Behold The Lamb
John 1:29
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh ( or, beareth) away the sin of the world.
I love simplicity..., especially when it comes to the gospel.
I think the best sermons in the world are those that make the gospel the simplest.
I believe that is what makes Billy Graham so successful.
His messages are so simple.
He does not try to appeal to the intellectuals
He does not try to impress with his superior knowledge of Greek and Hebrew.
He does not try to answer the intellectual arguments of the day.
He simple preaches Jesus Christ.
That is what Paul did. He told the “1 want to know nothing among except Christ, and him crucified.”
I think Steve Brown has the simplest definition of witnessing.... “It is one beggar telling another beggar where he found food.”
Well, I believe John the baptizer was a preacher like Billy Graham (or vise-versa). He kept the mesage very simple.
Perhaps he was like the preacher who came to preach a trial sermon at a church. His wife came to him and when it came time for him to preach, she puckered up and blew him a kiss. Well, some of the ladies thought that was just precious. They were won over at once and naturally the preacher got the job. One day a few weeks after the new preacher had started his ministry there one of the old ladies remarked how he got the job because of his wife’s kiss and how the ladies were won over by it. The preacher laughed and told her. “That was not a kiss... it was a reminder. When she blows the kiss I am reminded of KISS... Keep It Simple Stupid!
Maybe john had someone who reminded him, Maybe Ruth Graham blows kisses to remind Billy.
But I want us to look at John’s message today and be blown away by its simplicity.
John was preaching in the wilderness.. in the barren place outside the town.
People streamed out of the towns to listen to his message. They were crushed by their sense of their own sinfulness. They came to the river to be baptized... washed from their guilt.
John preached a simple message about a messiah, a Christ, a deliverer who was coming and how they had to prepare their hearts for his coming.
Then one day Jesus came to where John was teaching and baptizing.
When John saw Jesus coming he preached the simplest and greatest sermon ever preached.
And he did it in only 13 words Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world
BEHOLD
Open your eyes, pay attention, perceive the deeper truths... not just look with your physical eyes.
As far as we know there was nothing about Jesus’ appearance that caused people to think he was special. That is why Jesus told Peter, after he had proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.” You did not perceive this from your natural senses.
To behold meant to read between the lines, to use your spiritual eyes to see what the unspiritual can not see.
This is the first part of any great sermon Cause them to turn their attention TO Christ and away from the world.
He must be the subject of any great sermon, he must be the source of any great sermon, he must be the object of any great sermon, and he must be the summatio of any great sermon.
One great preacher of old was asked how to preach a sermon, what text to use, what outline to use. His answer was, “start with any text and make a bee line for the cross.
John’s sermon was great because he started with Christ and turned the attention ofthe people upon Christ
THE LAMB OF GOD
Jesus was a great teacher and a preacher can get lost in his teachings.
He was a miracle worker and preachers can spend their time on the miracles.
But more than anything.... above all things.... JESUS WAS THE LAMB.
He was the sacrificial lamb of God.
From the time of Adam and Eve, man has been a sinner. They did not have to learn it. (Who taught Eve to covet or Cain to murder?)
And from the first sin the heart of God has been broken by that sin. Why? Because God loves us.
And since he did love us he was crushed by our separation from him. He wanted to be close and intimate with us... the was he was with Adam and Eve before the sin.
So God prepared a way for the sin to be removed and the separation to be healed. That WAY was the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.
Under that system, a person could bring a lamb. A spotless and pure lamb from his flock and it would be presented to the priest. The priest would then kill the lamb. The death of that lamb accomplished two things.
1. The satisfaction of the law. The law declared that the wages of sin is death.... where there is sin, there must be a death.
2. Bridged the chasm caused by sin.., the rift between man an God.
That system was an imperfect system. It had it’s flaws.
1. It could not take away the guilt of sin. It only removed the sense of guilt.
2. It could not take away all sins..., just those of the past year.
It was like teaching your child to play baseball by teaching them to hit off the tee. It is OK for beginners. It helps them to move on to the next step... coach pitch.
But it is not what you ultimately hope for. Eventually you hope to see them get to where they can hit a fast pitch.
So it was for the sacrificial system. It was not where God wanted them to stay. He wanted them to use it to get to the next level... THE NEW TESTAMENT!
He wanted to send THE LAMB... the lamb that could die ONCE FOR ALL.
When this lamb died there would never be a need for another lamb This lamb would take away.. FOREVER.... the sins.., all sins.., of the world.
When John pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold the lamb...” his audience understood the whole meaning of the sacrificial lamb.
John applied that truth to Jesus. He said this lamb, is the ultimate Iamb, the lamb to end all lambs, “the mother of all lambs.”
WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SINS
The Jews who heard John that day understood the taking away of sins.
They knew that there were two lambs...
One that was killed... the shedding of blood washed away the blood from the person One that escaped This one carried or bore the sins far away, forever.
Do you realize that Jesus died for you?
While we were yet sinners, while we were still his enemy... while we were still at war with him... determined to have our way and live our way.... desiring to be free of him.
imagine tow soldiers in a battle. They are on different sides,. enemies. They shoot back and forth at each other, Then they run out of ammo and put their bayonets on their guns and charge at each other. As they are about to meet, a grenade is tossed between them. Then imagine that your enemy, the one you were trying to kill, suddenly jumps on the grenade and is blown to pieces...TO SAVE YOUR
LIFE.
Would that make sense?
That is what Jesus did. You were his enemy, trying your best to kill him and have the victory for yourself
The grenade was the law. The death sentence was passed, you were going to die.... be separated from
God, be sent to Hell, FOREVER!
But what did Jesus do? HE DIED IN YOUR PLACE.
ON the cross God took your sins and placed them on him, so his death could pay the price for your sins.
it is like he picked up your tab at the restaurant.
By taking away your sins, he took away your punishment, your death sentence.
WHAT SINS? I hope you won’t ask that.
ALL OF YOUR SINS! I I Old and new, big and little, past and future.
Which sins did he not die for???? None.
OF THE WORLD
The sins of the world.... of the dirty rotten scoundrels of the world
AND THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW
