The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
January 19, 2014 - Pastor Adam Moline
Isaiah
49:1-7 1
Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-42a
Dear friends in
Christ, Mary had a little lamb, its
fleece was white as snow. This nursery
rhyme is often what we think of first when we think of lambs and sheep. It offers us such a cute little picture, of a
rather unintelligent sheep being taken to school by a young girl, and running
amuck there. In it we see lambs being
small loving creatures, following their master around. The words to this nursery rhyme were actually
based on an actual occurrence, where in 1830, a little girl named Mary brought
a lamb to school, much to the chagrin of her teacher. And now, almost 200 years later, that event
shapes our understanding of what a lamb is, and what a lamb does.
But 2000 years
ago, people had a different understanding of what lambs were. Even in our text, St. John has a different
understanding of what a lamb is and does as he proclaims for all to hear,
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John doesn’t see a small simpleminded
creature following little girls to school.
Instead John sees
A BLOODY SACRIFICE
TO GOD, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ATONING FOR YOUR SIN.
Dear friends, to
understand what John is saying with his words, we must look at what sheep and
lambs meant to people 2000, in ancient Israel.
The life of an ancient Israelite centered around the temple built in
Jerusalem first by King Solomon, and then rebuilt by Herod the Great. The temple at the time of John was a massive
building, one of the largest built at that time. It was 150 feet tall and 150 feet wide. The temple was built to be the place where
God lived among his people, his very presence.
And in order for sinful people like you and me to be in the presence of
God, blood had to flow.
Blood flowed from
countless animals, as they were slaughtered as sacrifices for sin. Gallons of blood poured out, everywhere, upon
the people, and upon the priests. The
temple was a place where blood flowed for the forgiveness of the sins of the
people. Much of the blood that flowed at
the temple for sacrifices, came from meek little lambs. Little lambs and sheep had their throats cut
and their blood collected and poured upon the altar. Lambs blood was put upon the ear lobe of the
one who was guilty, to forgive them their sins.
Little lambs were slaughtered over and over again.
It is quite the gory picture isn’t it? Why was this blood shed? Why did so many cute and fluffy lambs have to
die at the Temple? Scripture is
clear. As we read in the book of
Hebrews, “the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Blood must flow. Lambs must be slain. It is the only way. And Jesus is the Lamb of God, meaning he is
the one that God will slay whose blood will heal all sins, whose blood will
take away all sin in all the world.
But we don’t see
Jesus that way, do we. We love singing
hymns about What a friend we have in Jesus.
I have even seen T-shirts that read, “Jesus is my homeboy”. And yes, Jesus is our friend, the best friend
that one could have. Jesus is always
there caring for us, Jesus is always providing for us. We can talk to him at any time. But Jesus is more than just a friend, and he
himself says so, “No greater love is there than this, That one give up his life
for his friends.” IN a sense, that one
shed his blood for his friends. Listen
to John calling, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
We hear in our
world that Jesus is a good moral teacher.
That Jesus teaches us how to be a good person, what is right and
wrong. And it is true, Jesus does tell
us what is right and wrong. He does tell
us we need to love our neighbor, and pray for those who persecute you. But the fact of that matter is that if we
look at the morals that Jesus teaches, and our own life, we fall short. We don’t really love all our neighbors. In fact, quite often we fight with them. We struggle to even love all our own family
members. And we don’t always do what we
know to be good. Sometimes it is easier
to do evil, sometimes it is easier to what we know is wrong. And as we fall short, we hear John’s call for
blood, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Or maybe we Jesus
as a snob, and a hypocrite, who is always looking down on what we do, always
pointing out our weaknesses and our shortcomings. Maybe you have heard, “You Christians, you
always think you are so much better than everyone else.” The fact of the matter is that Jesus only shows
us our sin, so that we might realize what saving us cost. So that we might realize why his blood must
be shed. Behold the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world, even yours.
You see, despite
all the different things that we hear that Jesus is, none of it matters, unless
we see Jesus flogged by Roman Soldiers, and his blood beginning to flow. We must see Jesus with his forehead ripped
open by a crown of thorns, and his hands and feet pierced by nails as they are
affixed to a wooden cross. We must see
blood and water pouring from his sides as a spear pierces his heart, assuring
us that he is dead. We must see Jesus
first and foremost as a sacrifice for our doubt, for our disobedience, and for
our sin. “Behold, on the cross, the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
The Lamb
dies. The Lamb sheds his blood, and your
sin is atoned for. That means that your
sin is gone. It is no longer yours to
worry about. It is no longer yours to be
ashamed of. Your sin has been washed
away in blood, and now you are whiter than snow. Scripture says it over and over again. In Isaiah, “"Though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they
shall be like wool.” In Revelation
“These are they who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb.” That is you. Your sin is gone. The sins you know, the sins you don’t know,
here and now are gone in the blood of Jesus.
And now in their
place, you have peace. Now in their place
you have assurance. You are
forgiven. Lamb of God Jesus has died for
you. You have received one Baptism for
the forgiveness of sins. All your lives
are lived in the Lamb of God’s forgiveness that he earned for you on a dirty
old rugged cross.
In our text today,
John the Baptist cries out, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away your sins,
and the sins of the whole world.” You
are forgiven. Blood has been shed for
you. Amen.
