Epiphany 4 – 29 January 2017 – Year A

 Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 5^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew; Verses 1 – 12:

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

There are many Biblical texts that we have heard so often that it is very tempting to sort of go through them on autopilot.  If we were to make a list of those texts, I am fairly sure the beatitudes from today’s Gospel would be in the top ten.  The words kind of grab us … ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’.  We’ve heard this before.  There is a nice pattern in the words and it all sound very noble, but do we actually, seriously think about the meaning?  When we hear the sound of those words, do we actually pay attention?

Similarly, when we do stop to study the beatitudes, we often convert them into a list of things we have to get right before God will bless us.  We go on a quest to become poor in spirit, sorrowful, meek, and so forth.

To add to this, there is an unfortunate linguistic twist.  The word beatitude sounds like two English words: “be” and “attitude.”  It is very easy for us to start thinking that these are the attitudes that I must have in order to get these blessings from God.  There are many publications out there that play around with this unfortunate linguistic twist and have titles such as the “Be Happy Attitudes.”

It is our natural attitude as fallen human beings to find these things attractive.  We like it when someone says, “You can take control of your life.  If you follow these guidelines, principles, or steps, you can achieve your goal.”  This kind of thinking is very attractive and appealing to our old, sinful nature, but it is all a lie.

I find it quite distressing to talk with people who have heard this false teaching all their lives and don’t understand why it hasn’t worked.  They say such things as “I have really hungered and thirsted for righteousness and I don’t feel satisfied’.  ‘I have mourned and I don’t feel comforted’.  ‘I have tried to be pure in heart and I just can’t get it right’.  What can I do?”  It seems Satan influences people to take the marvellous Gospel blessings of Jesus Christ and twisted them into law.  The weight of that perverted law crushes people and drives them into despair.  It’s heartbreaking to see such despair because there is such great Gospel in the beatitudes.

There are many ways to study the beatitudes.  One Good way is to begin with the bookends – the first and the eighth beatitude.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

These beatitudes promise us the kingdom of heaven.  We heard about the kingdom of heaven last week.  In the Greek language, a kingdom is not just a place, but it is the ruling activity of the king.  Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is the ruling presence of God.  The kingdom of heaven is the deeds of God, performed in and through Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.  The kingdom of heaven includes everything that Jesus did and still does to bring us to life eternal with Him.  Basically, the kingdom of heaven is Jesus Christ Himself.

The phrase poor in spirit simply describes the way we are.  We have no spiritual resources.  There is nothing we can do to earn salvation for ourselves.  We are born into the debt of sin and we only go deeper into debt as we live.  All people are poor in spirit – everyone, everywhere.  They can’t help it.

The first beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” teaches us that the presence of God in human flesh in the person of Jesus is a blessing for all sinners.  The people who heard Jesus teach this the first time didn’t have the whole story, but we do.  We know that Jesus is a blessing for all sinners because He took the sin debt of the world to the cross and there He paid it all.  We who were deep in the debt of sin are now rich in Jesus Christ who is the kingdom of heaven.  Our wealth in Christ was made sure when Jesus rose from the dead.  The beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” means that sinners are blessed because Jesus has earned salvation for them.

The bookend of the eighth beatitude also describes the way we are.  Jesus describes us as “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”  The righteousness in this phrase is not our good deeds.  Instead, it is the righteousness of Christ that He has earned for us with His perfect life and innocent suffering and death.  The world hates Jesus and so it hates those who have His righteousness.  As a result, the world persecutes those who believe.  When this happens, Jesus promises us His blessings.  The One who reigns in heaven already belongs to believers in such difficult times.

The persecution of the church is part of the now, but not yet of the Christian faith.  The present reign of Christ in this world is a hidden reality.  He rules, not from power, but from the apparent weakness of the cross.  He shows His true power only to those who believe in Him.  It is only on the last day that all people will see Jesus and know that He is both Lord and Christ.  Until then, He will bless His church even as she suffers persecution for His name’s sake.

The bookend beatitudes teach us that the true blessings of these beatitudes depend entirely on Jesus.  There is nothing that we can do to earn these blessings for we are spiritually poor.  As we remember the blessing that Jesus gives us in these bookends, we see that all the beatitudes depend on Jesus.

Those who have Christ who is the Kingdom of Heaven look out at the world around them.  As they look, they see many who reject the kingdom of Heaven.  They see the sin and evil of the world and it breaks their hearts.  They mourn over the sin they see in themselves and the sin they see around them.  Jesus tells us that these mourners are blessed because when the Last Day comes, He will comfort all their tears and take away all their sorrows.  Even as he lives with them now in a way that they cannot see, they will see Him and live with Him forever.

Those who have Christ who is the Kingdom of Heaven look at themselves and see that they are meek. They are not meek because they seek meekness.  They have not set out on a quest to become meek.  They are meek because, as sinners, meek is all that they can be.  Meek describes the helpless sinner.  Never the less, because of the work that Jesus has done for them on the cross, they will rule with Jesus on a new earth – the earth that replaces this sinful world on the Last Day.

Those who have Christ who is the Kingdom of Heaven know that Jesus Christ is their righteousness.  They know that they are helpless and only the righteousness given to them by Christ saves them.  Once they have tasted the righteousness of Christ, they want as much as they can get.  They always hunger and thirst for more of the righteousness that is Jesus.  Jesus says that these people are already blessed because on the Last Day, He will satisfy their desire for righteous and they will be filled.

Those who have Christ who is the Kingdom of Heaven continuously receive Christ’s mercy.  Not only does Christ’s mercy work in them, but it also works through them.  This beatitude describes the Church of Jesus Christ as a community of people who freely forgive those who sin against them.  This beatitude parallels the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  This mercy is not something that we work in ourselves, but something that Christ works in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Those who have Christ who is the Kingdom of Heaven have a pure heart.  We receive the forgiveness of sins when the Holy Spirit works faith in us so that we believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  When the Holy Spirit does that He performs a heart transplant.  He removes our dead, unbelieving heart and creates a new heart in us.  That is exactly what King David begged of God in Psalm 51: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’.  When the Holy Spirit works that faith in us, He gives us a pure heart.  Those who have such a pure heart will see God face-to-face for the day will come when God will call us out of this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

Those who have Christ who is the Kingdom of Heaven are peacemakers.  Even though they are spiritually impoverished, God has generously made peace with them through His Son Jesus Christ.  By virtue of our Saviour’s holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death, we have peace with God.  Those who have that peace readily share it with others.  They proclaim the message, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

The summary blessing doesn’t seem like much of a blessing at first.  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  No one enjoys being an outcast, but how else can we expect the sinful world to treat those whose sins have been forgiven.  When people in this world make us miserable because we trust in Christ, we have the promise of blessing from Jesus Himself.

It is not our job to earn the blessings of the beatitudes.  Instead, Jesus has taken it on Himself to give us these blessings in His love.  In order to give us His gifts, He endured our punishment and carried our shame.  These blessings come to us freely by God’s grace and not by anything we do in ourselves.

The world in its wisdom would look at these beatitudes and say, “These are the symptoms of those who have that disease known as Christianity.”  Those who know they are poor in spirit look at these beatitudes and see the signs of Jesus Christ and His Church.  They see the gifts God has already given to us.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.  Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Epiphany 3 - 22 January 2017 - Year A

Grace to you and peace from our Lord an Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen.

The text for this meditation is written in the 4th chapter of the Gospel according to St Matthew: Verses 12 - 25

12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentile 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”*
Jesus Calls the First Disciples 18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. 23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

In last week’s Gospel, we read that John the Baptist referred to our Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  We studied the incredible sermon that is hidden in that simple sentence.  Of course there were many who heard that sermon from John.  Last week’s Gospel tells us especially of two men who heard John’s proclamation.  The Holy Spirit worked through that proclamation and brought these men to Jesus.

One of the men was Andrew.  He heard that epiphany from John and then he shared it with his brother Simon Peter.

We can deduce that the other man who heard the epiphany from John the Baptist was John the Evangelist.  We can make this deduction based on the fact that John the Evangelist never mentions his own name in his account of the Gospel.  From last week’s Gospel, it is reasonable to conclude that Andrew and His brother Peter as well as John and his brother James became disciples of Jesus at that time.

A disciple has two basic characteristics.  First of all, a disciple is a student of a master – someone who is intent to learn all that his master has to teach him.  Second of all, a disciple is a follower – someone who believes and supports the teachings of his master.  Andrew, Peter, John, and James were already disciples of Jesus when we begin reading Matthew’s account of their calling.  John the Baptist had introduced them to Jesus and they were His disciples from that moment on.  Jesus had set up His ministry headquarters in their hometown of Capernaum so they could listen to Him teach on a regular basis.  They knew who Jesus was.

Jesus set up His ministry in Capernaum after several rejections.  Today’s Gospel tells us that John the Baptist was in jail.  This was a rejection of the message of repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Judea.  Luke tells us that the people of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth also rejected the message of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  They even tried to throw Jesus over a cliff and stone Him (Luke 4:16–30).  After these rejections, Jesus moved His ministry headquarters to Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee.

Here we see the marvelous plan of God in action.  Jesus has His ministry headquarters in Capernaum and Andrew, Peter, John, and James have their fishing businesses in Capernaum.  Jesus had a special vocation for these men and He knew where to find them.  His walk along the sea might seem like a coincidence, but it was not.  Jesus called these men to another vocation.  They were already disciples, but Jesus would train them and call them to be apostles.

The word apostle comes from the Greek word that means to send.  While a disciple constantly studies, believes, and supports the teachings of a master, an apostle is one who is, in addition, specifically sent out by the master to teach the teachings of his master.  Jesus called them to witness His ministry and receive His teaching for several years.  Then they were to pass along those very same teachings to the people around them – especially to the next generation – so that the teachings of Jesus Christ would go out into the world.

In this way, they would be fishers of men.  As a fisherman throws a net into the water, so the apostle proclaims the teachings of Christ.  As fish are caught by the net so the Holy Spirit uses the teachings of Christ to bring people into the church.  In this way, these newly called apostles would become fishers of men.

What was the heart of the message that Jesus gave to these apostles – the message that the Holy Spirit still uses to draw people into Christ’s church?  We have already heard it from John the Baptist.  [Matthew 3:1–2] In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  In today’s Gospel, we also hear that message from Jesus.  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Both John and Jesus preach the same message.  The message that both John and Jesus preached is an eternal message.  It is still the same today as it was back then.

The phrase “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” has a special meaning in the original Greek that is almost impossible to bring over into the English.  A kingdom is not just a place.  The Greek word for kingdom is also an action.  A king rules or reigns.  In the original Greek, a kingdom is the ruling or reigning activity of the king.  When Jesus and John tell us that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” they are saying that the ruling activity of heaven is near.  The one who rules in heaven is near.  The kingdom of heaven is the deeds of God, performed in and through Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.  The kingdom of heaven includes the perfect life that Jesus lived in our place.  It includes His ministry of preaching and healing.  It includes His passive obedience to the suffering and death of the cross.  It includes the promise of eternal life that comes in his resurrection.  It includes His presence with us now in Word and Sacrament.  It includes His final coming on the Last Day to raise our bodies and take us body and soul into His eternal presence.  The phrase “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” tells us that Jesus is here, with us, now.

Today’s Gospel tells us that the message “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” is for everyone.  The Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to quote the prophet Isaiah and tell us that this message is for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death.  That means that if death affects you in any way, this message is for you.  The last time I checked, the death rate in this world is one hundred per cent.  That means that this message is for me and this message is for you.

The fact that this message is for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death also reminds us that this message is for sinners.  As the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write, [Romans 6:23] “The wages of sin is death.”  The fact that all people die teaches us that all people are sinners.  We die because we are evil.

Our biggest sin is that we don’t want God to rule.  We are born with such a desire to rule our own kingdom that we don’t even want God to give us His free salvation.  That would mean that we are part of His kingdom and we don’t want that.  We would rather rule ourselves.  Sometimes, we even deceive ourselves into believing that we are the rightful king.

In many cultures, impersonating the king would earn a life sentence or a death penalty.  The reign of heaven is not like that.  Instead of punishing us for our sins, the ruler of the kingdom of heaven simply says, “Repent!”   Here Jesus tells us to admit the truth of our guilt and then trust Him to deal with the penalty of that guilt.  Then, knowing that we cannot by our own reason or strength come to Him, He sends the Holy Spirit to work faith in us so that we can repent.

His command to repent holds within it the promise to deal with the punishment of our sins.  He dealt with the punishment of our sins by taking them onto Himself and carrying them to the cross.  At the cross He endured the punishment of our sin with His suffering and death.  There our sins died with Him.  In this way, He triumphed over sin, death, and the power of the devil.

With that triumph, Jesus, the ruler of the kingdom of heaven, rose from the dead and ascended to take His rightful place at the right hand of the Father.  Through Him the kingdom of heaven is still at hand.

The message from God says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  This is the message that the Holy Spirit inspired John to proclaim.  It is the message that Jesus Himself proclaimed.  It is the message that Jesus gave to his apostles to proclaim.  As the church continues to proclaim this message through the proclamation of the teachings that Jesus gave to the apostles, every generation hears the message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The Kingdom of heaven is at hand when we hear the Gospel of salvation.  It is at hand in the waters of Holy Baptism as the Holy Spirit joins us to Christ by grace through faith.  It is at hand when the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith in us receives forgiveness, life, and salvation as we consume the true body and blood in the bread and wine of the sacrament.  The kingdom of heaven is at hand when the Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us with His gifts, and sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith.  Because the kingdom of God is at hand sin no longer condemns us, but God works in us to make us holy in His sight.  Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Epiphany 2 – 15 January 2017 – Year A

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

  

Grünewald, Isenheim Altarpiece

The text for our meditation is written in the first chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses: 29 – 36:

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.”

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!”

Some of the greatest works of art were created as visual sermons for all who entered the religious places and art galleries across the world.  One of those works of art is the Isenheim Altarpiece that Matthias Grünewald painted for the Monastery of St. Anthony in Isenheim near Colmar in France.

Like most altarpieces, the central focus of the piece is the crucifixion of Jesus.  But one of the unusual things that make this work so striking is that it shows John the Baptist at the crucifixion.  The Bible tells us that John the Baptist was long dead and buried by the time Jesus died on the cross.  So, what is the message that Grünewald was trying to convey in this work?

As you study the figure of John the Baptist, the thing that stands out the most is the index finger of his right hand.  It is pointing straight at the crucified Jesus.  This is John pointing at Jesus and saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  This is the message of John that speaks to all people down through the centuries.  If we could understand everything there is to know about this sentence, we would be worthy of the title Doctor of Theology many times over.  This sentence from John the Baptiser is one of the most powerful expressions of the Gospel in the Bible.  Within the full meaning of these words are all the sentences of all the Creeds of the Church.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The word Behold is an epiphany word.  It means look here; I want to show you something.  John uses this word so that he can show Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, to his listeners and to us.  He had already received an epiphany from God.  Last week we learned that after John baptised Jesus, the heavens opened, the Spirit descended like a dove, and the voice declared that this Jesus was God’s beloved Son.  Now John is proclaiming this epiphany to his listeners.  He is doing the work of a prophet and pointing to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the world.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  Now, although some Old Testament sacrifices required bulls, goats, or birds, the lamb more than any other animal was the animal required by most of the sacrificial regulations of the ceremonial law.  The word Lamb as it is used in this sentence brings to mind the continuous flow of blood from the altar in Jerusalem.  Consider the multitude of regular sacrifices: the morning and evening sacrifices, the purifications, the sin and guilt offerings; there were many.  Then there are the many festival sacrifices: the Feast of Booths, the Pentecost, the First Fruits, and let’s not forget the Passover.  When John says the word Lamb the image of all these sacrifices comes to mind.

All devout Jews knew that they were the ones who should be sacrificed.  They knew that they had earned God’s eternal wrath with their sins.  Just as they knew that sheep are amazingly helpless regarding the things of this world, so they also knew that they themselves were equally helpless regarding the things of God.  This image was so strong that God often referred to the people as His sheep with Himself as their shepherd.  They understood that the sacrificial lamb was taking their place.   Now John was saying that this man, who was the shepherd, had become a lamb in order to become the sacrifice for them.  The word Lamb reminds us of the sacrifice that was made in our place.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  This Lamb is God’s Lamb.  The sacrificial Lamb of Old Testament ceremony must not have any blemishes or spots.  It was to be as close to perfect as is possible on this sin filled earth.  Its sacrifice was to remind the people that one day God would send His perfect lamb to make the sacrifice in the stead of all the sacrifices described in the Scriptures.

John is saying that this man is God’s Lamb.  He is not just close to perfect.  He is perfect.  He is the culmination of all the sacrifices of all time.  He is the sacrifice that fulfils the first sacrifice that God made when he killed some animals to provide the skins that covered Adam and Eve after they sinned.  He fulfils the sacrifice that Abel offered and He fulfils the sacrifices that Noah offered after he landed safely in the ark.  He fulfils the sacrifices of Abraham including the sacrifice he made after he nearly sacrificed his own son, Isaac.  He is the one time for all sacrifice that all the other sacrifices lead up to.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The words ‘the sin’ gather the wicked deeds of generations of mankind into one disgusting mass of evil.  It includes all the wars and murders and rapes and thefts.  It includes all the sinful thoughts, words, and deeds that anyone at any time has ever had.  It includes the sinful nature that we were born with.  It includes gossip, complaints, grumbling and worry.  It includes every lie told, every malicious act, every unkind or immoral thought, word or deed. It includes everything aberrant that our human nature has inherited from the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Our original sin flies in the face of God’s holy law and earns us eternal damnation.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The words of the world mean that the work of God’s Lamb, Jesus Christ is good for the whole world, not just those who believe.  The word for world in this sentence is the root for the word cosmos. This word means everything that God has created, everything that God has brought into being by the command of his word.  God’s gifts are not confined to one country, race or faith group.  They transcend all nations and people.  They are not restricted to the rich or the poor or the young or the old.  They are for all people in all times and in all places.  There is no sin anywhere by anyone that this Lamb of God does not take away.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The words takes away are just one word in the original Greek.  That word means to lift up and carry to another place.  This means that the Lamb takes the load, the curse, and the damnation of the total massive amount of sin onto himself.  He lifts the awful burden from us and carries it to the cross.  There our sin is crucified with the Lamb.  There our sin is put to death.  This one act of lifting and carrying away our sin is good for all time.

The path that Jesus took to carry the burden of sin on the cross, the sin of the world, began when he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.  There in all humility He became truly human and humbly submitted Himself to the authority of the law.  John’s words tell us that it is Jesus’ vocation to carry away the sin of the world.  John’s words tell us that Jesus was already journeying to the cross of shame, destined by God to carry the sins of the world, when he made his declaration, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

When John said these words, he considered the taking away of sins to be a foretold inevitability.  The forgiveness of sins that would come as a result of the Lamb’s sacrifice would be available to all.  All the saints of the Old Testament received salvation because this Lamb’s sacrifice is good for all time and all places and all people.  God’s promise is as if John had already heard Jesus declare his victory from the cross with the words, “It is finished.”

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  The word the before the word Lamb tells us that there is only one Lamb.  This Lamb that John points out is the one and only Saviour.  There is no other.  All the other faiths of the world tell us that we must earn our own salvation, but, if we are truly honest, it is easy to see that no one can earn his own place in heaven.  No one is good enough.  People can lead lives of desperation in their sin, they can wear their conscience down to a pulp so they do not feel their sin, but they can’t save themselves.  Only the Lamb of God can do that.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!   We respond to John’s declaration in the Divine Service.  God reveals the presence of the Lamb in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharistic feast and we ask for mercy as we approach this altar in liturgical song and confession of sins. At the alter we eat the flesh of the Lamb and drink his true blood and we join with angels, archangels, and the armies of heaven to glorify God with the words of the ‘Sanctus’: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. "

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!   This sentence will stand forever.  Long after this world is gone – long after the world as we know no longer exists – long after the creation of a new heaven and a new earth – we will gather before our Lord and say, ^{Revelation 5:12}  “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” and we shall sing a new song, saying, ^{Revelation 5:9-10}  “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  When John the Baptiser saw Jesus, and pointed at him, and said this short sentence, he said more than I can possibly explain.  When God inspired John the Evangelist to quote John the Baptiser, God gave us something to think about and to comfort us for the rest of our lives and on into eternity.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  Amen

The peace and love of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen