Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #194. Come and See: Jesus, Mary, John & the Beginning of the New Testament | Luke 1, John 1

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#194. Come and See: Jesus, Mary, John & the Beginning of the New Testament | Luke 1, John 1 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  This is The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today we're beginning the New Testament reading plan.
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  If you've grown up in the church and wondered, Is what I've always believed really what the Bible says?"
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  I pray you become thoroughly convinced.
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  as you reopen these pages of scripture, I am marveling at the richness of the theology that the Gospels provide, confirming that Jesus is exactly who we worship Him to be.
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  I am impressed once again that He sees and honors the humble, and I'm increasingly convinced that we cannot praise, worship, and welcome Him too much My heart for the dwelling place is that we would understand that the God
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  of the Bible has always intended to have a relationship with his followers.
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  He longs to dwell with and in us, and our understanding that Jesus has released us from the penalty of sin, that he blesses us with his presence, and that he empowers us with his spirit should transform us wherever
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  we go That's an incredible honor for us, and it should truly impact our dwelling places in our homes and even today in these scriptures, we can't help but notice that this is a God who loves to use families
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  to advance His plan in the last episode, I gave a brief overview of Luke's Gospel, but let me give a little bit more detail.
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  According to church tradition, Luke was a Gentile.
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  which means non-Jewish person This makes him the only Gentile, to write any book of the Bible.
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  And Luke didn't just write the Gospel of Luke.
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  We're quite certain that he also wrote the Book of Acts This is a considerable portion of the New Testament.
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  He was a physician and an incredibly accurate historian.
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  He gave his purpose for the book right away in verses three and four.
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  It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught."
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  Let's break down that phrase, "For you, most excellent Theophilus."
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  You is in the singular.
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  This is written to a specific person, and the name Theophilus means lover of God that could refer to many people But this phrase, most excellent, was a very formal title telling us this recipient was probably in the Roman
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  government, maybe even in Caesar's household But Luke was aware that he wasn't just writing to Theophilus.
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  This isn't in the format of a letter.
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  Luke was intending that this book would be shared with many and that they would become convinced that Jesus Christ is the Messiah Luke was a traveling companion of Paul, and it's most likely that he wrote in 60 or
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  61 AD Luke's gospel is much more polished than the others and reveals that he was a very educated individual He places a large emphasis on the details of the advent and the arrival of Jesus Christ But what stands
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  out most in Luke's gospel is that he highlights Jesus' ministry to the Gentiles.
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  Jesus had compassion on people groups that were neglected, ignored, shunned, or rebuked in society Jesus honored and elevated the lowly.
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  And Luke particularly focuses on how Jesus honored women in an entirely countercultural way He emphasizes Jesus' healings.
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  and I love this phrase from the MacArthur commentary.
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  Again and again, he showed how the Great Physician ministered to those most aware of their need."
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  after Luke's introduction to Theophilus We learn that Herod the Great is ruling in Judea.
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  And then we're taken to the temple with a priest named Zechariah.
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  He and his wife Elizabeth were righteous and blameless before the Lord.
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  This doesn't mean they were perfect, but that they honored God's word and faithfully trusted him.
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  However, Elizabeth was barren.
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  Many in that time fell into the temptation believing that this might have been a punishment from God or discipline due to sin.
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  But scripture clearly reveals that this is not the case, not then and not now.
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  Zechariah has the opportunity of a lifetime.
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  When they cast the lots, God sovereignly selects him to come into the temple to burn incense A priest could only be chosen for this once in their lifetime.
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  And Zechariah recognizes that this is an incredible opportunity.
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  Apparently, he prays for God to give them a child.
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  An angel appears before him and tells him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.
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  And you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord.
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  And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God."
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  And he will go before them in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people
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  prepared.
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  Do you recognize the prophecy that we just studied in Malachi?
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  Those verses that occur at the end of the Old Testament promise that a prophet would come in the spirit and power of Elijah turning the hearts of the fathers to the children.
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  The angel tells Zechariah that his son will fulfill this though Zechariah is a righteous man, he struggles to believe the angel's message And the angel responds, I am Gabriel.
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  I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
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  And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."
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  God doesn't take away the blessing of the message but he does give a consequence for the lack of faith Thankfully, God didn't need Zachariah's perfect faith to advance his plan.
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  Because in time, Elizabeth conceives, and in her sixth month of pregnancy, Gabriel is given an additional mission.
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  In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.
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  And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.'
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  But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
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  And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
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  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
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  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
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  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
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  And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
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  And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
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  Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
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  And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
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  For nothing will be impossible with God."
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  And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.
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  Let it be to me according to your word.
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  From this moment, it's promised that Jesus will reign on the throne of David.
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  His reign will be eternal, and he is the Son of God.
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  They understood that this meant equality with God.
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  Yet Mary's question is genuine and humble.
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  She wasn't challenging God's capability, just, but rather wanting to understand.
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  We can tell because the angel doesn't rebuke her When she says she is a servant of the Lord, this translates that she's the slave of the Lord.
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  She'll do whatever He calls her to.
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  She would have undoubtedly endured shame and ridicule in this tiny town of about 400 people.
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  Everyone was going to think that she had compromised her purity.
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  But she was willing to give up even her reputation in obedience to God and His plan The Lord blesses her devotion and faith as she goes to visit Elizabeth, and Elizabeth confirms what the angel said.
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  I think that this is one of the most beautiful exchanges in scripture.
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  It ministers to me as a woman and as a mom When Elizabeth hears Mary's voice, the baby leaps in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you
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  among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
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  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
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  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
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  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
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  Can you imagine how much this would have ministered to Mary's heart?
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  Someone believes her.
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  Someone believes her and confirms this child will be exactly who the angel said Even the baby in her womb can recognize it, which certainly convinces us of the sanctity of life Mary responds with what's known as the Magnificat.
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  this is named after the first word as it's tran- when it's translated in Latin As I read, I want you to listen for two things.
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  First of all, that God elevates the humble, And that Mary recognizes herself as needing a savior secondly, try to recognize when Mary refers to the previous covenants that God has made My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit
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  rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
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  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
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  For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
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  He has shown strength with his arm.
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  He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
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  He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.
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  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
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  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever, mary understands that she needs a savior.
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  She never claimed to be perfect, and religious traditions that try to place her as perfect and holy are missing the mark.
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  Mary is a servant of the Lord She worships God, and we should follow in her example, not place her on a throne We can tell that Mary knows scripture well She understands what it means that this child will
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  be the Messiah and the covenants that he will fulfill.
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  She stays with Elizabeth for three months, and then we get to read the account of when John the Baptist is born.
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  Everyone is filled with joy that God fulfilled his plans.
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  But as they're naming the baby, there's some peer pressure to name him a family name.
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  But Elizabeth says no, his name is to be John.
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  and when Zachariah writes down this message, The Lord loosens his tongue and he is filled with the Holy Spirit throughout Luke, when people are filled with the Spirit, their immediate response is to praise God This benediction of praise
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  is important because when Zechariah came out of the temple, He was supposed to issue a word of praise to the Lord.
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  Because he was mute, he was unable to.
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  And he corrects that with his first words here, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant
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  David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us" To show the mercy promised to our fathers and
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  to remember His holy covenant, the oath That he swore to our father Abraham to grant us, that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our
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  days.
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  And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.
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  Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of
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  peace.
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  The people wonder, who is this child going to be?
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  they are rejoicing in God's favor and it's obvious that God's Spirit is upon him as he grows.
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  But he is raised privately in the wilderness.
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  Zechariah understood that his son is going to point towards salvation and forgiveness and he knows that Jesus's reign will bring peace What a beautiful promise this would have been to people that were being oppressed by the ruthless Roman
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  Empire Now we'll turn to John 1, where John the Baptist is a grown man.
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  But before I do, Let me expound a little bit more on what makes John's gospel different from the others It's incredible how much John focuses on theology.
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  We believe that he wrote his gospel after the other gospels were in existence, and the Lord led him in a twofold purpose.
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  First, to convince those that were not yet believers that Jesus was the Messiah.
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  And number two, it has an apologetic purpose.
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  This is to convince and strengthen the argument of those that do cra- that do claim Christ as Savior In the Gospel of John, we're given additional details that the other Gospels don't have He illuminates on events to provide
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  a theological foundation for us.
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  You probably believed that John was written by the Apostle Paul, who was a follower of Jesus Christ.
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  Some say it could have been written by another John But I think church history is pretty solid on, on this and convinces us that the Gospel of John was written by John, the son of Zebedee.
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  His brother was James, and Peter, James, and John were often pulled aside with Jesus and were part of his inner circle.
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  This is what's most convincing for me.
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  There was an early church father named Irenaeus, and he was taught by Polycarp, and Polycarp was taught by the Apostle John.
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  Polycarp promised that John wrote the gospel while he was in Ephesus in his older years.
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  That's basically like my children telling their grandchildren, Yes, my mom, Stephanie Hickox, homeschooled me."
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  So that seems, that seems pretty definitive.
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  seems like and all of the early church recognized this as being written by the Apostle John.
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  John loves the number seven, that is evident many times, including that he provides seven statements of who Jesus is.
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  Actually, in this first chapter of John, there are seven statements about Jesus here.
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  He's the Lamb of God, the Son of God, Rabbi, Son of Man, Messiah, King of Israel, and Jesus of Nazareth As we get into the Gospels, we'll see a lot of pushback from the religious leaders.
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  And after the incredible theological beginning, which I read to you yesterday Verse 19 records that people are challenging John's spiritual authority to baptize.
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  He announces himself as the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord."
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  He's definitive that he is not the Messiah, but he knows he's coming And he says he's not, and John says, "I'm not even worthy to take off the Messiah's shoes."
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  the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
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  This is He of whom I said, After me comes a Man who ranks before me, because He was before me.'
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  I myself did not know Him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that He might be revealed to Israel."
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  And John bore witness, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him."
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  He announces clearly that this is the Son of God.
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  I'll admit it throws me a little bit to read, I myself did not know him."
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  We just read in Luke that Elizabeth, John's mom, understood that Jesus was the Messiah from the time he was in the womb.
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  Obviously, she would pass this on to her son, right?
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  And we know that Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins.
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  Probably second cousins.
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  But there's definitely a challenge to getting them together on a regular basis.
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  They probably lived about 100 miles apart because Elizabeth lived somewhere in Judah, perhaps in Hebron, and Mary lived in Nazareth.
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  100 miles away was a pretty long distance at that time.
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  Also, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Egypt for the first 12 years of his life.
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  Next, John was raised in the wilderness.
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  And also, when the men came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast multiple times a year, women and children didn't always come with them It's even possible that since Elizabeth was much older when she had John, maybe she didn't
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  live that much longer.
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  And as I'm raising teenage boys I have to entertain the thought it's possible that his mother told him, but he needed it affirmed for himself In any case.
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  the Lord wanted to give him this revelation and provides absolute confirmation and clarity that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world.
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  And if I could place a banner over the rest of this chapter, it would be, "Come and see."
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  because whenever someone is convinced that this is the Messiah they've been waiting for, they begin to follow Jesus, and then they tell someone else, Come and see."
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  It begins with Andrew telling his brother, and then Jesus seeks out Philip, and Philip finds Nathaniel.
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  And everyone keeps saying, "Come and see Isn't That a banner that you want over your life as well?
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  Come and see.
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  I know who the Messiah...
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  Come and see I know a God that dwells with me.
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  You've gotta check this out How else do these chapters transform us to live before the Lord?
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  First, I see that when we're filled with the Holy Spirit, our response should be to worship.
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  I'm also so encouraged that God elevates the humble, and I want to be a woman that is known for recognizing my weaknesses so that I can elevate the strength of Jesus Christ I notice a God who loves to
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  use and bless women and uses the family to accomplish and advance His purposes He uses the love of mothers and he even uses the love of mothers To welcome and, and he even uses the love of a mother
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  to welcome His Son I read that Jesus is exactly who he says he is.
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  He is Savior of the world.
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  He is the Lamb of God.
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  He came to lay down his life because you and I could not solve the problem of our sin I'm believing for you that as we begin these stories, even if they're accounts and narratives that you're very familiar with,
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  I hope that you would be so thoroughly and that it would fill your heart and your home with worship, and that it would fill your home and your heart with worship.
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  He is so worthy Heavenly Father, we're filled with gratitude that you are who you say you are, and you do what you say you will do.
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  Nothing is impossible for you We rejoice that you've revealed yourself to us, and we pray that we would be filled with your spirit and transformed in every area of our lives.
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  May this banner, Come and See, wave over our lives, our motherhood, our marriages, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and all that we do.
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  May we be a light in the darkness And we choose to believe that no matter how dark it gets in the world, that it cannot overcome your light We ask that our children would be wholehearted disciples of you,
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  Jesus Christ.
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  draw them to yourself, convince them of your goodness, and strengthen them to walk in faithfulness to you Jesus, we declare with Mary that we are your servants, and we surrender to all you call us to today and forevermore.
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  It's in your most worthy name we pray.
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  Amen.