Gospel of John. If you're using the Pew Bible, I believe it's page 860.
Page 860, or John chapter 1.
We're working our way through the story of Jesus, according to John the Apostle.
And last Sunday, what we looked at was the story of Jesus' debut, we could call it.
The day that he started to be known publicly to the people of Israel.
And we listened to John tell the story of how John the Baptizer was there out in the wilderness,
baptizing people, teaching and preaching,
until that day after the delegation from Jerusalem came to check him out.
The day after, Jesus emerged from the crowds himself,
came out to John, was baptized by John.
And that day, John's message changed.
From one is coming, to this is the one.
Look at him.
We talked about what it meant, that he is the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world.
Now, we could move on in the story here,
and see how Jesus begins to get his disciples.
But I think that there's one more thing that we just can really meditate on,
this moment of Jesus' baptism.
And it comes in verses 32 to 34.
The thing that just struck me in those words,
three times,
John mentions the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit.
Let me read it for us.
This is the testimony that John the Baptizer gave about Jesus.
Then John gave this testimony.
I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
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.
I have seen and I testify that this is God's chosen one.
Three times in John's testimony, he mentions the Spirit.
I saw the Spirit coming down.
I saw it come to rest on him and remain on him.
I saw the Spirit,
the one that God had told me to watch for.
And this one, God said to me,
he gave me this sign,
the one that you see the Spirit come down on,
he's the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Three times he mentions the Holy Spirit.
And so for this morning,
I want to just take a few moments to consider
what's the significance of this,
this coming of the Spirit upon Jesus.
It's perhaps something that we could easily overlook
or just pass over and move on to other things.
But why is this so important?
Why does he take such great pain to show us,
to emphasize the Spirit came down upon him?
Who is the Spirit?
To get a clear picture of this,
we have to kind of reach back into the Old Testament.
The Spirit is that person of the Trinity
that we perhaps understand the least.
He's the one who's often at work behind the scenes,
and yet he's there right from the beginning,
right from creation.
He was there as the world was spoke into being by God.
The Spirit is often known throughout the Old Testament
and seen throughout the stories of Israel
as the one who would come upon people
and enable them to do God's special work,
to kind of equip them with skills and abilities
that they otherwise would not have had.
Moses was described as someone who had the Spirit
and the power of the Spirit on him.
It talks there in Numbers 11
about how God took some of the same Spirit
that he had put upon Moses
and put it on the elders of Israel.
And as a result, they prophesied.
They spoke words from God
for the people to hear.
Many of you will know the stories of the judges,
people who God put his Spirit upon
and enabled them to lead his people, Israel.
Samson was one such person.
The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him
so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands
as he might have torn a young goat.
The Spirit would often give supernatural strength
and power to people.
But as we look closely at how the Spirit works
all throughout those old stories,
stories of the people of Israel,
one of the things that we notice
is that he seems to come and go.
He doesn't often just stay with that person.
Even Samson himself was described
as the Spirit of the Lord came upon him
several times throughout his life,
often right before he was about to do something,
right before he was about to go into battle
and fight the Lord's enemies.
There's a temporary nature
to how God worked in the past.
He would come upon people by his Spirit,
enabling them to do his specific work
in that specific moment.
And then sometimes, often,
what we see is that he would leave
or that person would then just continue
to live their normal life
until the next moment
when the Spirit would come upon them.
And one of the examples
that's really clear of this
is Saul, King Saul.
The Spirit of God came powerfully upon him.
1 Samuel 11, verse 6.
And when that happened,
he then led the people of Israel
into battle against the enemy people
who were threatening Israel.
But those of us who know the story of Saul
also know that there came this moment
where the Spirit of the Lord left Saul.
And in this case, it was permanent.
He departed from Saul.
1 Samuel 16, verse 14.
David, the man after God's own heart
and the king which followed Saul,
he prayed this in his prayer, Psalm 51.
He said,
Do not cast me from your presence, Lord,
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
He was watching closely what happened with Saul.
He watched.
He saw how God took his Spirit from Saul
and cast him from his presence, so to speak.
And so he prayed this.
And so there's a very real sense
in which the Spirit came upon people
all throughout those days
to enable them to do a specific work of God,
giving them supernatural power,
giving them the ability to speak words
which were from God.
But even though God did that
for those select few people,
put his Spirit upon them,
the story of Israel
is still very much a downward spiral.
The problem of sin remained.
The people did not listen to the prophets
that he sent
or obey the kings and the leaders
and the judges that he raised up.
And so there's need for something more.
There's need for something better.
And so God spoke through Isaiah
about a coming time
in which he would deal with this problem.
Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 to 2.
If you have your Bible with you,
I encourage you to turn there.
Isaiah chapter 11.
This is what the Lord declared
through his prophet.
He said,
A shoot will come up
from the stump of Jesse.
From his roots,
a branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord
will rest on him.
The Spirit of wisdom
and of understanding.
The Spirit of counsel
and of might.
The Spirit of the knowledge
and fear of the Lord.
And he will delight
in the fear of the Lord.
So what did Isaiah declare?
He said that
there is one coming.
He comes
and he uses a bit of a tree metaphor here
to refer to the family of Jesse,
which of course was King David's father.
There is one coming
from the family of Jesse,
the family of David.
If Jesse is a stump
or the roots,
then this one who's coming
is a branch
that will grow off
of this family tree.
And what's the first thing
that he tells us
about this one
who is to come?
The Spirit of the Lord
will rest on him.
God's own Spirit.
The Spirit of Yahweh
will rest
on this one,
this descendant
of Jesse.
And what will be
the outcome of that?
What will that mean?
Isaiah goes on
to tell us
the kinds of qualities
that this
descendant
will have
because the Spirit
is resting on him.
He will have wisdom.
He will have understanding.
He will have
counsel,
the ability to counsel.
He will have might.
He will have power.
He will have the knowledge
and fear of the Lord.
And then Isaiah
goes on
to tell us
what this
coming one
will do
because he has
this
enabling
from the Spirit.
He says
in verse 3,
He will not judge
by what he sees
with his eyes
or decide
by what he
hears
with his ears.
But with righteousness
he will judge
the needy.
With justice
he will give decisions
for the poor
of the earth.
As I was thinking
about this
I thought
how does this
really connect
to us?
Maybe you know
of a situation
in your life
right now
where somebody
that you care about
somebody that you love
is in some kind
of conflict
or dispute
with someone else.
Maybe a marriage
issue
or
family falling out.
two people
that you care about
and you long
to see this
dispute
this conflict
fixed.
But as one
who stands
on the outside
looking in
you're not even
completely sure
just what has
gone on
what has been
said
what has been
done
what was meant
by what was
said.
You want
this situation
this conflict
to be resolved.
But how
will that
happen
when
from your
perspective
not even
sure
what's
really
at the
root
what's
really
caused
this.
It's to
this kind
of situation
which happens
all over the
place in our
world
that these
words are
good news.
This coming
one
this descendant
of Jesse
of David
he will
not judge
by what he
sees with
his eyes
or decide
by what
he hears
with his
ears.
His
judgment
his
verdict
his
decisions
will not
be based
on mere
outward
appearance
on what
he perceives
in the
situation.
he will
not be
swayed
by bias
or by
his
connection
to the
person.
No,
this one
who comes
because he
has the
spirit of
the Lord
upon him
and has
wisdom
from the
spirit
understanding
counsel
and might
he
will judge
with
righteousness.
He will
give
decisions
that are
just
that are
right.
And the
sense here
is that he
will do
it for
the people
of the
earth
and not
discriminately,
not just
for those
who can
afford to
buy his
legal advice
or counsel.
He will
give it
even to the
needy
and to
the
poor.
It
talks
about how
this
branch
of
Jesse
will
take
care
of
the
problem
of
wickedness
in our
world.
Deal
with the
problem
of
injustice.
In
verse
five,
righteousness
will be
his belt
and
faithfulness
the sash
around
his waist,
the central
feature
of his
rule
when he
comes
will be
acting
rightly.
It will
be
faithfulness.
It will
be
keeping
his
promises.
That's
something
that we
all long
for
as we
think
of our
government.
One who
will keep
his promise
and do
everything
that he
has said
he will
do.
And when
he comes,
Isaiah
goes on,
I'm not
going to
read all
of this,
the wolf
will live
with the
lamb,
the infant
will play
near the
cobra's
den and
the young
child will
put its
hand into
the viper's
nest.
Verse 8,
they will
neither harm
nor destroy
on all my
holy mountain.
This branch
of Jesse,
when he
comes,
will bring
about a
time in
this world
such as
this world
has never
seen.
When all
living things
will live
in peace
and harmony.
When there
will be no
violence,
no fear
of harm.
These are
wonderful
words.
This is
not all
that
Isaiah
has to
say
about this
one on
whom the
spirit
will rest.
Flip forward
to Isaiah
chapter 42.
Isaiah
chapter 42.
Isaiah
the Lord
speaking
through
Isaiah
said this,
here is
my servant
whom I
uphold,
my chosen
one in
whom I
delight.
I will
put my
spirit
on him
and he
will bring
justice
to the
nations.
So instead
of referring
to him
here as
the branch
or the
shoot
of Jesse,
he refers
to him
here.
The Lord
refers to
this coming
one as
my servant.
He refers
to him
as the
one in
whom I
delight.
Think
back to
that moment
when Jesus
was baptized.
God
spoke from
heaven
audibly
in an audible
voice in
that moment.
We can read
that in the
gospels and
what did he
say?
This is my
beloved son.
with him
I am
well
pleased
in whom
I
delight.
My
chosen
one
in
John
chapter
one
verse
thirty
four.
This is
what John
the baptizer
said.
I have
seen and
I testify
that this
is God's
chosen
one.
God
is
the
son of
God.
At this
place in
the gospel
of John
there's
two different
variations
in the
manuscripts
that we
have
available
today.
There's
back and
forth over
which
reading is
correct.
Is it
this is
the son
of God
or is
it
this is
God's
chosen
one?
I'm
not a
world-class
scholar so
I can't
really
venture
into
that
too
much
but
the
leaning
is
probably
the
evidence
probably
leans
to
that
the
reading
is
this
is
God's
chosen
one
with
the
thought
that
John
the
baptizer
was
actually
saying
that
day
this
one
Jesus
whom
you
see
he
is
the
servant
spoken
of
here
in
Isaiah
my
servant
whom
I
uphold
my
chosen
one
in
whom
I
delight
and
what
is
said
about
him
the
servant
of
the
Lord
by
Isaiah
I
will
put
my
spirit
on
him
I
will
put
my
own
spirit
says
God
on
him
and
what
will
he
do
with
this
gift
this
enabling
he
will
bring
justice
to
the
nations
what
a
statement
what
a
promise
what
a
thing
to
look
forward
to
in
our
world
especially
with
the
way
it
is
that
we
see
today
in
the
news
he
will
bring
justice
to
the
nations
Isaiah
goes
on to
describe
some
of the
way
that
he
will
do
that
because
this
has
been
promised
by
others
we
could
look
at
some
of
those
old
conquerors
Alexander
the
great
you
know
the
empires
king
of
Babylon
the
king
of
the
Persians
and
the
Medes
they
had
a
promise
of
justice
as
well
but
their
way
of
bringing
that
about
was
through
conquest
where
they
just
run
into
the
place
take
it
over
do
what
they
will
there
but
the
way
that
this
servant
of
the
Lord
Isaiah
speaks
about
will
bring
justice
stands
in
contrast
to
that
what
does
Isaiah
say
he
says
this
servant
he
will
not
shout
or cry
out
or raise
his voice
in the
streets
a bruised
reed
he will
not
break
and a
smoldering
wick
he will
not
snuff
out
there's
a sense
in which
this
coming
servant
of the
Lord
he
comes
in
silence
he
comes
out
of
the
quiet
he
comes
with
a
gentleness
and a
care
and a
concern
for those
who are
weak
those
who are
bruised
those
who are
downtrodden
those
who are
needy
those
old
conquering
kings
and
emperors
they
they just
strolled
into
the
place
without
regard
for
people
and
took
over
trampled
over
whoever
got in
their
way
not
this
coming
one
there's
something
special
about
this
coming
one
in
faithfulness
he will
bring
forth
what is
right
justice
he will
not
falter
or be
discouraged
till he
establishes
justice
on
earth
and in
his
teaching
the
islands
will
put
their
hope
again
we
see
this
key
identifier
of who
this
servant
of the
Lord
is
he
is
the
one
on
whom
God
will
put
his
spirit
and
so
when
we
come
to
this
moment
where
Jesus
emerges
from
the
crowds
and
is
baptized
and
John
sees
the
spirit
of
the
Lord
come
down
upon
him
this
is
big
this
doesn't
just
mean
that
Jesus
is
the
one
that
John
has
been
saying
you know
the
one
who's
ranks
higher
than
I
this
is
even
bigger
than
that
this
is
the
Messiah
this
is
the
servant
of
the
Lord
this
is
the
branch
of
Jesse
look
at
him
I
saw
the
spirit
come
down
on
him
and
remain
on
him
not
like
King
Saul
where
the
spirit
came
and
departed
no
the
spirit
came
down
upon
him
and
remained
on
him
here
to
stay
this
is
how
we
know
that
Jesus
is
the
one
the
one
who
has
been
promised
and
he
is
so
much
more
than
we
ever
imagined
as
we
begin
to
look
at
these
old
prophecies
given
in
the
Old
Testament
not
long
after
Jesus
was
baptized
he
would
come
to
this
moment
where
it
says
in
the
power
of
the
spirit
he
came
into
Galilee
and
he
went
to
the
town
of
Nazareth
which
was
his
hometown
the
place
where
his
family
was
living
he
went
into
the
synagogue
there
and
he
opened
up
the
scroll
of
Isaiah
and
this
is
what
he
read
the
spirit
of
the
Lord
is
on
me
because
he
has
anointed
me
to
proclaim
good
news
to
the
poor
he
has
sent
me
to
proclaim
freedom
for
the
prisoners
and
recovery
of
sight
for
the
blind
to
set
the
oppressed
free
to
proclaim
the
year
of
the
Lord's
favor
that's
Isaiah
61
Jesus
read
those
words
in
the
synagogue
then
he
handed
the
scroll
back
to
where
they
set
it
down
and
he
began
by
saying
to
them
teaching
them
he
said
today
this
scripture
is
fulfilled
in
your
hearing
in
other
words
the
spirit
of
the
Lord
is
upon
me
is
written
ultimately
about
me
and
I
am
here
to
proclaim
good
news
I
have
been
specially
anointed
and
set
apart
by
God
to
proclaim
good
news
and
to
bring
all
these
wonderful
things
that
you
can
read
about
in
Isaiah
61
John
declared
it
this
is
the
one
on
whom
the
spirit
came
down
Jesus
he
knew
who
he
was
he
knew
he
had
God's
spirit
upon
him
and
he
proclaimed
it
finally
we
come
to
this
last
mention
of
the
spirit
in
this
passage
John
the
baptizer
out
there
in
the
river
says
the
man
on
whom
you
see
this
is
God
speaking
to
John
the
baptizer
the
man
on
whom
you
see
the
spirit
come
down
and
remain
is
the
one
who
will
baptize
with
the
Holy
Spirit
it's
an
interesting
phrase
if we
look
carefully
back
through
what
we've
been
through
already
here
in
John
three
times
John
has
made
it
crystal
clear
I
baptize
with
water
verse
26
I
baptize
with
water
John
said
verse
31
I
came
baptizing
with
water
verse
33
the
one
who
sent
me
to
baptize
with
water
but
the
one
that
you
see
in
front
of
you
now
the
Lamb
of
God
he
is
the
one
who
will
baptize
you
with
the
Holy
Spirit
with
God's
Spirit
now
what
does
that
mean
there's
more
to
say
about
that
than
we
have
time
for
this
morning
but
we
can
just
simply
go
with
the
metaphor
to
baptize
means
to
put
into
or
some
would
take
it
as
to
wash
or
to
cleanse
John
makes
it
clear
the
washing
the
baptism
that
I
do
it's
with
the
earthly
it's
in
water
but
the
one
who
is
coming
and
now
has
come
look
at
him
he's
the
one
who
will
put
you
into
the
spirit
who
will
wash
or
cleanse
you
by
his
Holy
Spirit
and
this
is
what
we've
what
we've
been
waiting
for
this
is
what
we've
needed
as
I
mentioned
earlier
the
problem
of
sin
God
put
his
spirit
on
a
select
few
on
the
leaders
on
the
prophets
but
the
people
on
the
whole
continue
to
spiral
downward
in
disobedience
in
rebellion
against
God
there's
need
not
just
for
the
leaders
to
have
the
spirit
but
for
the
people
themselves
to
have
God's
spirit
upon
them
and
in
them
and
so
what
does
John
declare
this
one
Jesus
he
is
the
one
who
will
bring
the
spirit
to
you
put
God's
spirit
in
you
and
this
too
was
foretold
by
the
prophets
Joel
we could
look at
others
too
there's
Ezekiel
there's
Jeremiah
there's
others
but
Joel
said
this
God
speaking
through
him
said
afterward
I
will
pour
out
my
spirit
on
all
people
your
sons
and
daughters
will
prophesy
your
old
men
will
dream
dreams
your
young
men
will
see
visions
even
on
my
servants
both
men
and
women
I
will
pour
out
my
spirit
in
those
days
this
one
that
you
see
coming
up
out
of
the
water
he's
the
one
who
will
bring
and
give
the
spirit
to
you
the
very
spirit
of
God
think
about
that
we
look
at
those
stories
of
Samson
and
King
David
and
the
prophets
and
we
think
man
wouldn't
that
have
been
awesome
to
have
supernatural
strength
by
God's
spirit
to
have
the
spirit
upon
us
the
good
news
is
that
Jesus
has
come
to
put
his
spirit
upon
us
now
it
may
not
result
in
supernatural
strength
or
some
of
those
things
that
we
read
about
in
the
Old
Testament
the
spirit
has
many
gifts
and
we're
not
going
to
get
into
that
this
morning
but
what
a
wonderful
gift
it
is
as
we
look
at
this
story
of
Jesus
baptism
I
think
it's
all
too
easy
to
think
to
ourselves
you
know
what
does
this
really
have
to
do
with
me
Jesus
got
the
spirit
upon
him
what
does
this
have
to
do
with
me
but
if
we
look
closely
at
what
that
means
that
the
spirit
is
upon
him
I
hope
that
we
have
seen
this
morning
through
some
of
those
Old
Testament
prophecies
that
this
means
everything
this
means
that
this
is
God's
chosen
one
this
is
the
one
who
will
come
again
someday
to bring
about
all that
we hope
for and
long for
in our
world
to bring
justice
to the
nations
to bring
peace and
harmony
such as
this world
has never
seen
that's
something
that we
can receive
that we
can be a
part of
and enter
into
because of
this moment
when God
put his
spirit
upon him
we
might
wonder
why
did
Jesus
need
God's
spirit
why
did he
even
need
God's
spirit
John's
already
told us
that
Jesus
was
the
word
who
was
God
at
the
very
beginning
that
all
things
were
made
through
him
so
why
did
he
need
God's
spirit
to
enable
him
if
he
has
the
power
to
do
it
already
and my
answer
to that
is that
the
son
of
God
has
come
into
our
world
on a
very
specific
mission
as we
talked
about
last
Sunday
to be
a
substitute
one
who
will
take
away
our
sins
and
in
order
to
be
an
acceptable
substitute
he
must
be
truly
one
of
us
and
live
the
human
life
as
a
human
being
and
so
in a
sense
you
could
put
it
this
way
he
in
order
to
be
an
acceptable
substitute
for
us
he
cannot
as
it
were
cheat
by
just
using
his
divine
power
to
do
everything
he
must
live
the
human
life
as
a
human
being
and
so
the
miracles
the
words
that
he
spoke
from
God
as
a
prophet
were
done
were
performed
in
reliance
upon
the
Holy
Spirit
and
his
enabling
without
the
spirit
this
whole
story
would
change
this
whole
story
would
change
we
need
we
need
the
spirit
what
God
does
each
person
of
who
he
is
the
father
the
son
and
the
spirit
they
work
together
and
we
see
that
again
here
at
Jesus
baptism
our
opportunity
to have
the
spirit
comes
through
this
one
who
will
baptize
us
put
us
into
wash
us
cleanse
us
by
the
spirit
and
so
him
having
the
spirit
that
day
come
down
upon
him
means
everything
for
us
our
hope
is
anchored
there
this
is
critical
how
does
this
touch
our
lives
in
the
week
ahead
we've
been
talking
in
first
Peter
about
a lot
of
good
things
that
we
have
to
look
forward
to
an
inheritance
kept
in
heaven
for
us
that
will
never
spoil
or
fade
Peter
says
there
in
all
of
this
you
greatly
rejoice
and
I
think
that
we
could
bring
those
words
over
and
apply
them
to
these
wonderful
truths
as
well
in
what
the
spirit
upon
Jesus
and
Jesus
will
do
in
the
future
when
he
comes
again
in
all
of
these
things
we
can
greatly
rejoice
though
now
for a
little
while
we
may
be
going
through
some
stuff
we
may
be
going
through
some
trials
look
at
the
hope
that
we
have
in
Christ
this
one
who
will
come
and
in
the
power
of
the
spirit
change
this
world
and
make
it
new
forever
let's
meditate
on that
this
week
and I
hope
and I
pray
that we
will find
joy
from the
Lord
as we
do
let's
pray
father
in
heaven
thank
you
for
your
word
thank
you
that
you
keep
your
promises
thank
you
for
sending
Jesus
thank
you
for
putting
your
spirit
upon
him
we
can't
wait
for
the
day
when
he
comes
back
help
us
to
be
patient
help
us
to
continue
to
trust
you
we
love
you
continue
to do
your
good
work
in
our
hearts
by
your
spirit's
power
we
ask
this
in
Jesus
name
amen