Proper 20 - O - 2012 - Slaughtered For Sin

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 20

September 23, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Jeremiah 11:18-20                   James 3:13-4:10                      Mark 9:30-37

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the Old Testament lesson just read, especially these words, “But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.”  Thus far our text.

Dear friends in Christ.  What do you think of when you hear the word slaughter?  Do you think of chickens losing their heads and making their way into your freezer?  Do you think of duck season that opened yesterday?  Or maybe you don’t think of food at all, maybe you think of war, of fighting, of murder.  Do you think of the untold millions of babies who were vacuumed out of women’s bodies this year?  Do you think of ambassadors and army personnel losing their lives over seas?  Do you think of the great number of people killed in Vietnam and Cambodia?  For me, slaughter means lots of blood, lots of gore, lots of suffering.  What about you?  What exactly do you think of when you hear the word Slaughter? 

Slaughter is the cost of sin.  Blood is the price that must be paid for people who are guilty.  Something innocent must be taken, and slaughtered, murdered, destroyed, so that sins might be taken away.  An animal must be massacred, and then, and only then will forgiveness be given.  In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

Forgiveness is what was needed in Jeremiah’s day.  The people of Israel had fallen into apostasy.  They had turned their backs on God.  They worshipped false gods and goddesses, like Baal and Ashtoreth.  Their kings ignored true prophets and instead listened to false prophets who told them exactly what their itching ears wanted them to hear.  They stole, they swore, they failed in their duties as fathers and mothers, they didn’t teach the faith.  They were sinners.  Or to put it plainly, they were people just like you and me. 

Jeremiah came and preached to them.  Jeremiah came and told them the truth, that they were guilty, and that God’s just judgment was coming, that if they did not repent and turn from their sin that the Babylonians would come and take them away. 

The people laughed when Jeremiah told them this.  The people ignored Jeremiah, even throwing him into a pit to stop him from preaching this nonsense.  They didn’t perform the sacrifice for forgiveness.  They didn’t believe God’s word through his prophet.  There wasn’t blood sacrifice for sin.  But slaughter would still come.  The Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem, driving Jeremiah to Egypt, and taking the rest of the people into exile. After all, that is the price of sin – Slaughter, blood, massacre. 

Dear friends, do you think your sin is any less serious?  Do you think that the cost for your own forgiveness is any less dire than the slaughter mentioned in our text today?  You are just as guilty.  You are just as sinful.  And you and me, we ignore our guilt just as much as the people of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day. 

It’s exactly what James says in our epistle today.  Look at your life.  “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴ You adulterous people!”

We sin daily.  We curse, swear, lie, steal, hate, gossip, fail every day.  We fail to live up to that perfect standard set up by God.  And so there must be a slaughtering on our behalf.  There must be blood out poured for you and me.  There must be a massacre and carnage, there must be a blood sacrifice. There must be blood, and it must either be your own or someone else’s.

That’s the catch isn’t it.  We don’t want our own blood shed.  We want someone elses shed for us.  We want someone else to hurt, someone else to bleed, someone else to die for us, because we are too frightened to do it on our own.  And that, dear friends in who Jesus is. 

Jesus is the one who has come for the explicit purpose of shedding his blood for you.  He is the one who came to be led like a gentle sheep to the slaughter in your place.  He is the one who came to die, he’s the one to take the punishment, he’s the one to set you free from sin and death.  It’s Jesus, That’s his purpose, that’s what Jesus would do for you.  That’s the person your God is.  A person who loves you so that he gives up his life in your place. 

That’s exactly what Jesus tells his disciples in our text today.  “‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.’   But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.”  We so often don’t understand who Jesus is either.  We make him out to be a nice guy, or a great teacher, or a law giver who says, “Just accept my invitation, and then I’ll bless you.” 

Its true, Jesus is a nice guy.  Its true, Jesus loved everyone, and that we ought to do the same in faith.  But none of these things matter one lick, one iota, unless Jesus is the lamb of slaughter who goes to suffering and death in your place.  Jesus is only “Jesus” if he’s slaughtered for you.

The blood from that slaughter covers you in baptism.  That blood washes away your guilt, your shame, your weakness, and leaves you forgiven forever.  The blood from the slaughter of Jesus makes you well.  The blood heals your sin, and makes you once again forever a holy people of God.  And you know that hope will be forever, for Christ did not stay slaughtered, he rose again, and even now lives and reigns in heaven forever. 

That’s the promise.  That’s the joy of a slaughtered Jesus.  That’s the hope we all share in him.  That we are forgiven in blood, that Christ has been slaughtered for you, and that you have hope now forever more.  He’s your God, He’s the Lamb of Slaughter, He’s Jesus, your hope and joy.  Amen.  

Epiphany 2 - 2011 - "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"

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! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 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.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 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?” 39 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. [1] 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus [2] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus.

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially this verse, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Thus far our text.

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.