John the Baptist (John 1:29-34)
Rev. Peter Heckert
03/02/22
+ Grace to you, and peace, from God our heavenly Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. + Amen.
The text for Ash Wednesday comes from our Gospel text, especially where John records the words of John the Baptist, âBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!â Here ends our text; my dear Christian friends âŠ
If they donât already, tattoo parlors need a sign over their entrance that announces, âThink Before You Ink.â They should place a recording in the background that says, âDo you really want to carry your girlfriendâs name on your shoulder for the rest of your life?â Itâs a valid point â we really donât like our regrets to be announced to the world, and much less when they are lifelong, physical, visible reminders of our mistakes. Perhaps thatâs why the tattoo removal business is booming!Â
It does, however, give one pause: if all our regrets, our secret guilts, our hidden shames, showed up as tattoos, how marked up would our bodies be? What pictures would we see in the mirror? The face of someone we hurt? The amount of money we wasted? All the couldas and shouldas? âI coulda been a better dad.â âI shoulda paid closer attention.â âI coulda been a better student.â What would you see? Wasted years? Obsessive greed? Destructive diversions? Anger? Arrogance? Selfishness? Thereâs no tattoo removal shop for those things, so what do you think we could do?
We could be defensive, refusing to admit anything and telling no one. When we get defensive, we reduce life to one goalâhide the secret, seeking innocence, not forgiveness. Cover it up. Donât address it. Donât admit it. And whatever we do, never ever confess it. We can be defensive, thatâs one option. Another is to be defeated. When weâre defeated, we feel as though we donât make mistakesâwe are a mistake. We didnât foul upâwe are a foul-up. We beat ourselves up repeatedly with blame and shame. We take the role of judge, jury, and accusing attorney. In our own eyes, the verdict is clear and undeniable: guilty as chargedâforever!Â
Defensive people hide their marks. In their heads, defeated people replay their marks. Is there any way to rid ourselves from these damning marks? Well, thatâs what weâre here to find out. Indeed, thatâs what weâre considering during this Lententide, starting on this Ash Wednesday, as we begin a sermon series called Witnesses to Christ. The first person weâll consider is John the Baptist, and especially his words to two future disciples of Christ, âBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!âÂ
Letâs take that phrase piece by piece, starting with the first word, âBehold!â Itâs not a word we often hear in everyday conversation, but literally, it means âsee.â Itâs a command, translated as, âLook! Gaze! Stare! Take note!â Behold means âPay attention because THIS is the whole point of what Iâm saying!âÂ
Thatâs what John the Baptist is saying when he says, âBehold, the Lamb of God!â This is no ordinary lamb for sacrifice. Itâs not even an ordinary Passover lamb! According to Exodus 12, the Passover lamb is to be a male lambâperfect, spotless, and without defect, and the Israelites were to place the Passover lambâs blood on the doorposts and lintel. This blood would set the Israelites freeâfree from bricks, free from whips, and free from Pharaohâs countless bag of tricks! Well here, John says, we have a Lamb of God thatâs even better. This is the Passover Lamb of God, and He was going to take away something.
âBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away.â That verb, which we translate as âtakes away,â is in present tense. Thatâs important; it means that Christ still takes away. Today, He takes away. Tomorrow, He takes away. Next week, He takes away. What does He take away? The sin of the world, including ours. Our ugly, shameful, haunting sin. Every. Single. One. He takes it all away. But not just our guiltâthatâs sin done by us. He also takes away our shameâthe sin done to us.Â
We all know what public shame feels like. Branded by a divorce. Marked by a handicap. Saddled with alcoholic parents. Crushed because of a childâs arrest. Or we feel stigmatized because we lost our job, we lost our spouse, we lost our house, we lost our lifeâs savings. And now everyone knows. Thereâs also private shame. Weâve all felt that too. Maybe youâve been pushed to the edge by an abusive spouse, molested by a perverted parent, seduced by a sneaky superior, or teased without mercy by other kids. No one else knows, but we know, and thatâs enough to bury us in shame.
And, we canât escape it. We put our hands over our ears. We splash water on our face. We go for a long drive. None of that can take away our shame or our guilt. Sin has marked us, and thatâs that. End of story ⊠right? WRONG. âBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!â
I know this may be hard to believe. Most of us have carried our ugly marks for so long that we canât imagine life without them. Maybe we canât imagine it, but God can. God does. And God does more than just imagine it. He sends John the Baptist, who says, âBehold. Look. See. Gaze. Here is the whole point of what Iâm saying! The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world!â The Passover Lamb of God does it all, for the whole world. The Passover Lamb of God does it all for you!
If youâve ever wondered how God reacts when guilt and shame have you cornered and are ready to swallow you whole. If youâve ever wondered how God feels when youâre lost, abandoned, and helpless. If youâve ever wondered what God would do if He ever found out about it allâthen frame these words and hang them on your wall. âBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!â Trust these words. Believe these words. Stand below these words, and trust Jesus to take it all away.
That is, after all, what Jesus did when He took the nails, in hands and feet, fastened to a God-forsaken cross. He was nailed to that cursed tree, and with Him, the whole sum of human sin, the brokenness of creation. He took those nails, and in so doing, Jesus takes away all of our sin and shame. Suspended between heaven and earth, as the only bridge by which we can attain eternal life! Jesus still says, âI have engraved you on the palms of My hands.â In the end, in the end, these are the only marks that matter! No, those marks on Christâs hands ⊠those are the marks of our redemption, our salvation, and they will NEVER be removed.
+ In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. + Amen.