Jesus, the Lamb of God

Good morning, church. Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Actually, for those of you who are new, if you don't have a Bible, just raise your hand,

and we'll have one of our guests bring a Bible for you that you can use.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean. I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church,

and I'm excited. I feel privileged and honored and rejoice in this opportunity to preach God's Word to you.

We're in John 1, 19-42 this morning, just following up exactly where we left off from last week, John 1, 18.

So John 1, 19-42.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, we have come.

And gathered this morning, not ultimately because of what we have to offer to one another out of our own resources,

but because of what you offer us.

We have come to behold the risen Christ, the Lamb of God,

that was slain and is now alive again.

Grip our hearts this morning with your love, Father.

With the preciousness of Jesus' sacrifice.

That we might stand in awe again.

And worship you all our days.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

If you are able, please stand.

And I will read John 1, 19-42.

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 am 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 am 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.

The next day again,

John was standing with two of his disciples,

and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said,

Behold the Lamb of God.

The two disciples heard him say this,

and they followed Jesus.

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them,

What are you seeking?

And they said to him, Rabbi, which means teacher,

Where are you staying?

He said to them,

Come, and you will see.

So they came and saw where he was staying,

and they stayed with him that day,

for it was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus

was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

He first found his own brother Simon and said to him,

We have found the Messiah,

which means Christ.

He brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said,

You are Simon, the son of John.

You shall be called Cephas,

which means Peter.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

As some of you are aware,

I had the jarring experience this week

of being impersonated by an internet scammer.

Someone created a new email address,

sean.trinitycambridge.gmail.com,

and then started emailing our church's community group leaders,

whose emails are listed on our website,

pretending to be me,

asking them to purchase gift cards worth hundreds of dollars,

and send him pictures of the pin numbers,

promising reimbursement,

and saying that he needs the gift cards for ministry.

Thankfully, all of our CG leaders are bright,

and they caught on,

and none of them sent the scammer any money.

But it feels really strange to see emails sent in my name

that I did not compose.

And then to see your friends interacting with this person

that is not you,

but is pretending to be you.

It's a really strange feeling.

It's not quite an out-of-body experience.

I've never had one.

I wouldn't know what that would be like.

But it kind of feels like it,

because you're observing from an outside vantage point,

like, you interacting in some way.

It's very strange.

And I think that's why it kind of felt like

someone took over my life for a minute, you know?

Took over my identity.

And I think that's why false personation,

or impersonating someone for the sake of defrauding someone,

is a crime in and of itself,

even if the defrauding is not successful.

It has the potential to do great harm,

because both to the person that's being impersonated,

because they're being used to do something

that they don't intend to do,

and also to people who are being deceived by the impersonator.

Identity is important.

It's a foundation for relationships,

to society.

And this passage is all about identity.

The first half answers the question,

who is John?

And the second half answers the question,

who is Jesus?

And we're going to talk about those two things in turn.

In the first half,

John strenuously denies that he is the Christ.

People suspect him of being the Christ.

They ask him, are you the Christ?

And John says again and again,

no, I am not the Christ.

He refuses to impersonate Christ,

even though he knows full well

that when he admits who he really is,

and points people to the true Messiah,

that all the spotlight that's on him will leave him.

All the following that he has will leave him.

And yet, he bears witness,

because he does not have his own personal agenda,

but he does not want to deceive or manipulate.

He just wants to tell people who Jesus is,

who the Messiah is.

So he humbly points to Jesus,

and then gracefully steps aside

to make way for Jesus.

And through John's example,

this passage exhorts us to follow Jesus,

who is the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world.

That's my main point for this morning.

Let's first look at who John is,

so that we can see and appreciate

who Jesus is in the following passage.

In verses 19 to 28,

there's a Jewish delegation

that has been sent out from Jerusalem

to make a formal inquiry into John the Baptist,

to investigate him and find out who he really is.

Verse 19 says that the Jews sent priests and Levites

from Jerusalem to ask John the Baptist,

who are you?

So this delegation is made up of Jewish leaders,

priests and Levites,

who are sent out from the Jewish capital of Jerusalem.

So these are people of influence

and standing and authority.

And it says in verse 24 later

that they were sent from the Pharisees in particular.

The Pharisees were a Jewish sect

that was known for their strict adherence to Jewish law.

And they will emerge as kind of primary antagonists

in Jesus' story.

So already at this point,

when we see that this delegation was from the Pharisees,

that they're Jewish leaders, priests and Levites,

and then they're formally investigating John,

it's already ominous from the start.

It has the feel of an inquisition.

A powerful establishment commissioned a delegation

to interrogate a solitary preacher in the wilderness

to ask him,

who are you?

Verse 20 is emphatic.

It says,

John confessed and did not deny,

but confessed,

I am not the Christ.

The Christ means anointed one.

And in the Old Testament,

only the priest and the prophet and kings were anointed.

It's a special process,

a ritual to mark someone

that's set apart for God's service.

And so the anointed one is a title,

the Christ,

for the messianic king that was to come

to save God's people.

And the messianic expectations

were really bubbling over

at a fever pitch at this point

of Israel's history.

And John knows that he's not the Messiah,

and he could have simply said,

you know,

I'm not the Christ.

Well, he does say I'm not the Christ.

But the John,

Apostle John,

could have told us that John simply said,

I am not the Christ.

But that's not how it's put here.

It's not emphatic enough.

So John piles on the verbs.

He says,

he confessed and did not deny,

but confessed,

I am not the Christ.

It can't be more emphatic.

In no uncertain terms,

John made it known

he is not the Christ.

But that simple denial

isn't enough for the Jewish delegation

because they knew John had influence

and a following,

and so they expected him to be someone great,

or at least to claim to be someone great.

And so they continued the interrogation.

They say,

what then?

Are you Elijah?

He said,

I am not.

In 2 Kings 2.11,

we see that Elijah didn't die a normal death.

He was actually taken up straight to heaven,

his body and all,

by God.

And because of that,

some people speculated

and expected that maybe Elijah

will return in his flesh.

And this was spurred on further

by the prophecy in Malachi 4.5,

Behold,

I will send you Elijah the prophet

before the great and awesome day

of the Lord comes.

So because of that prophecy,

there was an expectation

that Elijah would return.

And so they're asking John,

are you the promised Elijah

who would come before the day of the Lord?

And John answers,

I am not.

So they ask him again,

are you the prophet?

And he answers,

no.

The question is not,

are you a prophet?

The question is,

are you the prophet?

This again has to do with the prophecy

in Deuteronomy 18

where Moses prophesies

that God will raise up for Israel

a prophet like himself.

So the messianic expectation

was rife with people talking about

the prophet like Moses

who would come in the end times.

And John once again denies

that he is that prophet.

It makes sense that John,

you know,

admits that he is not

the prophet like Moses

because we find out

from other parts of scripture

that Jesus is in fact

the prophesied prophet like Moses.

But what's interesting here

is that he also denies

that he is Elijah.

And in the other gospels,

Matthew, Mark, and Luke,

Jesus explicitly identifies

the prophesied Elijah

with John the Baptist.

So John is the prophesied Elijah,

but probably John had the expectation

that Elijah would return his flesh

and he knows he's not Elijah.

I'm just, he's John.

So he probably said,

oh no, I'm not, I'm not Elijah.

He didn't understand

that the prophecy had to do

with the figure like Elijah,

a type of Elijah,

who would fulfill Elijah's prophetic role

to prepare the way of the Lord

in the end times.

And he was that figure.

John was not aware

of the significance

of his ministry.

And I think that's often

the case for us too.

You know, we don't sometimes realize

the full significance

of all the work

that we are doing.

It may seem small

and insignificant to us,

but from God's heaven's eye view,

what we are doing in service to God

may be much more significant

than we deem.

And so he says,

I'm not Elijah

and I'm not the prophet like Moses

and I am definitely not the Christ.

And the delegation is exasperated

by this point

and they ask in verse 22,

who are you?

We need to give an answer

to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?

Their presumptions

and speculations aside now,

they finally want to hear

from John's own mouth,

who do you say that you are?

And he says in verse 23,

I am the voice of one

crying out in the wilderness.

Make straight the way of the Lord.

This is an amazing answer.

He's alluding to Isaiah 40,

Isaiah 40:3–5

verses 3 to 5,

which says,

a voice cries,

in the wilderness,

prepare the way of the Lord.

Make straight in the desert

a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up

and every mountain and hill

be made low.

The uneven ground shall become level

and the rough place is a plain.

And the glory of the Lord

shall be revealed

and all flesh shall see it together

for the mouth of the Lord

has spoken.

Making straight the way of the Lord

is a metaphorical description

of improving the road system,

leveling of hills and valleys

and straightening curb roads.

When the Lord of glory comes,

when God Almighty comes,

he will not bend to creation,

but creation will bend for him.

He will not follow the curves,

stoop down to the valleys,

or climb the hills.

No, the valleys will rise

as if in standing ovation.

The mountains will fall

as if bowing in prostration.

And all roads will be straight

for the way of the king.

Some of you might have visited

the Buckingham Palace in London,

or at least have seen videos of this.

There's the famous king's guard

that's in their uniform

and I think a rifle.

I'm not sure what it is.

Believe it or not,

the king's guard

is not just a ceremonial tourist attraction.

They're actually real soldiers

with the real responsibility

of protecting the monarch,

the British monarch.

And so if an unwitting tourist

gets in the way

when they're doing their patrol

on their set course,

do you know what they yell?

Make way for the king's guard!

And they'll be like,

sometimes they'll push you.

Make way for the king's guard!

And they make way.

They push people away.

It's really funny.

I mean, it's like,

I think there are videos of it.

It's a huge waste of time.

Don't look it up.

But it's similar to the way

heralds with loud voices,

you know, back in the day,

you know, when a king's on his way

would go ahead of the king

and tell everybody

in every town square,

the king is coming!

The king is coming!

Make way for the king!

It's their way of rolling out

the red carpet.

It's their way of moving out

everything out of the way

so that the king

has a straight path.

That's how John sees himself.

As a herald who announces

the coming of the king

and shouts,

make way!

Right, in chapter 1 alone,

we were told seven times

that John is merely a witness,

someone who bears testimony

about someone else.

Earlier in this chapter,

we were told of how

Jesus, the Son of God,

is the Word of God made flesh.

And if the Word

is the authoritative decree

of the king

that executes the will

of the king,

John says he himself

is merely a voice,

a herald who goes

into the town square

to proclaim the Word

of the king.

If Jesus is the leading actor

in a play,

John is a stagehand

who works behind the scenes,

backstage,

to move around the props

in the dark

to set the scene

for the lead actor

to take center stage.

This is yet another reminder

of what we talked about

last week.

This life is not about us.

Our calling,

our mission

is not about us.

In our interactions

with family,

friends,

co-workers,

and neighbors,

what would it look like

if we stopped

trying to have our way

and instead

sought to make way

for the Lord?

What if in our conversations,

instead of only talking

about ourselves

or our interests

or our experiences,

we sought to prepare

the way for the Lord

to enter into that conversation,

to draw others closer

to the Lord,

to encourage and edify

them in the Lord?

What if in our career decisions,

instead of only asking

and considering

what is most lucrative

or what is most prestigious,

we considered

what most honors the Lord,

what most prepares the way

for the Lord to work

in my life

and in my family's life?

What if deciding

what to do

tonight

or next weekend

or in our budgeting

and spending priorities,

we did not stop

at asking,

what do I want?

And then we asked,

what does the Lord want?

How can I prepare a path

for the gospel

to go forward?

I am the voice

of one crying

out in the wilderness,

make straight

the way of the Lord.

That was John's posture.

And though John

was a unique figure

in his role

as preparing

the way for Jesus,

we can all emulate him

in our role

as witnesses

for Jesus

because we are

all witnesses.

But John's insistence

that he is a nobody

raises a further question

for the Jewish delegation.

They ask him

in verse 25,

then why are you baptizing

if you are neither

the Christ

nor Elijah

nor the prophet?

The Pharisees

were not unfamiliar

with the practice

of baptism.

Some Jewish groups

practiced proselyte baptism.

So they would take

Gentiles

who want to become Jews

and then they would

have them baptize

themselves in water.

The key difference here

is that John

is not letting them

baptize themselves.

He is himself

baptizing them.

And then secondly,

John's not just

baptizing Gentiles,

he's baptizing Jews

as if Jews

themselves

need to be converted,

as if the Jews

also need to repent

of their sin.

And so,

they're asking

this question,

if you are not

a special

end time figure

like the Christ

or the Elijah

or the prophet

like Moses,

then what authority,

what warrant

do you have

to baptize Jews

in this way?

this kind

of special

work can be

carried out

only by someone

else who is special.

What's the reason?

What's the purpose

of your baptisms?

And then John

answers this final

question by telling

the Jews about

the person that

he is waiting for

in verses 26

to 27.

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 am not worthy

to untie.

This great person

that John

is waiting for

is the reason

why John

is baptizing

with water.

John says this

explicitly in verse 31,

for this purpose

I came baptizing

with water,

that he

might be revealed

to Israel.

John's purpose

in baptizing people

and calling them

to repentance

is to reveal

the long-awaited

Messiah

and prepare

people for him

for his coming.

John was sent

by God himself

to baptize

with water

for this very purpose,

as John 33,

verse 33 tells us.

John's ministry

is anticipatory

and preparatory.

He's not trying

to bring attention

to himself

or to gain

a following

for himself.

He's trying

to reveal

someone else

the strap

of whose sandal

he's not worthy

to untie.

That's a startling

admission.

There's a Jewish

rabbinic saying

that says this,

quote,

every service

which a slave

performs

for his master

shall a disciple

do for his teacher

except the losing

of his sandal thong.

Everything

that a slave

does for his master,

waiting on him,

fetching him water,

wiping his sweaty brows,

a disciple should do

for his teacher

except the untying

the strap

of his sandals.

Removing someone's

sandal

was considered

so beneath

the person's dignity

that it was a task

reserved only

for slaves.

And yet,

John the Baptist

singles out

this particular

humiliating act

and says

he is not worthy

to untie

his sandals.

It's a shocking

admission.

John is not saying,

oh,

I'm a nobody,

I'm only fit

to untie his sandals.

That's not what he's saying.

He's saying,

I'm not worthy

to untie

his sandals.

In other words,

he does not

even deserve

to be

the slave

of the Messiah

because

of how great

he is.

John's humility

is instructive for us,

but John's humility

is not the point

of this narrative.

The point is not

John's great humility.

The point is

Jesus'

surpassing worth.

John's saying

that he's not worthy

to untie

the strap

of Jesus' shoes.

This is not

exaggerated

false humility.

It's simply

reality.

C.J. Mahaney,

who is a pastor

within our denomination,

writes this

in his book

entitled Humility.

Humility is

honestly assessing

ourselves

in light of God's

holiness

and our

sinfulness.

When we know

ourselves as we

truly are,

and when we know

God as he

truly is,

the only

proper posture

for us

is abject

humility.

Humility is not

a denial of one's

greatness.

forgiveness.

It is simply

an honest

assessment

of one's

relative

insignificance

in light of

God's

surpassing worth.

Do we live

with an honest

assessment

of our

insignificance

compared to

God's

surpassing worth?

Do we live

with humility

and gratitude

that we

get to

untie

the strap

of his

sandals?

or do we

live with

pride

and an

attitude of

entitlement

that scoffs

at such

menial tasks?

Are we

willing to

suffer for

him?

To be

ridiculed

for him?

Are we

willing to

give up our

comforts and

pleasures for

him?

To go and

serve where

there is no

clean water

or hot

showers?

Are we

willing to

serve the

Lord in

places where

we will be

forgotten?

The

backstage,

the prayer

closet?

Are we

willing to

befriend and

care for

irritable and

difficult people?

awkward and

overly talkative

people?

In Acts

5.41,

after being

unfairly

arrested,

tried,

and beaten

for proclaiming

Jesus,

the apostles

are finally

released and

it says that

when they

left the

presence of

the council,

they left

rejoicing that

they were

counted worthy

to suffer

dishonor for

the name

of Jesus.

they were

not rejoicing

because they

were insane.

They were

not rejoicing

because they

thought being

beaten was

such a

pleasurable

thing.

But because

they knew the

surpassing worth

of Jesus,

if I get to

do anything

for Jesus

that is beyond

my deserts,

if I can

suffer for

him,

be punished

for him,

doubt,

and even

martyr for

him,

if I get

to even

loosen,

untie the

straps of

his sandals,

that is a

task far

beyond my

deserts.

that's how

John thought

of himself.

And this

is John

the Baptist's

answer to

the question,

quite a

sobering

answer.

Who are

you,

John?

Me?

I'm a

slave,

not worthy

to be a

slave.

A herald

announcing the

message of

the king,

the stage

hand moving

around the

props to

make way for

the lead

actor,

someone who

is not

worthy to

untie

Jesus'

shoelaces.

That's who

I am.

Why are you

asking me

who I am?

You should

be asking

some different

question.

And John's

testimony

prepares a

way for us

to explore

who Jesus

is.

We already

know that

Jesus is

someone who

possesses

surpassing

worth.

In fact,

we know

more than

that because

in verse

23,

John cited

Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40:3

verse 3

saying that

he is the

voice in

the wilderness

crying,

make straight

the way

of the

Lord.

John thinks

he is preparing

the way for

the Lord

of glory

himself.

And this

Messiah,

he is not

just some

human VIP,

though he

is fully

man,

he is

God

in flesh.

John makes

this even

more explicit

in verses

32 to

34,

I saw

the spirit

descend from

heaven like a

dove and

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

borne witness

that this

is the

Son of

God.

Three times

the word

spirit is

repeated in

this passage.

And it's

significant that

spirit of

God not

only descends

upon him,

descends,

remains upon

him.

historically

throughout the

Old Testament

the spirit of

God descends

upon select

individuals like

builders of

the tabernacle

and the

temple,

the prophets,

the priests,

the kings,

the judges,

and the spirit

of God comes

upon them to

enable them to

fulfill a

particular God

given task.

But for the

spirit of God to

descend upon

Jesus personally

like a dove

and then to

remain on

him permanently

is unique.

Jesus is the

messianic king

from David's

royal lineage of

whom Isaiah 11

2 prophesied

the spirit of

the Lord shall

rest upon

him.

And not only

that,

Jesus is then

able because he

has the spirit

in fullness

always with him.

He's able to

baptize others

with the Holy

Spirit.

He's able to

immerse people in

the Holy Spirit,

fill them with

the Holy Spirit.

that's no mere

human authority,

that's divine

authority.

That's why John

has no option

but to conclude,

I have seen

and bear witness

that he is

the son of

God.

As we saw

already in the

prologue of

John in the

last,

earlier this

chapter last

week,

Jesus is the

word made

flesh,

the only son

from the

father.

He is the

only God who

is at the

father's side

who makes

the father

known.

In other

words,

he is the

unique

son of

God,

the only

divine

son who

shares the

father's

nature,

the second

person of

the Trinity.

Now,

let's do a

little exercise

for a moment.

If I stopped

you right now

and then asked

you to picture,

choose for

yourself an

animal imagery

to describe

the Lord of

glory,

before whom

mountains bow

down,

before whom

valleys stand,

the son of

God,

the messianic

king,

who baptized

people with

spirit and

fire,

what animal

would you

choose?

Maybe a

fire-breathing

dragon?

Maybe a

regal lion?

dragon.

But Revelation

Revelation 20:2

20,

verse 2,

says that the

devil is the

dragon,

that ancient

serpent.

1 Peter 5,

8 says that the

devil prowls around

like a roaring

lion,

seeking someone

to devour.

Yes,

it's true that

Jesus is the

conquering lion

of the tribe

of Judah,

as it says in

Revelation 5,

5.

But that is

paradoxical,

because in

Revelation 5,

John hears the

voice of the

elders saying,

behold the

conquering lion

of the tribe

of Judah.

He hears the

voice,

and so John

turns to look

at this

conquering lion.

What does he

see?

He sees a

lamb standing

there as if

is slain.

The lion of

Judah conquers

by being

slain as

the lamb

of God.

Jesus conquers

sin and

death by

dying on

the cross

in the

stead of

sinners.

This is why

John the

Baptist lands

on the

metaphor of

the lamb

twice.

Verse 29

and verse 36,

he says,

behold the

lamb.

of God.

Look,

pay attention,

the lamb,

the lamb of

God that

takes away

the sin of

the world,

a lamb,

a symbol of

innocence and

meekness,

a symbol of

gentleness and

purity.

There's a lot

more I can say

about this

passage,

but since this

is an Advent

series,

I'm going

to hone

in on

this identity

of Jesus

as the

lamb of

God.

Where is

John getting

this imagery

of the

lamb?

The lamb

is a

particularly

appropriate

image because

it recurs

throughout the

Old Testament

in so many

significant

contexts.

In Genesis

22,

when the

Lord God

commands

Abraham to

sacrifice

his only

son,

his beloved

son Isaac,

Abraham,

despite his

grief,

steps out

in faith

and obedience.

They make

their way to

the mountain

where Isaac

is to be

sacrificed,

and then

Isaac,

being the

smart boy

that he

is,

asks his

dad a

question,

my father,

behold the

fire and

the wood,

but where's

the lamb

for the

burnt offering?

Can you

imagine being

a father and

having to answer

that question?

with an

aching heart

Abraham answers,

God will

provide for

himself the

lamb for a

burnt offering,

my son,

knowing full

well that it

is in fact

Isaac that is

to be

sacrificed.

But God

intervenes.

When Isaac

is on the

altar,

when Abraham

has given

him up for

the Lord,

the Lord

intervenes,

and he

supplies a

substitute,

a ram,

that can

take Isaac's

place.

And so

Abraham,

so grateful,

he cries out

prophetically,

he says,

on the

mount of

the Lord

it shall

be provided.

And on

the mount

of Calvary,

Jesus died

on the cross

as the

substitute

lamb

in the

place of

God's

son.

God

describes his

people as

his son,

Exodus 4

22.

The lamb,

the substitute,

restores the

son to his

father.

Maybe you

feel your

own responsibility

for sin

keenly.

Maybe you

feel that no

one else but

you can pay

the price.

But Jesus

has already

paid the

price.

You already

have a

substitute who

has taken

your place

so that you

can live

forever with

your God

in heaven.

There's more.

According to

Leviticus 14,

a male lamb,

a year old

and without

blemish was

used as a

guilt offering

in order to

make atonement

for lepers.

The original

meaning of the

Hebrew word for

atone is to

cover or to

wipe clean.

So the

lamb would be

killed and the

blood would be

spilled and

then some of

that blood

would be

smeared on

the leper to

make him

clean.

By this

offering,

his impurity,

his defilement,

his sins

were covered.

Jesus was

the sacrificial

lamb,

the guilt

offering,

and it's

his blood

that cleanses

us so that

we might be

justified.

The cleansing

agent for our

contaminating

disease of sin

is the blood

that Jesus

poured out for

us on the

cross.

Some of you

may have

committed sin

so grave

that you

still carry

the guilt

upon your

shoulders.

Maybe you

have sins

in your

life that

you're so

ashamed of

that you

have vowed

to never

tell a

living soul

about it.

But we

no longer

need to be

stooped low

by the burden

of sin.

We no

longer need

to hide

our faces

in shame.

Why?

Because the

lamb of

God has

been

sacrificed

and his

blood has

covered us.

Similarly,

Leviticus 3

prescribes the

sacrifice of a

lamb for the

peace offering.

A lamb would

be killed and

his blood will

be thrown upon

the altar of

the tabernacle

so that there

might be peace

between God

and his people

so that they

might share a

meal together,

have fellowship,

communion with

one another.

Likewise,

Romans 5 tells

us that we

have peace

with God

through the

Lord Jesus

Christ,

our Lord

Jesus Christ

because Jesus

died for us

while we were

still sinners,

while we were

his enemies.

He died for us

and in doing so

Jesus satisfied

the wrath of

God against

sinners and

he reconciled

us to him

by his death.

That's why we

are recipients

of his peace

rather than

objects of

his wrath.

Do you feel

far away from

God?

Do you feel

that God

is hostile

towards you,

that he is

angry with

you,

that his

wrath still

rests upon

you?

Remember that

the lamb

has been

sacrificed

to make

peace for

you so

that you

might have

fellowship with

God,

you might

have peace

with him

and enjoy

even his

friendship.

Perhaps

most prominently

the lamb of

God is

in allusion

to the

Passover

lamb in

Exodus 12.

When God

was delivering

Israel from

their slavery

in Egypt,

he instructed

the Israelites

to sacrifice

a lamb,

to kill

a lamb

and to

daub its

blood on

the door,

the post

and the

lintel,

so that when

the angel

of death,

the destroyer,

sweeps

through Egypt

to kill

all the

firstborn

sons,

that the

angel of the

destroyer would

see the

blood of

the lamb

and Passover.

So God's

judgment and

punishment can

be averted.

And so

Paul says in

1 Corinthians 5,

7, that

Christ is our

Passover lamb

who has been

sacrificed.

It's because of

Jesus that we're

no longer

slaves of sin.

Are you living

like you're still

enslaved to sin?

The shackles

have been

broken.

We have been

delivered from

the dominion of

sin.

the Passover

lamb was the

price of our

freedom in the

spirit.

And finally,

Isaiah 53,

that we read

for the

assurance of

pardon,

prophesies

concerning the

coming Messiah.

Surely he

has borne our

griefs and

carried our

sorrows.

Yet we

esteemed him

stricken,

smitten by

God,

and afflicted.

But he

was pierced

for our

transgressions.

He was

crushed for

our iniquities.

Upon him

was the

chastisement

that brought

us peace,

and with

his wounds

we are

healed.

All we

like sheep

have gone

astray.

We have

turned

everyone to

his own

way,

and the

Lord has

laid on

him the

iniquity of

us all.

He was

oppressed,

and he was

afflicted,

yet he

opened not

his mouth.

like a

lamb that

is led to

the slaughter,

and like a

sheep that

before its

shears is

silent,

so he

opened not

his mouth.

This is

probably the

most poignant

image of

them all.

In order to

bring us

back,

sheep who

had gone

astray,

Jesus suffered

and died like

a lamb led

to the slaughter,

like a sheep

that before its

shears is

silent,

so he

opened not

his mouth.

The sheep

is silent

because it

has no idea

what's coming

to him,

but Jesus

knew exactly

what was

coming,

and yet he

was silent.

The

conquering

lion went

silently and

submissively to

his death,

like a lamb

to the slaughter,

because he

knew that by

his wounds

that we

would be

healed,

that he

had to be

crushed in

order for us

to be whole,

because he

knew that by

his death

we would

gain life,

eternal

life.

So we

ask,

who is

Jesus?

And this

passage tells

us,

behold the

lamb of

God,

who takes

away the

sin of the

world.

All of

these images

that we've

looked at

in scripture,

and there's

still more,

they form

this

what do

you call

that,

the

photo

mosaic,

a composite

image,

all these

little pictures

of the

lamb throughout

the Old

Testament,

you put

them all

together and

you take

a step

back and

look at

it and

it's the

face of

Jesus.

The

lamb of

God who

takes away

the sin of

the world,

the fresh,

soft,

pure,

and white

wool of

the lamb

of God,

matted down

with black

suit of

our sin,

and then

pierced,

and then

stained

crimson red

with his

blood poured

out for our

cleansing,

for our

covering,

for our

freedom,

for our

reconciliation.

That's why

Jesus came

into the

world.

In the rest

of this

passage,

and in the

passage after

that, a

couple words

and phrases

repeat over

and over

again, and

they are

come and

see and

follow.

In verse

39, Jesus

invites the

two disciples

of John and

the Baptist

who are

following him,

come and

you will

see.

And then

later in

verse 46,

Philip says

to his

skeptical

friend,

Nathanael,

come and