O LAMB OF GOD
SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON JANUARY 20th, 2008
John 1:29 "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!".
Today's Gospel is Saint John's version of the baptism of Jesus. Saint John's account is slightly different from the other three Gospels.
Firstly, it's not a description of what actually happened, but a recollection by John the Baptist of what transpired. Secondly, the dove appears as a sign of the Holy Spirit, but there is no voice from heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son". Instead John the Baptist says: "I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God". But what it really different in Saint John's account of the baptism is that John the Baptist says not just once, but twice: "Behold the Lamb of God".
Now this is an extraordinary thing to say. "Lamb of God" is a term used for the sacrificial lamb of the Old Covenant and recalls the Passover. The Lamb of God is the one who is offered to take away the sins of the world - and John says this about Jesus.
Here at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, John the Baptist declares the divine purpose and mission of the Christ. What, we might ask, moved him to say this? For the Christ was the longed-for Messiah who was to deliver Israel from Rome, and re-establish the kingdom of David. The Christ was not understood as the Lamb of God. That was a religious term with emphasis on oblation and sacrifice, and not delivery from oppression.
It was a term easily understood by those standing around, and must have been confusing. How could they reconcile their vision of the Messiah with this statement that this man was also the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world? We know that later on the Apostles would find it hard to reconcile Jesus' sacrifice of his life and his passion with his obvious vocation as the Christ. Yet despite all this, Saint John records that they followed him immediately on this day.
Some time later Peter would make that stunning declaration: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" - and then later he would have trouble coping with Jesus' passion and trial.
When Peter declared for the first time that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus replied: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you - but my Father in heaven". So we know that Peter came to understand Jesus was the Christ through divine revelation. That is, no doubt, how John the Baptist came to declare that Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
The astonishing thing about this whole thing is that is that it all occurs in the first chapter of Saint John's Gospel. In John 1:1-18 we have that wonderful prologue, in which he describes the Incarnation in these words: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us". Then we move immediately not to a narrative about the birth of Jesus - no stories of angels, shepherd and wise men - but a quantum leap to the man Jesus aged 30, and a declaration today that he is not only the Christ but the Lamb of God.
This introduction of the theme of sacrifice for sin so soon after the "Word made flesh" echoes that mysterious gift of myrrh at the Epiphany. When the wise men presented their gifts to the baby Jesus, the myrrh foreshadowed the death of Jesus as intrinsic in his vocation as Priest, Prophet and King. So even in Bethlehem we already have a hint that this is he who must sacrifice his life as the Lamb of God.
But it is more than just this - for what is happening is a declaration that the Incarnation is ultimately for our salvation. Some of you may remember the old Requiem Mass, with that long piece of prose before the Gospel called the "Dies Irae", which is set to beautiful music in Mozart's requiem. In this great piece of prose there is a section called the "Rex Tremendae". It has these words: "Think, kind Jesus, my salvation, caused thy wondrous Incarnation". Yes - it is our salvation which is the reason for the Incarnation.
Saint John, in his Gospel, wants us to understand that right from the beginning, the "Word made flesh" is the "Lamb of God" who will offer his flesh to take away the sins of the world.
In his Gospel, Saint John also wants us to understand that when John the Baptist points to Jesus and says: "Behold the Lamb of God" he is declaring that Jesus is the object of our faith.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, is
This would seem so obvious to us, that it hardly need stating. Except - for as long as I have been a Christian, there has been an influence of theologians, bishops, and other clergy, who see Jesus not as the object of faith, but as the example of faith. And there is quite a difference.
If Jesus is just the example of faith, worship focuses on how we can be like Jesus, or what we should be doing to follow his example, what sort of programs we should introduce to follow the example of Jesus. There is, of course, nothing wrong with this - except when Jesus is only an example of faith and not the object of faith. This emphasis leads to a Christianity focused on me and what I am to do. That, of course, is the curse of this age. We live in the "me" generation - it is all about our fulfillment, about what we are to do and receive.
This focus on me is a direct result in the Christian Church of Jesus being just the example of faith and not the object of faith. It is the biggest mistake that liberal theology has made in the Western Church. And it is enacted every Sunday in churches all over the English-speaking world - where what you will hear is an agenda or a program for changing the world - but not for changing ourselves.
Now of course social justice, peace and reconciliation, and human development are always the concerns of Christians, and we saw that in the life of Martin Luther King.
But the Lamb of God came to take away the sins of the world, and when we forget that we easily forget that we are the sinners. So what a blessing it is then that Lent is just over two weeks away!
At first the season of Lent looks dreary, woeful, almost depressing. On the contrary, Lent is that golden opportunity to once again face up to our lives, to address our priorities, our spiritual life, where we have gone amiss, and above all our complacency as Christians.
Lent is a time for us to remember that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and that sin does abound in our lives. So we have two weeks to think about a Lenten rule and what things we are going to do to draw closer to the Lamb of God.
Think about these things - and then enjoy two weeks of frivolity!