Behold the Lamb
Epochal Events
I came across a short line from a theologian and scholar named Richard D. Phillips. He basically said this (as I'm paraphrasing here),
“Occasionally in Scripture we come across a truly epochal event that just changes everything.”
I love that word: epochal. How cool is that to be able to use? An event that is highly and uniquely significant.
Today we're going to look at such an event. And in light of the Easter season, it might be one that is sort of surprising, but none-the-less epochal. We're gong to be in the book of John this morning, and as we approach Palm Sunday, rather than us spend time in the Easter narrative (chapters 12-20), I want to look at a far different place. So if you have your bible with you this morning, or if it's on your phone - you can go ahead and open it to the very first chapter of John. John 1:29. If you don't have a bible with you it'll be on the screen, but I want to encourage you to actually use a Bible - like the one in the back of the pew in front of you. But, John 1:29 - that's where we'll be starting, and camping out for while this morning.
It's in this section that we encounter one of these truly epochal events - the launch of Jesus' public ministry, in his formal identification by John the Baptist. So as we get into this, the day before our event occurs - John the Baptist had been speaking of "One greater than himself" who was coming. And now, read with me starting in verse 29:
“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” (which 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. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).”
The Lamb of God
Let’s focus on verse 29. Rather than that word, "Behold" you could think of it as John sees Jesus walking toward him and he shouts, "There He is!!!" And then He provides one of the most glorious and (in my own opinion just an absolutely beloved title), "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Lamb of God.
What a title.
Do you want to know a "title" that I had in high school?
I'll tell you, but first - picture a 5'6" (and a half - ever notice how shorter people seemingly have to include the "half-inches" in their height?) Anyway, a 5'6" - and 1/2, scrawny, 110 lb, kid with long, curly hair (it was about down to my collar bone, maybe a little shorter).
Got it in your mind?
Here's the nickname: "Frodo."
Do you know what I did to earn that nickname?
Nothing.
The last Lord of the Rings movie had come out just 2 years before I started high school, and people thought I looked like Frodo. Once the first person said it, it stuck.
Frodo was a hobbit, y'all.
But there was nothing I could do. Not everyone called me that, but several did - for four years. In fact, for some people it was to the point that right around the time of graduating college (5 years after graduating high school), that I was playing guitar in one of my closest friend's weddings, and before the ceremony started and people began arriving, I was standing at the entrance to the sanctuary, talking to another friend, back turned to the front door - and I heard a voice that sounded familiar: "FROOOODOOOO!!!" I turned around, a little shocked because it had been a while since I heard that name, and it was my economics teacher from about five before - who was now photographing weddings in addition to teaching. Had I seen him since? Nope. Not once.
Do you know what that means? It means that years, and hundreds of students later - I heard "FROOODOOOO!!!!" by a man who didn't even see my face.
You know, sometimes nicknames can just stick for a while, I guess.
But, to take the focus off of me here a little, I also brought a few other nicknames with me this morning that I think in hindsight, Frodo might not have actually been pretty good.
"My friend spelled circus as cercus...and we've called him ‘The Cercus Cloon’ for 6 years."
"I called one of my best friends Tuna as freshman in high school back in '97. Everyone calls him Tuna and most new people don't even know his real name. Even his family calls him Tuna now."
"Growing up there was a guy at school who was known by everyone as "Buy One". I don't think anyone actually remembered his first name, but is last name was Wonfrey. And ya know... you buy one, you get Wonfrey."
"I saw a thread a long time ago about nicknames and the best one was about an apparent work colleague whose name was Wayne Bruce. So everyone just called him ‘Manbat’.”
However, nicknames that we're given don't necessarily have to be bad or humorous.
I'm also reminded how in Great Britain, the large ceremony that takes place when someone is elevated to a position of knighthood and has the incredible opportunity to be present right in front of a monarch to be recognized and honored for the actions of their life.
And there are other people are given hereditary titles like: king, queen, prince, princess, duke, earl, viscount, baron, and so on. And then there are what's called Orders of Chivalry, including the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, and the Order of the Bath - all of which allow one who is admitted to bestow or carry the title of "Sir" or "Dame."
Many people over the course of history in Great Britain have carried a long list of these titles. However, no matter the number of nicknames, hereditary, or honorary titles that anyone has held - I'd argue that the most titled person in all of human history (yeah - a big claim) is Jesus.
R. C. Sproul (a theologian, pastor, and speaker) tells a story in which he talks about attending an academic convocation at a theological seminary where the guest speaker was a distinguished and world-renowned New Testament scholar.
Now, it's important to note that these convocations that he attended were usually the place where people would present these just weighty academic and technical papers. However, on this one occasion, this New Testament scholar did something that had never been done before in that institution. When it was his turn to present, he walked up to the stage, stood at the podium, placed his papers/notes down, and he began what would eventually be a thirty-minute talk in which, without any other commentary whatsoever, He systematically just recited the titles of Christ that are found in the New Testament. Titles such as:
The Word (who was with God and who was God)
The Christ
The Son of God
The Son of Man
Lord
The Consolation of Israel
The Lion of Judah
The Alpha and Omega
For thirty minutes. Just reciting a litany of titles given to Jesus in Scripture.
Dr. Sproul went on to talk about incredible it is there there were enough scriptural titles that God the Father had been pleased to ascribe to His Son to be able to fill an entire half-hour lecture period.
Agnus Dei
But again the title: Lamb of God or Agnus Dei, that title ascribed when John the Baptist exclaimed, "There He is!!!" "The Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" What an appropriate title to launch the ministry of Christ. What an magnificent title for us to consider and discuss today as we continue in this Easter season.
And here's something that I think is pretty interesting.
And believe me, I, Frodo, could be wrong here, but I'd wager that the title "Lamb of God" isn't probably a new title for you to hear regarding Jesus. Throughout the history of Christianity and the Church, imagery, writing, and songs of Jesus as the Lamb of God are featured pretty prominently. It's not a foreign concept for many of us.
Yet - and here's the interesting part - out of the 66 books of the Bible, and the 27 in the New Testament, there are just two books that use this title - where Christ is called, "The Lamb of God." And only by one author: The Apostle John. We hear it here, right near the beginning of John's gospel, and then again in John's vision while on the isle of Patmos in Revelation 5:12 as he's waiting for the Lion of Judah, and he beholds not the Lion, but a Lamb as it was slain. And songs from the voices of the angels were surrounding and singing:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain! To receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” The list just doesn't stop.
How well-known of a title this is for us to associate with Christ, but how rare we find it in Scripture. But there it is, right at the beginning of His ministry, right there in his introduction by John the Baptist as he saw Him walking toward him. And further, beyond just this title, did you notice just how many titles there are in the short passage we read?
In v. 34, we see:
“And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
And then in v. 38, the title of Rabbi or teacher:
“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?’”
Continue with me in v. 41: as Andrew is the first to announce the Messianic identity of Jesus, as he finds Simon Peter and says:
“He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ).”
In v. 45, Philip says to Nathanael:
“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.””
Continue even further down with me, this time past where we read earlier to v. 49 - in Christ's meeting with Nathanael, he says to Jesus:
“Nathanael answered him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’”
And in Jesus' own words, at the very end of chapter 1, Jesus says:
“And he said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’”
Even at the very beginning of the Gospel of John, v. 1, we're told that Jesus is the Word of God.
So I don't want you to miss this today: we begin the gospel of John by ascribing these titles to Christ right out of the gate as He begins His ministry, and these various people meet Jesus saying out loud who they think He is:
The Lamb of God
The Son of God
Rabbi (Teacher)
Messiah
Jesus of Nazareth
King of Israel
Son of Man
Seven titles, just in literary terms, given the length of this passage, this is where we would use the technical/official phrase, "rapid fire."
But if you notice, right after that prologue in verse 1, it's the title "The Lamb of God" that ushers in all of the others.
Critics of Scripture
But you know, there are people out there, critics of Scripture, who have made the observation:
"Lamb of God... That's a weird title. Why would John the Baptist say that out of nowhere? Actually it makes sense - for a weird grasshopper-gobbling, honey-slurping guy, to use a weird title when seeing Jesus. In fact, where did he get this title, the Lamb of God, who takes away sin from the world? The Old Testament? Nope. Not buying it. People used bulls and goats for sin sacrifices. Actually, I got it! This must be something that John (the author) probably just wrote himself, saying that John the Baptist said it. Because no way he said this, because there's no Old Testament precedent for it. Couldn't have happened."
My response?
There's really no Old Testament precedent for it? You sure?
There's no lamb metaphors, or lambs themselves being used for substitutional sacrifices in the Old Testament?
Read with me in Isaiah 53:7, where God gives the prophet Isaiah the vision of the servant of the Lord who will come and who will die for His peoples' sin:
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.”
Okay, so maybe we do have in the Old Testament the suffering servant being directly compared to a lamb.
Another passage comes to mind, Exodus 12:3-13, the final plague before the Israelites are freed from captivity, in which the angel of death will strike the firstborn sons of all of Egypt. The crown prince included.
This passage is where the Israelites are given the instruction by Moses to take an unblemished lamb, slaughtering it at twilight, taking some of the blood, and smearing above their doorpost. When the angel of death passes through Egypt, and looks and sees the blood of the unblemished lamb above the doorpost, it will passover the home not striking the firstborn.
So now we have a lamb physically serving as a substitutionary sacrifice. A lamb that died so that the firstborns did not have to die.
So the questions must be asked:
Did Isaiah just merely invent his same metaphor as well? Just from imagination?
Does that mean that Moses himself just came up with the sacrifice of the lamb on the day of passover? Just on his own?
You know, John the Baptist has a different, much more appropriate title than the adjectives I used for him earlier: Prophet (as affirmed by Jesus Matt. 11:9-11). So do you think that God could have used him for describing who Jesus was with the metaphor, "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world?"
Yes.
Another question: as a prophet, would his words have carried the same weight as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, or any of the other Old Testament prophets?
Again, yes.
So I'm more than willing to stand up here and say that this title, "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" isn't just a lucky guess for John the Baptist.
Maybe, and go figure, it's God's designation.
And it's through John, and his exclamation upon seeing Christ that He's making it clear that He has provided the Lamb for the world's deepest need.
And I don't want you to miss this: this concept isn't limited to just these verses that I've read, rather it's a strand throughout history. If we go all the way back to Genesis 22, we'll encounter a father and a son. They're walking up a mountain, carrying *almost* all of the supplies needed for a sacrifice. The scene in which Abraham was to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.
Just one thing seemed to be missing, in a moment in which my heart just breaks, envisioning Isaac asking his father:
“...Behold, the fire and wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And after Abraham had tied Isaac to the altar, and had raised the knife in preparation to sacrifice him, God stops him saying:
“But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’”
And at that time what happens? There's some rustling that Abraham hears. A ram, stuck in the thicket by his horns. God provided a lamb as a substitute.
I'll say it again, now for us: God provided a lamb as a substitute.
A title that isn't just some novelty that John the Baptist just plucked out of his imagination. But rather exclaimed when Jesus appeared out on the horizon, walking to the Jordan, about to begin His public ministry. He was then baptized in water for the sake of His people, and at that same time He is anointed in this tremendous outpouring from heaven by the Holy Spirit.
And right there at the start of His ministry, we are painted this beautiful picture and foreshadowing of the Lamb of God, and all the weight and incredible significance that title carries, who will also baptize all of those who believe and trust in Him, in the same Holy Spirit.
Let that sink in.
“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
I think the old English Poet, John Donne puts it wonderfully:
“Wash thee in Christ’s blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.”
Slaves to a Tyrant
If you go to Rome, there's a famous arch that celebrates the victory of Emperor Titus when he conquered Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There's a relief on the inner curve that shows Titus returning with his spoils, and included in this procession is a long line of Jewish slaves that were brought to be sold in the markets of Rome.
When we look at scenes like this, let me encourage you to remember that this is what we were before the Lamb of God came for us. Slaves to a tyrant worse than Titus.
Ourselves. In our sin.
And so often in our culture today, we can easily lose sight of this. We'll do things like compare our sin with someone else's,
"Well - I may have stolen that pencil, but so-and-so cheated on that test. At least I didn't do that!"
"I know I didn't really study all that hard when I said I was...but at least other people did worse than I did..." - That was one that I used back in middle school. With the classic parental response of "I don't care how anyone else did." Brutal comeback. The one weakness to my reasoning! How did they know? And further, why did I keep on using it?
Other excuses: "Hey, I may have got into a fight, but that other kid got sent to juvie for hitting a teacher."
"I may have lied a little on my taxes, but come on - at least I'm doing them!"
And I could keep going, but I think you get the point. Those aren't all personal examples, by the way. Just want to say that, especially with that last one since this is streamed and recorded and all.
But here's the point: When we compare our sin to the standard of other sinners - we make our morality based on the actions of others, rather than that of the perfect moral standard.
In fact, if we just look at our culture, even our own lives, mine definitely included, it's so easy to see ways in which our choices actually reflect the opposite of what John the Baptist says we should be doing:
So often in our culture today, we can easily lose sight of this. At times I'm almost convinced that when I look at different societies, their "mantra" if you will, is the opposite of John the Baptist's:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
It's so easy to compare your sin with someone else's, and increase yourself and decrease our Lord. To decrease the weight of that title, "The Lamb of God" and the significance of all of the others.
The Son of God
Rabbi (Teacher)
Messiah
Jesus of Nazareth
King of Israel
Son of Man
Pastor Tim Mackie makes this incredible observation about the weight and importance of these titles, as he shares how these titles work together to convey the truth of God's Word. He puts it like this:
“The (fully God) and fully human Jesus from Nazareth is the messianic king & teacher of Israel, and the Son of God who will die for the sins of the world.”
So I just thank the Lord that we even have the ability to have worship services in which we get the benefit of understanding and knowing of His incredible sacrifice for our sins on the cross, and that we can rejoice in the resurrection. So as we enter into these coming weeks and services that focus on these things, let us focus on the depths and riches that God was communicating through the announcement of His messenger, when he said, "Behold, The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."