The Lamb of God

Scripture: John 1: 29-31. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

Background. John the Baptist said that Jesus is the Lamb of God. It's a picture that shows up in the New Testament most often in the book of Revelation. But what does it mean?  When John introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God, how did those who heard that understand it? What images would have come into their minds? What was the back story?  This is what we will consider Sunday during the sermon.

Sermon. John, the one we know of as the Baptist, was down by the Jordan River where Jesus came to him to be baptized. One day later, Jesus was approaching John, and John spoke to those with him, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” We are using four hymns this morning that refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God. Some churches use a liturgy in which the people say, “O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.” The expression ”Lamb of God”—it is in our Bible, our hymns, and our worship. What does it mean?

I believe the place to begin is in the very first Passover. It’s a story you know. It is a story that so much of the New Testament is built upon. God’s people were slaves in Egypt, and had been for too long. When they cried out for rescue, God sent them an 80-year-old fugitive from justice turned shepherd. His name was Moses. In this itself we learn that we are never too old to be useful to God or too corrupt or too wicked, as Moses had killed a man and run. So God turned to Moses, and told him to go back to Egypt as God’s representative. He was to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let God’s people go.

Pharaoh didn’t take this seriously, not at first. He told Moses to go away. So God, to get Pharaoh’s attention, sent a plague upon Egypt, and a second and a third, and now God had Pharaoh’s attention. But Pharaoh hardened his heart against God. And the plagues kept coming and Egypt suffered and suffered much, but Pharaoh would not let God’s people go. He refused to give in. And so there was a tenth plague. If the others were devastating, this one would be catastrophic.

Before the tenth plague, God told his people that now Pharaoh would not only let the people go, he would drive them out of Egypt. God also told them how to prepare for it. He told them that on the tenth day of the month, they were to take a one-year-old lamb. It was to be a male lamb, unblemished, without imperfection. They were to care for it until the fourteenth day of the month. On the fourteenth day, they would kill the lamb, being careful not to break any of its bones. They would roast it over a fire and eat it at the evening meal. The blood of the lamb they would wipe on their doorposts. They would eat dressed, packed, and ready to leave Egypt.

God said that later that night he would pass through Egypt and take the life of every firstborn in Egypt, whether Egyptian or Hebrew. However, God said if he came to a house and saw blood on the lintel, he would pass over the house and spare the life of the firstborn.

Let’s think about what’s going on here. By the blood of a lamb, God would set his people free from their slavery in Egypt. From that day forth, a lamb would come to represent their freedom. Actually, God told them that this month—Passover month—would be the new first month of their calendar year. It was as though they were starting anew. Each glance at the calendar would remind them of what God had done for them. He told them that hereafter they would celebrate the Passover remembering what God accomplished for them through the lamb. Every year would begin with the lamb.

So, back to John the Baptist. Jesus was approaching and John said to his disciples and others around him, “Look, this is the one I was talking about. This is the one you’ve been looking for. He is the Lamb of God. He has come to deliver you from your slavery, not to Pharaoh in Egypt, but to sin.” John was telling them that Jesus was their true Passover lamb. He was going to deal with the sin problem.

Saying that, John predicted the death of Jesus. The Passover lamb is always slain. People would have been familiar enough with the scriptures to remember them saying that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. If Jesus was going to deal with sin; if Jesus was going to make a way for the forgiveness of sins, he would have to die.

Let’s return to the first Passover. God said he would go through Egypt and take the firstborn from every house, Egyptian and Hebrew. However, there was a way out—a way to avoid that. God provided a way for the firstborn to live. It was a lamb. A lamb would take the place of the firstborn. A lamb would die in the place of the firstborn. The blood on the doorway was the evidence that the death had taken place. The lamb was a type. The word type comes from the Latin, meaning a model. The Passover lamb prefigured Christ. The Passover lamb was a foreshadowing of another lamb, the Lamb of God.

Before Jesus came along, God had made a provision for sin. This was the Day of Atonement. Every year in October there was a one-day event when the sins of the past year were forgiven. Also, every day of the week, the priest would make two sacrifices at the Temple. The morning sacrifice was a lamb. The blood of this lamb covered over the sins of the priests. The evening sacrifice was a lamb. It covered over the sins of the people from the previous day. So it was repeated day after day. It was but temporary.

This is why the writer of the book of Hebrews (10:1-4) would say: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

God’s previous provision for sin—it was but temporary, and it was but a covering over of sin—a sort of hiding it away—but never really dealing with it or getting rid of it. God’s previous provision for sin—it was a foreshadowing; it was a preview; it anticipated Christ, the Lamb of God who would take away sin once and for all time.

When John said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” it is likely that another image came to the mind of those who heard him. There is another story that precedes Moses and Egypt. This one has to do with Abraham and his son Isaac. It’s an uncomfortable story with a storybook ending. God told Abraham to take his son Isaac to Moriah and sacrifice him. That’s the truly uncomfortable part. And we will conveniently skip over the “why” question. Interestingly, Moriah was the same name given to Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified. Also, Isaac was Abraham’s one and only son, by Sarah. John called Jesus the one and only.

So they were on their way, and Isaac asked, “Father, we have the fire, and the wood, and the knife—where is the sacrifice?” Isaac wasn't aware of what’s up. But his father gave the most incredible answer. He said, “God himself will provide the lamb.” This is what was going on: Abraham was told by God to slay his own son. On the other hand, God had told Abraham that through his son Isaac, God would do great things. God couldn’t keep that promise if Abraham followed through. So was it faith? Did Abraham trust God to keep his promise through Isaac? Did Abraham trust that God would provide a sacrifice in the place of his son? Apparently so.

Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac anticipates the cross—that God himself will provide the sacrifice. God himself will provide the Lamb—his own son, the one and only. Also, in this story of Abraham and Isaac, we are introduced to this concept of faith. Abraham trusted God to keep his promise concerning Isaac. Abraham trusted that God would provide the lamb.

We can see faith as well in the Passover. God said: Take the blood of the lamb; wipe it on the doorposts. When I see the blood I will pass over that house and spare the firstborn. In Egypt, some people trusted God enough to do what he said, and they wiped the blood of the lamb on the entry to their home. Some did not. Some did not trust God enough to do what he said.

What we see in all of this is that God had been talking about a Lamb for a long time. It was a Lamb who would die so that others would live. It was a Lamb who would do more than take the place of a single child, Isaac. It was a Lamb who would do more than take the place of the firstborn in Egypt. It was a Lamb who would do more than set God’s people free from their slavery in Egypt. It was the Lamb that God provided to take away the sins of the world. And John had the privilege of introducing him.

There is no other provision for the sin in all the universe than the Lamb of God. There isn’t a book in the Bible that talks about the Lamb more than the book of Revelation. There we see the Lamb having completed his work in the world, and John says: “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they said: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise:’ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Revelation 5:11-14)