Behold The Lamb Of God

Good morning, church. Our sermon text this morning is John chapter 1, verses 19 through 34.

John 1:19–34

Let me ask you to turn there with me. That's page 886 in the Pew Bible.

This Advent season, we've been looking at the life and message of John the Baptist,

which isn't your typical Christmas sermon series, I admit. But John the Baptist has a lot to say

about getting ready for Jesus' arrival. Prepare for the coming King. That was John's message.

And after all, that's what Advent is all about, isn't it? Preparing for the coming King.

We remember Jesus' first coming in grace. We look ahead to His second coming in glory. That's what

we're doing this month. So let's pick up our series in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 19. And

John 1:19

before we read that, let me pray for us. Father, as we have just sung, tidings of comfort and joy.

Oh, how we long to hear a word of comfort that will produce much joy. God, we confess that we are

often not a comforted people, but a very disturbed people.

Lord, we are often not a joyful people, but we are a distressed people.

So God, now as we draw near to you in your word, we pray that you would

reveal to us now, through your written word, a fresh sight of Jesus, your incarnate word.

Lord, help us by your spirit to behold him, and in beholding him to love him, and in loving him to

follow him, and in following him to know this comfort and joy. Do this for our good, and for your glory,

Father, we pray. For it is in Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.

Amen. John chapter 1, verse 19 through 34.

John 1:19–34

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,

who are you? He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.

And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? He said, I'm not. Are you the prophet? And he answered, no.

So they said to him, who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about

yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord,

as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, then why are you

baptizing if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet? John answered them, I baptize with

water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose

sandal I'm not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was

baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away

the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who ranks before me, because

he was before me. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he

might be revealed to Israel. And John bore witness. I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and

it remained on him. 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.

And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.

Well, there's a lot to look at during the Christmas season, isn't there? I wonder what you're looking

for. Maybe you're still looking for some good sales on Christmas gifts, 20% off Star Wars at Target,

just in case you're wondering. Maybe you're excited to look in your mailbox for Christmas cards from

friends and family. Maybe you just keep looking at your calendar, counting down the days until

Christmas vacation. One of the things we like to do as a family is drive around our neighborhood and

look at all the lights and the lawn ornaments our neighbors have put up. I think the prize still goes

to, for the second year in a row, the inflatable Darth Vader wearing a Santa hat just a few doors down.

You gotta love how you can stick a Santa hat on anything, and suddenly it becomes a Christmas

decoration, right? Santa hat on angry cat, Christmas decoration, done.

But first, on a serious note, amidst all that fun and distracting stuff, what really has your attention

this Christmas season? What do the eyes of your heart keep coming back to, keep looking at, as it were?

What are you really beholding or focusing on?

Maybe if we were to have a good heart-to-heart, you'd say it's finances.

It's hard not to think about finances during the Christmas season, right?

Maybe a relationship that's going well, or maybe not going well.

Maybe a loved one who's sick, or maybe a health issue of your own.

Maybe what keeps drawing your attention is a big decision on the horizon.

Where to go to college, where to find work.

Something probably is there, capturing your attention and drawing the gaze of your mind and your heart.

You know, but amidst all these things that capture our gaze,

here in the middle of our passage comes this word,

behold.

Now, that's not a word we use much, is it?

Behold.

It's not like you've opened your fridge late at night and said,

behold.

Leftovers for dinner, right?

Behold.

But it's a great word.

I think we need to revive it.

Behold.

Look.

Take notice.

Set your gaze right here.

This is it.

For the last few weeks, we've looked at John the Baptist's ministry,

his ministry of baptism.

We've looked at his message, his message of repentance and how that's good news.

But you know, this morning, we get down to it.

We get to the heart of what John was all about.

Look, John says.

Behold.

Behold.

Amidst all the distractions, especially for us at Christmastime, the gifts, the lights, the gift sales.

Amidst all the cares and concerns that this time of year brings, the hopes, the fears, the disappointments, the stress.

This is what we really have to see.

Here's the answer to what you've been looking for.

This is what you really have to behold.

Now, I wonder, when you look at Jesus, what do you see?

Perhaps you see many things.

See a great teacher.

See a great teacher with some pretty good principles that only if you could put them into practice, things might be a little different.

Maybe you see a religious founder, someone to admire for his spiritual bravery.

John the Baptist, too, had a lot of things to say about Jesus, didn't he?

I mean, just look at the paragraph.

He's the one who ranks before me because he was before me.

He is the one on whom the Spirit of God remains.

Not like those other figures in the Old Testament on whom the Spirit of God would come and then leave and then come.

No, the Spirit of God remains on him.

He is the one who will usher in the new age of God's redemption.

He will baptize us, not with water, but with the Holy Spirit.

We will be awash in the very presence of God because of this one.

And at the end of our text, he's the Son of God.

The King.

The Messiah.

The one we've been waiting for.

So much to say and to know about Jesus.

But look.

Fix your gaze on this.

Here's what I really want you to see.

Behold, John says, pointing at Jesus.

The Lamb.

Now, in the first century, there were some Jewish writers and some Jewish religious groups that weren't very mainstream.

But we have some of their writings still in existence.

And they would talk and they would write symbolically about a lamb-like figure who would come at the end of the age as a warrior to execute God's judgment on the world.

A sort of apocalyptic warrior lamb.

Sounds like a good Netflix series, doesn't it?

But is that what John wants us to behold here in Jesus?

The apocalyptic warrior lamb.

Of course, John did speak of Jesus as the mighty one who would come with the Holy Spirit in fire.

John wasn't afraid to talk about God's rightful king being the rightful judge who will set the world to rights.

But, I think the answer is a little more obvious.

Because John was the son of a priest, wasn't he?

Zachariah.

Remember that story from the Gospel of Luke?

So, John, as a young man, would have grown up very personally familiar with a different kind of lamb.

With lambs that were sacrificed every day in the temple.

Day in and day out.

And John would have been steeped, like every other Jew of his time, in the stories of the Old Testament.

Stories of the lamb that God provided for Abraham in Genesis 22.

Stories about the lambs that Moses prescribed in the law.

In Leviticus, for example.

The whole range of offerings and sacrifices.

But most of all,

John, like every other Jew of his day, would have been steeped and shaped by the story of the Passover.

By the story of the Exodus.

Do you remember the story of the Passover?

When God's judgment came down upon everyone in Egypt.

Both Egyptian and Israelite alike.

And the only thing that kept the Israelite family safe was a lamb.

Instead of God's judgment taking the firstborn,

they were to sacrifice a lamb instead and put its blood on the doorposts.

And as God's judgment came, it would literally pass them over.

Because a sacrifice had been made in their place.

And here is John the Baptist with rich symbolism, standing in the wilderness,

identifying with the voice of Isaiah 40.

I'm a voice crying out in the wilderness.

That's a quote from Isaiah 40.

And what was Isaiah 40 all about?

That whole section of Isaiah is about a new Exodus.

Here is John heralding the new Exodus that Isaiah looked forward to.

And here was John saying, in light of that new Exodus that's coming,

that we all need to be cleansed.

And that this baptism that he had come with was just something,

was just a sign of something greater to come.

Knowing that in that same section of Isaiah, in Isaiah 53,

there was a suffering servant who would die a sacrificial death

that somehow, mysteriously, would set the people free.

And now seeing Jesus, John says, behold, the lamb.

The perfect sacrifice for our sins.

So why don't we do this morning what John's telling us to do?

Why don't we behold this lamb?

We're going to focus on verse 29.

And I want us to notice three things that we behold about this lamb in verse 29.

First, we see something about his source.

Jesus, we're told, is the lamb of God.

That is, God himself provides this lamb.

You know, outside of the Bible, nearly every other example of sacrifice

is a human attempt to win over the gods.

I just read the Iliad for the first time last month.

Has anyone here read the Iliad?

It's really long.

It's great, though.

But it's wonderful.

You have these Greek warriors just sacrificing stuff all the time.

Why?

Because the gods are so unreliable.

They're fickle.

And they're selfish.

And they have lots of sex with each other.

It's crazy.

That's how sacrifices worked in most of the ancient world.

You take something that was of value, that belonged to you,

a nice fat animal, a big cup of wine,

and you would sacrifice it, and you would pour it out

in hopes that the aroma of that going up

would please somehow, someway,

whatever God it was you were hoping to win favor with.

But in the Bible, it's completely different.

Here, in the Bible, we have not a human attempt

to win over some fickle, temperamental deity.

No, here we have the sacrifice that we need

coming down as a gift from God himself.

That the initiative to put things right

comes not from our side, but from God's side.

And the provision comes not from our side,

but from God's side.

And the atonement comes.

The reconciliation comes.

Not from our side, but from God's side.

This is God's doing.

It's his gift to us.

And perhaps the deepest mystery of all

that the gospel of John will unfold

is that this Lamb of God

is God.

God incarnate in our flesh.

He ranks before me because he was before me,

John says.

Now, on one level, that's not true.

John the Baptist was older than Jesus.

And he showed up on the scene before Jesus.

And yet, John says, he was before me.

The opening verses of John's gospel express

the Trinitarian reality of God

with such simplicity and profundity

that will probably never be bettered.

In the beginning was the Word.

And the Word was with God.

And the Word was God.

You see, friends, when God gives his Son

the Word to be the Lamb,

it is God himself coming down to rescue us.

Behold the Lamb of God.

Now, what should we make of all this?

Well, when we behold the source of the Lamb

that God himself provided Jesus as our sacrifice,

it ought to be humbling,

at the very least.

After all, how great must our sin be

if it took nothing less

than the self-giving sacrifice

of God's own Son to reconcile us?

How terrible must our condition be

if God himself had to die for us?

You know, if you take your car to the shop

and they give you a bill for 50 bucks,

then you know it's no big deal, right?

An oil change, maybe a new belt, no problem.

In, out, done.

But if you go in and they hand you an estimate

for $5,000,

then you know something has gone horribly wrong.

Your car's not even worth $5,000, right?

The transmission must be blown.

The engine must be totally seized up.

Something has gone drastically wrong.

And friends, spiritually, the same is true.

If you and I could offer some sort of good work to God

or make some sort of sacrifice on our end

at our initiative to make things right,

then the debt of sin might be uncomfortable,

but it wouldn't be unbearable.

We could handle it.

We could manage it on our own.

If we could scrap up the spiritual capital

to make things right,

well, maybe things aren't that bad.

But if the only way to get right with God

is through the sacrifice of his infinitely worthy son,

then our sin must be more tremendously deep

than we can imagine.

And so it is.

For why else would God give his own son?

Things are really that bad.

You see, the essence of sin

is basically putting ourselves

in the place of God, is it not?

We decide that we can run our lives our own way

without much reference to God as our creator

or our rightful Lord.

And when we do that,

we're essentially telling God

that we are wiser

and more powerful

and more compassionate

and more just than he is,

that we know best.

And that we ought to be the rightful lords

of our lives

and the rightful lords of creation.

Now, of course,

if you happen to show up at work one day

and you tell one of your colleagues at work

that they're a fool

and you can run things better than them,

there might not be much of a price to pay, right?

In fact, you might even get a chance

to prove yourself right.

Okay, you want to do it?

You do it.

All right, I will do a better job.

Thank you very much.

But if you tell your manager

that they're a fool

and you can run things better,

well, the results probably won't be so positive, right?

Try that one out,

medical students,

with your professor

when you're doing a round.

But how much more serious would it be

if you walk into the CEO's office,

berate him as a fool,

and show him

how you unilaterally reinvested

the company's resources

into what you ultimately think is best

because he is so incompetent to do so.

Well, for that offense,

the penalty would most likely be termination.

But think,

is that not what each of us does with God every day?

We might not come right out and say it,

but with every unilateral,

God-ignoring decision,

we functionally call God a fool

and set up ourselves

as the rightful lords of creation.

And if to do such a thing in the workplace

spells the end of our working life,

then surely to do such a thing in the spiritual realm

spells the end of our spiritual life.

The wages of sin,

truly and justly,

is death.

But behold,

John the Baptist says,

in the face of this debt

that we cannot repay,

under this penalty

that we cannot satisfy,

behold, he says,

the Lamb of God.

In grace,

the very one that we offended,

the very one that we spurned

and dishonored and hated,

God himself,

he provides the Lamb.

He provides the way back in.

And that brings us to the second thing

we behold about this Lamb.

If first we behold his source,

that he's the Lamb of God,

then second here,

we behold his accomplishment.

Jesus is the Lamb of God

who takes away our sin.

But how does that work?

How does he bring about

such an accomplishment?

Well,

again,

think of the Passover.

You see,

the Passover Lamb

was sacrificed

as a substitute.

God's terrible judgment

meant the death

of the firstborn.

But in place of the firstborn,

there would be a Lamb

who would stand in its place

and die.

God's judgment

would fall on the Lamb

instead of the child,

and in so doing,

God would prove himself

just and merciful,

just because the penalty of death

still comes down,

and merciful

because the penalty

is borne away by another.

But of course,

an actual,

literal,

bleeding Lamb

could never really serve

as a proper substitute

for a human being, right?

I mean,

we kind of get that.

All those sacrifices

in the Old Testament,

the Passover,

the daily sacrifices

in the Temple,

the annual Day of Atonement,

all that could never

really take away sin, right?

This is what the writer

to Hebrews says.

Look,

if it had really worked,

they would have stopped

doing it

because it would have worked,

but they had to keep doing it

because it didn't really

get to the root

of the problem.

All these sacrifices

were just pointers

to a greater sacrifice.

After all,

what good is an animal

when the real lawbreaker

is a human being?

You know,

as much as you want to try,

you can't pay off

your credit card debt

with a goat

or a few dozen eggs.

I mean,

you can go down

to Bank of America

with a grocery bag

full of animal products

and they are not

going to release you

from the debt

that you accrued.

And friends,

what makes us think

we could pay our spiritual debt

in the same way?

Wouldn't justice

ultimately require

a human

to pay the proper penalty

for human sin?

But then again,

would even a human

be enough?

After all,

this is an offense

against God,

is it not?

This sin

which we have done.

And that means

that this penalty

we are under

is infinite

because it's

an infinite God

whom we've offended.

and who could pay

such an infinite penalty

besides the infinite

God himself?

So you see

this dilemma we're in

when it comes

to the reality

of our sin.

A human must pay it

and yet only God

can pay it.

We need a substitute

that's both fully human

and at the same time

fully God.

And where on earth

are we going to find

such a substitute

like that?

No.

Search the history

of religion, friends.

Look

and look

and you will not find

the one that you need.

But then

the words of John

ring out.

Behold

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

Jesus Christ,

the Word

become flesh

fully human

and fully God.

He's the one

who can do it.

Do you see now

why Christianity

is so unique?

It is unlike

every other religion.

Deep down

every other religion

or worldview

says one of two things

basically.

Either it says

God or ultimate reality

is so holy

that you have to

earn your way up to him

through your own sacrifice

or your own good works

or your own sincere devotion

whatever it is.

Or it says

God is loving.

He doesn't require justice.

He just accepts

everyone

and everything.

but only Christianity

comes along

and says

no God is holy

and loving.

So holy

that he requires

a payment for sin.

So loving

that he makes

the payment for us

in our place.

Behold the Lamb

who takes away

our sin.

Let's go to the third thing

that we behold

about this Lamb.

Third,

we see not just

his source,

not just his accomplishment

but we see his scope.

Jesus is the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin

of the world.

Now the world

in John's Gospel

is a bit of a technical term.

It's John's way

of talking about

not just the sort of

big round thing

that we're standing on

or just all the people

out there

but it's John's way

of talking about

human society

arranged

without any reference

to God.

It's his way

of talking about

human society

arranged

in hostile rebellion

against God.

It's a negative term,

the world

for John.

And it is for

this world,

this sinful

fallen world

that Jesus came.

Friends,

here's the good news

that the atoning

work of the Lamb

is not merely

for the religious

and the morally upright.

It's not for the deserving.

It's for the undeserving.

It's for the world.

When Jesus was born

in a manger,

when he lived

a perfect human life

in our midst,

when he died

on a cross,

when he was raised

on the third day

in glory,

when he ascended

to the Father,

all of that was done

not for the sake

of just a special

couple of people

who happened to have

all their ducks in a row

and all their cards right.

No.

It was for lost

and hopeless

and guilty

and flawed

and moral failures

like you and me.

It was for the world.

And it was so

effectual.

It was so powerful.

It was so competent

what he did

that the sins of the world

were taken away.

There's no sin of yours

so great,

so heinous

that his blood,

his sacrificial death

cannot cleanse.

There's no habitual

failure

too repeated

that it cannot

be taken away

by Christ,

the Lamb of God.

All who receive him,

all who believe

in his name,

John says,

their sins

will be taken away.

They'll be reconciled

to God

and made his sons

and daughters.

The curse is lifted.

The guilt

is done away.

Friends,

if you've put your trust

in Jesus,

your sins

have been taken away.

Let me end

with three points

of application.

First,

to you,

if you're spiritually seeking

or if you're new

to Christianity,

as you behold Jesus

this morning,

what do you see?

What are you looking at

when you look at Jesus?

Do you see merely

a good teacher,

a profound spiritual guide,

or are you beginning

to behold Jesus

as he really is?

Are you starting

to see that there's

something unique

about him,

that he's the son of God

and the one and only

Lamb of God?

Friend,

you need to know

that Christianity

isn't ultimately

about new rules

to follow

or new rituals

to perform.

It's ultimately

about uniting

your life

to the crucified

and risen Jesus

through faith

and living

in an ongoing

relationship with him.

So what holds you

back from believing

in Christ?

Why would you not

take hold

of this Lamb of God

who's come in grace

to take away your sin

and reconcile you

to God?

Let me encourage you

to talk to someone

about your questions,

your doubts,

your fears.

If you came with a friend

this morning,

I'm sure they'd be

more than happy

to share with you

their own story,

their own questions,

their own doubts,

their own fears

that they had

as they were coming

to understand

who Jesus is,

as they were beginning

to place their trust

in him.

In fact,

maybe you're ready

to do that this morning

yourself.

And if you're wondering

how to start,

how do I start

in a relationship

with Christ?

There are some prayers

in the bulletin

to help you get started.

Feel free to come up

front after the service.

We'd be happy

to talk with you

and pray with you.

Talk to someone

about what you're

going through.

Let others help you

in this journey

that you're on.

It's not something

you're meant to do

on your own.

Second point of application

for those who are

trusting in Christ already,

as you behold Christ

taking away your sin.

Friends,

let that increase

your desire

to be done

with all the remaining

sin in your life.

Don't hold fast

to the very thing

that Christ died

to take away.

Be done with it.

Be done with sin.

Put it behind you.

He's taken it all away

by his grace.

Now live into that freedom

and that life

that he's purchased

for you.

Behold the Lamb

of God.

Let love for him

increase

and let your love

for sin

wither and die.

Do you want to know

freedom

from your besetting sins?

Keep beholding

the Lamb

who was slain for you.

Keep taking in

the wonder

of his achievement

for you.

Let that stir

in your heart

a passion,

a love for him,

a desire for him,

a desire for the things

of God

and the kingdom

of God

that will cause

the things

of your old life

to pale so much

in comparison.

Third thing,

perhaps this Christmas season

you,

something that you hold

very dear

has been taken away

from you.

but friend,

no matter what losses

you've experienced,

remember,

amidst all of that,

this core reality

that he's taken away

your sins.

Even if you feel like

God has taken away

something very precious

to you,

he's taken away

your sins.

Behold the Lamb

of God.

See how deeply

he loves you.

See how much hope

he has granted you.

You're free from sin.

No matter your

present circumstances,

you have reason

to be thankful.

You have reason

even to rejoice.

You're reconciled

to God.

The curse

has been lifted.

Your guilt is gone.

The Holy Spirit

lives inside of you.

You will one day

reign with him forever.

So friends,

no matter what

has caught your attention

this season,

no matter where

you're tempted to look

amidst the joys

and distractions

and sorrows

and disappointments,

let's fix our gaze

on Jesus,

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

And in beholding him,

may we testify with John

that this is indeed

the Son of God,

the Savior,

the King.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Oh Lord,

we confess that

in our own strength,

in our own

vision,

we don't know you.

Lord,

so often in this passage,

John confesses

that in and of himself,

he didn't recognize

in Jesus

the Messiah,

the Lamb.

God,

that is true of us too.

In our own selves,

we don't see it.

We don't recognize it.

So we need you,

God.

We need you to come

and we need you

to open the eyes

of our hearts

so that we might see him.

Lord,

as we come to the Lord's table,

I pray

that this would be

a means that you use

to help us

to see

and taste

and to behold again

the mighty Lamb of God

who has taken away our sins.

Amen.

Well,

I wonder if those

who are helping to serve

communion would come up.

This is one of the great means

that God has given us

to do exactly

what we've been talking about

this morning,

to behold the Lamb of God.

That Jesus,

on Passover,

gathered with his friends,

with his disciples,

and he took that Passover meal

that was about God

liberating them,

and he gave them

its real interpretation.

He said,

this is what Passover

is really all about.

It's about a Lamb

who's going to be broken,

and it's about blood

that's going to be poured out.

It's about my body

that's going to be broken,

and it's about my blood

that's going to be poured out

for you

and for your sins.

And then he told his followers

to keep doing this act

over and over

and over

and over again.

Why?

Because we're very forgetful people,

aren't we?

It's like we have a hole

and we leak

all the time.

Jesus said,

here it is.

Take this,

eat it,

drink it,

and be filled

with the remembrance

of what I've done for you.

So friend,

if you're here this morning

and you're a Christian,

if you've turned from sin,

if you've turned from

trying to be your own Lord

and trying to be your own Savior

and trying to make

your own way

with your life,

if you've given up

on that pursuit

and you've trusted in Christ

as your hope,

as your treasure,

as your Savior,

if that's true of you,

then this table is for you.

Take this time

to repent of your sins again

and receive this provision

from God

and remember the Lamb

who was slain for you.

If you can say yes to that

and you haven't been baptized,

let me encourage you

to think about baptism.

As we take up the Lord's Supper,

this is a way of identifying

with Jesus

and with his people.

And if you haven't been baptized,

that's your next step

to identify publicly

with Christ in baptism.

Let me read a couple words.

Jesus says this.

He says,

Paul says this

in 1 Corinthians 11.

He says,

For I received from the Lord

what I also delivered to you,

that the Lord Jesus

on the night

when he was betrayed

took bread.

When he had given thanks,

he broke it and said,

This is my body,

which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way also

he took the cup

after supper,

saying,

This cup is the new covenant

in my blood.

Do this as often

as you drink it

in remembrance of me.

For as often

as you eat this bread

and drink this cup,

you proclaim the Lord's death

until he comes.

So you see, friends,

this is a table for believers

to proclaim the Lord's death

until he comes.

If you're here

and you're not a believer,

then let me encourage you

to just pass the plates by

as it comes.

We're going to pass out

the bread first.

It's going to go around

and then we're going to eat together

and then we're going to pass out

the cup

and we're going to drink together.

And if you haven't placed

your faith in Christ,

then just pass the plate by

and instead,

use this time,

use the prayers

in the bulletin

to do some spiritual seeking,

some self-assessment.

Where are you

with God?

instead of taking this bread

and taking this cup,

take Christ

as yours this morning.

Let me invite those

who are downstairs

to come on up.

If you're downstairs,

you can come on up

to the lobby

and we'll serve you there.

Jonathan,

would you pray

for the bread for us?

Thanks.

Dear Lord God,

you knew that

in our human weaknesses

and sinful preoccupations

that we would

neglect to remember

our Savior.

and by your grace,

you have given us

this act

and this