Monday, February 16, 2009
John 1:30-31 This is the one I meant when I said, "A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me." I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.
SUPERIOR TO JOHN
On the previous day, an envoy of priests asked John the Baptist if HE was the Christ. John did not hesitate to answer, "No."
He was the forerunner. His job was to help the people see their sins so that they would understand their need for the Savior who was about to appear.
He was not the main event, and he knew it. To the envoy from Jerusalem he had said, ". . . Among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie" (John 1:26-27).
A few verses later, John says something very revealing about the Christ: "A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me" (John 1:30).
Jesus would indeed be revealed to Israel after John, but Jesus was not born before John. He was born six months later than John. How could it be true that Jesus was before John?
John is talking about the fact that the Christ was the Son of God who had existed from eternity. He was not created when He was conceived in the womb of Mary. He had always been, and was therefore ranked high above the messenger who prepared the way for His revealing.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Jesus is the rightful focus of the Christian faith. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament word. He is the origin of every New Testament teaching. He is greater than any messenger. He is the jewel in the center of all God's communication to us. A Christianity without Christ at its pinnacle is a lopsided thing destined to topple. And any religion without Christ altogether is a dead and empty shell.
