A Name that Foretold the Future

Nicknames are (usually) fun.

How many of you grew up with nicknames? Some of these were favorites.

Ace – A name for someone who excels in a particular field or sport.

Blaze – A nickname for someone who is passionate, fiery, and intense.

Bolt – A name for someone who is fast or quick-witted.

Boss – A nickname for someone who is a natural leader.

Buzz – A nickname for someone who is energetic and always on the go.

My dad had a friend named Lawson. Everyone knew him as Ug, Rabbit, Patch or Greasy. Same guy.

A nickname is defined as “...a familiar or humorous name given to a person or thing instead of or as well as the real name.” Nicknames are special. Some are humorous. Others are critical. And I’ve heard some nicknames thrown around here. I’ll leave them out of this sermon.

Far from being a nickname, John saw Jesus and called him something that should gain our attention. “The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” What could this mean?

Meet “John the Baptist.”

John the Baptist, was a special individual. He was the last in a long line of prophets that foretold the coming of the Christ. In John 1:6-8 , we have a preview of the life and ministry of John the Baptist. It says:

John 1:6–8 ESV

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

John was unusual. His peers may have been repelled by his appearance or diet. He wore a strange wardrobe of camel’s hair and ate a simple diet of locusts and wild honey. He was a Nazarite: one that took a vow to be ever set apart for service unto God.

John realized that he was the one that fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy listed in Isaiah 40:3

Isaiah 40:3 ESV

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

And his sermons were not meant to make friends. Rather, he called the people to repentance in anticipation of the coming of the Christ. One of his messages is given to us in Matthew 3:7-12. Here, he spoke to the religious leaders of the day...

Matthew 3:7–12 (ESV)

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

And about Jesus, he said...

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

This was not a feel good sermon! And some that I preach are not “feel good” sermons. But you must let the word convict, mold and shape you. It is necessary for your growth as a Christian.

At some point, John is met by Jesus and the latter asks to be baptized. John was reluctant to do this, but Jesus insisted in order that righteousness would be fulfilled. Jesus was baptized for a different reason that you and I were. He did so to begin his ministry and to identify with us. We do it as a symbol of our need for spiritual and moral cleansing.

John recounted the event in our passage today.

John 1:29–34 ESV

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, 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 before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John is recalling what we read in the other gospels regarding Jesus’ baptism. Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10 and Luke 3:22 all testify to the dove coming and resting on Jesus and God’s voice designating Jesus as the beloved Son. All three indicators: the voice, the dove and Jesus, teach us that the Trinity is a real presentation of our glorious God: Three in one!

What’s in a name?

John testified a day or so later, having seen Jesus. He said it again, so that it would not get lost. John 1:36 “...and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”” What does this name mean?

D.A. Carson reports that John, “…probably had in mind the apocalyptic lamb, the warrior lamb, found in some Jewish texts (1 Enoch 90:9-12; Testament of Joseph 19:8; Testament of Benjamin 3:8) and picked up in the Apocalypse (Carson, 158).

It is interesting that only in John’s Gospel and in Revelation that Jesus is called the “lamb of God.” In fact, it is said there are 28 places in Revelation alone, like Revelation 7:17

“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.””

And Revelation 21:22-23

Revelation 21:22–23 ESV

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The fact that John called Jesus: “The lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world,” should not be lost on us either. It has reference to the Day of Atonement, when the priest would pray and lay hands on a goat and send him off into the wilderness, and with it, the year’s worth of sins committed by God’s people.

Jesus, in comparison, took our sin away, but it cost Him His life. David Ellis states that there are two Old Testament references or visions here, that of the Paschal lamb in Exodus 12 and the Lamb that bears away Israel’s sin in Leviticus 16:21-22 .

Leviticus 16:21–22 (ESV)

21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

“The atonement, ...takes place for all the transgressions of the congregation since the last Day of Atonement In this way Delitzsch has correctly called the Day of Atonement ‘the Good Friday of the Old Testament.’ (On this day), how deeply the consciousness of sin must have been awakened, ...even the high priest himself stood before God as a sinner (vs 6, 11 ff). On this day, ...he does not wear the insignia of his high-priestly office, but wears white garments, which in their simplicity correspond to the earnestness of the situation.” (The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1–5, “The Significance for Israel”)

Note the result of Jesus’ sacrifice.

The Effect of Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Note: Jesus does not bear the sins of Israel only (like the goat/lamb) but of the whole world. Here, we are to understand world as all people without distinction (as to race, language, background or gender); not all people without exception, which would be universalism, something the Bible DOES NOT teach.

Here, we see the expansion of the gospel implied. Furthermore, it is only in John’s gospel and the book of Revelation that Jesus is referred to as “the Lamb of God.” That is significant, for in Revelation, ultimate victory is implied over sin, death and God’s enemies.

An Illustration that goes with this is given to us in Dr. Drake’s book Making Sense of the Bible. You can purchase a copy in our church office.

“A boy and his father were walking through a Kansas wheat field. On every side, wheat stretched out as far as the eye could see.

After the two had walked for a little while, the boy saw smoke in front of him, indicating that a fire was burning up ahead and moving toward him and his father.

The fire grew and seemed to be advancing at an alarming rate. The boy knew that he could not outrun the windswept flames.

With the flames and smoke approaching rapidly, the boy began to panic. His father, however, remained calm as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of matches. Lighting a match, the man dropped it into the wheat behind him and his son. Soon, the second fire began moving away from the boy and his dad, burning a patch of ground behind them.

Just before the large fire reached the boy and his father, they stepped backward onto the ground where the second fire had already been. This ground was safe from the wrath of the advancing fire because the wheat that would have burned had already been consumed by the fire the father had set.

In a sense, Christ’s work of atonement is like this. The fire of God’s wrath has been poured out on the world and threatens to burn up everything in its path. But the death of Jesus Christ fully satisfied the wrath of God, and as we stand on Christ’s finished work, we need not fear the coming wrath (Williams, Making Sense of the Bible, 119-120).”

I remember talking with an elderly church member who was dying a number of years ago. He said: “Pastor David, I don’t think I want to be here much longer.” He was depressed and disgusted at the level of sin in the world and decided that leaving this world to be with Jesus was his preference. But Jesus’ name “the lamb of God” is a source of comfort and hope as we live in such a world.

Note the effect of Jesus’ name.

Watch what happens after John states Jesus’ name.

John 1:35–42 (ESV)

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

At this, Andrew stopped following John and started following Jesus. From there, Andrew told his brother, Peter, “I have found the Messiah.” Peter then also joined in following Jesus.

We are not to feel sorry for John. His work was wrapping up. This was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. And the future church needed these men, that would become its teachers, preachers and apostles.

What caused Andrew to stop following John and start following Jesus? Could it be the strange moniker: “Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”?

Well our passage teaches us much. But let us consider the following three applications.

You cannot come into contact with Jesus, the Lamb of God, without being changed. You cannot remain the same. Baptism implies change. And being a Christian means you are not as you once were.

Jesus invokes discipleship. Your growth means that you’re leaving the old way of life and becoming new. You’re going from Simon to Cephas. You’re going from Saul to Paul. You are constantly changing, constantly growing, and becoming closer to Christ.

Worship and gratitude are fitting as you look to Jesus, your lamb that takes away your sin. He is God’s loving provision for you. And He was willing to be your sacrificial lamb. The manger points to the cross.

Conclusion

On October 7, 1857, C. H. Spurgeon preached to his largest audience ever, some 23, 654 assembled in the mammoth Crystal Palace for a national day of fasting and prayer. A few days before the event Spurgeon had gone to the huge hall to test the acoustics. Stepping into the pulpit, he lifted up his voice like a silver trumpet and proclaimed:

"Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Then Spurgeon repeated the one verse again: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Satisfied with the acoustics, he left and went his way.

Unknown to him, there were two men working in the rafters of that large auditorium, neither one Christians. One of the men was pricked in his conscience by the verse Spurgeon quoted and became a believer later that day! Such is the penetrating power of God's eternal word! Little wonder that Paul is so insistent on our "preaching the Word."