Lamb of God | What's in a Name?

We continue our sermon series, What's in a Name? The names of Jesus in John's gospel.

It's more than names even though that's just an easy way to call it. There are more titles

and distinctives as we talked about last week. Most of these were given as prophecy, as kind

of prophetic distinctives and kind of charting a course for that who, what, when, where,

why of Jesus. And today we're going to look at a, again I make the point of it, there's

going to be a lot of scripture early on so we're going to go quick. So April and I, we've

got it but we're going to go fast because the Lamb of God was nothing new to the people,

the Israelites in Jesus' day. So set the scene, we're at the River Jordan, people are being

baptized by who? John, okay, but it's not the John of the gospel, John the Baptist,

very good. And so wild man, right, just one would say the last prophet before Jesus and

everyone's being baptized, they're all crowded around him, you've got the religious leaders

doing their judging, kind of wanting to stir up trouble, they're very scared and nervous

about John the Baptist because he was a wild man, he was a zealot and so that's a whole

nother sermon series. But understand he stops everything to see one coming down and he makes

a declaration, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is

not just a casual observation of a man, right, this is not, nobody in our culture, right,

unfortunately as I'm thinking through, you know, who would be one person that, you know,

if we're in a crowd and we see it, our eyes would lock on and we'd be able to say, look,

there is, I don't know, come up with something, who in our culture would be somebody that

you would be able to kind of tell who it is and declare that they're in the room? Shaquille

O'Neal, all right, very good, I was going Taylor Swift, so you know, and I just completely

judge myself for saying that out loud, Father forgive me, but you know, politicians, athletes,

musicians, that we all hold them as pretty high-grander, this is nothing compared to

what John is actually saying in the person of Jesus. So let's jump in. So we're going

to look at the Lamb in different lenses. The Lamb foretold comes to us from John 1.19 and

this is the testimony of John, again we talked a little bit about that last week as well,

when the Jews sent priest 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 am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no. So they said

to him, who are you? We need to give you an answer, or we need to give an answer to those

who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of the 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

traps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. These things took place in Bethany

across the Jordan where John was baptizing. So the lamb being foretold, Jesus enters the

scene. We see John the Baptist declare, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of

the world. Friends, what we need to understand is this title of Jesus is everything to us.

It is the fulfillment of God's plan for redemption. Now some of you would say, no Jim, the death

and resurrection of Jesus. And absolutely, all part of the same answer. That Jesus has

come down, we talked about that last week, word made flesh, Jesus. Now he is going to

be baptized as the start of that plan, not only unfolding, but three and a half years

later will come to completion in the life, death, and resurrection. But we will get to

that in another sermon series. So foretold, meaning there were people that were before

the day that this happened talking about the lamb. And friends, this goes all the way back.

This goes all the way back to the book of Exodus. That we have Exodus, now bear with

me, there is a lot of scripture here, the Passover lamb, Exodus 12. The Lord said to

Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months.

It shall be the tenth month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that

on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses,

a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, then he and his

nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons. According to what each

can eat, you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish,

a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep

it until the fourteenth day of this month. And when the whole assembly of the congregation

of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight, then they shall take some of the blood and

put it on the two door posts and the lintel of their houses in which they eat it. They

shall eat the flesh that night roasted by the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

They shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head

with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until morning.

Anything that remains until morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it with

your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall

eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt

that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast,

and all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall

be assigned for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I will pass

over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

So I don't care what version of it, whether the Prince of Egypt from 10, 12 years ago

or Charlton Heston, the Ten Commandments, either one I was freaked out, especially the

green mist in Charlton Heston's version when that was the angel of death that kind of creeped

through and you heard the screaming or the more creative artistic way that the Prince

of Egypt did it, that was the initial Passover lamb understanding that God, Yahweh, saves.

But this is direct in line to what the Passover lamb will be for the world in the person of

Jesus Christ. This foreshadows Christ as the Passover lamb. Just as the blood of the lamb

shielded God's people, Christ's blood covers and redeems us. So when John the Baptist,

behold the lamb of God, Pharisees, Sadducees, Levites, your everyday Israelites, and probably

even some Gentiles, would automatically go to this. This would be something kind of ingrained,

passed down not only in the scriptures of the prophets and the history books, Genesis,

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, but this is a massive thing that was talked about

generation upon generation upon generation by the people of Israel. That the Passover

lamb is the thing that saves us from our sins. It saved the firstborn in Egypt, it will save,

the Messiah will come and save people from their sin. But there's a laundry list of things

that people would have thought about. It would have been almost like a checklist, especially

those that made its way through the school system, maybe even those that became disciples

or rabbis. The second is the suffering servant. And this is from Isaiah 53, 7. He was oppressed

and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb sent to the slaughter

and like a sheep that before it shears is silent. So he opened not his mouth. Again,

messianic prophecy, this is Messiah language. So you got the lamb of God, now Messiah language,

people are starting to make some of these connections. This is then talking about the

sacrificial system. Now what's interesting is in the Old Testament you had more of what

we would call the pure sacrificial system. When God set it up Himself in the historical

books, you have Aaron, you have the Levites doing all the work. But unfortunately as we

see even in our lives, things that are started off pure don't always stay that way. That

in this first century in Jesus' day, the temple has become corrupt. The sacrificial system

was for authority, power, and financial gain, but they would have gone back to Leviticus

16. Then He shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring

its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as He did with the blood of the bull,

sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus He shall make atonement

for the holy place because of the uncleanliness of the people of God or the people of Israel

and because of their transgressions all their sins. And so He shall do for the tent of meeting

which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanliness. No one may be in the tent of

meeting from the time He enters to make atonement in the holy place until He comes out and has

made atonement for Himself and for His house and for all of the assembly of Israel. Then

He shall go out of the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it and shall

take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the

horns of the altar all around. And He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with His

finger seven times, a number of completion, and cleanse it, consecrate it from the uncleanliness

of the people of God. And when He has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the

tent of meeting and the altar, He shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his

hands and his head on the live goat, confess over all of the iniquities of the people of

Israel and all of their transgressions, all their sins. And He shall put them on the head

of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of man who is in its readiness.

The goat shall bear all the iniquities on itself to a remote area and He shall let the

goat go free in the wilderness. So again, we might not, right, some of us, we may not

go to these things, but first century Israelites, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the

sins of the world, they're going to go down to all of these things. This is how and why

it is set up. God sets it up this way as a foreshadowing because God knows that Jesus

was going to come to be not only the fulfillment of the sacrificial system, but be the atoning

Lamb of God. The day of atonement required the shedding of blood to cleanse sin. Hebrews

10 reminds us that the blood of animals can never fully atone, only Christ, the perfect

Lamb, only He could achieve this. I've said it before, I'll say it again, our blood on

the cross shed would mean nothing. It would be a bad day for our families, they'd mourn,

they'd grieve, they'd probably be angry, but it would not have any effect over the atonement

of sin itself like the Lamb of God is, Jesus the Christ. Another place it would have gone

would have been Abraham's sacrificial ram, and this is Genesis 22. Abraham said, God

will provide for Himself the Lamb for the burnt offering, my son, so they both went

of them together. When they came to the place of which God has told him, Abraham built the

altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar,

on the top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter

his son, but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham,

and he said, I am here. He said, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him,

for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son

from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught

in the thicket by his thorns, and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as

a burnt offering instead of his son. I don't know the last time you guys thought about

that scripture, but it's pretty intense. And the thing that I find fascinating is when

the account tells us that he took the knife and he raised his arm. His son is laying right

there, not really knowing at all what's going on. But out of the faith and obedience of

God, Abraham was going to carry out the death of his only son. I don't know about you,

but that takes faith that I don't think I have, and maybe you wouldn't either. I'll

just talk to the dads in the room for a second. Though there are days, I'm sure our kids

drive us nuts. I don't think we'll ever go there, right? But you think Abraham was a

devout believer in Yahweh. Now granted, he had tremendous interactions with God, ones

that we probably can't necessarily relate to. But there was by faith, he trusted that

the creator of all had all things put together in a way that made sense to the creator.

And a lot of us don't like that. Because we would much rather have it make sense to us

in our kind of understanding. God, just give me what you want me to do, let me figure out

the details so I'm comfortable with it. Nobody would ever be comfortable with this. If you

are, we probably need to sit down and chat because there's probably something a little

wrong. But understand that this is all the kind of things the Israelites would have

thought about. So the weight of behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the

world, this is a foreshadow and an understanding that they didn't have about Jesus,

John had about Jesus, but that God already had planned for Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate

substitute, the Lamb provided by God to take away our sins. We got two more that they

would have downloaded, then we'll move on. The second to last is the prophecy of

redemption from revelation and behold the throne and the four living creatures and among

the elders I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and seven

eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took

the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne and when he had taken

the scroll the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb each

holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense which were the prayers of the saints and

they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals for

you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and

language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and a priest to our God

and they shall reign on the earth. And then I looked up and I heard around the throne

and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels numbering myriads and

myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who

was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and

blessing. This is the prophecy of redemption. Now understand this piece it takes a little

bit of a right turn. This one's for us. This wouldn't necessarily have been one that the

Israelites would have thought about but it's messianic language and so that is helping

us see the full picture. And then finally the binding of Isaac, right? Genesis 22, 14

and so Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide as it is said to this

day on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided that God did the provisions. Isaac

didn't have to be killed. So insert us for that. That in order for us to atone for our

sins and I know for me are many, my blood does not have to be shed. Your blood does

not have to be shed. Thanks be to God that the lamb was slain so you and I might find

life and life to the fullest. We though we do suffer in life we have the hard days,

things don't always go our way, you know we actually may be hated on for our faith.

Suffering was done by the lamb of God. Lord's Day 15, question answer 37, what do we

understand by the word suffered? The answer that during his whole life on earth but

especially at the end Christ sustained in body and soul the wrath of God against the

sin of the entire human race. This he did in order that by his suffering as the only

atoning sacrifice he might deliver us body and soul from eternal condemnation and gain

for us God's grace, righteousness and eternal life. Okay there's a lot there I get it.

That was like drinking from an Old Testament fire hose. But understand a couple things.

When John says this about Jesus more than half of that people would have downloaded

in their brain. Would have downloaded in conversations they had with previous

ancestors and relatives that again go all the way back to the Israelites in Egypt.

I say that this morning, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,

what jumps into yours? Rhetorical question but one that I want you to wrestle with this

week. What does it mean that the lamb of God takes away your sins? And here's the catch

and this is hard to say, it was hard to say when I even said it to myself. What does it

look like when we understand that? We thank God for that yet we want to put our sin back

on our life. We knowingly understand what the lamb did and we go, I actually like that

sin. I actually don't want that sin to go away. I mean in front of everybody I'm going

to say yeah I've been delivered from that sin but secretly behind closed doors that

we think omnipotent and omnipresent God doesn't see, I actually want to keep that sin. Does

that mean that the lamb's actions didn't, it wasn't fulfilled, didn't go to completion?

No, that's the daily battle you and I have against sin. And one of the first things we

need to do daily is to be honest with God where we love that sin or we like to keep

that sin or we're just going to keep it around, put it in our pocket and we're going to use

it when we feel like it. Because in what you're saying then is I don't really care that the

lamb of God took away my sin. Wrestle with that this week, wrestle that with me because

that was the lamb foretold. What's happening now at the Jordan River is the lamb revealed.

John the Baptist identifies Jesus not as a prophet or a king but the lamb of God. So

let's explore this for a second. Verse 29, he takes away sin. He takes away sin. 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 before 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 I have borne witness that

this is the son of God. So now the connection is made. Behold the lamb of God who takes

away the sins of the world is the son of God or the son of man. The Greek word aureo implies

lifting and carrying away that though we are bound by sin the shackles of sin weighing

you down that Jesus the lamb of God the son of man physically lifts those sins and removes

them from you. As the Psalmist writes as far as the east is from the west I remember your

sins no more. This reminds us of the sanctification begins at the cross where sins penalty is

lifted freeing us to grow in more sinfulness. No. It frees us to grow in holiness. The shackles

of sin have been taken off so we can become holy. Even if you are here today and you don't

think you are worthy to become holy guess what in of yourself you are not. But the lamb

of God took away your sins lifted them from you to give you a path to grow in holiness.

That it is a universal offering that we understand that Jesus is not just Israel's lamb but the

one who takes the sins of the whole world. This fulfills God's promise to Abraham that

all nations would be blessed by his offspring. Whoa whoa whoa. But what about the elect

Pastor Jim. Absolutely. Yes that is mission that is modus operandi mission number one

that the Israelites would understand this but don't stop reading the New Testament.

The Gentiles are brought into this and understand that this offering of the shed blood of the

lamb is for the whole world. If it were just to the elect and there are denominations that

would hate that I am about to say this. If it wasn't for the whole world Jesus would

not tell us to go out into the world. Jesus would not have done that. He would not have

instructed us to go and share the gospel. The gospel extends to all people calling us

to share the good news of Christ boldly. And for some of you and this may sting we can

talk about it later. You like to play kind of like a kind of like an American Idol version

of who is a Jew and who is a Gentile. That you get to know someone you go there is a

there a Gentile and we walk away. That is not the right way to do it. That is terrible

evangelism and that is not the way of the church. What if we had a scanner by the east

door or the west door that scanned whether or not you were a Jew or a Gentile. How many

people would come to this church? Probably not a lot. I didn't grow up in the reformed

understanding. So I was probably a Gentile. So I probably wouldn't have been asked to

take this call. But understand that we can get so caught up in all of this when really

what we need to be caught up in is the waters of baptism. Those baptized those cleansed

by the blood of the lamb. Bring them with you to the gospel. Let your light be kind

of magnified that Jesus is your life. And guess what? What is the worst that can happen?

Well I am actually already a believer. Great! Let's do it together. How great would it be

if you ran out of family and friends that weren't believers because you did your job?

Guess what? Now you have a big crew. Not to do a crusades. Really bad look for the church.

But understand now is your job to take all of you and go. What is that called again?

The church. That it is a universal offering for us to share the gospel and how are we

identified? We are identified by the spirit. We are not identified by what church you go

to, what school you went to, how many years of catechism you did. Even though that is

very important to grow deeper in your faith. Not what committees you are on or what you

have done for the church. We are identified by the spirit. John testifies that the Holy

Spirit descends on Jesus confirming not only his identity as the son of God but that he

is prophet, priest, and king. Lord's Day 12. Why is he called Christ? Meaning anointed.

Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been ordained by the Holy Spirit to

be our chief prophet and teacher who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will

of God concerning our deliverance. Our only high priest who has delivered us by the one

sacrifice of his body and who continually pleads our cause with the Father and the

eternal King who governs us by the word and spirit and who guards us and keeps us in the

freedom he has won for us. Friends as I land this plane understand we have not won for

us anything. Behold the lamb of God who did the work of Genesis chapter 3 on the cross

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

in the tomb rose three days ascended into heaven so we could have the victory. So Al

Pierbolt could have the victory that on Thursday morning he received his reward. So what does

that look like in our life? I know friends this is a lot but I'm landing the plane. The

lamb becomes applied. How is it applied in our life? It's through the process of

sanctification. John doesn't just identify Jesus as the lamb but he calls us to behold

the lamb. Are you looking for those opportunities? Are you looking for those individuals in your

life that don't know Jesus and are you doing your best to bring them to the cross? Well

you know what pastor I took your advice and I tried to do it on Christmas day at dinner.

Great you may want to pick your shots a little better but understand that planting seeds

you never know what's going to happen. We don't have the complete like kind of Lego

drawing of how the seeds that we lay out are going to grow and the thing I hate even as

a pastor is I know that I'll be planting seeds I may not be around to see them grow. I think

it's one reason why you had a lot of pastors over there stay for a long time because this

church has been and always will be known for spreading seeds and when pastors see people

at work in the harvest what does that mean? It means he's not doing it all and it means

that I'm going to be here longer I hope because we all get to do it together. So three things

how we can work this process for our head. What does this mean for us? Know the lamb.

Study and meditate on the truths of Jesus. Go to the discussion group. Dive into a Gospel

of John study somewhere. Deepen your theological understanding of Christ's atoning work. How

do we how does knowing Jesus the lamb shape your understanding of sin and salvation? There's

a great conversation for halftime meal today as you're watching football. For the heart

trust the lamb. Rest in the assurance that Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for your sin.

Some of us play the dumb game of I'm going to out sin Jesus. That doesn't make any sense.

Why in the world are you going to try to do that? Because the wages of sin is, okay for

the four of you still awake, the wages of sin is death. But in Jesus we find life and

life everlasting. Let that truth shape your work, your worship in your lives. And then

finally for our hands proclaim the lamb. Follow John the Baptist's example of wearing furs

and eating insects. No. No, please don't do that. Follow John the Baptist's example and

point others to Jesus. Live sacrificially demonstrating Christ's love through service

and evangelism. Who can you share the hope of the lamb with this week? And next week,

it doesn't get easier, maybe a little bit, but now we go Jesus is on scene. Jesus has

been baptizing, or has been baptized, and now he goes to be the teacher of our lives.