Josh Benner

Category: devotional

  • What are you seeking? Studying John 1:35-38

    What are you seeking? Studying John 1:35-38

    The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all give stories of Jesus calling the first apostles. And we see Jesus interacting with some of these same men in this passage. Yet the account in John is different than the accounts in the other gospels. 

    The other gospels all talk of Jesus calling upon fisherman to follow him, and how they immediately leave their nets when called upon by Jesus. 

    That’s not in John. 

    The order in which apostles meet Jesus is different in John. The circumstances are different. 

    Why is there this discrepancy? 

    My belief is that the events in John are recalling when Jesus first met the apostles and that the event in the other gospels recounts Jesus actually calling those disciples to be followers of Jesus. 

    When Jesus meets people like Peter and Andrew in our passage today, he doesn’t call them to be his followers.

    If Jesus meets them in John, and then calls them in the other gospels, it makes more sense of why they immediately leave everything to follow him. Because they already know Jesus. 

    That’s the first of several theological affirmations about Jesus that we will find in this passage is that Jesus is the Lamb of God.

    Jesus is the Lamb of God 

    John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God. 

    The sacrificial system was instituted in the Old Testament to show the price which needed to be paid for sin and that sin needed to be atoned for. Sin required a blood sacrifice. It was a complicated and rigorous system. Sacrifices provided temporary atonement. Certain sins required certain sacrifices. 

    Sacrifices also required worthy animals. A person couldn’t just pick out an old goat that was about to die. It had to be a healthy animal without blemish. All of that was meant to point to the greater sacrifice. Jesus is the perfect and spotless lamb who is the true and worthy sacrifice. 

    And so John calls Jesus the Lamb of God. He is the one who was sacrificed to atone for the sins of all who believe in him. 

    Continuing in our text. John the Baptist hast just made this statement about Jesus and then:

    The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus (John 1:37).

    Pointing to a great teacher

    John points to Jesus. With a respected religious leader like John, that would have been unthinkable. No one wants to lose people. A teacher doesn’t want to lose students. A dentist doesn’t want to lose patients. A hair stylist doesn’t want to lose clients. 

    But John is happy to point his people to Jesus. He’s happy to lose his followers to Jesus, because that’s his entire purpose. Pointing people to Jesus. The text says that they followed Jesus. Verse 38: Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” 

    Quite the question Jesus asks. 

    There’s a double meaning. It flows into the story when two men start following Jesus to ask “what are you seeking?” or “what do you want?” 

    But it is also a probing question for anyone who seeks to follow Jesus. 

    What are you seeking? 

    “What are you seeking?”

    What do you want from Jesus. There are many reasons why people try to find religion or turn to Jesus. But not all of them are good reasons. If you’re a follower of Jesus, why are you following him? 

    Being a follower of Jesus is an end in itself. You follow Jesus because you get…Jesus. 

    You get God. That is the greatest promise that the Lord gives to us. Unworthy sinners are invited to know the God of the universe. Sadly that’s not always the real heart behind a person’s desire to know Jesus. 

    What are you seeking? 

    Some people follow Jesus because they have all sorts of issues and think life will get easier. And for awhile, that might be true. But you’re still you. You’re still a sinful person. You still have various habits and areas of sin that aren’t productive. And life is still hard. 

    You get Jesus. What about when the going gets tough? Because the going will get tough. 

    And then where does that leave you? For some, they’re left disillusioned with faith because it didn’t give them what they wanted. 

    But the mistake was that they were looking for the wrong thing. Some are led to Jesus because they’re sold a false gospel and believe that material blessing and physical health are both always the will of God for a believer. 

    It’s often called the prosperity gospel. It’s not Biblical Christianity. It turns our desires to stuff and not to God. There are often blessings which result from the Christian life and living according to Biblical wisdom. But that is not meant to be the basis of being a follower of Christ. 

    Because the struggles still come. If our hope is rooted in what we think Jesus will give to us, it leads to a faith that is superficial. Plenty of Christians can see the flaws in prosperity theology. Yet we’re often still drawn to it. Especially in America. 

    Why? 

    Because, in our heart of hearts, there’s a temptation to think that we deserve things to be good because we like to think we’re good. We pray, we serve, we give, we try to follow God. 

    We do these things and so it can be tempting to be angry with God when things don’t go the way we want them to. 

    The Bible does not promise the Christian life will be easy. It promises the opposite. 

    You can find verses on suffering in almost every book in the New Testament. Most notably, it was Jesus who was unjustly tortured and executed. He told his disciples in John 15: If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

    The Apostle Paul was impoisoned multiple times in his life and later executed for his faith. He said in Romans 5:3 we rejoice in our sufferings.

    Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from jail, and was later executed. John the Baptist who’s in our passage this morning. Executed. The apostles named in our passage this morning: all of them were martyrs. 

    The world hates the gospel. 

    The Christian life is hard. And life is hard. 

    What are you seeking? 

    Certainly I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with blessings. Christians often times do enjoy blessings in life, because God is good and gracious. 

    Living Godly lives and living according to Biblical wisdom is the best way to live and so that often bears fruit in life. 

    But what about when it doesn’t? 

    Many faithful people follow the Lord throughout their entire lives and continue to suffer and struggle. What are you seeking? I’m not saying we should desire a life of hardship of drudgery. 

    That’s not the life God wants for his people. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. But if Jesus is your everything, you can find joy even in hardship, even in suffering, even in sorrow, even in pain.

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  • Behold the lamb of God! Studying John 1:29-34

    Behold the lamb of God! Studying John 1:29-34

    John the Baptist came to point to Christ, to witness to Christ, to be the bridge between BC and AD. 

    We see him speak in John 1:29:: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

    I will note that it’s very possible that John himself did not realize the full magnitude of what he was even saying when he uttered those words. But it’s impossible for a Christian to miss the meaning of those words. 

    Behold, John commands. Look to Jesus. Look upon the lamb who takes away the sins of the world. A profound theological statement about Jesus and what he did. Jesus is the perfect and spotless lamb who is sacrificed for sins. It’s a theme that we will see throughout John’s Gospel. 

    Many of the Old Testament sacrifices call for a lamb. Isaiah 53 has a passage of the suffering servant and talks of a perfect lamb being led to slaughter. There’s the Passover sacrifice where the Israelites scarified lambs before the Exodus and where it was an annual holy day. 

    And here Jesus is called the Lamb of God. The ultimate and greater sacrifice. 

    He’s the lamb who takes away the sins of the world. 

    It’s not that sin is just written off or no longer matters. Just the opposite. Sin matters a great deal but it is Jesus who takes away sin, takes away the penalty for our sins. 

    He takes away the sins of the world. That’s not saying that he takes away the sins of every individual person. John talks about “the world” several times in his gospel and other writings. It is Jesus who bears the penalty for a fallen humanity and for everyone who believes in him. 

    John points to Jesus. John 1:30 says: This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.

    This is similar to John 1:15. There John said: ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 

    And what John is doing is looking back at his early prophesy, as pointing to one who was greater than him and he sees Jesus, and he says “this is that man.” 

    John gets at his specific purpose in 1:31:  I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

    Where John says he did not know Jesus, don’t get too caught up in that. The point isn’t that John the Baptist literally did not know Jesus but that he did not previously known Jesus for who he was: the promised messiah. 

    John was called to baptize so that the savior of the world would be revealed. That’s not primary about John, it’s about the Lord and the divine plan. 

    John’s call to repentance, John as the voice of one in the wilderness, John as a witness to Jesus, all of this was part of the divine plan for John’s ministry and purpose in the world as the forerunner to Jesus. 

    It’s not that John was causing the Lord to be revealed to the world. But that his ministry would be used by the Lord. 

    Verse 32: And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 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.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

    This is referring to when Jesus was baptized. 

    The other three gospels record that John baptized Jesus. That specific event is not mentioned in this gospel. As the Gospel of John was written later, perhaps it was assumed that readers would be aware of this. 

    All four gospels agree that John was a witness to the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus. John sees this moment. He’s a witness to the Spirit descending upon Jesus. And John says in the text that He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

    In John chapters 14-16, Jesus will talk of the Spirit being given to his believers. The same Spirit who filled Jesus during his ministry is given to all people because of Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit equips us with gifts, convicts us of sin, sanctifies us to God. 

    Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit bears witness that we are children of God. 

    The Spirit bears witness to those who believe. The one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist. Because we’re blessed to have more of the story. 

    We have the risen lamb. And is Spirit in which eh baptizes all who believe in him. Believe in the lamb. Turn away from sin. Point others to him. 

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  • The ministry of John the Baptist. Studying John 1:23-28

    The ministry of John the Baptist. Studying John 1:23-28

    This post is a continuation of a study of John the Baptist in the Gospel of John. John the Baptist is found in all four gospels and is a figure who was prophesied in the Old Testament and who would come as a forerunner to Jesus. He discusses that divinely given ministry in John 1:23-28. But before we study that passage, it’s helpful to look at the context of the preceding section. 

    19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

    -John 1:19-22

    While John isn’t answering in the affirmative to any of his questions, that does not mean he’s insignificant. 

    Verse 23: 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

    That text from Isaiah 40 is applied to John in all four of the gospels. Isaiah 40 is a passage talking of a future time of deliverance for the people of God. It’s an incredibly hopeful passage. It talks of God’s faithfulness to his people in spite of their sin. It talks of God’s restoration. 

    The heart of what this is getting at for John is that his purpose is to call people to repentance and preparation for the coming Messiah. They ask John about his baptism. 

    25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

    Baptism was instituted in the New Testament for followers of Jesus. But baptism was not a foreign idea prior to that time. 

    In the first century, when non-Jews would convert to Judaism, they would sometimes do something similar to baptism which was meant to be a cleansing ritual to symbolically wash away impurity and sin. 

    A difference with John was that he administered baptism. The leaders question his authority. Hhe responds by turning the question right back to his purpose in the world. John 1:26-27:

    26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

    John says that it points to someone who’s shoes he’s not worthy to untie. In other words, he’s unworthy of even doing the most menial and humiliating task. John would need a promotion in order to be worthy of untying Jesus’ sandals. 

    John has authority to baptize because it’s been given to him by God but that baptism is meant to point to something greater. 

    A once in history ministry

    John the Baptist had a ministry to do for a time in history. He was not perfect. He was just a man. He lived a shorter life than Jesus. Much of his life was spent in seclusion. But he was faithful. Yes, we don’t have the ministry that John the Baptist had. He had a once in history ministry. He was the forerunner to Jesus. 

    But just because someone has a different ministry or a different way to serve, that doesn’t mean that the ways you can serve the Lord are insignificant. No one would know who John the Baptist was without Jesus. Jesus is the thing that gives relevance and meaning to his life. 

    But for anyone who’s a follower of Jesus, that’s the case. It’s Jesus who gives meaning. 

    John’s ministry was to point people to Jesus. But that’s the ministry in which every follower of Jesus still shares in. Pointing people to Jesus in word and deed. Following where the Lord leads. Walking in faith. Standing up for the truth of God. 

    Those things are a call which all Christians share. 

    In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus talks of John the Baptist and says: 

    I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28).

    No one before John was greater than he. Yet Jesus says that for those who come after, the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater. The reason isn’t because we have anything great in ourselves. It’s because we have a fuller picture of who Jesus is and a fuller picture of God’s revelation to the world. 

    John did have a once in history ministry to fulfill but he didn’t live long enough to see the fruition of Jesus’ ministry. He never heard about the resurrection or saw the risen Christ. 

    What are you doing to serve the Lord today? It can be tempting to think that we don’t have what it takes to serve God. It’s not about your own abilities and your own power. John the Baptist was an effective minister without a lot of resources. 

    You don’t have to have a lot of money to serve God faithfully. John the Baptist certainly did not have that. He came from the wilderness. Other gospels tell us that John wore a garment made of camel’s hair. You don’t have to have all of the degrees and credentials. John the Baptist didn’t have that….he came. from. the wilderness. 

    You might think you’re too old. John the Baptist had a ministry that was shorter than Jesus’s. His public ministry was incredibly short lived. You don’t have to have decades of ministry to have a ministry that matters. 

    You just have to follow the Lord, to love the Lord, to serve the Lord. 

    What are you doing to serve the Lord? What are you living for? 

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  • Background on John the Baptist for the Gospel of John

    Background on John the Baptist for the Gospel of John

    I’m in a series of articles studying the Gospel of John. Several times in the first chapter, the author makes reference to a man named John. The Apostle John (the author of the gospel) is referring to a man named John the Baptist. 

    But as we study the Gospel of John, who is John the Baptist, and why does he matter? 

    He’s often called “John the Baptist.” That title is referring to what John did rather than a denominational affiliation. It’s not that we had John the Baptist, Peter the Presbyterian, and Paul the Methodist. 

    Next thing. He’s mentioned in all four gospel, and in all of the gospels, he’s introduced prior to the ministry of Jesus. So he’s pretty important. 

    Between the gospels, they give us accounts of both John’s birth and death. I can’t think of any other New Testament figure besides Jesus where that could be said. 

    We find out in the Gospel of Luke that John’s mom, Elizabeth is a relative of Mary which means that John the Baptist is related to Jesus. And John is a few months older than the Lord. 

    After John the Baptist is born, his father gives a prophecy to his son’s life. 

    Luke 1:76-77: 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,

    Luke chapter 1 ends with an interesting note about John: 

    Verse 80: And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

    He was in the wilderness until the day of his publican appearance in Israel.

    There’s not a whole lot of elaboration on that. 

    We know nothing about his formative years. He was in the wilderness. Some scholars suggest the possibility that John may have actually be raised within a small community within the wilderness. That’s speculation, but it would make historical sense. 

    John is related to Jesus, but the gospels tell us nothing about how well they may have known each other. It doesn’t seem like they grew up going to a family dinner every week.  

    When his ministry began, it quickly grew in popularity. Matthew 3:5-6: 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

    Several years after John’s death, the Apostle Paul is ministering in Ephesus in Acts 19. Ephesus is several hundred miles away from Judea but people talk of the baptism which John practiced, showing that his name and reputation were known throughout the region. 

    John also faced persecution during his life. He was arrested and later executed under the Romans in Matthew 14. 

    Thanks for reading! This article is part of a series in the Gospel of John! If you liked it, please share and subscribe.

  • The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Studying John 1:14

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Studying John 1:14

    And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

    -John 1:14

    In his commentary on John, the late New Testament Grant Osborne says of this verse “In my opinion, this is the single greatest sentence ever written in the history of human language, the deepest theological statement ever written. No finite human being could ever enter the realm of God and join his family. It could only come to pass if God himself were to enter the realm of humanity.”

    The Word is referring to Jesus. And it says that Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    The God who created the world came into the world to save the world. The eternal God of creation became flesh and blood, skin and bone. 

    Jesus’ divinity matters but so does his humanity. 

    It is because of his divine nature that he has the power to withstand and to bear the weight of sin. Our sin is an affront to God and no mere mortal is capable of redeeming himself before a Holy God, let alone redeeming humanity. 

    But it also matters that Jesus is human because it is humanity that has sinned. And in being fully man, Jesus is like us in our humanity. Jesus entered sinful humanity, though he himself is without sin. 

    His sinlessness matters because it took a sinless, perfect, and righteous sacrifice to pay for sins. His humanity and divinity make Jesus a worthy sacrifice and atonement for sinful people. 

    Our verse says that the Word became flesh. God became man. 

    Colossians 1:19 says: For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

    The glory of God came to earth through the Lord Jesus. There’s one word in particular in this verse that brings it to a climactic point in this passage. 

    Dwelt. 

    The English doesn’t truly convey the meaning of what’s being said here. Let’s take a step back. 

    In the Old Testament, people originally exist in perfect fellowship with God. That’s what Eden was. It was a holy place. A perfect place. A sinless place. 

    Because of sin, fellowship with God was tarnished. The unencumbered closeness to God was lost due to sin. 

    We were no longer holy. But the story doesn’t end there. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God bringing redemption to his people. 

    God makes a covenant with Abraham. We see God’s continued faithfulness to his covenant. 

    The Tabernacle

    The Israelites were held in captivity in Egypt. After God had miraculously freed them, and while the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God gave them instructions for a structure called the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a tent that the Israelites were to travel with and it was a symbol for God’s presence with his people. 

    Sometimes it’s called the tabernacle. Sometimes it’s called the tent of meeting. 

    Exodus 40:34-35: 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

    Exodus spells out very specific instructions on how the tabernacle was to be built, what types of items would be placed inside the tabernacle, etc. The instructions are so specific because it is a sacred and holy place. 

    Again, it represented the very presence of God in the world.  But this was pointing forward to something greater. 

    The temple. 

    When the Israelites entered the land, part of their purpose was in constructing the temple. As the tabernacle had been portable, the temple was meant to be permanent.

    The overarching purposes were still the same. Most notably, it was where God met his people in the word. It was his presence in the world. The temple was the place where sacrifices were made. 

    For the priests, there were specific instructions on what they had to do to prepare to enter into the Temple It was a sacred place. 

    As with the tabernacle, not just anyone could go into the temple. 

    The priest couldn’t just go into the temple any arbitrary way they wanted. It was a holy place. The temple was completed during the reign of Solomon 

    1 Kings 8:10-11 says: 

    10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 

    In both places, when the presence of the Lord comes into the temple, people can’t even stand in it because the presence is so glorious. 

    The temple is hugely important in the Old Testament. The specific instructions for the temple are important. But this points forward to an even greater temple. To an even greater example of God’s presence with his people. 

    And that is the significance of John 1:14. 

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.

    The word translated as “dwelt” more literally means that Jesus tabernacled among us, that Jesus pitched a tent among us. It’s the same word for tabernacle that was used centuries before Christ when the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew to Greek. 

    The true tabernacle

    Jesus is the tabernacle. He is the greater temple. He is the presence of God with his people because Jesus IS God with his people. 

    So it’s not simply saying that Jesus dwelt among us. But rather: in Jesus, we see God became flesh and tabernacled with his people.  Instead of a tent or a building, we have a person, we have God himself. The greater tabernacle, the greater temple. 

    And he’s greater because he’s everything these places were meant to represent. It was only the priests who could go into the tabernacle and the temple. A priest serves as a mediator between man and God. Jesus is the greater priest. It is he who restores our relationship with God. 

    These man made structures were where sacrifices were offered. Jesus himself is the sacrifice. 

     And as I’ve said, the tabernacle and the temple represent the presence of God with his people. Jesus is God himself who has come to his people. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    The Word made his dwelling among us. He pitched a tent among us. He tabernacled among us. 

    The God who created the world came into the world to save the world. There was no other way for a sinful people to be reconciled to the Lord than through God himself coming into the world. 

    But because of his love for us. Because of his goodness. Because of his grace…

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    The creator entered creation.

    Righteousness

    How do you make yourself right before a Holy God? How do you earn standing before a perfect God? How do you deserve blessings before an all powerful God? You don’t and you can’t. 

    God became one of us so we could be with him. He is a personal God. It doesn’t get more personal than Jesus entering his creation. Sometimes it can be tempting to doubt if God really knows what we’re going through when we’re struggling. It can be tempting to wonder if God really cares.  

    He knows. He knows what it’s like to live in a sinful world. He knows what it’s like to have people oppose him and not like him. He knows what it’s like to be hated for no reason. He knows what it’s like to be slandered. He knows what it’s like to cry. He knows what it’s like to be let down. He knows what it’s like to be betrayed. He knows what it’s like to suffer and feel pain. He knows what it’s like to face injustice. 

    He knows. 

    It can be be easy to focus on Christ’s glory and divinity to the point where we forget his humanity. But we see his humanity in this passage. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    It’s often said of people in politics who have opinions on public policies. We feel like they can’t relate to the average person. There’s the old saying not to judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. 

    Jesus lived a lifetime in our shoes. 

    Sometimes God can seem distant. He’s a personal God who invites us to know him. 

    He joined us in our humanity. He came to earth so that we could have heaven. He died so that we could have life. He was forsaken so we could be children of God. 

    The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe! This article is part of a series on the Gospel of John.