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January 18 Daily Devotional

An Unforgettable Hour

Frans Bakker

For it was about the tenth hour.—John 1:39b

Bible Reading

John 1:35–39

Devotional

In our everyday lives there are many hours that sink away in the sea of forgetfulness. Often in the evenings we do not even consider the hours of the bygone day.

Yet, all of us know unforgettable hours. There are hours of gladness and hours of sorrow. These hours mark and determine the course of our lives.

There are also unforgettable hours in the life of a Christian. Many hours of our spiritual lives also disappear from memory. Yet, the man who truly lives by grace also knows unforgettable hours. There are hours when we recognize and confess our sinfulness. There are hours of darkness and sorrow over one’s lost state. There are also hours of light, of consolation, and of heavenly comfort.

In our text, the tenth hour was an hour of special happiness. Two of John’s disciples find Him of whom it is recorded that to find Him is life eternal. John the Baptist leads them into this hour. John the Baptist is the faithful preacher of repentance, and he unashamedly announces the coming judgment. He speaks of the unquenchable fire and of the ax that is laid at the root of the tree. Being convinced of the truth, John the Baptist encourages these two men to follow him on the road of sorrow and repentance. John prepares the way for Christ, making room for the Lamb of God. The path on which John leads his followers did not end in the abyss of despair; the path ended in Christ, who was far greater than him.

Yes, Jesus is greater than John, for John could show his followers their sins, but he could not remove their sins. Ultimately he could only hold before them the mirror of the holy law. He could not fulfill the law. Therefore, John points his disciples to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” Considering this, we also realize something of what this tenth hour must have meant for John and Andrew. In this hour they were privileged to meet Him who could deliver them from their burden of guilt. It was the hour in which John’s song of mourning was silenced and in which the marriage song of free grace began.

Only later on would the disciples understand more deeply what it meant that Jesus was the Surety of His people. But it was still in this hour that they found Him who could fulfill the demand John spoke of. Truly, this was an unforgettable hour. It was an hour of unsurpassed joy for the soul. It was an hour in which they met their Surety. Can you imagine a better hour than the hour in which you met the Lamb of God who takes our guilt on Himself?

It is no wonder that from the tenth hour on the disciples could no longer remain with John the Baptist. Where the gospel has come, one cannot remain under the law anymore. Do you know this tenth hour? Do you know the change from the school of John the Baptist to the school of Christ?

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.

 

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