Saturday, February 11th, 2017
The Lamb of God
"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
Have you ever had an epiphany?
What is an epiphany? The dictionary defines it as a sudden, intuitive perception or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
This is why we call this time of year Epiphany, because we study and celebrate the simple occurrences that revealed the reality of Jesus: that he is God.
This week we focus on John the Baptist, and the testimony he provided concerning Jesus.
It had only been the day before that Pharisees had sent some priests and levites to confront John. "What's the deal here," they wanted to know. "Are you the messiah, or maybe you think you're Elijah, what with the way you're eating locusts and honey, wearing camel hair clothing... are you some kind prophet? Tell us about yourself." That was yesterday.
He had told them he was NOT the messiah, that someone else was coming, who was much more worthy.
So imagine his surprise when he was standing there, chatting with his disciples, and Jesus himself starts walking toward him. And in typical John fashion, his response was a little unusual. ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is who I was talking about yesterday!’
The lamb of God! Any good Jew would connect these words to the stories of Abraham and Isaac. Those words would remind anybody of that first substitutionary sacrifice when God provided the very thing he required! What a strange name to give someone.
John's students turned and looked at Jesus. What was going through their heads? "What lamb? This guy?" I can see Jesus smiling back at them, maybe a twinkle of humour in his eyes.
John continued, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. Just like I was told by God himself, this was the sign that Jesus was the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
If you were John's disciple, it would be tempting to transfer your credits, wouldn't it? I mean, your own teacher is in awe of this guy! John baptizes with water, but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit!
The next day it happens all over again! John's standing with two of his disciples - Andrew, and likely John the Evangelist (we don't know that for sure) - and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’
Again, the "lamb of God!"
So they decided then and there, "that's it, we're following this guy." I love how the scripture describes that encounter:
Jesus turns around, and there are these two guys following him. "Can I help you?" he says, (my paraphrase). You looking for something?"
The men answered, "We're wondering where you live?"
"Come and see." he answered.
So they went and checked out his apartment, and hung out with Jesus until 4 p.m! Then the one named Andrew, in his excitement, went and found his brother Simon, "I've found the messiah! Come and see!"
It starts as such a commonplace story. Some intrigue, curiosity, friends getting to know each other, hanging out. And yet just below the surface is this foreshadowing. The lamb of God! Back in Egypt the lamb's blood painted on the frame of the door kept the spirit of God from destroying the first born within. And here we have the lamb of God himself, whose blood would also protect us from destruction.
So this is the epiphany! The revealing of the true nature of Jesus - he is the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
Have mercy on us.
Steadfast God,
you have enriched and enlightened us
by the revelation of your eternal Christ.
Comfort us in our mortality
and strengthen us
to walk the path of your desire,
so that by word and deed we may manifest
the gracious news of your faithfulness and love.
Amen.
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