The Lamb Of God

THE LAMB OF GOD

John 1:29-34

April 9, 2017

Billy Sunday, was a famous evangelist of the last century said:

“There are 256 names in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.”

Today, on this Palm Sunday I want to look at one particular name for Jesus. Of all the names and titles Jesus has been given in the Bible this seems to be one of the most common.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the “Lamb” 26 times.

We try to describe Jesus, and we do a decent job, but there aren’t many words we can use to fully describe who Jesus is. For some people - - one word may say it all, but there are so many possibilities.

In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey wrote about a University of Chicago study which showed more has been written about Jesus in the past 20 years or so than was written about Him in the first 19 centuries. Jesus is without a doubt the most talked about — and the most scrutinized — character in all of history.

Trying to summarize who Jesus is, is not easy to do. Because we will always miss points about His nature and character. On this Palm Sunday, I thought about this passage from the gospel of John. John the Baptist saw Jesus coming and said ~

29 “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.” – John 1:29-34

This is the first time Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God. But the message from John the Baptist was not new. This is the purpose of His coming into the world. It is above and beyond anything and everything else Jesus did. What He was to do far surpassed His lessons and parables, any physical healing or miracle He performed. He came to take away our sins.

If you recall part of the Christmas story, when Joseph was going to break off his engagement to Mary, because he knew that child was not his, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph and said...

20 "Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. . .

And this is the part I want you to hear...

21 . . . because He will save His people from their sins." – Matthew 1:20-21

That's what Jesus came to do. From the very beginning, this was God's plan. He was going to send His Son to save us from our sins. That's because, in case you haven't noticed, we have a little bit of a sin problem.

And when I say "sin problem," I'm talking about the entire human race, and I'm talking about every person in this room.

If you have ever felt like you were at war with yourself, and felt like you were alienated from others, and felt like you were separated from God — I want you to know you’re not imagining things. It's true. This is the human condition. We are alienated and separated. We are broken. We are fallen.

And you don't have to take my word for it. You only have to look around. You see it on a global scale; just read the headlines. You see it locally, in the lives of people close to you. And then, there are many who see it every day on a personal level. Something isn't right. We are not right. We are not as we could be, and not as we should be. Isaiah said it well . . . .

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way. – Isaiah 53:6

This is the problem which everyone struggles with, and it's the ONLY reason Jesus came into this world — to save us from our sins, so that, only through Jesus can we be made right.