Epiphany 2

(NIV): 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).

At times outstanding people receive animal nicknames which describe their special characteristics. Here are some examples and a brief description of why they have that name.

Charles Lindbergh = The Lone Eagle = Solo pilot

Dennis Rodman = The Worm = wiggly rebounder

Erwin Rommel = The Desert Fox = sly General in North Africa

Lou Gehrig = The Iron Horse = consecutive game streak in baseball

Daryl Johnston = Moose = powerful fullback

William Cody = Buffalo Bill = shot bison

Jesus himself has several animal nicknames. “The Lion of Judah” is not as familiar. The most well-known has to be the one John the Baptist used to describe him and for this reason.

“Look, the Lamb of God!” Upon hearing these words, every devout Jew knew that they could refer only to the promised Messiah. For one thing, every sacrifice of a lamb, especially that of the Passover lamb, was a type, a direction sign, pointing forward to the coming Redeemer. For another, what could be plainer than the words of Isaiah 53:7: “led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth”? Made explicit in the picture of the patient suffering servant was the thought of substitution. He was to be the Lamb who sacrificed himself as the substitute for all sinners: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), and “He bore the sin of many” (Isaiah 53:12), which means: He suffered the penalty for sin in the place of all.

Jesus is “the Lamb of God,” John declared. God himself chose and ordained him to bring the sacrifice which would satisfy all his just demands on sinners. Jesus given into death for guilty men would be “God’s own sacrifice complete,” as the hymn (TLH 159) puts it. In the title, “the Lamb of God,” lies also the idea of sinlessness. As the Passover lamb had to be without a physical defect, so the Lamb of God was without any spot or blemish of sin.

The sacrifice of the divine, spotless Lamb would carry out God’s grand design: to remove or cancel the sins of all mankind. Jesus is the Lamb of God “who takes away the sin of the world.” The thought is that the Savior takes up the awesome load of the world’s sin and carries it away, out of God’s sight, so that it is never again remembered and charged against them. “The sin of the world” is most comforting. All the sins of every sinner, from Adam down to the last transgressor born before the Last Day—all are here taken together as one great mass. All this sin Jesus, as the Lamb of God, takes away with his one tremendous sacrifice. He takes it away, meaning that even then, shortly after his baptism, he was engaged in bearing the burden of the world’s sin. He would not lay it down again until he had put it out of the way by his spotless life and his innocent death.

God had commissioned John to baptize so that Jesus would be revealed to him as the Lamb of God. John testifies concerning this here. (NIV): 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

This convinced John as to who Jesus is. It probably had a profound impact on those who were eyewitnesses of the event as well. But how many people saw Jesus’ baptism? It probably wasn’t all that many.

How many people saw you baptized? Since most of us were baptized in a small congregation, it probably wasn’t all that many. And some who were there were so young that they could not remember it. Most likely my wife (who is just a little older than me) was at my baptism when I was an infant but because she was so young, she could not remember it. I myself do not remember it because I was just an infant. But I’m sure I was baptized because . . .

Well, there were no photos taken during the baptism . . . and no movie. Personally, I think it is a keepsake if such an event is recorded discreetly or in some cases reenacted. Some pastors still cringe at that because they think it detracts from the solemnity of the event. So how do I know I was baptized? My parents chose two witnesses who signed the certificate: My Aunt Arlene Christian and my mom’s first cousin Wayne Bobholz (after whom I received my middle name). They would at times remind me of my baptism.

Well, when Jesus was baptized and identified as the Messiah, John proclaimed it that day and would continue to announce who Jesus is after that. We have an example of that here.

(NIV): 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

The following day he could continue his testimony.

(NIV): 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

We know this because years later one of those two disciples (John) would write about it and that is where our text comes from.

Application: We do not have a photo or video of Jesus’ baptism and visual evidence that the Spirit of God came on him. What we do have are the eyewitness accounts and how people who learned about him would be instrumental in telling others. Through the Gospel, we have come to know about and believe in Jesus, the Lamb of God, who has taken away our sins. But not only our sins, but also the sins of the whole world. It is imperative that we who believe should be the ones to tell others about him. St. Paul challenges us in this way:

Romans 10:11–17 (NIV): 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Of course, we are discouraged to do this by those who do not accept the Good News. We are told that it is OK for us to believe what we do but we dare not share our beliefs with others because that is wrong. Coincidentally, when I began to write this sentence I was interrupted by the door bell. I hoped it was Fed Ex delivering a new dehumidifier. Instead it was two pleasent ladies who shared with me a pamphlet about their religious groups website and we had a pleasant religious discussion in which we both shared our beliefs even though they are not mutual. Thos ladies take seriously the command to witness to others what they believe.

Jesus would often spend large amounts of time teaching about the kingdom of God. Sometimes we know the content of that teaching such as in . Other times we are just told that he spent that time teaching such when he visited Mary and Martha and as here. (NIV): 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

Although we don’t know exactly what Jesus taught, we know it was convincing. As a result, Andrew was quick to invite his brother, Peter, to meet Jesus exclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah.

The Gospel of John. The Christology of John’s Gospel identifies Jesus as the divine logos, the self-revelation of the Father who brings eternal life to all who believe (John 1:1–18; 3:16; 7:41–43). Yet John by no means denies Jesus’ messianic identity or Jewish roots. Curiously, John is the only Gospel writer to use the Greek transliteration messias for the Hebrew mashiach (“Messiah”; 1:41; 4:24). He also demonstrates knowledge of Jewish traditions (John 2:6, 23; 6:4; 7:2, 37–39; 10:22; 19:14, 31) and Palestinian geography (John 4:3–5; 9:7; 10:23). While John’s Gospel was once viewed as the most Greek of the four Gospels, it is now sometimes called the most Jewish, with deep roots in the Old Testament and Judaism. For John, Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. But He is also the divine Son who was came to reveal the Father and to bring grace and truth to a lost world.

Several years ago Geico did a series of commercials which has the punch line “I have some good news . . . I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance.” What made the commercials funny was that this line was spoken in the most unrelated of circumstances. However, the spokesman was so thrilled, they just had to share it.

Well, we have some good news to share that is so much better than saving money no matter what it is on. It is the good news of Jesus. Sometimes we are well trained to share that good news. We may not agree with everything the JWs teach but we have to admit that they are well trained in what they do. In our congregations we can appreciate how well trained our pastors and teachers are trained to share the good news as well as Sunday school, Bible class teachers, evangelists, etc.

At other times we are more spontaneous in sharing the good news such as demonstrated by John’s disciples. We may not always be able to discuss the “whole counsel of God”, but we can invite others to come and see the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.

When John the Baptist shared the good news of Jesus, his teaching was more detailed than that of Andrews. When Andrew shared the good news we are only told that he told Peter “We have found the Messiah.” Our opportunities will differ and how much we say will vary. But the opportunities and the message is there for us to share. May we so rejoice in the good news so that we are motivated to tell others about Jesus too.