Some
of the most confusing parts of the Bible are the Old Testament stories of the
sacrifices that were made by the Hebrew people.
Yes, the Old Testament stories of sacrificing lambs, bulls, and so forth
have often caused modern readers to scratch their head and frankly obtain a
squeamish stomach. As a result, these
sacrifices and the stories that surround the sacrifices, can at times, be
diminished as things that are irrelevant for a sophisticated
twenty-first-century. Indeed, these
sacrificial stories are often diminished because of their so-called irrelevance
and they are often suppressed because they are deemed as detrimental to
evangelism; what would a person who is considering Christianity for the first
time think about this subject? With all
that said, let us not be too quick to dismiss these Old Testament sacrifices
and catalog them underneath the title of ‘irrelevant,’ for they are not
irrelevant, but extremely important for us to understand in regard to our
salvation; salvation, may I remind you, that was bought for us at the price of
blood, blood of a Lamb. Therefore, let
us take a moment to consider several of the sacrifices in the Old
Testament!
Probably
one of the most unsettling stories in the Old Testament is the story of Abraham
being called to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Abraham’s faith was tested in such a way that we can barely
comprehend. God said, “take now your
son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and
offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall
tell you.” However, as is told in this
story, right before Abraham was going to bring his knife down upon his son, the
angel of the Lord called out to Abraham to stop and then provided a ram, a male
sheep, to take the place of Isaac as the burnt offering. Yes, God provided the sacrifice for Abraham
and Isaac.
We
are further impacted by the story of sacrifices when we consider the story of
the plagues that came against the nation of Egypt in the book of Exodus. If you can recall, the Hebrew people were in
slavery in Egypt and through Moses, God was bringing down plague after plague
upon Egypt. These plagues were directed
at the Egyptian gods in order to mock these weak and imposturous gods, as well
as implemented to ‘break’ the Egyptians and allow freedom to the Hebrew
people. More specifically, during the
last plague, the Lord promised that death would strike all firstborns in the
land; He would come to destroy by bringing forth death. However, the Lord also granted a solution, an
antidote if you will. He called the
people to choose a Lamb without blemish, kill it, and then place the blood of
the lamb over the door posts. Thus, the
shed blood of an innocent lamb without blemish would be a sign to the Lord and
death would pass over the household, as they ate a meal together. Yes, the blood would prevent death from
striking.
Probably
the most interesting of all the sacrificial stories in the Old Testament has to
be the sacrificial system laid forth in the book of Leviticus. In Leviticus, the people are instructed to
take lambs and bulls, lay their hands upon these animals, confess their sins
upon the animal, and then kill the animals in their place. Consequently, the blood of the animals was
then placed on what is called the mercy seat.
The mercy seat was placed on the top of the arc of the covenant. Inside the arc of the covenant were the Ten
Commandments. Above the Mercy Seat God
would meet the people. Therefore, the
blood of an innocent animal was placed over the Ten Commandments and beneath
God; the blood made payment on behalf of the people who broke the Ten
Commandments and a Holy and Just God.
Now,
you may be wondering why this is important for us to consider and why it is
extremely relevant to each and every one of you. It is extremely important for us to consider
because of what John the Baptist says about Jesus in our Gospel reading from
today. In our Gospel reading, John says,
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Did you hear that? Jesus is the Lamb of God. He is God’s Lamb! Considering the whole context of the Old
Testament sacrifices that we just covered, there is no doubt that John sees
Jesus as the culmination of this whole sacrificial system. Yes, the whole sacrificial system is a shadow
of Jesus. The Old Testament lambs, the
sacrifices, the shed blood, and so forth are echoes or waves in the Old
Testament of Jesus who broke into time and history in the first-century. Seeing
what we know from the Old Testament it is no wonder why John says to his two
disciples to behold.
The
word ‘behold’ that John uses is in the imperative mood. In other words, John is saying with a great
deal of force for his disciples to “LOOK!”
Yes, look, it is the Lamb of God.
They are to perceive, see, comprehend, and know that Jesus is the Lamb
of God. John
is saying, “look here; I want to show you something!”
As
we read this passage we too are captured by this imperative, especially during
this Epiphany season! BEHOLD Jesus is
the Lamb of God.
At
this time, do you get it? Do you see
it? Behold, Jesus is the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world! Yes,
as God provided a male lamb to take the spot of Isaac on Mt. Moriah, God also
provides a Lamb for you, a Lamb to be sacrificed in your place on Mt. Calvary! Look here! Just as the blood of the Lamb
covered the door posts in Egypt so that death would pass over the Hebrews, the
blood of Christ was shed for you and covers your lips and mouths as you partake
not of the Passover but of the Lord’s Supper. This is so that death passes over
you. Yes, eternal death has no power
over you, for you have received the body and blood of the Lamb that was shed
for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Behold! Just as sins were confessed upon the animals
in Leviticus and as these animals were slaughtered in the place of the people
of Israel, Christ bore your sin as His own, was slaughtered in your place, and
His blood makes payment for you. Yes, His
blood stands between your violation of the 10 Commandments and a Holy God as a
sufficient payment.
My friends, contemplating that Jesus is the Lamb of God
is not just a theoretical exercise. In
other words, all this talk of sacrifices is not for the sake of a history
lesson. Rather, we must keep in mind that Christ’s sacrifice is something that
happened in a real place, in real time, and for real people… people like
you. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world! Yes, Jesus was sacrificed for you, to take away
your sins. This is huge!
The objective reality of Jesus is that He gathered the stench of sin into one disgusting mass of evil. This includes “all the wars and murders and rapes and thefts. It includes all the sinful thoughts, words, and deeds that anyone at any time has ever had. It includes the sinful nature that we were born with. It includes all our gossip, complaints, grumbling and worry. It includes every lie we have ever told to our parents, our teachers, our spouses, our children, our pastors, ourselves, yes, even the lies we have told to God. It includes the thoughts we had as our eyes lingered a little too long on that member of the opposite sex. It includes everything putrid and vile that you, I, or anyone else has ever thought, done, or said that flew in the face of God’s holy law and earns us eternal damnation. ”[1] Yes, Jesus gathered this disgusting mass of evil; He gathered it together so that He could take it away from you. He took it away from you so that He could take it upon Himself. Yes, He lifted it off of our records; took it away from us to the Cross. At the Cross, God’s Lamb was sacrificed, not you. There at the Cross, Jesus provided Himself as a sacrifice for you. There at the Cross, Jesus consumed your sin, drank your cup of suffering, and bled to cleanse you. There at the Cross, the one act of Jesus removed for all time the damning power of your sin. At the Cross this happened because Jesus is God’s Lamb, a Lamb given and sacrificed for you.
The objective reality of Jesus is that He gathered the stench of sin into one disgusting mass of evil. This includes “all the wars and murders and rapes and thefts. It includes all the sinful thoughts, words, and deeds that anyone at any time has ever had. It includes the sinful nature that we were born with. It includes all our gossip, complaints, grumbling and worry. It includes every lie we have ever told to our parents, our teachers, our spouses, our children, our pastors, ourselves, yes, even the lies we have told to God. It includes the thoughts we had as our eyes lingered a little too long on that member of the opposite sex. It includes everything putrid and vile that you, I, or anyone else has ever thought, done, or said that flew in the face of God’s holy law and earns us eternal damnation. ”[1] Yes, Jesus gathered this disgusting mass of evil; He gathered it together so that He could take it away from you. He took it away from you so that He could take it upon Himself. Yes, He lifted it off of our records; took it away from us to the Cross. At the Cross, God’s Lamb was sacrificed, not you. There at the Cross, Jesus provided Himself as a sacrifice for you. There at the Cross, Jesus consumed your sin, drank your cup of suffering, and bled to cleanse you. There at the Cross, the one act of Jesus removed for all time the damning power of your sin. At the Cross this happened because Jesus is God’s Lamb, a Lamb given and sacrificed for you.
Behold, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world. He is your Lamb.
May
the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] James T. Batchelor, Second
Sunday after the Epiphany Sermon (www.pericope.com, Accessed January 18, 2014)
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