John 1:29-41 Sermon

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Look!  The Lamb of God

John 1:29-41

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). (NIV)

You hear the Baptizer call out, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (v.35) and you instantly make the connection.  You know he’s speaking about Jesus, and you know what he is saying about Jesus through that exclamation.  You know it because the account from this morning’s Gospel leaves no doubt.  This morning we’re going to do more than just passively presume the connection between lamb and Lord; we’re going to strive for a deeper and fuller appreciation of the significance of John’s declaration on back-to-back days, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

To really grasp the depth of what John was saying about Jesus, imagine what the Jewish ear would have heard when John referred to Jesus as a lamb.  The lamb was an animal that played a central role in the sacrificial life of God’s people throughout their history.  To think of a lamb was to think of sacrifice.  God had established this picture already as he delivered his people from Egypt, calling them to observe what would be an annual recurrence in their religious life: the Passover (cf. Ex. 12).  They were to prepare a special meal according to detailed specifications, and the lamb would serve not only as the main course, but a vivid reminder of the sacrifice by which the Israelites’ firstborn sons were spared when the lamb’s blood was painted on the doorposts of their homes on the first Passover.  For most of us, this picture of the Passover lamb is most likely the one that comes to mind when we think of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

But God’s divine visual aids didn’t stop there.  With the Passover, God had set in motion a yearly religious custom intended to highlight the important truth he was establishing: deliverance comes at a price.  Something must be given, something must be sacrificed, in order for deliverance to result.  But what was only a once-a-year illustration through the celebration of the Passover was also daily portrayed at the altar by the priests, and not just once a day, but twice.  While there were numerous types of sacrifices that could be offered for a host of reasons, one constant that God established was what was known as the daily sacrifice (cf. Ex. 29).  Once in the morning, at the start of the day, the first of these two daily sacrifices would occur.  Then, at the close of the day, the second daily sacrifice would take place.  So each and every day, twice a day, at the start and close, a sacrifice was made.  God was cementing in the hearts of his people the truth that deliverance comes at a price.  A sacrifice must be offered as payment.  And which animal do you suppose was to be offered in the daily sacrifice?  None other than a lamb.

And God’s divine visual aids didn’t stop there.  As we shift from the rituals of the priests to the writings of the prophets, one cannot ignore how with eerie accuracy, with picturesque paintings of words, the prophet Isaiah revealed the details of the sacrifice that would be necessary for deliverance.  In the fifty-third chapter of his book, Isaiah foretold with divinely inspired clarity of the sacrifice and suffering that the Savior would endure to offer up payment for sin in order to redeem sinners.  Long before his birth, Isaiah described the One who “took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4,5).  And to tie his prophetic picture together with the sacrificial picture God intended to illustrate through the Passover lamb and the daily sacrifice, Isaiah’s description includes verse 7: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” 

Now return again to the Jordan, to the events recorded in our Gospel this morning.  Take the pictures and the prophecy we have just considered and you can’t help but hear what Jewish ears heard when the Baptizer called out, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (v.35).  What John was stating with those words about Jesus was unmistakably clear: the promised Messiah, the Anointed One, the Head-crusher, the promised Sacrifice, the Redeemer, the Deliverer who would pay the full price for man’s sin and set him free, had arrived, and his name was Jesus.  And dear friends, the whole point of the season of Epiphany is not just that Jewish ears would recognize their Savior, but that all people – that you also – would recognize him as your Messiah, your Anointed One, your Head-crusher, your promised Sacrifice, your Redeemer, and your Deliverer.  He did not come merely to pay for the sins of the Jewish people, but he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 

If he took away the sins of the world, then surely you and I are included.  And if all the world’s sins have been taken away, then surely all of ours have been taken away.  That includes the sin that has troubled you ever since your childhood.  It includes the arrogant sins of defiance from your teenage years.  It includes the sins in your relationships, in your workplace, and against your family.  It includes the sin you committed not even 24 hours ago.  It includes all of the sins you’ve committed from the moment you woke up this morning.  The Lamb of God did not leave any unfinished business; he paid for every single sin – yes, even every single one of your sins.  Because of his death, you live and you will live forever.

A passerby once noticed the carving of a lamb on stone high up on a church tower in Europe.  Thinking it an uncharacteristic place for such a carving, he asked around to see if anyone could explain the unique feature.  He was told that when the church was being built, one of the workers lost his footing and slipped off the scaffolding right at the spot where he had seen the lamb carved on a stone.  When the other workers arrived where he had fallen, they unexpectedly saw the man standing there cleaning himself off.  Having fallen into the middle of a flock of sheep, he pointed to a nearby lamb and explained that he was alive, but the lamb was crushed by his fall.  To commemorate his miraculous escape, the workers carved the lamb on the stone.

For you and me that image of the lamb means much more.  The Lamb of God was crushed for our sin.  He was sacrificed in our place.  He absorbed the death-blow of our sin and cushioned our fall, rescuing us from the deadliest fall possible: the fall into hell for eternity.

John the Baptist not only pointed others to the Lamb; he himself also believed in him as his Savior.  What evidence do we have of this?  John keeps no secrets from us, but says, “I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One” (v. 34).  There may be a lot of reasons for passing along a message, but essentially our motivation boils down to one of two things: either you pass along a message that you are passionate about speaking against, or you pass along a message that you are passionate about promoting.  John was doing the latter.  He was testifying that he believed Jesus was the Chosen One promised of God.  What the Holy Spirit had revealed to him, he relayed to others.

Isn’t that what God desires of all people?  If the Lamb of God came to take away the sin of the world, certainly he desires that all would both hear that news and believe it.  John did believe it.  John then testified about it to others.

And don’t let it be lost on you what the result was when he testified about the Lamb to others.  “When the two disciples heard him [John] say this, they followed Jesus.  Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ).” (v. 37, 40, 41).  What led to others following Jesus?  What led to others inviting still others to follow Jesus?  John testified.  He simply shared what he believed and directed others to Jesus, and God blessed his testimony.

You know how compound interest works, right?  If I invest $100 at 10% interest, I end up with $110.  Even if I do nothing else with that money, it’s no longer $100 that is earning interest, but $110, which will continue to grow based on the interest that 10% continues to bring in.  Christ’s church is really no different.  The interest earned on testifying about the Lamb of God is others coming to faith as the Holy Spirit determines, and then turning around and testifying about the Lamb as the Holy Spirit guides them. The difference between compound interest and the work of the church, however, is the power of the Holy Spirit behind it.

Dear fellow follower of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God will bless your testimony about him to others as well.  So strong was God’s desire that everyone both recognize and believe in the Lamb, that he framed the picture in so many different ways throughout history that he couldn’t possibly be missed when he arrived.  And that grace grabbed your attention.  Grace shouted out, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” from the font at your baptism.  Grace shouts out, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” from the Lord’s Supper.  Grace saw to it that you didn’t miss him.  May that same grace also see to it that others don’t miss him, because of our testimony about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Amen.

                                                             

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)