MISSION WOODS CHURCH
Sunday, June 7, 2026
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  • Seek Ye First
  • Immortal Invisible God Only Wise
  • I Lift My Eyes Up
  • All Who Are Thirsty

      • John 1:19-21ESV

      • John 1:22-24ESV

      • John 1:25-27ESV

      • John 1:28-30ESV

      • John 1:31-32ESV

      • John 1:33-34ESV

  • We read in the opening.
    John 1:1–5 ESV
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
    So begins John’s Gospel. Very different than the other Gospels. Matthew begins with geneology, Mark begins with the introduction of John and Jesus’ baptism, Luke begins with the birth narrative. John begins with this description of Jesus that is unlike any other.
    Roughly 90% of what we find in John’s Gospel you will not find in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, or Luke.
    Same Jesus.
    Same three years.
    Same death.
    Same resurrection.
    Still roughly 90% of what John records is not included in any of the other Gospels.
    No birth story. No Manger. No Shepherds. No Sermon on the Mount. No Parables. No Exorcisms. No account of the bread or wine at the Last Supper.
    By the time John’s Gospel is written the other three Gospels have been widely circulated, and were well known. They had sought to record what happened. John has a different purpose in mind. John did not intend to state what happened, he is writing to tell us what it meant.
    John’s goal is not to record history, but to point us to belief.
    John 20:30–31 ESV
    Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
    The purpose of John’s Gospel is right there: “that you may believe.” The word that John uses there is the Greek verb pisteuo, not the noun pistis. It seems to be a very intentional choice. It’s not about having faith, which is a passive statement. It is about believing, an active statement.
    Faith - something you have Believe - something you do
    And it’s this action idea that I want to focus on this morning. We are looking at the testimony of John the Baptist.
    In verse 19 we read:
    John 1:19 ESV
    And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
    The answer to the question, “Who are you?” is central to John’s Gospel message. What I find key here is the action. “The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask [John the Baptist], ‘Who are you?’”
    Who are these Jews sending these people to ask? We find out in verse 24 -
    John 1:24 ESV
    (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)
    The Pharisees are seeking the Messiah. That is something most of us don’t think about it. We read the Gospel accounts and Jesus’ interaction with them (even John the Baptist’s interactions) recorded in the other Gospels and we think of them as men eager to hold on to their power.
    These two verses clearly say that they were looking for the Christ, the Messiah. They send priests and Levites - men who would know the Scriptures and be able to note what John the Baptist is doing.
    John denies being the Christ. They then ask are you Elijah? He says, “I am not.” Remember Elijah never dies, he is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. You can read about it 2 Kings chapter 2.
    Malachi 4:5 taught that the OT prophet Elijah would precede the Messiah.
    So they ask, “Are you the Prophet?” - that’s a term we’re probably not as familiar with.
    The Prophet was promised back in Deuteronomy by Moses:
    Deuteronomy 18:15 ESV
    “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
    So they are expecting a leader like Moses. Again John says, “I am not.” Well they still need an answer, and they tell him as much, so he answers in vs. 23
    John 1:23 ESV
    He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
    This comes from Isaiah 40:3 “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
    So why is John baptizing? Baptism was not something that just came in during New Testament times. It has Jewish roots. It was a way of purification. In the Old Testament we typically see it practiced through sprinkling.
    Looking backwards from New Testament to Old Testament we can see that God used the passing through water as a way of distinguishing his people from pagan nations while forming and purifying them. It carries a redemptive significance as God calls us.
    Noah’s Ark represents a type of baptism, with Noah’s family brought safely through waters of judgment, and the Red Sea crossing, and the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised land.
    The passing through water is important.
    When asked why he is baptizing, John 1:26-27
    John 1:26–27 ESV
    John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
    John 1:29–30 ESV
    The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’
    John went on to say twice that he didn’t know Jesus was the Christ until Jesus’ baptism:
    John 1:31–32 ESV
    I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
    John 1:33 ESV
    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.’
    And then he points to his readers that this is the Son of God. This is God come to earth! That is not what they were expecting.
    John 1:34 ESV
    And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
    Not only is this the Messiah - this is God incarnate. This One is equal to God.
    For the next several weeks, we’ll look at the signs that not only show Jesus to be the Messiah, but show in such a way that we should then believe.
    Not just have faith. Holding on to something does not mean that we are active with it. The act of belief is a key to reading the Gospel of John. I want to encourage you to read through and notice John’s use of the word believe.
    Most of all notice John doesn’t merely call us to have a faith, but to believe as a call to action, as a call to come to know God.
    The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” God knows us fully, we only know in part.
    It is one thing to know about Jesus, it is another to come to know Him. In the next few weeks we will all be invited to return to examine our relationship with God through Jesus, and how well we know Him.
    There’s a story I’ve heard many times. Renowned theologian Paul Tillich was invited to speak at Chicago University for “Baptist Day.”
    One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich. Dr. Tillich spoke for two and one-half hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any questions.
    After about 30 seconds, an old, dark skinned preacher with a head of short-cropped, woolly white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium. 
    "Docta Tillich, I got one question," he said as all eyes turned toward him. He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out an apple and began eating it. "Docta Tillich ..." CRUNCH, MUNCH ... "My question is a simple question, "CRUNCH, CUNCH ..."Now I ain't never read them books you read ... "CRUNCH, MUNCH ... "and I can't recite the Scriptures in the original Greek ... " CRUNCH, MUNCH ... "I don't know nothin' about Niebuhr and Heidegger ..."CRUNCH, MUNCH . He finished the apple. "All I wanna know is: This apple I just ate-was it bitter or sweet?" 
    Dr. Tillich paused for a moment and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: "I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple." 
    The white-haired preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly, "Neither have you tasted my Jesus."
    The Psalmist wrote: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
    Glory to God.
    Let’s pray.

      • John 20:30–31ESV

      • John 1:19ESV

      • John 1:24ESV

      • Deuteronomy 18:15ESV

      • John 1:23ESV

      • John 1:26–27ESV

      • John 1:29–30ESV

      • John 1:31–32ESV

      • John 1:33ESV

      • John 1:34ESV

  • Let Us Break Bread Together
  • O Bless The Gifts
  • Jesus Loves Me
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MISSION WOODS CHURCH
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(253) 922-5555
http://www.missionwoodschurch.org
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