The Yale expositor., 1908-01-10
JESUS AND JOHN
THE BAPTIST
Sunday School Lesson Tor Jan. IL. 1908
Specially Arranged for This Paper

Verses. 90 80
GOLDEN TEXT.-"Behold the Lamb of
God. which taketh away the sin Of the
world. John 1:29.
TIME.-John the Baptist began TO
preach in the summer OF A. u. 26. He
preached six months before Christ APP
peared on the scene. He continued a
year and three months preaching while
Jesus preached; till March A. ID. %. Jesus
was baptized January, A. ID. a. His
mptaton-January and February. His
first disciples-in February. The delega-
ton Of the Pharisees-February
PLACE-The wilderness of Judea. The
baptism of Jesus at Bethabara, on the
east bank of the Jordan.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
John preached the things that were
necessary before one could enter the
kingdom of God. % Repentance and
confession of sin. % A change OF
conduct that proved the repentance
to be sincere. 90 A public profess
sion of this change of life by baptism,
essential to the proof of their sim
certify, to permanance of the new life,
and to power for good. ca The king
dom of God is at hand.
This preaching led people to in
quire, what does all this mean? Who
is coming? What is coming?
The Witness of John to Christ
VS.. 1874. The Christian wants proof.
The issues are too important for
credulity. We need to know.
The witness of John is repeated,
reinforced, more and more clearly, all
down the ages. The facts written in
the history of 1000 years confirm his
testimony.
First. John Witnesses That Jesus
Is the Christ, the Son Of God. He re-
fused to be called the Messiah. He
was merely one who announced his
coming. And when Jesus returned to
Bethabara, John pointed him out to
the people-"Here is the Messiah.
This is the Redeemer from sin. This
is the man whom God by sure signs
made known to me as the Saviour"
There is a great deal of evil in the
world yet, in the best of countries, in
the best of people. But it is evil
fought against. 1t is gaining the vic
tory slowly but surely. The very
revelations of evil, the controversies
and conflicts, are signs that the power
of Christ is working upon the evil, a
never ending conflict till the good has
triumphed.
Second. John Witnesses to Jesus
as the Redeemer from Sin. V. 20.
Behold the Lamb of God" Jesus was
so named by John, because the lamb
was used in three ways as symbol OF
the deliverance which Jesus brought.
% JohD and his hearers were famil-
lar with the representation in Isaiah
(53:O of the coming one, "as a lamb
led to the slaughter" (2) Still more
would the Jew think of the Passover
lamb as the type and promise of ma
:ional deliverance. CD The daily
sacrifice of a lamb was continually
before the Jews, teaching them the
meaning of all the sacrifices, and con-
tinually reminding them OF their
need of an atonement for sin.
1t is we'll worth noting that Jesus
died for our sins at the Passover
feast and at the hour of the daily
sacrifice. (which taketh away the
sin of the world" ITO bear away
sin is to remove the guilt and punish
ment of sin by expiation. or to cause
that sin be neither imputed nor pun
ished."-Thayer's Greek-English Lex.
% The work of Christ is to do this
FOR the whole world till this sinful
world Is changed into the sinless
Paradise Regained. GU Jesus pro-
vides redemption for all the world.
CD He pardons past sin, so that it is
no longer remembered by him, but Is
blotted out forever. (4) He is, In
fact, removing sin from the world.
Wherever he comes, sin Is in the
process OF removal from each heart
that accepts him, and from the COM
munity.
Third. The Witness Of the Holy
Spirit. V. 80. Il saw the Spirit de-
scending from heaven like dove,
and it abode upon him." He descend
ed not only in the manner of dove,
but in bodily shape of a dove (Luke
3:22). This means more than ut
was as plain to him that Jesus was
possessed by the Spirit as IL he had
seen the Spirit in visible shape
alighting upon him." 1t was neces-
sary for his assurance, and that OF the
people, that there should be some
visible proof of the descent of the
Spirit, as there was at Pentecost, and
the results proved that the sign was
accompanied by reality. It may be
that John saw the effects "in the de-
meanor of Jesus, in his lowliness, and
sympathy. and holiness, all of which
came to their perfect bloom at and in
his baptism. Exp. Greek Test. But
the sign that accompanied this power
was given to reveal the fact, lin let
tiers that could be read from the
stars" that the invisible Holy Spirit
was actually present; to make the
fact clear and unmistakable; to show
the source whence the power and its
effects came.
Practical Points.
The Dove expresses the indwelling
~ Taouc In our haarfa awakening ALI