Sermon
for Advent 4, December 21, 2025
John
1:19-28 19This
is the testimony John gave when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and
Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He
confessed and did not deny. He
confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21And
they asked him, “Who are you then? Are
you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. 22Then they asked him, “Who are
you? Tell us so we can give an answer to
those who sent us. What do you say about
yourself?” 23He said, “I am
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the
Lord,’ just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24They had been sent from the Pharisees. 25So they asked John, “Why then do
you baptize, if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the Prophet?” 26“I baptize with water,” John
answered. “Among you stands one you do
not know. 27He is the one
coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things happened in Bethany
beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (EHV)
The testimony of Scripture is Christ.
Dear
redeemed in Christ Jesus,
As we study our catechism, we soon
see that Christ is the center of the catechism, but that is because Christ
Jesus is the center of the Scriptures.
Likewise, the scene before us shows us what the men who questioned John
didn’t understand—The testimony of Scripture is
Christ.
John
the Baptist was becoming famous in Jerusalem.
His fame was beginning to make the ruling elites nervous. They didn’t know why he was preaching away
from the temple. They didn’t understand
why he baptized, and they challenged John to state by what authority he was
doing any of it. They were nervous
because so many people were going away from them to hear what John had to
say.
Now,
John wasn’t preaching to the people about the authorities, but he certainly
spoke truth when those men came to see him.
To the ordinary citizens, John called for the people to repent of their
sins and to remember the words of the prophets for their prophecies were now
being fulfilled. To the scribes and
Pharisees who considered themselves the peak of authority, John also preached
truth, but to them he declared, “You
offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit in keeping with
repentance!” (Matthew 3:7-8)
Our
sermon text was from a preliminary investigation. We can see from the questions these sleuths
were asking that they knew the Old Testament Scriptures. John also knew what the prophets had
foretold. From reading the Scriptures,
the Jews were expecting the promised Messiah.
They just didn’t understand Him.
John didn’t fit the description either, but his work was strange enough
that they wondered who he might be. John
wasn’t preaching and baptizing because he had read the prophecies and wanted to
fulfil them; instead, God gave the prophecies because He was sending John to
prepare the way for Christ.
All
the writings of the prophets, from Moses through Malachi, pointed forward to
the Savior. We tend to think of much of
the Old Testament as history. Yet, it is
history with a purpose. God didn’t give
this book just to tell us a little bit about the history of Israel. Rather, God gave us the Bible to teach us
about His Son. First, God teaches us
about our need for the Savior. The
history recorded by Moses teaches us how God created the world through His Son,
the perfection with which God made mankind, and the peace they enjoyed with
God. He also teaches how sin entered the
world.
Without
the Bible, people would almost be justified in accusing God of creating evil,
as many already do. Still, it is clear
from Scripture that God could not and would not do such a devious thing, for
God created the world in perfect harmony with His holy will. It was a perfect paradise, but the devil
deceived the first couple into desiring something else. Consequently, just as God had forewarned,
death entered the world, and the curse of sin that fell upon the world because
of the devil’s rebellion and Adam and Eve’s wicked desire, had to be dealt with
in a way consistent with both a merciful and yet a just God.
In
amazing, unwarranted kindness, God immediately after the fall promises a Savior
to restore the peace Adam and Eve had enjoyed.
Following through on that promise, all the Old Testament writings show
us God’s plan to bring His Son, Jesus, into the world to be that Redeemer and
Savior who could restore peace with God in true righteousness and justice.
From
the point of the fall, God gave many messages through His prophets to prepare
people to receive His gifts of grace based on the work of His Son. Along with proclaiming the mercies of God, the
prophets foretold numerous details about the coming Savior. Likewise, the history of Israel is a picture
of the redemption of sinners from the chains of slavery in sin.
The
messengers sent to John asked about those prophecies that pointed to
Jesus. Jews from Jerusalem sent
priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny. He confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “Who are you then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” “No,” he answered. Based on the old writings, the Jews expected
the Messiah, but John faithfully denied that he was that One.
The
prophet, Malachi, foretold another Elijah who would precede the Savior. They expected Elijah would be personally
resurrected, but God planned to provide a new prophet with Elijah’s faith to
prepare the way before the coming of the Christ. That was confirmed when Jesus told His
disciples that John is the man sent by God to be that promised road-clearer. You can read about that in Luke’s
Gospel.
When
they asked whether John was “the prophet,” they were referring to Moses’
promise before he was taken from this world: “The Lord your God will raise
up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brother Israelites. Listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15) Moses’ message is a clear reference to the
Redeemer who would rescue mankind from the slavery of sin. The Jews questioning John didn’t understand
it, for they were looking for a worldly kind of leader.
In
response, John points his questioners to the ancient prophet, Isaiah. Isaiah also had spoken of a forerunner to
Christ, but here again, John points his examiners toward the Christ who truly
did come from God. John admitted his own
mortality. He was just a man like all of
us, chosen by God for a special role, certainly, but in no way a Savior from
sin. At the same time, John directly
told those people that the Savior already stood among them just as Moses had
foretold.
The testimony of Scripture is Christ. Our text touches on the many ways the Old
Testament pointed forward to Jesus. The
New Testament, on the other hand, gives us what we need to know about Jesus’
life and how He suffered and died to pay the penalty for our guilt before
God. God chose four evangelists to write
these Gospels so that forever after, people could learn about Jesus and be
brought to believe in Him as their Savior, because there is no other way to
salvation.
The
epistles are further testimony from the Holy Spirit through His apostles that
explain in greater detail what Jesus has done for us, and how we should
understand Christ’s work. They testify
to God’s amazing mercy and grace. They
teach that though there is nothing we could ever do to appease God’s justice,
Jesus has taken that need off us so that through faith in Him, we are counted
as completely clean of all sin.
God’s
work of saving people from eternal torment continues with the New Testament,
because the devil didn’t stop his rebellion against God just because he had
been defeated by God’s Son. No, even
though Satan’s rebellious plans have been squashed by Jesus with His holy life
and sacrificial death, that evil angel still tries to steal people from God’s
love by leading them away from Jesus.
Thus, as the devil continues to tempt people to avoid church, or to
doubt the Bible’s truth, or to delay coming to the Lord with the lie that you always
have more time to seek salvation later, he is continually trying to interfere
between you and the love of God in Christ Jesus.
We
still need God’s Word in our daily lives.
We need God’s Word protecting us from the devil’s snares, for the devil
is a sneaky deceiver. He misleads with
lies and accusations about God’s people.
He tempts us to imagine that our own moral acts have saving power. He deceives people into imagining that God
will bring all people to heaven regardless of faith. The list could go on and on, but the truth is
Satan always deceives. Every word and
temptation he uses are all lies, but God has given the saving truth in His
Word, of which we can confidently say, The testimony of Scripture is Christ.
Every
part of the Bible is about Jesus. It is not
just history but His story of granting salvation through faith. It is the declaration of God’s mercy for
sinners who could never save themselves, but who are brought to believe in
God’s Son, Jesus, as their Redeemer and Savior.
The Bible is the record of God’s interaction with this world and His
ongoing war with the rebellious spirits that turned against God and against
us. It is God’s promise of life
everlasting in the peace of heaven for those who believe in the Son who saved us
with His life and sacrifice on a cross.
Hold on to what the Bible says with all your ability, trust, and
hope. The testimony of Scripture is
Christ. Amen.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at
all times and in every way. The Lord be
with you all.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment