011820 – Jn. 1.29-42
Dogs and cats and rabbits (Oh MY!)
I want to talk with you about “the Lamb of God.”
It is still an animal, right…NO!
Wait a minute…the “Lamb of God” IS NOT an animal at all.
It is a PERSON.
A human being…MORE than a human being…a man who walked upon the face of the earth…a man who lived his life consciously “for others…”
“Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi” –
“Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
In Latin or in English, the words are MORE than EXQUISITE….they are BEAUTIFUL and CHOCKED full of MEANING.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi…
In the PRIME of his life…with everything GOING for himself, there is this guy who goes against the grain to EMBRACE the “unthinkable.”
A life LIVED for OTHERS.
ALL OTHERS.
LITERALLY, ALL people everywhere!
WITHOUT exception.
ALL INCLUSIVE. Just what was he thinking?
We are WIRED each and every one of us, from HEAD TO TOE – with all kinds of “SELF-PRESERVATION INSTINCTS” and HE chooses the path FAR less traveled.
HE chose the path that leads to SERVANT-hood…SELF-sacrifice and to an AGONIZING HORRIFIC death.
IMAGINE being “willing” to lay down your life for “unknown others” we’re not talking about family and loved one’s or friends or for your nation but literally people that are totally and completely unknown to you. For the world…To do that willing, freely, without hesitation…
To “lay down your life” for the SIN of others…
Who does this?
WHO chooses a life of SELF-sacrifice?
The Baptizer, called “John son of Zechariah,” was walking with some of his disciples when he saw this guy coming in his direction. “Look, here is the Lamb of God,” he exclaimed.
It was a well enough known reference. Almost all scholars say that the “Lamb of God” reference is the “suffering servant” of Isaiah…“like a sheep that is led to slaughter and “a lamb” quiet before its shearers.”
The Lamb of God – Agnus Dei
Not once, but twice, John uses this hash-tag##
And as a result, his OWN DISCIPLES ABANDON HIM still mid- sentence and FOLLOW the man he singled out…with the hash tag.
I would imagine, “poor John” was left with his mouth still ajar…where did “they GO,” what are “they” doing NOW?
WELL, would you look at THAT, “they” are NOW following HIM!
JOHN’S reference WAS clear. It took on messianic overtones. The Messiah, the long awaited for ONE. “The Anointed One of God.”
Or in the Greek, THE CHRIST!
Powerful! Meaningful!
Explosive terms.
But there is another association still possible, EQUALLY WELL KNOWN and that would be “the PASCHAL LAMB.”
THE PASCHAL LAMB was the sacrifice MANDATED by the TORAH at each and every PASSOVER CELEBRATION.
This Rabbi from Galilee will later be CONDEMNED to death at noon on the day before the PASSOVER the EXACT same time that the lambs were being slaughtered for that celebration in the Temple MOUNT region…
At PASSOVER a hyssop branch was also MANDATED to be used to sprinkle the blood of the SACRIFICIAL LAMB on the door posts of the house so that the ANGEL of DEATH might PASSOVER. AND, as the RABBI from Galilee was being CRUCIFIED on the cross a SPONGE was placed on a hyssop branch soaked in cheap vinegar and “lifted up” for him to drink.
AGAIN, the tie – in to the “Paschal Lamb.”
So it was, from John’s mouth to his disciples ears…and just like that they disappeared and followed him NO MORE…
Instead, they followed the “NEW KID ON THE BLOCK” this one who was referred to as – being the “LAMB OF GOD!”
So, it was believed BY SOME that the Messiah would serve as a “sacrificial lamb” provided for by God himself. As God’s sacrificial lamb the Messiah would take away SIN and he would remove it by vicariously bearing it HIMSELF!
This was just another one of God’s plans for SALVATION of the entire world…Not just Israel. Not just the Jews.
But for the whole world…for ALL people.
This was the good news that the Messiah would deliver…salvation was meant for EVERYONE. Amen.