A Poor, Little Lamb

A Poor, Little Lamb

 

John 1:29-42
1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

1:30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'

1:31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel."

1:32 And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

1:33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

1:34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."

1:35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,

1:36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!"

1:37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

1:38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

1:39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon.

1:40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

1:41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed).

1:42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

 

 

Good ol’ Gospel of John author! He works so very hard to help us understand that Jesus is more than meets the eye, theologically, and his language is often ethereal. Years ago, NFL coach Dennis Green, in a post-game press conference rant, assessed the team that had just beat up on his team thusly: “They ARE who we THOUGHT they were!” When asked by a reporter what he meant, he doubled down: “They ARE who we THOUGHT they were!” In today’s text, John the Baptist does a pretty good Dennis Green when he says in verse 30: “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” What? This seems to be John’s way of saying that Jesus “was” before any of us “were”—he is the eternal “star-child” who has come to restructure the “fallen” relationship between the Creator and the created. The Gospel of John uses a lot of Hellenistic language in his attempt to “radicalize” Jesus as the divine Son of God, who pre-existed the world. He seems bent on helping the “Greek” thinkers of his day appropriate an understanding of Jesus of Nazareth that goes beyond Jewish, and beyond being just another “religious” spokesman for God. In the Greco-Roman culture, “gods” who come to earth to mix it up with their human “subjects” was nothing unusual, but this gospeler goes out of his way to point out that Jesus was the “logos” of God, come to earth in human form. This would have been earthshaking for these people, as they saw the “logos” as the total summation of both the creative energy of the divine as well as the “mind” of the divine. That the divine would fully take human form and “tent among” humans was truly a revolutionary concept. The danger in John’s approach is that it snuggles up a bit close with the Greco-Roman worldview, which also accepted a pantheon of gods. The “logos” concept was brilliant on his part, as this equated Jesus with the fundamental “concept” or “foundation” represented by all of these gods. 

 

In today’s passage, the Johannine author introduces another metaphor for Jesus’ role on earth—the “Lamb of God.” It is most typically interpreted to equate Jesus with the “sacrifice lamb” burned on the altar of the Jewish temple for the sins of the people. This, of course, would foreshadow Jesus’ death on the cross, which Christianity has viewed as being for this purpose for all people of all time, who choose to believe in him. Some scholars have pointed out, however, that there is another “lamb” that is most important in Jewish history, namely the Passover Lamb. This lamb is a symbol of God’s people being set free from captivity in Egypt. Lamb’s blood was applied to the lintel and the door posts of the homes of the Jews in Egypt, so the “death angel” would “pass over” their homes, inflicting destruction only on the first-born of the homes of the Egyptians. Lamb is both consumed and used ritually in the annual Feast of the Passover in Judaism, as a celebration of this freedom granted by God. To see Jesus as this Passover Lamb may be a richer, fuller parallel to what we see in the life of Jesus than just the “meat sacrifice” altar lamb. If we see Jesus as the ultimate Passover Lamb, or the “Lamb of Freedom,” it removes some of the “glory” from the pain and gore of the cross. Christ came to free God’s people—ALL of God’s people—from everything that binds them, including, but not limited to, our sins. The altar lamb was only for the propitiation of sins, which doesn’t provide a broad enough image for John’s “logos” of God. Personally, I prefer the “Lamb of Freedom” model, of these two.

 

This lectionary passage includes John the Baptist’s dove image for the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus as he is baptized. The role of the Holy Spirit in this narrative is mostly a foreshadowing of the coming birth of the church at Pentecost. The Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity would say that the Spirit is always present with Jesus, as is Creator God, so the thought of the Spirit “descending” upon the earthly Jesus is largely a metaphor, and it does fit what happens in Acts 2 to the believers waiting in the upper room. 

 

Another part of John’s story in this passage is of importance as well. The author relates how Andrew, brother of Peter, hears Jesus speak and is called to follow him. Andrew then goes and tells Peter, “We have found the Messiah,” and he then brings Peter to Jesus, who calls Peter to follow as well, and “renames” him “Cephas.” Throughout the pages of holy writ, call stories ignite a powerful alliance between God, God’s message, God’s plan to save and redeem, and the people God calls to carry out these activities. The New Testament continues this rich heritage of vocation or “the call.” The story of Andrew is a great one. He fetches Peter, but winds up fetching others to follow Jesus, as well. Modern Christians talk about being a witness to what God is doing, and Andrew is a wonderful role model for this activity. We have too often tried to turn “witnessing” into “preaching” or “teaching the faith,” when Andrew’s example is so much more simple: Witness what God is doing and then invite others to “Come and see!” The Body of Christ today could use a whole lot more “Andrews” and far less “evangelists,” out to “save souls.” John Wesley trained his lay preachers more as “Andrews” than evangelists, inviting their listeners to “Come and see,” and then engaging in life-saving activities such as feeding the hungry, clothing and sheltering the poor, and improving the conditions in the British prisons. Wesley’s model was saving PEOPLE, not just their “souls,” although this was always an essential part of their full redemption. As a pastor, I observed some serious entropy against “witnessing,” as pew-sitting Christians had erroneously been taught that it must involve sharing scripture, the “Four Spiritual Laws,” leading persons in the “Sinner’s Prayer,” and then dragging them to church. Very few were willing to sign on to this “evangelical” model of evangelization that emerged from the revivalist period in American history. I used to tell my congregations that we are called to be “Andrews,” inviting friends and family to “Come and see!” I also suggested that one of the best witnesses Christians may offer is to pray for those in need and invite them to put their concerns on the church prayer list. Very few people turn down this invitation, especially when they are facing major challenges, and when God begins to act on these prayers, these folk want to know more about “your church,” and why it prays for people like them? I told my folk that it is much easier being a witness for Christ when you are on the other end of such an “interview” conducted by a grateful person for whom we had been praying. Be an Andrew! 

 

There is another model of the “Lamb of God” we might explore in this passage, and it is one we get from the teachings of Jesus. Remember the story of the shepherd who goes off looking for the one lamb that is lost, and leaves the 99 behind? Maybe Jesus, as the Son of God whom Paul will tell us in Philippians “empties himself” of the privileges of being God and enters our world, is this “lost lamb”? Like the Prodigal Son, who goes to a “far country,” Jesus gave up much to be born and baptized into our world. He is willing to become the “lost lamb” on our behalf, and in his “wandering off,” finds us and helps reunite us to God’s flock. There is a story told in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous of a man who falls in a deep hole, and can’t get out. He keeps calling for help, but others just pass by, not knowing what to do to help him. Then, a friend sees him in the hole and jumps in with him. The man in the hole asks his friend what he was thinking, in jumping in the hole, where they are now both imprisoned. The friend answers, “I did it because I’ve been in this same hole before, and I know the way out!” Might Jesus be this kind of “lost lamb” who knows the way out because he left heaven to jump into the hole with us? The “lost lamb “ becomes the proverbial “Good Shepherd” who leads God’s other lost sheep to freedom and to reunion with the flock! This, too, is a great model for our Christian witness—one “lost lamb” helping others find the safety of the Community of Faith. Years ago, I heard one of Methodism’s great pastors and preachers, Dr. O. D. Martin, say that good preaching is “one beggar helping another beggar find bread.” If it wasn’t important that Jesus join the “lost lambs” and “hungry beggars” on earth in order to set us free, don’t you think God would have just let him wave his hands from the comfort of heaven and “fix” us from on high? But the witness of the Gospel is that it is in this empathetic act of the incarnation that Jesus is able to free us from ALL that might snare us, and personally lead us out of the “hole,” having been there before. Might Calvary be the ultimate “hole” experience, resulting in death, and the Resurrection then is the ultimate freedom from both sin and death that seals our relationship with God Almighty? 

 

Any way we look at it, being God’s “found sheep,” led to freedom by the “Lamb of God,” himself, is a good deal. If we set aside our theological arguments and differences over howGod did what God did in Jesus Christ, what we are left with is a freedom from the fear of judgment, freedom from the power of destructive behaviors that can no longer hold our souls captive, and freedom to be living witnesses—contemporary Andrews--to the love and grace of God that are equally available to all people. Also free to all is a supportive community of faith that provides nurture and fellowship, and offers a place to serve others through acts of mercy and kindness. It is usually called the church, but as the Holy Spirit moves among us today, the words “faith community” may be more descriptive of the diverse kinds of religious gatherings that are transforming hearts and neighborhoods. As a United Methodist, it means reclaiming this work of God as a “movement,” rather than merely a management style and a distinctive polity. May we all find our place among the redeemed AND the redeeming! Amen.