Riddles

The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I was talking about when I said, “A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born:” I did not know who he would be, but I came baptising with water in order to make him known to the people of Israel.’ (verses 29-31)

Read John 1:29-42

John the Baptist, pointing to Jesus, talked in riddles. He said:

This man is a lamb.

He comes after me, but he was before me.

I came to reveal him even before I knew him.

Of course, in hindsight, you know what he meant.

This man Jesus is the Son of God and will be sacrificed once and for all for the sins of the world, just as the Jewish people regularly shed the blood of a lamb to atone for their sins.

Even though it is my job to announce Jesus to the world, he is eternal and goes way back to before I was born.

The job of announcing Jesus to the world is not my idea but God’s. He was preparing me to do this long before I knew about it myself.

It is no riddle that Jesus died for you. You are happy because of his continual presence and thrilled that he has a special job for you to do for him as well.

Lord, thank you for dying for me and for being there for me always. Please use me in your plans for the world. Amen.

by Richard Hauser, in ‘Assurance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2004)

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