INTRODUCTION
In a book titled, “The Blood of Lambs”, the author, describes his life as a terrorist. He couldn’t stand Christians–that is, until God brought some Christian men into his life, after he had a serious car accident. In his book he states that as he saw how the Christian God answered prayer, he cried out in desperation to the god he believed in, “I want to hear that you love me. If you are real, speak to me.” But he says there was only silence, and a deep sadness overcame him.
So, in his hopelessness, he thought about using one of his many weapons to kill himself, but then decided to call on the Christian God with these words: “If you are real, I want to know you!” And he then says that he had a vision and heard these words, “I am the Alpha and the Omega. I have known you since before the foundation of the world.” The author answered, “My Lord, I will live and die for you!” And then he heard something that he says forever changed him: “Do not die for me. I died for you that you may live.” And he writes: “At that moment I knew I met the Christian God. I knew I had met my Creator and there was no turning back”.
THE SETTING
The first Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, J.C. Ryle, commented on our text, saying:
“… this verse ought to be printed in great letters in the memory of every reader of the Bible. All the stars in heaven are bright and beautiful, and yet one-star exceedeth another star in glory. So also all text of Scripture are inspired and profitable, and yet some text are richer than others.
Now Bible scholars state that John identifying Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God’ took place after, He had baptized Jesus and also, after, the 40 days of temptations in the wilderness. And so, a few weeks or at least 40 days had passed since Jesus received baptism from John, as our Lord had gone away into the wilderness. But shortly after, Jesus returned, and John draws the crowd’s attention to Jesus.
God had promised and made a covenant to send ‘His Lamb’ to be slain for sinners. All the sacrifices made in the temple were foreshadows of the sacrifice to be sent by God. And when John sees Jesus approaching, he states that the Lamb of God had arrived.
JESUS SHOWS UP IN SEVERAL WAYS TO US
29 The next day he sees Jesus coming to him …
John the disciple who wrote this Gospel, states that on the following day, (which is referring to the day after John the Baptist had declared that he was not the Messiah), John saw Jesus approaching or coming.
- The season of Advent begins today and during this month we will remember Christ first coming, to save the world from sin.
- And as we also observe on our TV screens great wickedness, turmoil, war and suffering, we are reminded of the signs of the times preceding Jesus’ second coming.
St Bernard of Clairvaux says;
“In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; … In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; he comes in Spirit and in power …”
And so, in-between our Lord’s 1st and 2nd coming,
- He comes to us – for instance when two or three gather together, whether children in Sunday School, or the rest of us in church on Sundays.
- Our Lord also comes to us when we face setbacks and disappointments in life, such as, hospitalizations, divorce, job loss, or grief.
JESUS’ SACRIFICE WAS THE SUPREME WAY TO GOD
… and said, “Look! (a command), the Lamb of God, …
As soon as the one sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah, saw Jesus, the preacher must have not only publicly pointed out Jesus, but also yelled out to the large crowd and to all his listeners, ‘Behold! Here He is, God’s Lamb’. Note that John did not title Jesus as;
- “Behold the great moral example” or
- “Behold the great teacher” – rather he declared:
- ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’.
John would be referring to Isaiah 53: 7, where the Prophet wrote, ‘He was led like a lamb to the slaughter’.
Now in Jesus’ day, ‘lambs without blemish and defect’ were sacrificed every morning and every evening, in the magnificent Jerusalem Temple for each individual’s sins. But soon, the sinless Lamb of God would be sacrificed on a cross for the sin, failure, and transgressions against God by the whole world. In the Bible, the symbol of sacrifice, was a lamb. But now, John identified Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God’, who will be the perfect fulfillment of the sacrifices made in the temple.
Dr. Billy Graham once stated:
“The reason we no longer need to sacrifice an animal on a burning altar, or present any other sacrifice to God to atone for our sins is because of what Jesus … did for us”
Now before the Reformation;
- Church members could pay a sum of money to the church and obtained a receipt that he or she was released from other penalties for their sins!
- Or they would repeat a prayer many times!
- Or fast for so many days,
- Or giving arms to the poor
- Or go on a pilgrimage to a shrine
But no more sacrifices are needed. As Abraham told his son, ‘God Himself will provide the Lamb’, and He did.
Now do we believe like John did, that Jesus is the Lamb of God? Well, I do. This is why I don’t bring an animal sacrifice when I come to church and lay my hands on the animal and pass my sins onto the animal to be killed. For on the cross, the Lamb of God;
JESUS CAN SAVE US FROM SINFUL WAYS INSIDE US
… (who) takes away the sin of the world!
In a dream Joseph had been told that the baby Mary was carrying ‘will save people from their sins’. Now John announces that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of all the nations of the world. Jesus did not die only for the Jews, but for Gentiles as well.
Now this verse does not support the universal salvation of all! But there is a universal offer of salvation to all. Therefore, all of us have an opportunity to receive His forgiveness, if we repent of our sins, and receiving Him as our Saviour. J.C. Ryle wrote in his commentary;
“Christ is a Saviour. He did not come on earth to be a conqueror, or a philosopher, or a mere teacher of morality. He came to save sinners. He came to do that which man could never do for himself, – to do that which money and learning can never obtain, – to do that which is essential to man’s real happiness; He came to ‘take away sin”.
For just as God provided a lamb for sacrifice in the place of Isaac, Jesus died on the cross in the place of you and me, and for your sins and mine.
CONCLUSION
- In the Old Testament, the Passover lamb that each family sacrificed died so that the family could live.
- In the New Testament, Jesus the Lamb of God sacrificed His life so that we could live.
Now in 15th and 16th century England, there was a position of a “whipping boy” who was an individual, where if the prince did something wrong, the “whipping boy” would be punished instead of the prince.
Now on the cross, Jesus became the “divine whipping boy” who is also the king. So, instead of being punished for something He did wrong, He died on the cross for our sins.