoy or share with others. Because he’s the creator, any other good things we enjoy come from him in the first place. Why would I listen to a cover band when I could see the original act?

John the Baptist talked about Jesus within the context of his life’s purpose, and that’s the invitation of the gospel. Not, “add Jesus to all that you do”. But instead, “do all for Jesus and through Jesus.” In all the places where you live, learn, work, and play, where do you find it hardest to know Jesus and make him known?

If he’s the creator of all things—and John 1 has already told us that—then that means that you can glorify Jesus as a witness in every part of your life. But if you’re going to make him known, you also have to know what he’s done. Verse 32 continues on:

John 1:32 ESV

³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

All of this is in the past tense, so these verses are occurring after John baptized Jesus. John the Baptist didn’t have the knowledge of Jesus dying on a cross, rising from the dead, and ascending into heaven like we do, but his faith was informed by what Jesus had done up to that point. Verse 32 says Jesus had the Spirit of God rest on him, and for a Jew, that pointed straight back to multiple prophecies about the Messiah.

In Isaiah 11, God promises to pour out his Spirit on the coming Davidic king. In Isaiah 42, God says he will put his Spirit upon his chosen servant. In Isaiah 6, a passage Jesus quotes during his ministry and says it’s fulfilled in himself, he claims along with the prophet that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him.

You could even go all the way back to the second verse of the Bible in Genesis 1 where it says that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” John’s already told us earlier in the chapter that it was Christ, the Word of God, who created all things back then. And now, at the start of his ministry to bring new creation, the Spirit of God once again hovers over the waters, this time at Jesus’ baptism.

The ministry of the Messiah was always in conjunction with the presence of God’s Spirit, and John the Baptist got to witness the Spirit descending upon him firsthand.

You might not know a lot about theology. You might be a newer Christian. But being a “witness” is less like teaching a lesson and more like seeing a meteor shower. You call out to anyone around. “Come, look and see what I’ve seen!”

The foundation of your witness is who Jesus is. The framework for your witness is what you’ve experienced Jesus doing. And the power of your witness is what Jesus has done for you.

Don’t talk yourself out of telling others about Jesus because you think you don’t know enough. Whether you’ve been a Christian for 5 weeks or 50 years, you can share what you’ve learned and are learning about who Jesus is, who you are, why you’re here, and what’s he’s done for you. Remember back to John 1:13. Only God gives new birth. Our responsibility is to point to him.

But it’s hard to do that if we don’t deeply know why we believe what we believe. For John the Baptist, his ministry as a witness for Jesus would ultimately lead to him being killed by Herod. You don’t stick it out like that without being convinced.

Maybe that’s where you’re at this morning. You grew up in church and were told what you should believe, but you never really worked through why you believe what you believe, so it just kinda faded away over time. But the Christian faith isn’t meant to be blind. Yes, you weren’t there when Jesus rose from the dead, but that doesn’t mean you’re without evidence. Look with me at verse 33.

John 1:33 ESV

³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

Here we have John the Baptist once again saying, “I did not know him.” He didn’t know who the Christ was when he started his ministry. And yet, what God said to him was eventually experienced by him. He met Jesus, and the Spirit descended upon him, and that moment of evidence forever changed John’s life.

The Christian faith is an evidential faith. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask them. If you have doubts, don’t be afraid to share them. That’s a foundational part of what we want our Community Groups that meet in people’s homes each week to be. The church isn’t a place for perfect people; it’s a place for needy people looking to a perfect God. Together.

In verse 33, as we close, John says that Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and that’s meant to be in contrast to John, who baptized with water. In a water baptism, you are physically cleansed by the water, but it only cleans the outside of you. But when Jesus baptizes you in the Spirit, you’re cleansed by the Spirit, which cleans the inside of you.

John, the author, is telling us that verse 33 is how verse 29 happens. How does the Lamb of God take away our sin? Not by a water baptism but by baptizing you with the Spirit. And if that happens inside of you, then it touches every part of you, which means that every area of your life can be a springboard into a deeper knowledge of who Christ is, who you are, why you’re here, and what he’s done—leading you to be a better witness for him.

Whether it’s your job or your family or your struggles or your hobbies, learn to look for evidence of God’s grace as you grow to better know him and make him known as you bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God.

Let’s pray.