Day 2
John 1 14-37
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leader] in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”He said, “I am not.”“Are you the Prophet?”He answered, “No.”22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One."35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
How many followers do you have? It's a big thing now. People can make a living by having a lot of followers. They become an "influencer". The influencers make posts endorsing a product and get paid. Just recently my son's father - in-law, who developed Brite beds, had an influencer sleep in one and sold 2 beds that day. My partner at work's son has over a million followers and that is his job. It's crazy! I was at a youth retreat and the guest speaker, who I guess was trying to develop a little credibility with the youth told how many followers she had and that she was an influencer.
How many followers do you have? I bet you wish you had more. John the Baptist had followers. In fact John was becoming an influencer. People were coming from everywhere to hear him, see him, be baptized by him and even follow him. Two of these followers, John and Andrew, one day were with John the Baptist one day and when he saw Jesus he told them in so many words, "Unfollow me and follow Him. The only reason I am an influencer is so that I can introduce people to Him and then my job is done. I will go off social media." Well, not exactly what he said but you get the point. John the Baptist testifies to us that we have a mission in life and it's not for our renown but His.
John says, " the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel." He knew his purpose. Could I say," the reason I'm going to work today is to make Him know at the office."? Would you say, "The reason I'm going to school today is to make Him known at the school"? You see, we don't exist to get followers of us, we exist to add to Christ's followers. Lets think about where we have gone wrong and take steps to correct this today.
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