The Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 19, 2014

GOSPEL LESSON: John 1:29–42a
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus.

Everyone knows the song “Mary had a little lamb.” Mary’s lamb is cute and fun. But how about God’s Lamb? What sort of “lamb” did John mean when he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God”? It is hard to think of Jesus as a cute, woolly lamb, because he was not. Jesus was quite different. Because as John said this is the Lamb of God “who takes away the sin of the world!” This was a sacrificial lamb, a lamb killed to forgive sin.

I want to talk a moment about sacrifices in the Bible. Some of you know about this, but some may not, so I want to take a very quick look at sacrifices in the Bible.

What is a sacrifice? A sacrifice is like buying something. But the price is not money, rather it is a life. It is like a ransom. The life of another is given in bargain to free a hostage. In baseball, a sacrifice is when one player is put out, in order that another player can run home and makes a score. In other words, in a sacrifice, one life is given in exchange of another. It is like a ransom. In the Bible, the life of a sheep or goat is exchanged to free a person from the slavery of death caused by sin.

What is the first sacrifice? In the Bible, the first sacrifice was the animal that was killed to give skin clothing to Adam and Eve to replace their fig leaves after they fell into sin. Their sin caused the death of that animal. That animal died, you might say, to cover up sin. This covering was a sign of God’s forgiveness and protection for Adam and Eve, a sign of God’s love toward the new sinners.

What is the last sacrifice? The last sacrifice was that of Jesus on the cross. On the cross, Jesus was stripped of his robe. It is like a sign that no sin was left covered up, that all sin was exposed to God. This was the supreme sacrifice. Not an animal sacrifice, it was the sacrifice of a human life, it was the sacrifice of the Son of God to redeem the human race. It was the last sacrifice because it can never be repeated, and because it was so powerful that any other sacrifice cannot add anything to it. It is all sufficient.

What types of sacrifice are there in the Old Testament? There are sin offerings and thanks offerings. For some sin offerings, the whole animal was burnt on the altar. However, most often when a sacrifice was offered, only part of the animal was burnt on the altar and the rest was a meal of thanksgiving or of dedication to God. It was like sealing a promise with a toast. Both God and the worshiper join in the sacrificial meal. God receives what is burned on the altar and the person receives food in a special meal. For example, at the Passover Festival, most of the blood of the Passover lamb is poured out at the altar and some is taken home to mark the house where the meat is taken and roasted and eaten by the family, in celebration of deliverance and salvation.

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “This is the new covenant of my blood.” When we celebrate Holy Communion and remember the Sacrifice of Jesus, we partake of that sacrifice of his body and blood and remember our salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus is sealing or reaffirming his salvation promise to us and we are sealing or reaffirming our faith in Christ. In the Christian Church, we call the table in the front of the church “the Lord’s table” and sometimes an “altar,” but Jesus is not sacrificed anew, rather there are the sacrifices of our prayers and offerings which we give to God.

John the Baptist called Jesus the “Lamb of God.” A lamb is meek and mild. But is this meekness anyway to conquer the devil? Yes, it is. It is the way to conquer sin and death because it is the sacrifice of love. It shows how Jesus willingly died for us. It shows the great love of God toward us sinners.

John the Baptist was a prophet. God spoke to him. God showed John that Jesus was not just an ordinary person. The Holy Spirit revealed to him that Jesus was the Lamb of God. Then John spoke to his own disciples. In those words, the Holy Spirit also spoke to those two disciples of John and they called Jesus “Rabbi” (which means Teacher [or “sensei”]). Then they followed Jesus and spent the rest of the day with him. Then they came to faith and learned who Jesus really was. One of those disciples of John who later became a disciple of Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). Andrew brought his brother Peter to Jesus.

And so we have three titles for Jesus in this paragraph: Lamb of God, Rabbi, and Christ. Jesus is Sacrifice, Teacher, and Savior----Prophet, Priest, and King. In this paragraph we have the usual road of belief many Christians. Learning that Jesus is our Savior from sin and hell, then following our Rabbi “Sensei” pastor or teacher and learning more about him, and then witnessing our faith in the Christ and telling others about Jesus and bringing them to Jesus.

“Behold, the Lamb of God!” Sometimes we want Jesus to be a fuzzy, warm woolly lamb. Sometimes that is what we need. When we are lonely or sad or depressed, all we want is comfort. And Jesus gives that to us. Jesus comes to us gently and lowly. He forgives those sins that bother us. In the Bible stories we learn of his love. We learn how this Lamb became the sacrifice on the cross to forgive our sins, by taking upon himself our sin and dying as a sacrifice in our place.

“Behold, the Lamb of God!” For a Christian, these words are stirring! Look! He is here! Look! He has come to save us! And on the last day the angel will blow the final trumpet and say, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” ‘Behold, your Salvation.’

Amen!

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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