Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Gospel Lesson John 1:29-42
Image by Melest
Every gospel text is the gospel in microcosm. The preacher asks, “What is the text doing?” How does the text align with the purpose and theme of the writer? Here are a few of the key phrases in the gospel text:
The witness of John the baptizer: “Here is the Lamb of God.”
“that he might be revealed to Israel.”
“I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”
“We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).
“You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). In baptism we receive a new name. When Jesus calls us, what new name does it give us?
Francis J. Moloney, in The Gospel of John: Sacra Pagina, says “The Baptist identifies Jesus as the preexistent one (1:30), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1:29), the one upon whom the Spirit descended (1:32), the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (1:32), and the Son of God” (1:34).
John has more metaphors for Jesus than the other gospel writers. He put in the mouth of John the Baptizer “Lamb of God.”
Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I-XII, reviews 3 suggested meanings of the Lamb.
1. The apocalyptic lamb. Here is the image of a conquering lamb who will destroy evil in the world. Evangelicals, dispensationalists, rapture believers, and people who believe violence is the only way of salvation accept this reading. I find it completely unacceptable.
2. The Suffering Servant of Isaiah. This image fits that “Lamb,” and I see it as adding to our understanding of the role of the Lamb.
3. The paschal lamb. Given John’s sacramental themes, I believe the Lamb is the Passover Lamb. Jesus is both the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies and the lamb on the mercy seat.
Not since the debates over God the Father, has a metaphor seemed less useful than Lamb of God. Jesus is the Lamb of God – not in our toxic male, machismo, tough, strong world. Lions, tigers and sharks. The swamp in Washington, D.C. fills with crocodiles.
But lambs are everywhere in the biblical record. Staring with Genesis 21:28 – “Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock,” and ending with Revelation 22:3 – “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him,” lambs appear 199 times in the Bible. But “Lamb of God” stands alone in majesty, power, and glory.
We have a problem. Lambs don’t seem like much to Americans. Brute strength, power, competitiveness, being number 1, Making America Great Again – these are our obsessions. The Los Angeles Rams not Lambs!
We are not in the mood for lambs. Sign of weakness. Even worse, a sign of vulnerability. Why would we want a symbol of a lamb on the altar of sacrifice? American Christianity, in its evangelical nationalist form, has no room for a lamb. America the strong and mighty! America bully of the world! America most powerful military in history. What will the American Empire do when it meets its version of the Mongols?
Even the manliest male among us hears “Lamb of God” and thinks of the cross. The metaphor stills has punch. An early painting of the crucifixion depicts a stone hill and a wood-stick cross, and there’s a huge lamb nailed on the crossbar.
Lamb of God! Talk about deconstructing all our illusions of power and superiority. David Butrrick said, “Look, if God will hand over an only Child, then see, behind the hard hurt surface of life, there’s not a Holy Terror, but Love. Love so amazing, so Divine, so intense it will give itself for us!”
Perhaps you recall the words of Julian of Norwich, in the 14th century Revelations of Divine Love, when she was asked the purpose of all her visions: “Love was his purpose.”
And T. S. Eliot:
Love is the unfamiliar name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
That human power cannot remove.
We now inhabit an age of violence answering violence with more violence. My Anabaptist mentor, Will Campbell concluded “We just can’t quite trust the power of the Gospel message.” There just must be something we can add, some gimmick, some technique, some strategy..” And now Christians think they need more powerful symbols, a more powerful military, troops in our streets, more law enforcement, more security, more authority.
I really believe we now have to depend only on the Gospel and if it is not enough, then let it not be enough. Our witness is faithfulness. But I fear too many of my fellow Christians now see this as folly, foolishness, weakness. The Greek word for folly is MORIA. I mourn those who find the gospel MORIA, woke, wimpy, and too soft.
America looks more like ancient Athens every day: Cluttered with false gods. Mammon (market fundamentalists), military power, and government authoritarianism.
Cornel West, in Democracy Matters argues our democracy is endangered by “three, dominating, antidemocratic dogmas: free-market fundamentalism, aggressive militarism, and escalating authoritarianism.”
West warns, “On the domestic front, this dogma expands police power, augments the prison-industrial complex, and legitimates unchecked male power (and violence) at home and in the workplace. It views crime as a monstrous enemy to crush (targeting poor people and immigrants) rather than as an ugly behavior to change.”
For a theological moment: Augustine in The City of God even argues that the reason the Roman Empire has fallen on hard times is due to their worship of corrupt gods. He assumed rightly that there is a direct correlation between the worship of God, the character of our lives, and politics. According to Augustine, Rome fell because the people of Rome became corrupt by emulating the corruption of their gods. Needless to say, Augustine’s account of idolatry was not well received by the Romans. (Hauerwas, Stanley. Working with Words: On Learning to Speak Christian (p. 80). Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition).
Today’s faithful preachers are not well received because Americans are addicted to their idols. They show up at church on Sunday, but during the week they are packing their cherished idols. They are like Rachel who “stole her father’s household gods” (Genesis 31:19).
See the images. Lamb in a bush! Lamb on a cross! Then Lamb on the throne! But we are captive now to idols of power and might, militarism, and all kinds of bullying. Rare is the prophet’s voice: “Not by power nor by might, but by my Word.”
The composers of Genesis made a lamb caught in the bush a major story of Israel’s faith. Genesis 22
Didn’t we put a lamb in the manger? Didn’t we leave the lamb there with the baby? This is a tough world – no place for lambs. Why would Christians want a lamb as symbol of faith?
John thought “lamb” the perfect way to introduce Jesus. Twice in our lesson, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
Paying attention to the text, ask “Why use the Lamb?” Are we dealing with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53? Some scholars associate it with the triumphant lamb of Revelation 7:17 and 17:14). Others suggest a Jewish tradition of a lamb who would lead the flock of God’s people. Still others, see “Lamb of God” as the Passover lamb.
I think the Passover Lamb reference is clear but we should include the entire ritual practice of Israel.
Jesus is the Lamb, but he is not a cultic offering. He is “of God.” Jesus is not a cultic victim – a point we should stress now that white Christians are claiming they are victims of a liberal culture.