Sunday Sermon Manuscript – January 18

The One Who Dwells Among Us

John 1:29–42

A Decisive Question Hidden in a Quiet Passage

1. The passage we read together today, John 1:29–42, does not appear particularly remarkable at first glance. There is no striking miracle, no crowd rushing in.

2. Jesus is not healing the sick, nor is He delivering a powerful sermon. It simply seems like a story where one person points to another and says, “Look,” and a few people follow Him and have a conversation.

3. Yet as we read the passage repeatedly, we begin to sense that the Gospel of John is intentionally asking us the most fundamental questions through this quiet scene.

4. “Who is Jesus?” and “What does it mean to live with Him?”

5. First, John the Baptist in the Gospel of John is not portrayed as a fiery preacher of repentance or a dramatic prophet of the wilderness as in the other Gospels.

6. Instead, he is presented as someone who steps completely back, existing solely as a witness to reveal Jesus. There is little explanation about John himself; rather, he is described as if his only role is to explain who Jesus is.

“Look, the Lamb of God”

7. In verse 29, John sees Jesus coming toward him and says, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This is not a simple nickname.

8. This expression directly touches the collective memory of Israel. The Lamb of God immediately evokes the Passover lamb.

9. It recalls the night of the Exodus, when the final plague came, and the houses marked with the blood of the lamb on their doorposts were passed over—death did not enter. This image of the lamb is deeply ingrained in Israel’s memory.

10. There is a clear theological meaning in this confession. Jesus is the One who forgives our sins and rescues us from judgment. Simply put, through Jesus, the disaster that should have fallen upon us has passed over.

11. Yet John does not seem to be offering a doctrinal explanation of “Jesus the Lamb” here, nor does he systematically interpret Jesus’ ministry.

12. He simply testifies, “This is the One.” As if amid people’s shared hopes and expectations—hopes for someone who would fulfill what they longed for—John declares, “This is the One we have been waiting for.”

13. As we read the passage repeatedly, we realize that John’s focus is not on explaining what kind of person Jesus is, but on confessing who Jesus is in an existential sense.

14. That is why John repeatedly says, “I myself did not know Him,” “But I have seen,” “And I testify.”

15. We often think that faith grows by knowing more, but this passage shows that faith is built through seeing and bearing witness.

Is “the Lamb of God” Strength for the Suffering?

16. Here we arrive at an important question: Is this confession—“Jesus, the Lamb of God”—still a real source of strength for people living today?

17. Put differently, what impact does confessing who Jesus is have on my actual life right now?

18. One common misunderstanding is thinking that how we understand Jesus is what matters most. Jesus did not come to fit Himself into our understanding.

19. We often expect Jesus to fit neatly into our familiar tendencies and frameworks, but we must remember that Jesus consistently leads us in directions different from our expectations.

20. And so, sometimes—perhaps often—when there is a gap between the life we expected after believing in Jesus and the life we actually experience, we lose our sense of direction in faith.

21. When we suddenly lose our place in life, when failures and frustrations repeat, when hope feels distant and suffering seems unending, faith wavers. In that shaking, we are forced to ask whether the confession of “Jesus the Lamb” is still meaningful.

22. Simply put, even though we confess that through faith in Jesus we have escaped disaster and received salvation, when that disaster still seems to lurk in our lives, we cannot help but ask whether this confession is still valid.

23. The world we live in today is neither simple nor naïve. As I mentioned last week, the United States—the most powerful force in the world today—no longer hides its desires but boldly declares what it wants. It is so blatant that one wonders whether this is the America we thought we knew.

24. We also witness violence and exclusion being justified using Christian language. One of the biggest criticisms of Christianity today is that while it speaks eloquently in Christian terms, in practice it justifies hatred and violence. For example, when people say Christianity is a religion of love, they often speak only of God’s love for us, not of our responsibility to love others.

25. Another troubling reality is that people assert their Christian identity while ignoring the voices of the weak and the suffering. Weakness and suffering are relative concepts. I may be weak and suffering to someone, yet appear strong and blessed to someone else.

26. This is a difficult area for us, because relativity means that our position changes depending on whom we are looking at. Without clear boundaries, concrete action may feel vague, but one thing is clear: our injustice is revealed when we turn away from others.

27. In such contexts, the confession “the Lamb of God” may seem too weak—too gentle, too slow, too unrealistic.

28. But the Gospel of John does not stop there.

John the Baptist’s Mission: Not to Explain Jesus, but to Point to Him

29. In verse 31, John says, “I came baptizing with water for this reason, that He might be revealed to Israel.”

30. John’s mission was not to gather people to himself. His mission was to reveal Jesus and then disappear. That is why, in the Gospel of John, there is not even a scene where John baptizes Jesus.

31. John’s role was entirely as an instrument pointing to Jesus. Yet he was not a passive instrument—he saw, discerned, and testified. The Gospel of John seeks to pass this perspective of John the Baptist on to us.

32. In verses 32 and 33, John says that he saw the Spirit descend like a dove and remain on Jesus. Here, an important word appears: “remain.”

The Depth of the Question: “Where Are You Staying?”

33. After verse 37, two disciples who heard John follow Jesus. Jesus turns and asks them, “What are you looking for?”

34. This is not a question of simple curiosity. It is the first question Jesus asks in the Gospel of John—and it is the same question posed to us today: “What are you looking for?”

35. The disciples answer, “Rabbi, where are You staying?”

36. This is not merely a question about an address. The word “stay” here means to remain, to dwell, to abide—to be with. It is the same word used earlier when the Spirit is said to “remain” on Jesus.

37. Jesus replies, “Come and see.”

38. And the Gospel testifies that they went and stayed with Jesus that day.

What It Means to Remain with Jesus

39. What does it mean to remain with Jesus? It does not simply mean going to church. It does not mean praying a lot. It does not mean religious enthusiasm alone.

40. To remain with Jesus means to live in the way of Jesus.

41. We often reduce faith to a private realm—thinking that serving diligently in church and attending worship faithfully equals good faith. Some even emphasize God solely as a judge, sustaining faith through fear.

42. Other forms of faith label the world as entirely evil, build walls, and teach that it is enough for believers to live well among themselves. But such faith is not the faith of the Gospel.

43. It is ultimately a self-centered faith, not a faith that remains with Jesus—an expression of the desire to mold Jesus to one’s own temperament.

44. Let me emphasize again: Jesus is not with us in ways that are familiar and comfortable. He is with us by unsettling us and leading us beyond what is familiar.

Evil Is More Persistent Than We Think

45. I share all this because the evil of the world is often more diligent and persistent than our confession that Jesus is the Lamb, or our choice to remain with Him. The evils we dismiss as “not a big deal” or “not important” can, over time, take control. Left unattended, evil grows. It is surprisingly diligent and tenacious.

46. Recently, the broker handling the sale of our Oakland building contacted me. The same people who harassed us for nearly a year through a lawsuit have approached us again in a different way. I personally find this hard to understand.

47. The seller has not changed—we are still the owners of the building. How can they confidently contact us asking to buy it again?

48. After consulting another attorney recommended by the conference, I learned that instead of a lawsuit, they could make things difficult for the church in other ways—constantly raising issues, spreading rumors, and discouraging interest in our property.

49. This was hard to grasp until I realized their intent might be to damage the building’s reputation so they could buy it cheaply. Their excessive effort and persistence startled me. Evil is more tenacious than we expect.

50. Then I realized—we must also show diligence. We must reveal who we are. We must demonstrate that steadfast goodness and faithful effort are greater than any destructive zeal.

“Still, Those Who Live Kindly Change the World”

51. Recently, it was reported that actor Ahn Sung-ki left these words for his son before his passing: “Still, those who live kindly change the world.” This may sound simple, but it is a profoundly deep confession of faith.

52. Remaining with Jesus is revealed precisely in this posture of life. As persistent as evil is, we must choose goodness even more persistently. As diligent as evil is, we must live out God’s love even more diligently.

53. Remaining with Jesus does not mean avoiding conflict with the world—it means refusing to fight in the world’s way.

54. It means not overcoming violence with violence, not justifying exclusion with exclusion, and not binding people through fear. That is why we need prayer.

55. If you thought prayer was simply about intense desire or achieving what you want, please reconsider.

56. Prayer is the minimum effort required to live in this world guided by God’s hands. Through prayer, we gain the strength to live not by the world’s ways, but by the way of life God has prepared.

“We Have Found the Messiah”

57. In verse 41, Andrew meets his brother Simon and says, “We have found the Messiah.” Before being a grand theological declaration, this is the natural testimony of someone who has remained with Jesus—someone who spent a day with Him.

58. Jesus then looks at Simon and changes his name: “You will be called Cephas.”

59. Those who remain with Jesus are ultimately transformed—their names change, their direction in life changes, and their way of engaging the world changes.

Conclusion: Where Are We Remaining Today?

60. Today’s passage asks us, “What are you looking for?” “Where are you remaining?”

61. If we are remaining with Jesus, our faith must be revealed in life—through choices that do not compromise with evil, perseverance that does not abandon goodness, and a tenacity that does not easily let go of love.

62. Jesus, the Lamb of God, may appear weak, but His way is the most powerful force that transforms the world. And that power is revealed even today through those who remain with Him. Like those who responded to His invitation, “Come and see,” may we all choose to remain with Jesus today. In the name of the Lord, I bless you.