FOLLOW THE LAMB WHITHERSOEVER HE
GOETH.
-JAN. 8.-JOHN
1:35-46.-
“Behold the Lamb of God!”-John 1:36.
JOHN’S mission was to
bear witness to Jesus. He knew him well from his infancy to manhood, and as
cousins according to the flesh they doubtless had discussed various features of
the divine law, and they were of one heart as respects service to the Lord.
Neither could begin a public service until thirty years of age, since this was
one feature of the Law, but John being six months the elder was thus privileged
to begin his ministry six months in advance of our Lord. During that brief
period he had evidently made a considerable commotion as a reformer, his
message being, “Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”-Matt. 3:2.
The Jews had been waiting for the Kingdom for centuries; they realized
that the Kingdom given to Saul, David, Solomon, etc., had not fulfilled the
promises, and that a Kingdom in a larger sense, and under a greater than David
and a greater than Solomon, was to be expected. The Apostle assures us that
this thought was continually before their minds. (Acts 26:7.) John’s mission
to that nation, therefore, was the announcement that the fulfillment of the
divine promise was at hand, and that in order to be ready to receive the divine
favor they should repent of sin and turn to the Lord. And as our Lord declared
subsequently, if that nation had believed John and acted upon that belief they
would have been ready to receive the Lord himself, and to have fulfilled to
them all the gracious promises of the Kingdom to which they were heirs, as the
natural seed of Abraham.
It was because they were not in a right condition of heart that they were
not fit to have the Kingdom, the promise of which, therefore, was taken from
them, to be given to a new nation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood-which
God has been selecting from amongst all peoples, kindreds and tongues, during
this Gospel age, and which will now soon be completed, and be glorified, and
begin the work of blessing all the families of the earth, as the Spiritual Seed
of Abraham.-Gal. 3:29.
John did not preach to the people that they should believe on God, for he
was addressing only the believing, covenanted people, Israel. His message was
respecting things already known to them, and believed by them. He therefore
exhorted merely repentance from their sins, and a return to their proper and
covenanted relationship with God. In all this John’s ministry is very
different from the ministry of the apostles to the Gentiles, who not only had
been without knowledge respecting God’s purposes, Kingdom, etc., but also
without faith or any ground of hope. As the Apostle declares, they were
“without God, and having no hope in the world.” Nor did any hope reach them,
nor was the Gospel message sent to them, until after Israel’s rejection in
consequence of their rejection of Messiah.
“The baptism of John” was to the Jews only, and was wholly different from
the baptism appointed for those called from amongst the Gentiles. The Apostle
makes this fact very clear in Acts 19:2-5. John’s baptism was not a baptism
into any thing, or into any body, whereas our baptism is a
baptism into Christ, as members of his body. John’s baptism merely signified
the putting away of sins, and thus to return to a condition of holiness and
consecration already enjoyed. Our baptism signifies something very different
from this-not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the submission of
our consciences, our wills, fully and unreservedly to the will of Christ, that
we should henceforth have no will of our own, but be guided entirely by the
will of our Head, as members of his Body. Thus becoming dead to self-will we
are reckoned alive as “new creatures,” “members in particular” of the Body of
Christ.-1 Cor. 12:27.
The Jews as a nation had already been baptized into Moses (1 Cor.
10:2), the mediator of their Law Covenant, and to the Jew, Christ took the
place of Moses, and his New Covenant took the place of the Law Covenant, so
that any Jew, already baptized into Moses, and already thus in covenant
relationship, would, by merely accepting Christ as the Messiah, the antitype of
Moses, and the Mediator of the New Covenant (and, in harmony with his faith, repenting
of sin), be adopted, reckoned as a member in the Body of Christ, instead of as
a member of the Body of Moses. All others, however, who were of the Gentiles,
and not of the natural seed of Abraham, are not to come first to Moses and the
Law, and then through John’s baptism into Christ, but are to ignore the Law
Covenant entirely, and avail themselves of the better covenant direct, and
hence they are instructed to be baptized into Christ, by being immersed into
his death, and to testify to this consecration outwardly, to their
fellows and before God, by an immersion in water.-Rom. 6:3,4.
We have no record that John the Baptist was ever immersed himself-nor
would we need to have, since he evidently was a godly man, living up, to the
best of his ability, to the standard of the Law Covenant. His baptism, as he
himself explained, was only for sinners,-those who had been living knowingly in
violation of the principles of righteousness. Hence also John objected at
first to the baptism of Jesus, assuring him that he was not a sinner, and that
if Jesus needed to be baptized, much more appropriate would it be that John
himself should be immersed. “I have need to be baptised of thee, and comest
thou to me?” But our Lord, while admitting the force of John’s argument that a
baptism of repentance and remission of sins would not be appropriate in his own
case, requested him to proceed with the matter anyway, intimating that he had
some other reason why it was right. The fact is that our Lord’s baptism was the
beginning of the Christian baptism: it symbolized the consecration which he had
just made (at the first hour of manhood), his full consecration to do the
Father’s will, even unto death;-the giving up of his human life, a sacrifice on
behalf of the world. It required all of the Lord’s three and a half years’
ministry to complete what was there symbolized, and he said just before his
crucifixion, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened
till it be accomplished.” (Luke 12:50.) And so with the baptism of
consecration, “death,” into which we are to be baptized: as members of his Body
we are to become living sacrifices, dead to the world, alive toward God, as is
particularly set forth in Rom. 6:3-5.
It was in connection with our Redeemer’s symbolical baptism in water,
which promptly followed his consecration to death at thirty years of age, and
was the public declaration of that devotion unto death, that the Heavenly
Father bore witness to his adoption to the divine nature. We are not informed
that any but John witnessed the descent of the holy spirit upon him, but John
bore witness that he saw the spirit thus descend, and that the Lord, in sending
him to preach, had previously testified that this was to be the sign by which
he would surely know the Messiah (John 1:32,33). It was in harmony with this
that he declared to his disciples subsequently, as Jesus passed by, “Behold the
Lamb of God.” John doubtless knew and expected that some of his disciples
would cease cooperation with him, to follow the Messiah. Indeed he declared to
them, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The two who heard John’s testimony promptly followed Jesus with a view to
getting as close to the fountain head of the truth as possible; and all must
admit the propriety of their course. How this suggests to us our own proper
course, to follow the Lord as nearly as possible, and to seek as much as
possible to come into fellowship and communion with him. And the noble,
self-ignoring course of John appeals to all who have the right mind upon the
subject-that similarly all of the Lord’s servants
should call attention to the Lord and not to themselves. Let us each bend our
energies to pointing men to the Lamb of God, and not to self-seeking. And let
us remember that following Jesus, in the best sense, means that we walk in his
paths, strive to do as nearly as we are able what he would do to-day, taking
our lessons from what he did and said personally, and from the instructions
which he has left for us, through the apostles, respecting the path of
fellowship in his sufferings, the path to glory and joint-heirship in his
Kingdom. The Lord is found of all those who diligently seek him from
right motives, and such are by and by to be granted full joint-heirship with
him. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”-John 15:14.
The evangelist furnishes us the name of only one of the two who first
heard John the Baptist speak of Jesus. It is possible that the Apostle John
himself was the other one, and that through modesty he refrained from bringing
himself into special prominence, in his own records, just as, in another place,
he speaks of himself as “that disciple whom Jesus loved, who leaned on his
bosom.” Modesty is a gem, wherever found, one of the
graces of the spirit, which all of the Lord’s consecrated ones should seek to
have largely developed and well polished.
The narrative of how Andrew found Peter and how Philip found
Nathaniel (supposed to be the disciple called Bartholomew) is interesting, and shows
that true devotion to the Lord is unselfish-desires to confer upon others all
blessings and truths enjoyed. This is still the spirit of true discipleship:
having found the great Light of the world, and having seen thereby something of
the lengths and breadths, heights and depths of the divine character and plan,
we are and should be anxious to serve the same favor to others. And this
desire to serve the Lord, the truth and our fellows should be so strong in us
as to make it impossible for us to withhold the good tidings from any selfish
consideration. Indeed, if we have the spirit of the Lord, which is the spirit
of the truth, the spirit of true discipleship, we will be so anxious to make
known the good tidings as to be willing to “lay down our lives for the
brethren,”-to help them “out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
It will be noticed that these who found the Lord were full of faith
respecting the Messiah, of whom Moses wrote in the first five books of the Old
Testament, called the Law, and of whom all the prophets also wrote- Jesus of
Nazareth, the reputed son of Joseph. They had not yet learned that Joseph was
not the father of Jesus.
Nathaniel’s answer, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” reminds us
of the prejudice which now exists respecting certain quarters from which good
things may or may not be expected. For instance, some of our English friends
tell us that when the present truth was first brought to their attention they
were inclined to disregard it, and consider it unworthy of special
investigation, simply because it came from America; for though they might
expect many useful things to come from America, the product of “Yankee skill,”
they had no expectation whatever that any new light upon the Scriptures would
come from America, where they seemed to imagine everyone given over to cheating
and muck-raking for wealth, and that consequently it would be one of the last
places in Christendom in which the Lord would cause the harvest light to shine
out for the blessing of his people. This undoubtedly has hindered many
foreigners from investigating the truths which are now meat in due season for
the household of faith. America is Nazareth with them, and they expect nothing
of the kind from this quarter.
Similarly, others will inquire, What denomination backs up these religious
teachings? and when told that no sect or party has endorsed these things, and
that not many great, or rich, or wise, have in any sense of the word become
interested, they say to themselves, if not to others, What could you
expect?-Can any good come out of Nazareth? Nevertheless, all who are of the
Nathaniel type of character, “Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile,” will
find sufficient reason for investigating, and on investigation will find
sufficient proofs to satisfy them,-“as nothing else would do.”
Our answer to all such objections should be that of Philip, “Come and
see,”-test, examine, prove for yourself.
Another lesson here, that should prove of value, is found in the words
respecting Andrew, “He first findeth his own brother Simon.” So all who find
the Lord, and who are anxious to make him known to others, should similarly
begin in their own households, with their own brothers and sisters, father or
mother, or husband or wife. There is frequently a diffidence about mentioning
the Lord and the truth to those who are of the family and home circle which is
surely much out of place. True love for our kin should lead us to make an
extra and special effort on their behalf.
In conclusion let us remember that those who follow the Lamb through evil
as well as through good report-those who follow his teachings and example-are
they who ultimately shall be with him and share his glory as members of his
elect Zion.-Rev. 14:4.
* * *
“Caesar’s friends? or friends of Jesus?
Solemn question for to-day!
Friends of Caesar! Friends of Jesus!
Take your sides without delay.
If ye pause for man’s forbidding,
Caesar’s friendship ye secure;
If ye do the Father’s bidding,
Scorn, reproach, ye shall endure.
“Free from Caesar, friends of Jesus!
Stand in phalanx! never fear!
Love, severely tried, increases;
Courage yet! the Lord is near!
Onward still, his name confessing,
Weaving crowns to grace his brow;
Lo! his hands are full of blessing,
Lifted for your succor now.”