Behold, the Lamb of God!

Sunday October 27, 2013

Behold, the Lamb of God!

John 1:29, 36

I read the following story somewhere:

A tourist visited a church in Germany. He was surprised to see the carved figure of a lamb near the top of the church’s tower. He asked why was it there. He was told that when the church was being built, a workman fell from a high scaffold. His coworkers rushed down, expecting to find him dead, but, to their surprise and joy, he was alive and only slightly injured.

How did he survive?

A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at the time, and the workman landed on top of a lamb. The lamb broke the workman’s fall and it was crushed to death, but the man was saved.

To commemorate this miraculous escape, someone carved a lamb on the tower at the exact height from which the workman fell.

In our Bible passage this morning, John the Baptist described Jesus Christ as “the Lamb of God”. This expression “Lamb of God” may sound strange to the average 21st century person but not to the First Century Jew. To the First Century Jew in the time of John the Baptist, the expression “Lamb of God” would bring to mind the “Passover Lamb”

What is Passover?

Passover was an annual celebration, when the Jews remembered how God had delivered them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. The story is found in God’s Word in the book of Exodus.

Round about 1500 B.C, God called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. But Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let them go. So, God sent 10 plagues on the Egyptians.

At Passover, the Jews remembered the tenth plague in particular. The tenth plague was when God sent the Angel of Death to destroy all the first-born in the land of Egypt. However, the Angel of Death passed over (from which we get the word PASSOVER) those Jewish households where the blood of a lamb had been sprinkled on the tops and sides of the doorframe of the house.

In every household in Egypt that night, there was either a dead lamb or a dead firstborn.

It was only after this 10th plague that Pharaoh finally yielded to Moses. He finally allowed God’s people, the Jews, to leave Egypt.

God commanded His people to celebrate this act of liberation and salvation from Egypt by holding a festival every year. This festival was called the ‘Feast of Passover’. In that ‘Feast of Passover’, every Jewish household was to sacrifice a one-year old male lamb without defect or blemish. This lamb was known as the ‘Passover lamb’

So, when John the Baptist saw Jesus Christ and cried out,

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, what did he mean?

First of all, ‘Behold’ is not just look-a quick look, a glance like you glance at your watch…no…’Behold’ is to take a long look, a long viewing to admire, to contemplate, to stand in awe and to reflect upon. I dare say, in this context, to worship and adore Christ, the Lamb of God!

The lamb is an innocent pure animal. Jesus Christ was completely innocent, pure and holy. He committed no sin at all. He was guiltless and sinless.

In our last sermon last time, we saw Jesus is the Living Word of God, the Creator of the whole universe, the Life and the Light of the world.

Yes, Jesus Christ is absolutely God made flesh. He is actually God-Man and Man-God, Son of God and Son of Man. He is the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. The whole creation points to Him and the whole Bible, from the first book of Genesis to the last book of Revelation point to Him.

The lamb was an innocent sacrifice, whose shed blood protected the Jews against Death on that fatal night in Egypt. Jesus Christ Is the Lamb of God! He was God’s Sacrifice for us. That was what John the Baptist was also drawing attention to.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away their sin of the world.”

In Isaiah 53, we read in verses 5-8

5 He (Jesus Christ) was pierced because of our transgressions,

Crushed because of our iniquities;

Punishment for our peace was on Him,

And we are healed by His wounds

6 We all went astray like sheep;

We all have turned to our own way;

And the Lord has punished Him

For the iniquity of us all

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughter

And like a sheep silent

Before her shearers,

He did not open His mouth.

8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;

And who considered His fate?

So, what now?

Now, I ask you, dear ones,

Will you consider Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? your sins and mine? Will you behold Him?

He, God made flesh, to sacrifice Himself on the Cross, to die for you and me, for our sins, to save us from spiritual death and Hell!

I Peter 1:18-19 declare

18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things, like silver or gold,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.

Are you willing to be like Jesus, the Lamb of God?

Will you sacrifice yourself for others' good? To save others from an eternity in hell!

Will you share the Good News of the Gospel of salvation to your lost family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors…

Will you love God and each other as Christ loved you?

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ came down from Heaven as the Lamb of God, as Savior of Humankind. Soon, He will be coming back, as He promised, not as Savior then, not as the lamb to be slain again, but as the Lion of Judah, the Holy judge of Humanity.

Are you ready? Will you be ready?

Let’s pray…