Sermon for Epiphany 2: "Behold, the Lamb of God"

+ 2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany – January 19^th, 2020 +

Series A: Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In May 1971, the Five Man Electrical Band released their hit song “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign”

Life is full of signs, isn’t it. Construction signs as you drive by the Tacoma Dome. Signs directing you where to go at a hospital or airport. Signs of winter weather in the forecast. Signs are everywhere. Signs also point you to something. “Next rest stop, 23 miles. Food, gas, and coffee, next exit. Road closed.” And so on.

John’s Gospel is full of signs as well. In fact, that’s John’s favorite word for miracles in the Gospel. AT the wedding at Cana, when Jesus changed water into wine, John calls it the first of Jesus’ signs. In today’s Gospel reading, the sign, however, isn’t something that Jesus said or did, but something that John the Baptist says about him. 

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John the Baptist stands by the Jordan River as God’s divinely appointed sign, pointing his hearers then, and today, to Jesus the Lamb of God. That’s John’s calling, to be a human sign, a mouth piece of Gods promises. A witness who testifies to the truth of God come in human flesh. Like all good signs he draws our attention just long enough to get the message and then he gets out of the way. A sign, after all, doesn’t exist for itself, but for the thing it points to. “I must decrease, Jesus must increase,” John declares. So, like the prophets before him, John is constantly speaking and pointing to Jesus, the Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, God in human flesh as the one who has come to deliver God’s promises to you and for you.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Admittedly, this is a bit of a strange sign if you think about it. What kind of sign is a Lamb? We might expect John to call God in human flesh something a bit more dramatic and impressive, a towering grizzly bear or a ferocious tiger perhaps. But a Lamb? That sounds kind of weak. Lowly. Humble. Ordinary. Maybe foolish even. 

And that’s exactly the point. For that is exactly how God works all the time. St. Paul reminds us that God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

This is how God works in sending Jesus; he’s born in humility, to live in humility, and die in humility for you. His disciples are no different. Fishermen. Tax collectors. Zealots. Quite the motley, yet lowly crew. Jesus comes as one who is lowly, for us who are lowly. He comes in weakness to save us who are weak. He becomes sin to save us from our sin. 

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Out of all God’s creatures John could’ve picked, it’s no accident that John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God. 

When God told Abraham to go to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice his only son, Isaac, he promised to provide the sacrifice. And he did. A ram or a lamb (depending on your translation) that points forward to the Lamb of God that stood before John in the Jordan River. Here is God’s Son, his only Son, whom he loves, and whom he sends to save you because he loves you. 

When the people of Israel were set free from slavery in Egypt, God provided the Passover lamb; they ate its flesh in a holy meal of rescue, and its blood covered their doorposts and death passed over them. John points to Jesus and tells Israel and all of us, behold the Passover Lamb of God. He gives his flesh for a holy meal for you. He sheds his blood that death might pass over you and onto him instead. Your slavery from sin has ended. You are no longer bound or imprisoned by sin and death. You are free. Innocent. Holy. Righteous. Pure and without any spot or blemish – just as the Lamb of God has made you to be in him.

When the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming Messiah, the Suffering Servant who would save Israel and all nations, he declares these comforting words of promise: 

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

And if you look at the picture you received with your bulletin this morning, you’ll see one artist’s depiction of John’s words. There, at the center, is the Lamb of God John is pointing to. We know it’s a picture of Jesus because he is the Light no darkness can overcome. He is not just a lamb, but the Lamb of God. He is pierced for our transgressions. He dives headlong into the darkness of sin and death for you. Notice also how Jesus is depicted as the brilliant, radiant white, spotless Lamb, as the swirling, billowing, encompassing darkness surrounds him on our behalf. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is entirely white and shining forth, except for one spot, a crimson sign post of his blood shed for you, his suffering for you, his bearing sin for you. God provides his greater Isaac on the cross for you. The Passover Lamb is sacrificed for you. The Suffering Servant has borne your griefs and carried your sorrows.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Not only does Jesus take away our sin. But he gives us something far greater in its place. He gives us his holiness. His purity. His righteousness. His blessing. His new creation. Jesus baptizes us into his very death and resurrection, making us children of God. Jesus, the Lamb feeds us his own flesh and blood, leads us to streams of living water in the font, and shepherds us by his Word. 

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.