The Best of the Portals of Prayer

Read: John 1:26-34 / Psalm 16

“There is One Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”
1st Timothy 2:5-6

Jesus is the One

In these verses, John points to Jesus as “the testimony given at the proper time.” This is what all the saints rightly do. They point to the One who can save, the only One who takes away sin. The people were looking to John for help. And he did baptize hem with water for repentance. But, John’s task was not to bring attention to himself. His most important task was to point to, and bring attention to, the Savior. Why is it God’s will for the focus to be on Jesus? It is not because Jesus is eager for adoration from the fawning crowds. As a matter of fact, He often shied away from the crowds, seeking to do His work quietly.
Rather, we fix our eyes on Jesus because He is the Key – the only One who can reconcile us to the Father and take away God’s angry wrath. In and of ourselves, we are lost in sin and in desperate need of salvation. Christ, the sacrifice of our sin, brings us back to that perfect relationship with God for this life and in the life to come.
Dear Father in heaven, we thank You for sending those in our lives who point us to Your Son, our Savior. Please help us fix our eyes on Him and point others to the cross. In your name we pray. Amen.

April 18, 2010