Sunday 01/15/23 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Exodus Lamb vs. The Lamb in John!”
Old Testament Scripture: Isaiah 49:1-7
New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel Lesson: John 1:29-42
So, I have always found it
funny when people refer to other people as animals. For example, my older
brother grabbed something off the stove that was too hot once, and juggled it around.
My late Grandpa Winkelman then said, “You look like a bear cub with a hot
biscuit!” I have heard people say, “I have been working like a dog!” I have
heard people say “she swims like a fish!”
Maybe you have made animal
references towards others, or maybe an animal reference or references have been
made about you. I remember one time I accidentally knocked a few things over in
the house, and I heard, “you’re like a bull in a China shop!” In looking back
in history, has there ever actually been an incident of an actual bull in
actual China shop?” I have no idea. As I am talking, think about some of the
animal references that you have given, or maybe have received. Maybe some were received
and given in laughter, and maybe others in offense. For example, I have been
told before when eating, “slow down you’re eating like pig!” I was told a
couple of times as a kid, “you have the reflexes of a cat!”
Using animal references
towards people is nothing new, and they are something, as I said that we have
probably given and received more than once in our lives. When looking at
scripture, for example, Jesus says of King Herod in Luke 13:32:
32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work (Lk. 13:32, NRSV).
In calling King
Herod, a “fox,” Jesus was saying that Herod was sly and cunning, which are attributes
often attributed to foxes. With this introduction and examples of giving humans
animal names or attributes, this morning in our gospel of John reading, John
the Baptist calls Jesus a “lamb” twice in the reading. John the Baptist doesn’t
call Jesus a frog, or a Rhinoceros, or Panda Bear, but he calls him a “lamb”.
In my experience,
if someone calls someone a lamb, they are saying that the person is kind, gentle,
innocent, caring, and unassuming. It is as if a lamb is an animal, seen the
bible anyway, that is pure, innocent, and harmless. In fact, in the Old Testament
Book of Exodus, when Moses was trying to get Pharoah to let the Jewish people go
from Egyptian slavery, Pharoah refused. After plague and after plague, finally
this culminated with the first Passover. This first Passover, which is still a
Jewish holiday today involved, you guessed it, lambs.
In looking at
the Book of Exodus 12:3-7 it says of this first Passover:
3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it (Ex. 12:3-7, NRSV).
A pure and a
spotless lamb, as a sacrifice on that first Passover in Egypt, when the Jews
were trying to flee Egyptian slavery, and depart through the Red Sea. On that
night, any household that was not marked on there doorposts and lintels with
the blood of lamb, would suffer the death of there firstborn child. The blood
of the sacrificial lamb saved the Jews. Since there homes were marked with the
blood of the lamb, there first-born child did not die that night.
It is very
interesting this morning then, that in our Gospel of John 1:29-42 reading that
John the Baptist calls Jesus the “Lamb of God.” He calls him this, once again,
not once, but twice. Is John the Baptist comparing Jesus Christ to the Passover
over lamb that saved the first-born children of the Jews on that first Passover
in Egypt? I would have to think so. Why else would John the Baptist call Jesus
the “Lamb of God?” I am sure that every Jew that heard John the Baptist call
Jesus the “Lamb of God,” knew right away that John the Baptist was saying that
Jesus was like the pure, unblemished, and spotless lamb of the that first Jewish
Passover in Egypt.
Looking at the
Book of Exodus a little further, it says in 12:13 of the Passover lamb:
13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt (Ex. 12:13, NRSV).
The blood of the Passover Lamb spared
the first-born children of the Jews from death in Egypt, and yet this morning
John the Baptist call Jesus the “Lamb of God.” So, what then did John the Baptist
mean by this? Did he mean they were to kill Jesus and spread Jesus’ blood on
there doorposts and lintels? No, not at all. John the Baptist was saying that
the blood of a pure, spotless, and innocent lamb saved the Jews for a night on
that first Passover, but this lamb, Jesus Christ will save you for eternity.
For when Christ dies on the cross, his blood will cover the doorpost and
lintels of your hearts. In doing so, in we repent of our sin, and turn to
Christ, death with pass us over, not just for a night, but for eternity.
This morning, John the Baptist is
saying that Jesus Christ is the new Passover Lamb. He is saying that Jesus
Christ will be the blood sacrifice, not just for a night, but for eternity.
There is a great Christian song called, “Worthy Is the Lamb.” In the song it
says, “Worthy Is the Lamb that was slain.” The claim that John the Baptist is
making in our gospel of John reading, once again, is that Jesus is the new
Passover, the “Paschal Lamb” as the sacrificed lambs were called on that first
Jewish Passover in Egypt.
Some of you have maybe seen stained
glass windows in churches or paintings that show a lamb with a Christian flag on
a pole behind it. This is the “Lamb of God,” the “Paschal Lamb,” the one who died
for the sins of the world.
In our reading this morning from
Isaiah 49:6b:
“I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:6b, NRSV).
Christ’s shed
blood on the cross, the blood of the lamb, offers salvation to the whole world.
In fact, in our reading from 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 for this morning, the Apostle
Paul says in 1:2
2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: (1 Cor. 1:2, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul says that we are “sanctified
in Christ Jesus.” Yet what sanctifies us? The blood of Christ, the blood the
lamb, is what makes us clean and worthy. Jesus, the “Lamb of God,” the new
Paschal or Passover Lamb, who’s blood cover the doors and lintels of our hearts
and souls. The blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ that will save us not for a
night, but for eternity.
In looking at our Gospel of John
reading for this morning, once again, is says starting in John 1:29, with John
the Baptist speaking:
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward
him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of
whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before
me.’ 31 I
myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that
he might be revealed to Israel” (Jn. 1:29-31, NRSV).
John
the Baptist is announcing that Jesus will be the sacrificial lamb, and this his
blood will save the world. His blood won’t save us just for a night, but for
eternity. John the Baptist then says he baptized Jesus, and in doing so, Jesus
began his ministry to the world. At this point, Jesus came forth as the Messiah,
the savior, the new Passover Lamb.
In continuing on in our gospel of John reading for this morning, John the Baptist, once again speaks of what happened when baptized Jesus. John to Baptist said starting 1:32
32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit
descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did
not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on
whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the
Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that
this is the Chosen One”
(Jn. 1:32-34, NRSV).
John
the Baptist is saying that this Jesus is truly the savior of the world, the son
of God, and Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Jesus was
baptized, and God the Father spoke, as the Holy Spirit descended. Then the
Gospel of John continues with John the Baptist speaking again, picking up at
John 1:35:
35 The next day John again was standing with
two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed,
“Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they
followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he
said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which
translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to
them, “Come and see” (Jn.
1:35-39, NRSV).
John
the Baptist again exclaimed that Jesus is the “Lamb of God.” As a result of this
two people began following Jesus. These
two disciples then followed Jesus to where he weas staying, and they stayed
with him that day. In fact, as our gospel of John reading for this morning,
ends once again saying in 1:40-42:
40 One of the two who heard John speak and
followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found
his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is
translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon
to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are
to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter) (Jn. 1:40-42, NRSV).
Today,
Jesus calls the first of his twelve disciples, and John the Baptist proclaims
that new Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ is among us. Jesus will go on to love,
heal, and forgive, and on the cross the blood of new Passover Lamb will cover
the doors and lintels of our hearts and or souls, not just for a night, but for
all eternity.
In
fact, in the Book of Revelation 5:11-12 it says:
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev. 5:11-12, NRSV).
This morning John the Baptist says Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” the new Passover
Lamb, and this is how the lamb in the Book of Exodus compares to the Lamb of God in
the Gospel of John. Amen.
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