Behold the Lamb of God!: St. John 1:29-34

St. John 1:29-34: "29 The next day John 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 is preferred before me, for He was before me." 31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.' 32 And John bore witness, saying, 'I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.'"

Behold the Lamb of God! What great words! This proclamation from St. John the Baptist is all over our liturgy. The proclamation that our dear Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God is found in the greater doxology, the Gloria in Excelsis. It is in the Proper Prefaces for Advent and Easter. It is in the Agnus Dei. It is also found in the canticle Dignus Est Agnus from the book of Revelation. What that means is that this proclamation is an important one.

Our Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God. Well, what was done to lambs, without spot or blemish, in the Old Testament times? They were sacrificed for sins. Our Lord Jesus is our sacrifice for our sin. But He is not just the Lamb, but He is also the priest Who offers Himself up on our behalf. Behold the Lamb of God, is a proclamation of Redemption. It is a proclamation of our forgiveness from sins.

St. John the Baptist realizes this great mystery. He realizes that our Lord Jesus is greater than he is, that he is not worthy to untie His sandals. This is a confession of his sinfulness, and an acknowledgement of the righteousness of Christ. St. John the Baptist cannot take away sin. Even though he is baptizing in the Jordan River, his baptism cannot save, it was nothing more than a symbolic washing. The Baptism that our Lord Jesus gives us can save, it can remove sins, and impart righteousness. For it is a baptism of not just plain water, but it is water connected with God's word. Which means in that water is the Holy Ghost, and those baptized with the Holy Ghost have their sins drowned in those waters, so that He may bring them out of the water spotless and pure, just like the Lord Jesus Christ was a pure and spotless Lamb.

He becomes for all those who are baptized into His Name, a Shepherd, and He leads them to the still waters of His holy Word and Sacraments. There we receive forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation, freely, abundantly. And in these things we find rest and comfort from the trials of this life. Yes, though we walk through the valley of tears, this life life filled with trouble and sorrow. We know we have a Shepherd, Who comforts us with His holy Word, washes our wounds from the battle with sin, death, and the world with the waters of Holy Baptism, and feeds us with His true Body and Blood, given in bread and wine.

And this is perhaps the greatest gift of Lamb of God, for just like in the Old Testament times, the sacrifice that was offered was eaten by the priests as a wage for their service, so too, does the royal priesthood, eat the Lamb of God, which is given to us in this sacred and holy mystery.

One might wonder why St. John the Baptist shows up at this time of the year, in the season of Epiphany. For Advent is really the season of St. John the Baptist, since Advent is the forerunner of Christmas, as St. John the Baptist is the forerunner of our Lord Christ. He is even mentioned in two of the Advent Gospels, once in prison, and once in the pericope that comes before this mornings reading. Epiphany is all about our Lord Jesus being manifested to the world as One, True, and only Savior. Here St. John the Baptist shows up, to proclaim into our ears, that our dear Lord Jesus has come to begin His work of salvation for us. Here He is the Lamb of God, proclaimed as the Son of God, having the Holy Ghost rest upon Him in the form of a dove, acknowledging Him as or Priestly King, Who will offer Himself up on the altar of the cross, for our forgiveness.

Behold the Lamb of God! Crucified for us! Hanging dead on the tree on account of our sins. The sacrifice is made, we are made clean and pure. And this Lamb of God, is offered as our spiritual food, to create and sustain faith and life within us. And just as this Lamb of God, although dead in the grave for three days, rose again to eternal life. All those who feast on the Lamb of God receive that eternal life as a gift.

So rejoice this day in the Lamb of God, hear Him proclaimed by the modern day John the Baptists, the ministers of the Word, and come to the Lord's house and receive that Lamb of God on your lips for your forgiveness and life.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

I Will Establish My Covenant With You: Genesis 6:9-22

Genesis 6:9-22: "9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark--you , your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.' 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."

This evening's reading tells us that Noah was a just and perfect man; that he walked with God. Noah is a picture of another just and perfect man, our dear Lord Jesus. That Noah walked with God, doesn't just simply mean that he went for walks with Him. It means that Noah did as God desired. He was in complete fellowship with Him, walking in all His ways. Noah is contrasted by the rest of the world. "Indeed it was corrupt." Noah is the only one who is righteous, and so God plans to destroy that which is corrupt, through a flood.

One can see two images in this narrative. The Cross of our dear Lord Jesus, and our baptism. In the Cross, God destroys all that is corrupt in mankind. Our Lord Jesus stands as both the Victim and the High Priest, offering Himself to the Father, as a sacrifice for all of mankind. He dies, we live. He suffers, we go free. We who are corrupt, suffer no punishment. He who is just and perfect, suffers our punishment. Like Noah, our Lord Jesus is also place in a type of Ark, but He is only in this Ark for three days; it is His tomb. Noah is carried through the death of the world, to life again after the flood. Our dear Lord Jesus is carried through the Tomb and death and, even hell, to life eternal.

The Cross and the Tomb, as well as the Flood, are all pictures of our Baptism. We are buried, through the waters of baptism, into Christ's death. For us Christians, this is our death. It is the death of all that is corrupt in us, that which we inherited from Adam. But just as we are brought out of the waters of baptism, so are we brought out of sin and death, so that now we have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation in Christ Jesus alone. Noah too was buried in the waters, carried safe and sound through those waters, to life again on the other side.

This is the covenant that God makes with Noah. That he will live with Him. And it is the covenant that God has made with us. He fulfilled this covenant through His Son's death on the Cross. And He makes us a part of that covenant through our baptism. When we receive the Flood of baptism, God places us into an Ark. He places us into the Church. Perhaps you have wondered why the main seating area in a church building is called the Nave? Nave, is the Latin word for ship. And in most historic looking church buildings, if you look up at the ceiling, the ribs of the  arches look like the underbelly of a ship. The Church is the ship, or to say it another way, the Ark, that carries those who have been called out of corruption, and put on the perfection of our dear Lord Jesus, to our heavenly home. We are carried through this sea, this life of death and trouble, to our eternal home.

This is God's covenant with mankind, this is His covenant with you. Rejoice at your baptism, and rejoice that when you come to the house of God, you are being carried through this flood of life, and nourished by the preaching of the Gospel, and by the very Body and Blood of Jesus given in bread and wine. And these gifts of God to you will sustain you, and strengthen you through this vale of tears, until you reach your heavenly home.

God's peace be with you!

Deacon Dulas