Lamb of God
Isaiah 49: 1-7; Psalm 40: 1-12; 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9; John 1: 29-42
The season after Epiphany is about Jesus being revealed. As we go through this season, we will see glimpses of who Jesus really is. Last week Pastor Fergus described the manifestation at the Baptism of Jesus. … Today we read about what John the Baptist experienced when Jesus was baptized.
God reveals to him that there is something deeper about Jesus. He is told that as he is baptizing, he will see the Holy Spirit rest on someone. This would be a sign to him about who this person is. John says,
“I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him”.
John points to Jesus saying,
“Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
What might have come to mind for people when John used the phrase “Lamb of God”?
As Anglicans, we are encouraged to pray Morning and Evening Prayer every day. … That rhythm is based on the daily Temple sacrifices. As a part of morning and evening offerings, a lamb was offered along with grain (or bread), oil, and wine. In the thinking of ancient people, they are creating a ritual meal of hospitality for God. This was about maintaining ongoing communion between God and Israel- this maintained Israel’s covenant relationship with God. It was the daily worship that maintained the relationship between God and Israel. It was the heartbeat of the Temple.
Leviticus 17:11 tells us that “the life is in the blood”. As a part of a sacrifice, blood was used to purify. Sprinkling blood was like sprinkling the power of life. The blood of the lamb would be splashed against the side of the altar to keep it in a state of purity.
This is hard for us to understand. We have been soaked in an unenchanted way of looking at the world. Our assumptions are materialist, so we tend to think of blood as not having any real spiritual significance. We see it purely as plasma and a variety of types of cells. It can be a bit of an uphill battle for us to try to grasp how the ancients saw the material and spiritual world as intermingled. They didn’t really separate the two. … For ancient Israel, blood is life.
So, when John calls Jesus the “Lamb of God”, he might be seeing Jesus as the one whose self-offering and blood purifies the relationship between God and creation. His blood purifies and maintains the relationship between God and creation.
But, John might also be pointing to the “Lamb of God” from the book of Enoch (1 Enoch 90- The Animal Apocalypse). This is a book that was known and respected in the time of Jesus (It’s actually quoted in the New Testament). It has a section that describes a group of lambs or sheep, which represent the people of Israel, and they are being attacked by a variety of animals. One of those lambs rises up, grows a horn (which symbolizes power), receives a sword, and destroys the enemies of God’s people. This is a symbol of the Messiah rising up to defend God’s people against their enemies, which is similar to what we see in the book of Revelation when the Lamb faces off with the dragon.
Maybe the strongest connection has to do with the Passover Lamb, which was a part of the Exodus story. God is fighting against Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods to save the Hebrew people through a number of plagues. The climax of the plagues is the final plague- the death of the firstborn. The Hebrews are instructed to protect themselves from death by marking their doors with the blood of the Passover Lamb. This marked the home as belonging to God’s people. This is the breaking point that opens the way to releasing the Hebrews from slavery and opens the way to the Promised Land. … The Passover meal was a meal that celebrated their freedom that God won for them against powerful enemies that meant to destroy them.
So, for John to call Jesus the “Lamb of God” is to point to the Lamb that celebrated God’s victory over powerful enemies, and whose blood protected them from the power of death. Jesus will be the one who will battle their ultimate enemy, the Devil, his demons, and sin, and whose blood will be shed and mark his people to protect them from death so they can share in his resurrection and have eternal life.
Right at the beginning, John the Baptist is pointing towards the cross. In the Gospel according to John, Jesus will die at the moment that the Passover lambs are being sacrificed. This is pointing to a new Exodus. The people are being freed from slavery to sin and death as Jesus does battle on the cross against dark cosmic forces. It’s not an Exodus from Egypt; it’s an Exodus from humanity’s exile from paradise, which opens the way back to Eden. This is a new and better Exodus, from an older and darker slavery.
Through Jesus, God will be present to his people in a new way. He will baptize them with the Holy Spirit, not just water. … When Jesus is Resurrected, he breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples (John 20:22). Which might seem a bit strange until we remember that the word for “breath” is the same as the word for “Spirit”. This is sometimes called John’s Pentecost. … The Temple of the human heart is made clean by the life-blood of the Lamb, and now that it has been made ready, God’s Spirit can fill it. God can now live with His people in a new way. … This is God’s plan to deal with the sin of the world. Faithfulness to Jesus- trusting in the work he has done, and trusting him to guide our lives- will take away the sin of the world.
I’m not sure where our society stands with the concept of Sin anymore. We seem to still believe that there are significant problems in the world. We seem to still believe in sin, and evil, even if we don’t call it that. It seems like there is still a belief that we will advance ourselves beyond the brokenness of the world. Somehow we can progress past the brokenness. As if we can educate ourselves beyond sin, or invent our way beyond sin, or medicate ourselves past sin, or impose the right laws, or impose the right economic system, or put the right people into places of power with the right weapons. And then our issues will be solved
Nazi Germany was one of the most “advanced” and progressive nations of its time. And we can hardly think of a more horrifying time. With the advanced thinking about evolution came thinking about breeding humans to make them stronger. This idea is called eugenics, and it is about engineering the human species, which also included removing “undesired” humans from the gene pool.
The Soviet Union started with a Marxist desire to supposedly help the working class. They thought they had the right economic theory and thought that they put the right people in power, but it resulted in massive oppression and the deaths of millions.
Soon after we discovered a way to split the atom, we made it into a bomb. It is likely that Japan was ready to give up in World War 2 when the atomic bomb was dropped on two cities killing over 200,000 non-military civilians of Japan, which resulted in the killing of half of Japan’s Christians, who lived in Nagasaki.
… But maybe AI will save us? Maybe genetic cloning will save us? Maybe social media will erase our loneliness?
It seems like the more we “advance”, the more we find more advanced ways of committing atrocities and dehumanizing ourselves. … But we cannot advance ourselves beyond our sin. Sometimes our “advances” seem to give us knew ways to dig ourselves deeper into Sin. We cannot get ourselves out of this. It’s beyond us. Human ability will not get us out of it.
The epiphany John the Baptist receives- is that Jesus is the Lamb of God and he will take away the sin of the world. God will provide the way out. He will be the conquering Lamb. He will offer his blood to heal us of our sin and protect us from everlasting death.
We echo John’s words when we gather around the altar as we sing that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sin of the world will not be taken away by our own progress and ingenuity. There is no pill for it- no technology to deal with it- no human system to overcome it. … It can only be dealt with at the feet of Jesus. … The blood of the chalice cleanses the sanctuary of our heart. To receive the eucharistic bread is to receive the life of Jesus into us. We don’t trust in our own strength- we trust in his mercy. Amen.
What might have come to mind for people when John used the phrase “Lamb of God”?
As Anglicans, we are encouraged to pray Morning and Evening Prayer every day. … That rhythm is based on the daily Temple sacrifices. As a part of morning and evening offerings, a lamb was offered along with grain (or bread), oil, and wine. In the thinking of ancient people, they are creating a ritual meal of hospitality for God. This was about maintaining ongoing communion between God and Israel- this maintained Israel’s covenant relationship with God. It was the daily worship that maintained the relationship between God and Israel. It was the heartbeat of the Temple.
Leviticus 17:11 tells us that “the life is in the blood”. As a part of a sacrifice, blood was used to purify. Sprinkling blood was like sprinkling the power of life. The blood of the lamb would be splashed against the side of the altar to keep it in a state of purity.
This is hard for us to understand. We have been soaked in an unenchanted way of looking at the world. Our assumptions are materialist, so we tend to think of blood as not having any real spiritual significance. We see it purely as plasma and a variety of types of cells. It can be a bit of an uphill battle for us to try to grasp how the ancients saw the material and spiritual world as intermingled. They didn’t really separate the two. … For ancient Israel, blood is life.
So, when John calls Jesus the “Lamb of God”, he might be seeing Jesus as the one whose self-offering and blood purifies the relationship between God and creation. His blood purifies and maintains the relationship between God and creation.
But, John might also be pointing to the “Lamb of God” from the book of Enoch (1 Enoch 90- The Animal Apocalypse). This is a book that was known and respected in the time of Jesus (It’s actually quoted in the New Testament). It has a section that describes a group of lambs or sheep, which represent the people of Israel, and they are being attacked by a variety of animals. One of those lambs rises up, grows a horn (which symbolizes power), receives a sword, and destroys the enemies of God’s people. This is a symbol of the Messiah rising up to defend God’s people against their enemies, which is similar to what we see in the book of Revelation when the Lamb faces off with the dragon.
Maybe the strongest connection has to do with the Passover Lamb, which was a part of the Exodus story. God is fighting against Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods to save the Hebrew people through a number of plagues. The climax of the plagues is the final plague- the death of the firstborn. The Hebrews are instructed to protect themselves from death by marking their doors with the blood of the Passover Lamb. This marked the home as belonging to God’s people. This is the breaking point that opens the way to releasing the Hebrews from slavery and opens the way to the Promised Land. … The Passover meal was a meal that celebrated their freedom that God won for them against powerful enemies that meant to destroy them.
So, for John to call Jesus the “Lamb of God” is to point to the Lamb that celebrated God’s victory over powerful enemies, and whose blood protected them from the power of death. Jesus will be the one who will battle their ultimate enemy, the Devil, his demons, and sin, and whose blood will be shed and mark his people to protect them from death so they can share in his resurrection and have eternal life.
Right at the beginning, John the Baptist is pointing towards the cross. In the Gospel according to John, Jesus will die at the moment that the Passover lambs are being sacrificed. This is pointing to a new Exodus. The people are being freed from slavery to sin and death as Jesus does battle on the cross against dark cosmic forces. It’s not an Exodus from Egypt; it’s an Exodus from humanity’s exile from paradise, which opens the way back to Eden. This is a new and better Exodus, from an older and darker slavery.
Through Jesus, God will be present to his people in a new way. He will baptize them with the Holy Spirit, not just water. … When Jesus is Resurrected, he breathes the Holy Spirit on the disciples (John 20:22). Which might seem a bit strange until we remember that the word for “breath” is the same as the word for “Spirit”. This is sometimes called John’s Pentecost. … The Temple of the human heart is made clean by the life-blood of the Lamb, and now that it has been made ready, God’s Spirit can fill it. God can now live with His people in a new way. … This is God’s plan to deal with the sin of the world. Faithfulness to Jesus- trusting in the work he has done, and trusting him to guide our lives- will take away the sin of the world.
I’m not sure where our society stands with the concept of Sin anymore. We seem to still believe that there are significant problems in the world. We seem to still believe in sin, and evil, even if we don’t call it that. It seems like there is still a belief that we will advance ourselves beyond the brokenness of the world. Somehow we can progress past the brokenness. As if we can educate ourselves beyond sin, or invent our way beyond sin, or medicate ourselves past sin, or impose the right laws, or impose the right economic system, or put the right people into places of power with the right weapons. And then our issues will be solved
Nazi Germany was one of the most “advanced” and progressive nations of its time. And we can hardly think of a more horrifying time. With the advanced thinking about evolution came thinking about breeding humans to make them stronger. This idea is called eugenics, and it is about engineering the human species, which also included removing “undesired” humans from the gene pool.
The Soviet Union started with a Marxist desire to supposedly help the working class. They thought they had the right economic theory and thought that they put the right people in power, but it resulted in massive oppression and the deaths of millions.
Soon after we discovered a way to split the atom, we made it into a bomb. It is likely that Japan was ready to give up in World War 2 when the atomic bomb was dropped on two cities killing over 200,000 non-military civilians of Japan, which resulted in the killing of half of Japan’s Christians, who lived in Nagasaki.
… But maybe AI will save us? Maybe genetic cloning will save us? Maybe social media will erase our loneliness?
It seems like the more we “advance”, the more we find more advanced ways of committing atrocities and dehumanizing ourselves. … But we cannot advance ourselves beyond our sin. Sometimes our “advances” seem to give us knew ways to dig ourselves deeper into Sin. We cannot get ourselves out of this. It’s beyond us. Human ability will not get us out of it.
The epiphany John the Baptist receives- is that Jesus is the Lamb of God and he will take away the sin of the world. God will provide the way out. He will be the conquering Lamb. He will offer his blood to heal us of our sin and protect us from everlasting death.
We echo John’s words when we gather around the altar as we sing that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sin of the world will not be taken away by our own progress and ingenuity. There is no pill for it- no technology to deal with it- no human system to overcome it. … It can only be dealt with at the feet of Jesus. … The blood of the chalice cleanses the sanctuary of our heart. To receive the eucharistic bread is to receive the life of Jesus into us. We don’t trust in our own strength- we trust in his mercy. Amen.
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