90 - Life of Jesus
Week one - The Real One
Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34
Next 90 days - we’re going to walk through the life of Jesus - a lot can happen in 90 days!
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Lascaux cave paintings
(for more on the caves and the paintings, check out this site)
Jesus’ public ministry more or less starts with John the Baptist telling everyone he was coming, and then literally pointing him out to the crowds, i.e. “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:29)
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”
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.
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! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 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.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” —John 1:19-34
In Luke’s account, John says not only is he unworthy to tie the sandals of Jesus, but that Jesus is more powerful. (Luke 3:21-22)
Matthew tells us about the struggle between John the Baptist and Jesus over who should baptize whom… (Matthew 3:13-17)
John’s declaration - “I am
*Significance of the “I Am” statement, especially for John as he tells the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrectionLater, Paul will say, “follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1) - but we can’t forget who it is we’re actually following.
There’s only one real
How do we know if we’re following Jesus or an imitation?
We hold everything up to the
The same Spirit that descended on Jesus at his baptism would eventually descend on the gathered community so that together we would be able to see him and pursue him and recognize him. —Acts 2:1-4
-Are we ready for a confrontation with the real Jesus?
-Are we ready to set aside our assumptions and preferences, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to us?