Isaiah 49.1–7; Psalm 40.1–11; 1 Corinthians 1.1–9, John 1.29–42
Summary: Do you know why: using our dainty little communion set in our worship, is so superior to the Old Testament services where animals were sacrificed for God? From Genesis to Revelation, we answer that question.
This sermon was delivered to the congregation in St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 19th January 2014: by Gordon McCulloch (A Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)
Introduction: John the Prophet
In today’s reading we see John the Baptist’s first encounter with Jesus: the man whom he was preparing the way for … and the man he has been waiting to meet all his life.
Verse 29, “He saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”!
Now when preparing this sermon, I dived right and continued on a theme of this encounter … but it did not take long before I noticed something very wrong with this verse. In fact it really bothered me for ages, can you see what is wrong? John said “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”!
No … then compare, Matthew 16:15, when Jesus said to Peter, “But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon {Peter}: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”.
This declaration of Peter was made at least two years after John the Baptists first encounter with Jesus; and some theologians say there is no way that John the Baptist could have said this about Jesus.
And that is what bothered me, I agreed with them, however, I did what most people do now, I googled it … and very quickly found an answer I agreed with.
The fact was, according to the bible, John the Baptist was first and foremost a prophet of God, and some say, the greatest in the Old Testament prophets. John the Baptist was the one who knew, and quoted the book of Isaiah backwards … in fact he quoted my favorite Old Testament chapter Isaiah 53, and that is some chapter, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth”.
And what I love about this verse is the fact that it was written well over 400 years before today’s events, so John was in effect prophesying this event … (and just like Samuel of old, would announced that Saul was the one chosen by God to be king), John calls attention of the crowd towards Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the Sin of the world” … That is Sin with a capital “S” meaning all sin; including every individual sin we have ever committed.
Lamb Sacrificed
And so with that out the way, we can ask ourselves “why must we look to Jesus as “the Lamb of God”; because a Lamb, if you think about it is a strange analogy; particularly if you are from a city or a large town.
Ok for us country folks here, and although few of us are farmers, we know that Lamb is very symbolic with the Jews back then … as it connected powerfully with them in the following ways:
Firstly, the lambs were a living symbol of innocence. Lambs were often pets, especially pet lambs that the mothers reject. These were greatly cherished … just in the same way we cherish dogs and cats … particularly when they are young, to see their playfulness and innocence.
We do not connect in the same way with a big smelly sheep; and so the death or sacrifice of such innocent and playful lamb had a profound effect on those watching the Lamb being sacrificed, and so to them, the price of such a sacrifice was high.
2. Secondly, the sacrifice of a lamb to every Hebrew was a reminder of the Passover all those years ago in Egypt; and it is still remembered and celebrated today; it is known as Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement, their holiest day of the year. I do not know if they still sacrifice a Lamb, as the symbol of salvation, but I do know, they did back then in the Old Covenant.
This therefore was their atonement with God, where all their sins where placed on the slaughter, or on the sacrifice of the prepared Lambs just as God had demanded.
This was first evident away back with Cain and Abel. Do you remember who’s offering God accepted, the one where blood was shed; because that is the God of the Old Testament? The death of an innocent was required to atone for their sin, and for the Hebrews to watch such a sacrifice, they would see the cost and reality of their sin.
So when John the Baptist exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” … this image would hit a nerve, and provoke a reaction.
Jesus Sacrificed
Now, in likewise manner the blood of Jesus Christ applied by personal faith grants us eternal life when we have our communion … because Jesus came willingly to die for us; he himself was slaughtered like the Lamb and we celebrate his sacrifice. This is what Jesus came to the earth to do, to be our sacrifice, to be our sacrificial lamb, so that we can atone for our sins through him; and as John 10:10 puts it, “I (that is Jesus) am come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly”.
Jesus came to rescue us, and as the apostles point out, this could only be done with Jesus dying on the cross. Like it or not, Christianity is a bloody religion; for it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us from our sin, and restores our communion with God.
Yes we were sinful; we are sinful, and we will sin again, that is the awful truth; and the judgment for that sin is death … but the sacrifice of Jesus cleanses us from our sin … it sets us free our sin … it does not make us free to sin … but it cleanses us from the sin that is holding us back … and Hebrews 9:11 tells us that “Jesus, as the sacrificial lamb, offered His blood once and for all. His sacrifice cannot be repeated, nor does it need to be” because through Jesus, our sin is completely dealt with, once and for all.
Interestingly enough, the Passover lamb was slain at noon … Jesus was condemned at that hour. Hyssop was dipped in the blood of the lamb and then painted on the door post. Jesus was offered a sponge full of sour wine upon a branch of hyssop … and the Paschal lamb was to be prepared in such a way that none of its bone were to be broken. Now it was common practice to break the bones of those who were crucified; but as you remember, Jesus died first, then the Romans thrust a spear into him and not one of His bones were broken. Is it any wonder that Paul says 1st Corinthians 5:7 that “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us”.
Note also that Jesus is the Lamb of God … he is not man's lamb … he is not the Jewish lamb … he is God's lamb and in the story of Abraham, who was commanded by God to sacrifice his own son on an altar … Abraham did so believing God would raise Isaac from the dead, and do you remember Isaac asking his father where the lamb was for the sacrifice, and remember Abraham saying in Genesis 12:8, "God will provide for himself the lamb"; well God intervened and stopped that sacrifice but now we read John the Baptist announcing for Isaac, and for the Jews back then, and us today … “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.
A service with a sacrificial Lamb
I am trying to get you to relate to these images in the attempt to understand this more, it certainly hit a nerve with me; but I now want to move on and look at the order of service back then … because if you think about it, the temples in those days were full of blood … with the sacrifices of so many lambs.
Could you imagine watching that here in this church week after week, ok we may get used to it, but in today’s climate it would be so politically incorrect, yet back then, that is what God demanded … and for the people … I am sure they must have gained some relief from these ceremonies.
Let me explain, I am sure they must have met in a congregation like us … they must have had hymns, and prayers and some sort of liturgy. I am sure the priest must have stood at the front in nice clean robes, and somewhere there would have been the lamb, (or lambs, if it was a large temple), perfect lambs, lambs without blemish, lambs that were the pick of the herd. (Ok, there were also bulls and goats but we will stick with lambs).
And as I said earlier, these lambs were sacrificed in the worship ceremony, to pay the price of the worshiper’s sin. During the service, the congregation may or may not have seen the lamb(s), but I am sure they would have heard them. (If a lamb does not do it for you, think of a cat or a dog or a pet that is loyal to you), killed in front of our eyes, to pay for our sin.
In the ceremony, the blood from the lamb was then sprinkled on the mercy seat, the cleansing took full effect. The people's sin was covered.
So, I hope I have painted the picture, and I hope you will agree with me, that after a service like that, the sacrifice of the lamb had a very powerful effect on the Jewish people.
Our service of Communion
And now to compare that with our worship ceremony, well how can we, as our service is so dainty, with our little communion set and nice clean alter and nice wine; yet … yet … our ceremony is infinitely more powerful than any ceremony where an animal was sacrificed. You see we are getting mixed up with our emotions and our spirituality … we don’t normally feel things of the spirit; because they are … of the spirit, and not the flesh, from which emotions are.
And did you notice, and this is very important, the sacrifice of the lamb covered the people’s sin. It did not deal with the people’s sin … it was like God sweeping their sin under the carpet, God was choosing to ignore their sin where as in the New Testament, God firmly deals with our sin. Do you see the difference?
Now the old sacrifice with the slaughtered Lamb was also in spirit: but with a lot of emotion where as our communion has minimum emotion, but a lot of spiritual power behind it; far more than we could ever imagine.
Now you may asking the question as how can watching a pure and innocent, defenceless lamb being slaughtered be less effective than drinking the wine from our silver chalice … and as you know, some churches use Ribena instead of wine … and even though I find it disgusting, it is no less powerful. … The answer to that question is not in the drink or the act of drinking itself … but to the sacrifice to which that drink is associated.
In the sacrifice of an animal, the perfect animal, the death of the lamb paid the price of the people’s sin. In the New Covenant, the wine as you know represents the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross: Jesus was perfect man; the man who never sinned and the man who was the son of God.
So if a defenseless animal upsets us, and bothers us, how much more should the death of the greatest man who ever live, have upon us … but that is what Jesus came to do. Jesus came to this earth to die for us, so that our sin could be dealt with by God … and I repeat, dealt with, and not covered.
Jesus removed the penalty of sin, and he does this for those who receive Him as their Lord and their Saviour. Sin's penalty has therefore been removed … by him … for those who truly love him.
If we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus in our lives, we have our sins forgiven, and dealt with through His sacrifice … and we must therefore accept his sacrifice gladly, and surrender to Him; rather than attempting to make sacrifices for ourselves like they do in other religions.
And to finish Jesus death was not for Sin alone … Revelation 5:12 tells us that “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!”
And to worship Jesus in the manner he wants, we too will receive these accolades, of power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise, … but … not to our ends … but to his, it is all for his glory, the Glory of God!
Conclusion
Who compares with Jesus? Who else is the Lamb of God? No one! Salvation is only through Jesus … he is the only way … and it is God's way through His sacrificial Lamb … restoring us to himself.
God therefore wants to make us new and fresh. He wants us to know life in abundance, and he wants us in heaven eternally; and to make it happen He fills us with himself, his gracious Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Let us Pray,
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you he died willingly on that cross all those years ago, to make us right with you, to commune with you, and to receive your love.
Father, through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we ask you to cleanse and deal with our sin today.
We bring before you our shortcomings … our failures … our disasters … the things we would love you to put right …
We lay on the cross our shame … shame of things we have done in the past … shame of things that we are truly sorry for. Father forgive us, and help set matters right.
Father, we lay on the alter, our ill health, as is holding us back. We all have different illnesses or sicknesses, and as we name them to you, let us receive our healing just as you promise ……………
We lay also before you, our relationship with others, those whom we love … and those whom we don’t … and we bringing them before you, asking you to resolve the differences ……………
Father in the same vein, we bring before you our finances or lack of finances … as it is so difficult to make ends meet. Father please bless our financial affairs into a healthy economy, your economy ……………
Father we pray today for ourselves, that with the cleansing of our sin, we use it for your purposes, to do you will, and for your glory.
We ask in Jesus name, Amen.
