Behold, the Lamb of God! (John 1:29-37 ~ Part 2) Introduction To help us further understand the powerful imagery of the Lamb of God, we need to examine a provocative narrative from the book of Genesis, chapter 22. In this chapter we find the story of God calling Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Isaac was Abraham and Sarah s long-awaited son, the son of promise (see Gen.17:15-21; 18:9-15; 21:1-7). In addition, Isaac was the one and only son of Isaac and Sarah, and the father of Jacob and Esau. Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. Isaac was the first offspring according to the covenant God made to Abraham to make him a great nation, and consequently Isaac became another great patriarch of Israel. Gen 22:1 ~ After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here am I. At the outset of this story, the narrator informs us that God was testing Abraham s faith, presumably never going to allow him to kill his son. The word tested means to test or try. This cannot mean that God tempted Abraham to sin, for we know that God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one (Jms.1:13). Thus, this test refers more to the fact that God was examining Abraham s own heart testing his willingness to obey for Abraham s sake, not for God s knowledge or learning. Gen 22:2-5 ~ He said, Take 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. 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. Notice that Abraham was intending to return back to the servants with Isaac stay here I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again (vs.5) although some have suggested that Abraham was telling yet another half-truth (as he has been known to do (cf. Gen.12:10-20; 20:1-13). We know from the book of Hebrews, however, that Abraham believed God was able even to raise him from the dead (Heb.11:19). Therefore, it would seem that Abraham believed that he would indeed kill his son Isaac, but that God would raise Isaac from the dead and Abraham and Isaac would return together. While undoubtedly an agonizing decision, it is important to note Abraham s unconditional resolve to obey God. There is much debate among biblical scholars as to the location of Moriah (which means God provides or chosen by God (Jehovah/Yahweh). Moriah is traditionally associated with Jerusalem, and it is believed to be the site where God appeared to David and where David consequently built an altar to God (2Sam.24:16-24). This is yet another vivid picture of sacrificial worship, in which David said, I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing (2Sam.24:24). In addition, it is believed to be the location where Solomon built the temple for the Lord (see 2Chron.3:1). Gen 22:6-8 ~ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, My father! And he said, Here am I, my son. He said, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went both of them together. While we cannot be adamant concerning Isaac s age, it seems clear in the context that Isaac was neither a baby nor a young child. Most scholars place Isaac in his teens at this time, and Josephus (the Jewish historian) recorded that he was twenty-five. He is obviously old enough to walk, to carry wood, to talk
with his father and to process the necessary inventory for a burnt offering and to notice that they are missing the most important item a lamb. In all of this, it seems as though Isaac was submissive to his earthly father as Abraham was to God, his heavenly Father [note: if Isaac was 20, Abraham was 120 and seemingly unable to physically force Isaac onto the altar]. Both Abraham and Isaac were both trusting God through this incredibly trying experience. Apparently, believing that God will provide (vs.8) was sufficient for both Abraham and Isaac. God will provide for himself the lamb (ESV) or God himself will provide the lamb (NIV). The Hebrew word provide specifically means to see, observe or perceive, which could indicate that Abraham was speaking ironically in that God would observe this sacrifice as sacrificial lamb, but it seems more likely that Abraham was stating that God would, in English vernacular, see to it (provision, provide) that there was a lamb to be sacrificed. Gen 22:9-10 ~ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. The narrator intentionally slows down the story at this point, using seven verbs in two sentences. This serves as a frame-by-frame account of Abraham s actions, involving the reader in every specific step of Abraham s process of preparing to sacrifice his son. With each heart-wrenching and pain-staking step, Abraham built an altar, prepared the wood, bound Isaac, and presumably raised a knife over the body of his only son. For us as readers, verse 11 cannot come fast enough! Gen 22:11-12 ~ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here am I. 12 He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. Some commentators believe that the phrase the angel of the Lord is a title given for a vision of the pre-incarnate Christ (as sometimes it is indistinguishable from the Lord Himself (i.e., a theophany or Christophany). Gen 22:13-14 ~ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, The Lord will provide ; as it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. This is the climax of the story, as the Lord indeed provided a sacrifice [ Moriah (vs.2), God will provide (vs.8), and the Lord will provide and it shall be provide (vs.14)]. After seeing the ram the Lord provided Abraham put away his knife, unbound his son, and sacrificed the ram as a burnt offering unto the Lord. What a worship service this must have been an indescribable time between father and son! Surely they would never forget this moment, and they would never again be the same. Abraham called this place, The Lord will provide (vs.14; transliterated: Jehovah-Jireh ) which means The Lord provides or YHWH sees. This would serve as a vivid reminder to Israel that God is sovereign, and a dramatic illustration foreshadowing the reality that God would provide a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. As the first image in Scripture of a lamb being used as a substitutionary sacrifice, this certainly gave the Jews an unforgettable illustration of substitutionary atonement that God provided through the lamb for Abraham and Isaac (Gen.22:13, instead of his son ), and that He would later provide for all believers in the crucifixion of His one and only Son Jesus Christ (Is.53:4-6; Jn.1:29; 2Cor.5:21). Gen 22:2 ~ Take your son, your only son whom you love (Gen.22:2) John 3:16 ~ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn.1:14)
This story (and the story we saw last week of the Passover in Exodus 12) was etched in the brain of the first century Jew. With this narrative as a backdrop, the Jews heard (thousands of years later), John the Baptist announce: 29 "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 "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." 36 "Behold, the Lamb of God!" As we look at the Gospel of John (1:29-37), we discover two great titles of Jesus Christ as John the Baptist announced Him to the world: the Lamb of God, and the Son of God. A. The Lamb of God (vs.29-31, 35-37) For the first century Jew, the image of the sacrificial lamb was vivid and sacred; gory and yet glorious. Jesus knew that He was the Lamb of God, the One who would take away the sins of the world. 1. His submissiveness meekness and obedience With meekness and gentleness, out of obedience to and love for His Father, Jesus went to the cross willingly. He did not revile retaliate against those who blasphemed Him, He did not attempt to be acquitted, nor did He use His powers to escape the cross. He was like a lamb led to the slaughter. 2. His sinlessness perfection and righteousness Jesus is the pure, spotless lamb in that He is perfectly and eternally sinless. Old Testament sacrifices were a constant and vivid reminder of our sin before God and our need for God s forgiveness. Jesus is the only sinless human, and therefore our one and only Savior. 3. His sacrifice substitutionary death and atonement The imagery of Jesus as the Lamb of God includes the gory and graphic details of His sacrifice the unimaginable suffering He endured as He was brutally tortured and mercilessly crucified. Christ died for our sins. He bore the full measure of God s wrath for us. Though sinless, He was treated as if he committed every sin from every believer who has ever lived. 4. His sovereignty divine authority and glory As the Lamb of God, the Son of God first came as Suffering Servant but will come a second time as Conquering King. In His first coming, Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, but now He is risen and is enthroned in infinite power and glory. B. The Son of God (vs.32-34) The reason why Jesus is the one and only submissive, sinless, sacrificial and sovereign Lamb of God is because He is the one and only Son of God. Christ is our Passover Lamb (1Cor.5:7). He is the true Lamb of God, which every Old Testament sacrificial lamb foreshadowed and illustrated. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ His life, death, burial and resurrection as the Son of God that a person can be forgiven by God and eternally saved (Heb.9:13ff, 10:4ff).
John 1:32-34 ~ 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. The apostle John is the only Gospel writer to mention that John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit of God descend on Jesus like a dove. Each Synoptic writer only stated that Jesus saw it. But John s Gospel emphasized the fact that John the Baptist was an eye-witness of this divine inauguration, and presumably heard with his own ears this divine declaration. This was not a story that John (the Baptist) heard, but one that he personally experienced first-hand, and was foretold that this would be a sign of the coming Messiah (vs.33). What an amazing phenomenon to behold! The Synoptic Gospel writers described the event more from Jesus perspective (see Mk.1:11), and give further details concerning what transpired on this momentous day: Matt 3:13-17 ~ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? 15 But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. (cf. Matt.17:5) This not only identified Jesus as the Christ for John the Baptist, but was divine confirmation that Jesus was the fulfillment of (Messianic) prophesies concerning the Christ (cf. Ps.2:7; Is.42:1). God had spoken to John the Baptist indicating that the Christ was the one on whom the Spirit would descend and remain (Jn.1:33, cf. 1:32). It is important to note the manifestation of all three persons of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit). God the Father speaking from heaven, Jesus the incarnate Son of God being baptized by John and the Spirit of God descending on Jesus in bodily form, like a dove (Lk.3:22; the dove being a symbol of peace and gentleness). While the term Trinity does not appear in the Bible, the concept of the Trinity one God in three persons is revealed and taught throughout the pages of Scripture [e.g. at creation (Gen.1:1-3, Jn.1:1-3, Col.1:16), at Jesus baptism (Matt.3:16-17), in Jesus Great Commission (Matt.28:18-20)]. Simply put, title the Son of God represents a two-fold description of Jesus Christ as being fully God and fully man. Scripture tells us that in His humanity Jesus willingly divested Himself of some of the divine rights and privileges He had as God in order to be born as a human (Phil.2:6-8), but at no point did He ever cease to be God in any way or to any degree (God retrained, not God reduced). Jesus is the Incarnate Son of God fully God and fully man. Col 1:19 ~ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell Col 2:9 ~ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily 1. His HUMANITY First, the title of Jesus as the Son of God implies His humanity. As the Son of God, Jesus was begotten of God (see Ps.2:7; Heb.1:5, 5:5). However, before Jesus was born as the incarnate (in the flesh) Son of God He existed as self-existing, eternal Son of God (see Jn.1:1-3). In the miracle of the Virgin Birth, the Son of God was born of Mary and born of God: Luke 1:28-35 ~ And [Gabriel] came to [Mary] and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. 34 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin? 35 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God. Not only is Jesus human; he is completely human. He took not merely the physical nature of a human being, but the full psychological makeup of humanity as well. He felt the full gamut of normal human emotions. Thus he was able to redeem all of human nature, for he assumed all of what it means to be truly human. Heb 2:14-18 ~ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Heb 4:14-16 ~ Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jesus had to be human, in order to die for our sins and to experience the temptations that we encounter as humans. In that sense, Jesus left His heavenly throne in order to identify with our struggles, our difficulties and our weaknesses though Christ never sinned in any way. Now, to be clear, as God the Son of God knows us perfectly and intimately. He did not become a man as some investigative experiment in order to gain more knowledge about us as humans. As God, He already knows everything about us. But the Son of God became a man in order personally experience temptation and trials in the flesh, and to reveal to us that He is God, the Lord and Savior. 2. His DEITY Second, the title Son of God conveys Jesus deity. As God, the Son of God has existed with God from all eternity as self-existing Creator God. Through His miraculous birth, the Son of God became flesh but never ceased to be the Son of God. Luke 1:35 ~ And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God. As we have seen several times already in our study of John s Gospel, Jesus clearly and repeatedly declared Himself to be the Son of God. John 5:18 ~ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. John 8:58 ~ Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (Ex.3:14-15) John 10:30-34 ~ I and the Father are one. 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going
to stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. (see Jn.14:9) While some today believe that Jesus never claimed to be God (and refer to Him merely as a good moral teacher), it is clear in Scripture that those who heard Him speak knew that He was identifying Himself as God, the Son of God, for they tried many times to stone Him for blaspheme. Conclusion One of the many incredible aspects of the account, in Genesis 22, of Abraham and Isaac is that is it the only narrative perspective of Christ s sacrificial death written from the perspective of the Father. As we read that gripping story, we contemplate and empathize with the unbelievable torment Abraham endured as he went to sacrifice his one and only son believing, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering (Gen.22:8). God indeed provided a lamb for Abraham, and the Lamb for all those who would believe God s One and Only Son. God spared nothing less than His own Son for our sin. He is that loving that gracious that kind! Through the life, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, God again revealed Himself as Jehovah Jireh God (YHWH) our provider! As the forerunner to the Christ, this was John the Baptist s great announcement: John 1:29 ~ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Echoing the words of the prophet Isaiah: Isa 53:10 ~ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Words that resounded from the apostles: The apostle Paul: Rom 8:32 ~ He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? The apostle John: 1 John 4:10 ~ In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. (NET) The apostle Peter: Matt 16:15-16 ~ [Jesus] said to [His disciples], But who do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is the testimony from Moses, from the prophets, from the apostles and all of Christ s disciples: that Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God, and the Son of God. John 20:31 ~ these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. [This sermon was preached at Skyline Baptist Church by Pastor David Woodruff January 24, 2016]