Old Testament: Isaiah 49:1-7
Gospel: John 1:29-42
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Today we take a brief jaunt in the Gospel of John before we return to Matthew for the rest of the Epiphany time. In today's reading we have a classic well-known "christianese" phrase, but yet it is only found here in the Gospel of John. Twice, in these 14 verses John the Baptist declares that Jesus is the "Lamb of God." This phrase has become common place in today's Christian vocabulary and iconography yet it only comes from this one section in John. So where did John get this language and how might we see allusions to it in other New Testament passages?
A lamb is certainly an Old Testament image. Going back to Genesis and the story of Abraham, (the father of Israel) the first covenant with the Lord involved a ram. In the testing of Abraham through the sacrifice of Isaac, God provided the ram in place of Isaac. During the Exodus, a lamb and its blood became the symbol of divine judgement and mercy as the Lord passed over the Israelite houses in Egypt. When the sacrificial system was formalized in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple of Solomon, a lamb and various other animals were prescribed for the formal national sacrifices. Finally, in the prophets, the image of a helpless lamb is picked up in Messianic terms. Isaiah compared the Anointed One to a lamb that is led to slaughter and Jeremiah uses the same language to describe his own situation when a plot is discovered against him. (Is. 53:7; Jer. 11:19)
In the rest of New Testament, the Synoptic Gospels ignore this imagery entirely, although Acts quotes Is. 53:7 when Philip is proselytizing the Ethiopian eunuch in the chariot in Acts 8. 1 Peter 1:19 compares the blood of Christ which provides salvation to the blood of a lamb. However, the bulk of instances come from Revelation, where "lamb" is used 31 times. Revelation is a part of the Johannine corpus so it is not surprising that the same imagery is used by the same author, or at least one of his followers. The exact phrase "Lamb of God" isn't used in Revelation, but the meaning is the same in the Gospel and the Apocalypse--Jesus is the lamb, the sacrifice, which is given "for the life of the world" (John 6:51) to redeem all of creation back to the Father.
In John there is no such thing as the "Messianic Secret," or Jesus hiding his miracles and identity by continually telling people to tell no one of the miracles he performed. The Gospel of Mark, uses this to a high degree, but so also do Matthew and Luke. In John's Gospel however, right here in Chapter 1, at the inauguration of his ministry, Jesus' mission and identity is declared to Jesus' contemporaries and the reader of the Gospel. The path was laid out for Jesus all they way to his eventual crucifixion and sacrifice to provide salvation for creation.
Since we are in the time of Epiphany, I should at least point out what a powerful epiphany John the Baptist received and then shared with others. He was only able to make the declaration that Jesus was the Lamb of God because the Spirit gave him a vision of what to look for and then opened the heavens so he could see an alternate reality of the spirit/dove descending on Jesus and anointing him. This in some ways is the experience we all must go though who follow Christ. We receive an epiphany by the help of the Holy Spirit of who Christ is, we accept that revelation, and then are called to share that knowledge with others.
This week, may we reflect on who Christ is and the sacrifice he gave to save us. And may we also be faithful to share this with others as the opportunity arises.
Grace and Peace.
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