1 of 2 most misunderstood verses in John

John 1 gives you four consecutive days in the life and ministry of John the Baptist. If you start in verse 19 you have the first day. The second day starts in verse 29. Verse 35 starts the third day, then verse 43 is "the day following," which is the fourth day.

“Because he says ‘the next day’ and ‘the day following’ and ‘the next day,’ it’s pretty obvious it’s not just four isolated days; it’s four days in succession," says Richard Jordan. "Notice each one of the first three sections starts with a reference to John and the last one talks about what’s going to happen to some of Jesus’ disciples.

“Chapter 2 starts with: [1] And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
[2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

“If you have four days in chapter one and three in chapter 2, that makes seven. When you think of seven days immediately you go back to Genesis 1 with the creation and you also are reminded of a pattern in prophecy of the seventh day.

“The marriage in Cana of Galilee in the seventh day is a clear picture in the prophetic program of the Millennium. It’s of that seventh day of Sabbath rest in which Israel is married to the land; the land becomes Beulah Land again and they’re married to it and they have that period of rest and union with the Lord and it’s a picture of the kingdom.

“You’ll see this same kind of pattern in chapter 4 when Christ’s dealing with the Samaritans. You’ll see it again in chapter 11 with Lazarus. What John’s doing is laying out this full week of ministry, not of the Mosaic covenant, but of the introduction of the Messianic Covenant, the New Covenant, and the parallel it has with the prophetic program going all the way back to Genesis 1.

“John 1:29 is probably one of the two or three most familiar verses in the Book of John. I would say it’s probably one of the two most misunderstood verses in the Book of John. It’s used in ways that are generally completely devoid of interest in the context of the verse.

“If you’ll get over that a little bit and let the verse be what it is, it turns into something that’s really fascinating.

“John says, [29] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
[30] This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

“If you look down at verse 36: [36] And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

“For John, that title ‘the Lamb of God’ is very important and John’s testimony when he saw the Lord approach was, ‘Behold the Lamb of God.’

“You know how that verse is used? That verse is most often used as a gospel verse to tell you that’s who the Lord Jesus Christ is; He’s the Lamb who died at Calvary for your sins and put them away by the sacrifice of Himself.

"The problem with that is that John the Baptist didn’t know that. The people at the time John said that didn’t have an understanding of the crosswork as we do now.

"You'll see this in Luke 18: [31] Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.

[32] For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
[33] And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
[34] And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

"In other words, when the Lord Jesus Christ began to tell the apostles, 'The reason I'm going to Jerusalem is to solidify my rejection, to be crucified and to rise again from the dead,' they didn't know that. Now they'd been preaching the gospel of the kingdom for three years up to this point. They'd been out ministering that gospel.

"In fact, in this text it doesn't say He's going to die for their sins; it just says He's going to die and be resurrected. There isn't even an explanation in Luke 18 about why He's going to die and yet they still don't even understand that basic information."

(another post later)