The Gift of Recognizing Jesus

John 1:29-42

This is a season of the church year where we encounter the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry.  Following his birth story at Christmas and the coming of the wise men at Epiphany, last week we heard the story of Jesus’ Baptism.  The three Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke—report the same basic story with some minor differences: they report that at Jesus’ baptism the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove while a voice from heaven proclaims Him God’s beloved Son.  In Mark and Luke the voice from heaven says “You are my Son the beloved” suggesting this is a message for Jesus and only Jesus hears it.  In Matthew the voice says “This is my beloved” suggesting God is speaking to everyone present there to tell them who Jesus is. 

In the Gospel of John, in the passage we just read, we don’t read a description of the scene of Jesus’ baptism but rather what John the Baptist has to say about it.  Here the voice from heaven and the vision of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove seems to be for John the Baptist’s benefit.  To let John know who the Messiah is.  To show John who this Chosen One is that he’s dedicated his life to preparing the way for.  To reveal this truth to John so he can tell his own disciples who they should follow now, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John the Baptist says something important here that’s easy to miss.  Twice he says “I myself did not know him” in verse 31 and again in verse 33.  It’s debated whether this means John didn’t know Jesus at all until he baptized Him, or whether this means that John knew Jesus but didn’t realize He was God’s Chosen One until this vision.  Either way the important point is that even John the Baptist doesn’t come to Jesus on his own.  Even John the Baptist doesn’t recognize Jesus as Messiah without divine intervention.  Even John the Baptist, “the greatest among men” as Jesus calls him, doesn’t recognize the truth about Jesus without a sign from God.

This is a critical point about following Jesus.  It is not our own effort or fine judgement or wise decision-making that makes us follow Jesus.  Faith is not our own doing; it is a gift from God.  As Paul said in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”  Here this passage about how John the Baptist came to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, shows us that not even John the Baptist would have seen things clearly enough to recognize the truth about Jesus without the Holy Spirit revealing it to him.

The fact that faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit is central to New Testament theology and it was central to Protestant Reformation.  Martin Luther said this very thing in his Small Catechism in his section on the third article of the Apostle’s Creed.  Grab your hymnal and turn almost to the very end on page 1162 and look at the bottom paragraph.  Luther wrote: “I believe that by my own understanding of strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith…” (ELW, p. 1162).

In today’s world we often hear about needing to decide to follow Jesus, like it’s within our power to will ourselves to have enough faith or make the right decision and thereby earn God’s favor, forgiveness, or reward.  That way of looking at faith turns faith into the ultimate good work, the one and only thing we need to do.  But the truth is that we can’t come to Jesus by ourselves; not even John the Baptist could.  That may sound like terribly bad news to some.  But the truth is it’s good news that we don’t have to stir up enough faith in ourselves to be worthy.  Because growing faith in us is the Holy Spirit’s job, not ours.  God loves us whether we have faith in Jesus or not.  Salvation comes from God’s unconditional love, not anything we’ve done or decided.  Everything from the feeling of faith, the action of good works, and the ability to do spiritual practices and grow on the spiritual journey—are all gifts from God, not things that earn us points with God.

God loves us even if we don’t get it.  God loves us even if we have our doubts or can’t understand.  God loves us even when we don’t have the energy or motivation or don’t really care enough to seek God.  And then, in God’s divine timing, we might catch a glimpse of spiritual curiosity.  Or we might have a painful experience of suffering that drives us to ask deep questions.  Or we might receive a powerful sign like what John the Baptist saw.  However the Holy Spirit reaches us, we know it’s not our doing; it’s God’s. 

And then we get to respond to the faith implanted in us.  We might respond by coming to a church where our faith is nourished and cultivated.  We might respond by good works for our neighbors in need through charitable donations or standing up for justice for the poor and oppressed.  We might respond by dedicating ourselves to a spiritual discipline, bible study, or prayer practice.  None of these things are done because we think we’re earning points with God, but because we’ve been so touched by God’s grace and love that we truly desire to keep growing in our relationship with God and aligning our lives with God’s will.

Sure God still loves us if we live selfishly and sinfully and out of alignment with the divine, but why would we want to stay that way?  Why deny ourselves the opportunity to live into the reality we were created to be and grow into mature children of God?  Growing up spiritually not in order to earn God’s love or favor, but because manifesting divine love and growing up spiritually is the whole purpose of existence in the first place. 

I think a major factor at the root of many of the problems in our country and world is that most Christians do not understand this.  They understand faith as something you need to do yourself, a decision you need to make in order to become part of the in-group.  When people believe they have to do something to earn God’s favor, like doing enough good deeds or having enough faith or choosing the right religion—they feel the burden of needing to get it right and worry there’ll be eternal consequences for getting it wrong.  When Christian theology is about needing to earn your salvation, God is seen as a monarch you need to impress, rather than the Source of Being that you seek to grow in loving relationship with.  And when you misunderstand God that profoundly, it skews your whole reality. 

Having such a distorted view of God causes people to live in fear and anxiety. God becomes understood as an authoritarian figure who might banish you to eternal suffering if you’re not in the right group.  This distorted theology causes many Christians to turn the teachings of Jesus upside-down, reject his inclusive teaching about the redemption of the whole creation and think it’s just about our in-group.  Instead of a loving parent, God becomes an authoritarian bully.  An authoritarian monarch ready to punish those who get it wrong. 

Needless to say, when you live with that distorted view of God, you develop a distorted view of reality.  When we’ve got the idea that our salvation depends on something we do or decide, our impression of God changes into a demanding authoritarian figure.  Far too many Christians still have the authoritarian theology of the middle ages, and haven’t come to understand God as the loving parent Jesus taught us about.  The truth is: we don’t have to do enough or believe enough or be good enough for God to love us.  But when we feel like we have to do any of those things we are prone to an authoritarian view of God who will punish us if we do the wrong thing, which deeply skews our view of reality. 

It is a misguided view of God, based in fear and perhaps influenced by demonic forces, that leads Christians to have such an authoritarian theology of God, which in turns leads to acting in very unloving and un-Christlike ways.  Poor theology leads to poor ethics, poor morals, and poor judgment.  An authoritarian theology can lead to horrifying real world consequences.  Christian history is filled with examples of it.  Especially when enough people with authoritarian theology are in positions of power, that bad theology can have very bad earthly consequences.  When enough people believe God is an authoritarian ruler of the universe, the world they build reflects it.  Authoritarian theology can lead people to justify wars and imperialism.  It can lead people to support authoritarian public policy that mistreats people they think are a problem.  It can lead people to have such a distorted view of reality that they’re even willing to justify murder in defense of authoritarians. 

American Christianity is responsible for widespread authoritarian theology and its manifestations in society.  I believe that affirming a theology of grace can go a long way in the healing of the nation.  This morning’s Gospel reading about John the Baptist coming to see Jesus as Messiah only after God revealed it to him shows us an important lesson.  Even John did not come to Jesus on his own.  Even John needed a sign from God to get him there.  And God gave it to him.  Likewise, we all have the assistance of the Holy Spirit inspiring our faith in Christ.  If we misunderstand this and think faith is something we need to muster up ourselves, we may fall prey to seeing God as an authoritarian figure ready to punish us for being wrong.  And that destructive theology leads to a destructive world.

The way we understand God has a tremendous impact on the way we see the world.  It’s critical to understand how distorted our theology can get when we think our salvation depends on something we do or decide rather than God’s gracious gift.  Having the wrong impression of God can lead to all sorts of chaos in our lives and in our world. 

And so let us follow the lesson John the Baptist learned in our Gospel reading today: It’s not on us to get it right.  God helps us recognize who Jesus is.  The Holy Spirit inspires faith in us.  The Holy Spirit inspires good works in us.  The Holy Spirit inspires spiritual growth in us.  The Holy Spirit is guiding us and loving us and revealing the truth to us.  Let us heed John the Baptist’s call and follow Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, God’s Chosen One.  Let us respond to this gift of God with our lives and trust in God’s goodness and love to guide us and shape us, and to guide and shape our world. 

May it be so.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Pastor Brian | January 18, 2026 | Second Sunday after Epiphany