John 1:29-42b
“The Lamb of God who Takes Away the Sin of the World”
1/20/08
In today’s sermon I’d like to focus on
these words of John the Baptist which he spoke concerning Jesus:
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
I’d like to point out that there are at least three things in
this statement that the world and even we according to our sinful
nature cannot accept. They are: that we have sins to be
taken away; that Jesus, the Lamb of God, alone takes them away; and
that He takes them away by way of His cross.
First, that we have sins to be taken away is
vigorously refuted and rejected by the world - those who do not believe
the Gospel about Jesus Christ. And it is a truth that even we
Christians often times have a hard time believing ourselves. And
though we do confess it, we’d really rather not hear about
it. The reason why this article of doctrine is so unacceptable to
us is that it is, on the one hand, decidedly bad news, while on the
hand it takes away any ability on our part to make ourselves better or
to earn our way into God’s favor. And since we according to
our sinful nature believe that there’s nothing wrong with
ourselves (only with someone else), we can’t possibly accept
God’s assessment of us which He gives us in His Word unless by
His Spirit He enlightens us and enables us to say of ourselves what He
says of us - things like, “All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God,” and “By nature we are dead in our trespasses
and sins and enemies of God,” and “There is no one
righteous, not even one.” We may try to temper this down a
bit by deceiving ourselves into thinking that there are certain sins we
haven’t committed yet, or that the sins that we have committed
aren’t the really big ones. But with John’s words,
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world,” we are given to see that our sins are so immense, so
complete, so full, that they’re all lumped together into one
singular entity before God called “the sin.”
And so, we must confess what God’s Word says
of us, that we are all guilty of the sin before God and are helpless to
change or save ourselves in this regard. To deny that you are a
sinner or to say that you’re somehow less of a sinner or to say
that you can somehow take away your own sins is to say that you
don’t need Jesus. If you don’t have the sin, then
don’t have the Savior; Jesus is not for you. But Jesus came
only for sinners, and He is the only One who can take away the sin of
sinners. This is another truth of God’s Word that is
vigorously opposed by the world today, and even some Christians have
fallen for the lie that Jesus is not the only Savior, that there are
others who will do the job too for those who believe in different
gods. Even President Bush recently spoke in error on this point
when he said that we’re all God’s children and that though
we have different faiths, we all have the same God. But this is
not what a person who calls himself a Christian should be saying,
because God in His Word, the Bible, does not say this. Instead,
He says things like, “There is no God besides me,” and
“All the gods of the nations are idols,” and “There
is salvation in no one else.” And Jesus Himself says,
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the
Father but by me.” But this is not what the world wants to
believe, and we should not let ourselves be deceived into thinking the
same thing the world does, that there are many ways to God, many
differing truths about God, or many other gods who might grant life and
salvation. Jesus, God’s Son, God in the flesh, stands alone
as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus alone is the Savior, because He alone was sent
by God to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The name “Lamb of God” reminds us of what God commanded the
Israelites to do on the night of the first Passover, the night when God
would punish the Egyptians for enslaving His people and go throughout
the land of Egypt, killing all their firstborn, from the highest to the
lowest. The Jews, however, would be spared this plague if they
took the blood of an unblemished male lamb and applied it to the
door-frames of their homes. Those who were inside the house where
the blood of the lamb had been applied would not die; God would pass
over that house and they would live.
The title “Lamb of God” also reminds us
of the animal sacrifices of the O.T. whose blood was spilled to atone
for the sins of the people. Concerning this the author of Hebrews
writes that under the Law almost everything was purified with blood and
that without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness of
sins. But the fact that the animal sacrifices continued day after
day and year after year shows that they never really took away the sin
of the people; in fact, they were annual reminders of sin. It
wasn’t the blood of a lamb that could take away the sin of the
world, but the blood of the Lamb of God alone that could take away the
sin of the world.
Jesus is that Lamb. His blood shed on the
cross has atoned for the sin of the world, and His blood applied to our
bodies through Baptism protects us from the wrath of God, so that
God’s judgment passes over us and we are spared. But here
again the world vigorously opposes this truth. “Why is God
so violent?” they ask. “Why does He require
blood? Is He blood-thirsty? And why does He do this to His
own Son? Couldn’t He have done it another way, a less
violent way? Why doesn’t He just forgive our sins and do
away with sin all together?” It’s as the Scriptures
say, The preaching of the cross of Christ is a stumbling block and
foolishness to the world; but to us who are called it is the power of
God for salvation to everyone who believes. The violence was done
by us. We are the murderers and the blood-thirsty who hate both
God and our fellow men in our hearts, and we manifest this hatred
daily, if not by our deeds, then in our thoughts and in our words, both
by what we do do and by what we don’t do that we should. To
let murderers simply go free would be unjust, and God is just.
And so we confess that we justly deserve God’s temporal and
eternal punishment for our sins. But if God were to pour out His
justice upon us, none of us would survive; we would be separated from
Him for all eternity under His wrath. So, God sent the world a
substitute - His Son - to stand in our place and receive the blow that
we deserve on account of our sin. That He did on the cross, where
God spent His wrath on Jesus, who willingly went to the cross for us to
take away our sin with the shedding of His blood, so that we might not
die but have eternal life.
And so, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, has taken
away your sin. Hear these words of absolution for yourself again
today. That Jesus has taken away your sin means that you now live
under God’s grace and mercy. God no longer sees your sins
with you; He sees them as having been taken away by Christ at His
cross. And since Jesus has taken them away, you may not have them
back. Some Christians like to hold onto certain sins, while
others feel that some of their sins have not been completely answered
for. Both opinions deny that Jesus has taken away all our sins
and paid for them in full with His blood. This sacrifice along
with its benefits He delivers to you in your Baptism and in the
Lord’s Supper. It was in your Baptism where you were
sprinkled with the blood that Jesus shed for you on the cross, so that
now, as the Apostle Paul writes, you stand before God holy, spotless,
pure, and blameless. And at the Lord’s Supper you eat and
drink the very body and blood that the Lamb of God gave and shed for
you on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. In this Supper
the gap of time is bridged and Christ’s sacrifice which took
place over 2,000 years ago on Calvary is brought to you today here and
now, as you join together in this foretaste of the feast to come in
heaven where you will behold Jesus face to face.
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world. As He comes to you today through His Word and
Sacraments with the salvation He won for you, let nothing hinder you
from seeing Him and taking hold of Him by faith. Behold Him in
your Baptism, behold Him in His Holy Supper, behold Him in His Word,
and behold Him in the proclamation I make to you today as an ambassador
of Christ: Your sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake.
Amen.