Son Of Man

John 3:12-13 – I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.

Acts 2:34-35 – For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

Mark 8:31 – He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Application:

• ·         Not only was David’s descendant to be resurrected but He was also to be exalted to God’s right hand.
• ·         “Son of Man” was Jesus’ most common title for Himself, used 81 times in the Gospels and never used by anyone but Jesus there. The Son of Man is pictured as a heavenly figure who in the end times is entrusted by God with authority, glory and sovereign power. The Son of Man must suffer, as predicted.
• ·         “Son of Man” was a Messianic title.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Testimony

John 3:6-11 – Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 – The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

John 1:7,18 – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe…No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John 7:17 – Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

Application:

• ·         “Person without the Spirit” is described as one who follows “mere natural instincts”. The non-Christian is governed in thought and life by an unrenewed, worldly heart. Such persons are yet untouched by the Holy Spirit and are not equipped to receive appreciatively truth that comes from the Spirit.
• ·         “Person with the Spirit” is renewed by the Spirit. One who does not have the Spirit is not qualified to judge anyone who has the Spirit.
• ·         Therefore, since no human being can see God as He really is, those who saw God saw Him in a form He took upon Himself temporarily for the occasion. Now, however, Christ “has made Him known”.
• ·         A person sincerely set on doing God’s will welcomes Jesus’ teaching and believes in Him.
• ·         John the Baptist’s singular ministry was to testify about Jesus.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Kingdom Of God

John 3:3-5 – Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

Matthew 3:1-2 – In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Acts 22:16 – And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

Titus 3:4-7 – But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Application:

• ·         The “kingdom of heaven/God” in the preaching of Jesus as recounted in the Gospels is the reign of God that He brings about through Jesus Christ—i.e., the establishment of God’s rule in the hearts and lives of His people, the overcoming of all the forces of evil, the removal from the world of all the consequences of sin—including death and all that diminishes life—and the creation of a new order of righteousness and peace.
• ·         Baptism is the outward sign of an inward work of grace.
• ·         The new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are central to the gospel message.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

If God Were Not With Him

John 2:11,24-3:2 – What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signsthrough which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him… But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

1 Kings 8:37-40 – “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.

John 10:38 – But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

John 14:11 – Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

Acts 2:22 – “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

Application:

• ·         “Deal with everyone according to all they do”, not to be viewed as a request for retribution for the wrong committed, but as a desire for whatever discipline God in His wisdom may use to correct His people and to instruct them in the way of the covenant.
• ·         Signs revealed Jesus’ glory and likely also pointed to the fullness of the salvation He came to effect.
• ·         Miracles were only a part of Jesus’ works. It was Jesus’ quality of life, not people’s inability to explain His marvels, that He primarily spoke of.
• ·         Saving faith is trust in a person, but it must also have factual content. Faith includes believing that Jesus is one with the Father.
• ·         The mighty works done by Jesus were signs that the Messiah had come.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Name

John 2:11,22-23 – What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him…After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.

John 14:26 – But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 20:9 – (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Psalm 5:11 – But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Ezekiel 20:9 – But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites.

Application:

• ·         “Remind you of everything I have said to you” was crucial for the life of the church—and for the writing of the New Testament.
• ·         First they came to know of the resurrection through what they saw in the tomb; only later did they see it in Scripture.
• ·         Signs revealed Jesus’ glory and likely also pointed to the fullness of the salvation He came to effect.
• ·         The name of the Lord is the manifestation of His character. The name of the Lord protects; the Lord saves by His name; and His saving acts testify that His name is near. Accordingly, the godly “trust in” His name, “hope in” His name, “sing the praises of” His name and “rejoice in” His name. Both the “love” and the “fear” that belong alone to God are similarly directed toward His name.
• ·         Name and person are closely connected in the Bible. God’s name is His identity and reputation—that by which He is known.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Zeal For Your House Will Consume Me

John 2:11,14-21 – What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him…In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body.

Psalm 69:8-9 – I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Application:

• ·         Those who mock God also mock his servant who trusts in Him, as Christ also experienced.
• ·         Signs revealed Jesus’ glory and likely also pointed to the fullness of the salvation He came to effect.
• ·         Our bodies are sacred and are to be treated as sacred.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Passover

John 2:12-13 – After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Exodus 12:11,13,21 – This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover… The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt… Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.

Application:

• ·         Passover was explained to mean that the Lord would “pass over” and not destroy the occupants of houses that were under the sign of the blood.
• ·         Just as the plagues were miraculous signs of judgment on the pharaoh and His people, so the Lord’s “passing over” the Israelites who placed themselves under the sign of blood was a pledge of God’s mercy.
• ·         Christ is “our Passover lamb”, sacrificed “once for all” for us.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Signs

John 2:5-11 – His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

John 6:14,35 – After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”…Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 9:16 – Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

Joel 3:18 – “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.

John 1:7 – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

John 20:31 – But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Application:

• Signs revealed Jesus’ glory and likely also pointed to the fullness of the salvation He came to effect.
• The sign pointed people to the Son of Man and the food for eternal life that He gives, but they thought only of the Prophet, i.e., the prophet who would be like Moses.
• The “others” started from the fact of the “signs” and ruled out the possibility of Jesus being a sinner.
• “The bread of life” may mean “the bread that is living” and/or “the bread that gives life”.
• Flowing from God’s presence, streams of blessing will refresh His people and make their place endlessly fruitful.
• People were not to believe “in” John the Baptist but “through” him.
• The whole Gospel of John is written to show the truth of Jesus’ Messiahship and to present Him as the Son of God, so that the readers may believe in Him.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

My Hour Has Not Yet Come

John 2:1-4,11 – On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”… What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

John 7:6 – Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.

John 12:27 – “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

John 16:32 – “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

Application:

• ·         In his account of Jesus’ first display of “His glory” by providing an abundance of wine at a wedding feast, John probably was testifying that Christ’s saving mission would culminate in the redemption of the creation from all its distresses, so that the wine of joy would flow fully, as the prophets had announced.
• ·         Jesus moved in accordance with the will of God.
• ·         Jesus considered praying for God to save Him from this death but refused to do so, because the very reason He had come was to die for sinners.
• ·         Jesus knew His disciples would fail; however, His church is not built on people’s strength but on God’s ability to use people even after they have failed.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Angels Of God Ascending And Descending

John 1:50-51 – Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

Genesis 28:12 – He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Mark 8:31 – He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Application:

• ·         Jesus Himself is the bridge between heaven and earth, the only “mediator between God and mankind”.
• ·         Jesus is not one way among many but the only way.
• ·         The Son of Man is pictured as a heavenly figure who in the end times is entrusted by God with authority, glory and sovereign power.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

The Son Of God

John 1:18,46-49 – No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known… “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Matthew 2:22-23 – But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Psalm 32:2 – Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Matthew 2:1-2 – After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 20:31 – But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Application:

• ·         Nazareth was a rather obscure town, nowhere mentioned in the Old Testament. However, Nazarene most likely means “of/from Nazareth”.
• ·         Only those honest with God receive pardon.
• ·         The Magi realized that Jesus was born a king, not that He would become one later on. “King of the Jews” indicates the Magi were Gentiles. Matthew wants to show that people of all nations acknowledged Jesus as “king of the Jews” and came to worship Him as Lord.
• ·         “The one and only Son, who is Himself God” is an explicit declaration of Christ’s deity.
• ·         Although believers are also called “sons” of God, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique sense.
• ·         This whole Gospel is written to show the truth of Jesus’ Messiahship and to present Him as the Son of God, so that the readers may believe in Him.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Son Of Joseph

John 1:43-45 – 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 Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

John 12:21 – They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”

Matthew 4:19 – “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Luke 24:44 – He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Luke 1:32-33,35 – He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”… The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Application:

• ·         Philip was a Greek name, which may be why the Greeks came to him
• ·         Evangelism was at the heart of Jesus’ call to His disciples.
• ·         Joseph was Jesus’ legal, though not his natural, father.
• ·         “Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” were the three parts of the Hebrew Old Testament, indicating that the suffering, death and resurrection of the Messiah were foreseen and foreshadowed in the Old Testament Scriptures.
• ·         This title, “the Son of the Most High”, has two senses: (1) the divine Son of God and (2) the Messiah born in time.
• ·         Although Christ’s role as mediator will one day be finished, the kingdom of the Father and Son, as one, will never end.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Lamb Of God

John 1:24-25,29,34-42 – Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”… The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!... I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” 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!” 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”), “where are you staying?” “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. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Genesis 32:28 – Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

Application:

• ·         It may be that John chose Lamb of God as a unique way of referring to Jesus’ mission to point both to the sacrificial offering that Jesus would become and to His subsequent conquest of all evil powers—the two ways by which He “takes away the sin of the world”.
• ·         “The Messiah” means “the Anointed One”. People were looking for not just an anointed one but the Anointed One, the Messiah.
• ·         Jesus named Paul not for what he was but for what, by God’s grace, he would become.
• ·         In Jacob/Israel, the nation of Israel got its name and characterization: the people who struggle with God and with human beings and overcome.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Baptize With The Holy Spirit

John 1:15,30-33 – (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)…This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit 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.’

Mark 1:4 – And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John 20:22 – And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 19:4 – Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

Galatians 5:16 – So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Ephesians 5:18-20 – Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:3-6 – For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

1 Thessalonians 4:8 – Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

John 14:26 – But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Application:

• ·         People would normally have ranked Jesus lower in respect than John, who was older.
• ·         John’s practice of baptizing those who came to him in repentance was so characteristic of his ministry that he became known as “the Baptist” or “the Baptizer”. He was preaching repentance-baptism, i.e., baptism that was preceded or accompanied by repentance. Baptism was not new to John’s audience. They knew of baptism for Gentile converts but had not heard that the descendants of Abraham needed to repent and be baptized.
• ·         “Receive the Holy Spirit” was anticipating what happened 50 days later on the day of Pentecost.
• ·         John’s baptism looked forward to Jesus, who by His death would make possible the forgiveness of sins.
• ·         Living by the promptings and power of the Spirit is the key to conquering sinful desires.
• ·         When Paul speaks of being filled with the Spirit and when he speaks in Colossians of being under the rule of the peace of Christ and indwelt by the “message” of Christ, he means being under God’s control.
• ·         Everyone is a “boaster”, either in Christ or in themselves.
• ·         Both the Father and the Son are involved in the sending of the Holy Spirit.
• ·         “Remind you of everything I have said to you” was crucial for the life of the church—and for the writing of the New Testament.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Lamb Of God

John 1:15.27-29 – (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)… He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Genesis 22:8 – Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

Isaiah 53:7 – He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

1 Peter 1:18-19 – For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Revelation 5:6 – Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits^[a] of God sent out into all the earth.

1 John 2:2 – He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Application:

• ·         People would normally have ranked Jesus lower in respect than John, who was older.
• ·         It may be that John chose the “Lamb of God as a unique way of referring to Jesus’ mission to point both to the sacrificial offering that Jesus would become and to His subsequent conquest of all evil powers—the two ways by which He “takes away the sin of the world”.
• ·         The immediate fulfillment of Abraham’s trusting response was the ram, but its ultimate fulfillment is the Lamb of God.
• ·         Jesus remained silent before the chief priests and Pilate and before Herod.
• ·         Christ is the Passover lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
• ·         The Lamb was pictured as the sacrifice for sin and as the mighty conqueror.
• ·         God, out of love, sent His Son to make substitutionary atonement for the believer’s sin. In this way the Father’s wrath is satisfied; His wrath against the Christian’s sin has been turned away and directed toward Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV