1.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our
heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ’s mission both to the Jews and
Gentiles is spoken once again in our readings from God’s Word on this Second
Sunday after the Epiphany. It’s found in
the testimony that John gives that Jesus truly is the Messiah, the Promised one
of God. In John 1:29-42, which is the
basis for the message from God’s Word today, John bears witness to Jesus,
calling Him the –Lamb of God, who
takes away the sins of the world. With
this testimony John shows that the mission of Jesus isn’t only to provide
salvation to the nation of Israel, but also for all nations. The message from God’s Word is entitled, “Look to the Lamb.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
E.B.
White’s children’s book, “Charlotte’s
Web,” tells the tale of Wilbur, a girl’s pig. Maybe you’ve seen the movie that came out a
number of years ago or read the book. In
the book, Wilbur goes from a future of being butchered into pork chops to being
the county fair’s prized pig. He’s able
to do this with a great deal of help from a friendly barn spider named
Charlotte. Charlotte helps out Wilbur by
spinning messages in the barn’s doorway about him. One of those messages is, “Some pig.”
Wilbur is “some pig” one
that deserves not to be served for Sunday dinner, but to be kept around
instead.
3.
In
the Gospel lesson from John 1:29-42 we learn not of a pig, but of a Lamb—the
Lamb of God. Throughout the Old
Testament and right up through the time of our text, lambs too, had a higher
purpose than dinner. Their purpose was
for sacrifice. Based on the testimony
about this particular Lamb that we read today we can say. That sure is some Lamb!” Look
to him, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
4.
John
1:29-38 says of Jesus, “The next day
[John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said,
'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' 31 I
myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that
he might be revealed to Israel." 32 And John bore witness: "I saw the
Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 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.' 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of
God." 35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,
36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of
God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you
seeking?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher),
"where are you staying?"
5.
Here
in John 1 we learn that Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb who is also the divine
God. Jesus ranks higher than John the
Baptist, since He existed before John.
In fact, John testifies that Jesus is the one of which whose sandals
He’s unworthy to untie. Jesus possesses
and distributes the Holy Spirit who descends and remains on Him at His
baptism. He also gives the Holy Spirit
to those He calls to be His disciples. Jesus
is true man and also truly the Son of God.
He’s the Son of the Most High God and the promised offspring of Eve who
was promised to crush the serpent’s head in Gen. 3:15. Jesus is the Lamb who also is a
shepherd. In John 1:38, Andrew calls him
Rabbi and follows him. Here we learn that Jesus is the Good Shepherd
who leads His sheep to everlasting life.
6.
Jesus
is the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the world’s sin as John testifies in John
1:29. Isaiah 49:5-9 says that the Lamb’s
destiny was to redeem all of humanity. “And now the LORD says, he who formed me from
the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might
be gathered to him-- for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has
become my strength-- 6 he says: "It is too light a thing that you should
be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved
of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may
reach to the end of the earth." 7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of
Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the
servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall
prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of
Israel, who has chosen you." 8 Thus says the LORD: "In a time of
favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep
you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to
apportion the desolate heritages, 9 saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to
those who are in darkness, 'Appear.' They shall feed along the ways; on all
bare heights shall be their pasture;
7.
In
Isaiah 49 we learn that Jesus was born to redeem the world. His baptism in the Jordan River points to
this. Because Jesus is the Lamb of God,
he works to buy back the entire world from sin.
It’s the fullness of His deity that makes the world’s redemption
possible. Jesus is also revealed to the
world so that it can know him as its sacrificial lamb. God the Father reveals Him to John the
Baptist in John 1. John then reveals him
to his disciple Andrew and Andrew reveals Him to his brother Simon Peter. Jesus is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit
who points to Him as the Lamb of God. He
is also revealed through the Scriptures of Peter and all the apostles and the
prophets that testify about Him and through the Church Jesus is revealed
through pastors who proclaim Him as the Christ.
8.
We
realize that all who call on the name of the Lamb are made holy by His
redeeming work. His righteousness is
credited to them and Jesus answers their call for forgiveness. Not only is Jesus the sacrificial Lamb who is
sentenced to die for the sins of the world, but we realize that He rises again
to rule. In order to win forgiveness
from sins for the world, Jesus must die and shed his blood. John’s calling Jesus “the Lamb” meant nothing other than sacrifice. Here we see that forgiveness of sins requires
the shedding of blood.
9.
But,
unlike all other sacrificial lambs, Jesus is resurrected from the dead. Moses’ Old Testament Passover lamb is still
dead. All the lambs sacrificed in the
temple are dead. Only Jesus stands
forever as the sacrificed but risen Lamb of God. The resurrection of Jesus allows him to reign
over all. Already, He has begun His
reign at the right hand of the Father.
All the world’s rulers will now bow down before Him and His blood sets
us free from sin, death and the devil.
10.
Jesus
rules in such a way that is above all the other rulers of the earth. Nobles throughout the world have titles of
various length—in the United Kingdom, the Queen’s title is, “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God,
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other
Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the
Faith.” It’s a mouthful of a title,
but accurately depicts who the queen is.
In a similar way, Jesus also has a title we’ve been talking about. Except his is shorter and easier to
remember. Jesus’ title as the Lamb of
God is much more important that Queen Elizabeth’s. The title that John the Baptist gives to Jesus
here in John 1 tells us exactly who He is—the one who brings forgiveness to the
world through His sacrificial death. This
is an identity that no mere words can capture.
Thankfully, Jesus is not concerned with the number of titles or the amount
of syllables attributed to His name, but that we believe that He’s our Redeemer
who takes away our sin.
11.
Today
we can say with John the Baptist that all the world should look to the Lamb for their salvation. Jesus truly is some Lamb, being true Man and true God. Spotless and pure, Jesus is the sacrificial
Lamb greater than any other. His
sacrifice is for the salvation of the whole world, in all times and
places. It’s even for our salvation and
for that He deserves our thanks and praise.
Amen.
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