A
Augsburg1530
Guest
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Last week we heard that after John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, the heavens
opened, the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and a voice from
heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17).
This week, we hear what John did and proclaimed after that. When he now sees Jesus, he
points to Him and proclaims: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world!”
This is, perhaps, not what we would expect. For it would, perhaps, make more sense if,
after the voice from heaven identified Jesus as God’s beloved Son, John would go around
proclaiming: “Behold the Son of God!” But he doesn’t. It’s Lamb of God for John. That’s
how he unwraps Jesus for us. And today I want you to consider why that is.
But I’ll not leave you in suspense. I’ll tell you straight out, now, why this is: because just
knowing that God, who is almighty, is here, is not necessarily good news. Because why
has He come? Is this Son of God here to redeem or to revenge? Is He here to comfort or
to condemn? Power and might can work both ways, you know. And so John pointing to
Jesus and proclaiming: “Behold the Son of God” tells us who Jesus is, but nothing more.
For the fact is, if you just know God as almighty, you don’t really know God and you will
be filled with questions. Like, if you are almighty, then why the shootings in Arizona,
God? Why the floods in Australia and Brazil, God? Why the troubles in my life, God? If
you are almighty, why don’t you stop these things? Or maybe you’re not really almighty
at all? Or if you are, then maybe you don’t really love us, or love me, or care for me, or
want to help me. Maybe we can’t really count on you.
For who, then, is God, really? An unknown and unknowable God is a frightening God. Is
He the God of sunny days or of hurricanes? Is He the God of spring flowers or
earthquakes? Is He the God of love or of war? Which Son of God is here?
Or think of it like walking down a dark alley, and you know someone is there with you -
you can hear the heavy footsteps, it’s someone big. But who is it? You cannot see them
or know their intentions. It’s frightening. . . . But if they come into the light to be with
you as a friend, a helper, a protector, that is good news. That is what you need. And then
there is peace.
Well that is, John wants you to know, the God you have. Jesus is God the Son, yes; but
even more. He is the Lamb of God, the friend of sinners, companion of the downcast,
lifter of the low. He has come to be your Saviour. It’s Lamb of God for John, that you
might know who Jesus really is - that the Son is the Lamb and the Lamb is the Son, and
that in Him we see how God does love you, care for you, and help you. That He has come
to lay down His life for you, and give you peace. He has come to BE your peace, by
taking away the sin of the world. By taking away your sin.
Now that sounds very “formula” and not really practical. Yeah, sin and forgiveness - but
people want more than that. That’s why some churches don’t talk about sin anymore,
preferring instead to talk about how to improve your life. But don’t be fooled! Sin really
is the problem. The regrets you have, the skeletons in your closets, the habits you can’t
break. The sin that breaks families and friendships and churches, and causes you to do
and be what you don’t want to do or be. The sin that is imposed on you by the sinful acts
of others, or the sin that has subjected and effected creation.
We’ve been trying to take all this away ourselves - sin and the effects of sin - with our
own efforts for a very long time, for thousands of years. Through laws, through
psychology, through counseling or motivational speaking, even in the name of God. But
we can’t do it. Sin, and the pain and hurt it causes, is still here. It is too embedded in our
human nature. And if you think you get a handle on it, it mutates, changes, evolves,
taking many shapes and sizes, and hiding and appearing in many different forms. And so
there are still crazed gunmen, floods and earthquakes, and troubles in our lives.
But in Jesus we have one who is like us, but not like us; who is true man, but also true
God; who has come to be and do what we cannot be and do; who has come as the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Not by destroying us and the world to
purge us of our sin, but by taking our sin upon Himself and then being destroyed in our
place. And so as we heard last week, beginning at the Jordan and ending on the cross,
that’s what Jesus does - He takes away the sin of the world by putting it on Himself; that
it be on Him and not on us; that we be forgiven and set free.
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Last week we heard that after John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, the heavens
opened, the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and a voice from
heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17).
This week, we hear what John did and proclaimed after that. When he now sees Jesus, he
points to Him and proclaims: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world!”
This is, perhaps, not what we would expect. For it would, perhaps, make more sense if,
after the voice from heaven identified Jesus as God’s beloved Son, John would go around
proclaiming: “Behold the Son of God!” But he doesn’t. It’s Lamb of God for John. That’s
how he unwraps Jesus for us. And today I want you to consider why that is.
But I’ll not leave you in suspense. I’ll tell you straight out, now, why this is: because just
knowing that God, who is almighty, is here, is not necessarily good news. Because why
has He come? Is this Son of God here to redeem or to revenge? Is He here to comfort or
to condemn? Power and might can work both ways, you know. And so John pointing to
Jesus and proclaiming: “Behold the Son of God” tells us who Jesus is, but nothing more.
For the fact is, if you just know God as almighty, you don’t really know God and you will
be filled with questions. Like, if you are almighty, then why the shootings in Arizona,
God? Why the floods in Australia and Brazil, God? Why the troubles in my life, God? If
you are almighty, why don’t you stop these things? Or maybe you’re not really almighty
at all? Or if you are, then maybe you don’t really love us, or love me, or care for me, or
want to help me. Maybe we can’t really count on you.
For who, then, is God, really? An unknown and unknowable God is a frightening God. Is
He the God of sunny days or of hurricanes? Is He the God of spring flowers or
earthquakes? Is He the God of love or of war? Which Son of God is here?
Or think of it like walking down a dark alley, and you know someone is there with you -
you can hear the heavy footsteps, it’s someone big. But who is it? You cannot see them
or know their intentions. It’s frightening. . . . But if they come into the light to be with
you as a friend, a helper, a protector, that is good news. That is what you need. And then
there is peace.
Well that is, John wants you to know, the God you have. Jesus is God the Son, yes; but
even more. He is the Lamb of God, the friend of sinners, companion of the downcast,
lifter of the low. He has come to be your Saviour. It’s Lamb of God for John, that you
might know who Jesus really is - that the Son is the Lamb and the Lamb is the Son, and
that in Him we see how God does love you, care for you, and help you. That He has come
to lay down His life for you, and give you peace. He has come to BE your peace, by
taking away the sin of the world. By taking away your sin.
Now that sounds very “formula” and not really practical. Yeah, sin and forgiveness - but
people want more than that. That’s why some churches don’t talk about sin anymore,
preferring instead to talk about how to improve your life. But don’t be fooled! Sin really
is the problem. The regrets you have, the skeletons in your closets, the habits you can’t
break. The sin that breaks families and friendships and churches, and causes you to do
and be what you don’t want to do or be. The sin that is imposed on you by the sinful acts
of others, or the sin that has subjected and effected creation.
We’ve been trying to take all this away ourselves - sin and the effects of sin - with our
own efforts for a very long time, for thousands of years. Through laws, through
psychology, through counseling or motivational speaking, even in the name of God. But
we can’t do it. Sin, and the pain and hurt it causes, is still here. It is too embedded in our
human nature. And if you think you get a handle on it, it mutates, changes, evolves,
taking many shapes and sizes, and hiding and appearing in many different forms. And so
there are still crazed gunmen, floods and earthquakes, and troubles in our lives.
But in Jesus we have one who is like us, but not like us; who is true man, but also true
God; who has come to be and do what we cannot be and do; who has come as the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Not by destroying us and the world to
purge us of our sin, but by taking our sin upon Himself and then being destroyed in our
place. And so as we heard last week, beginning at the Jordan and ending on the cross,
that’s what Jesus does - He takes away the sin of the world by putting it on Himself; that
it be on Him and not on us; that we be forgiven and set free.
