'The Lamb' A Sermon

First preached as a sermon at the Parish Eucharist at Croydon Minster, 2nd Sunday of Epiphany. The readings were Isaiah 49.1-7; John 1.29-42. NB This sermon is very much inspired by Jean Vanier's book Drawn Into the Mystery of Jesus, which I would wholeheartedly commend.

‘The Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes’ (Revelation 7.17)

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The Lamb is at the heart of the Christian life:

‘Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sin of the world’

‘O Lamb of God, you take the sin of the world, have mercy on us.

‘O Lamb of God, you take the sin of the world, have mercy on us.

‘O Lamb of God, you take the sin of the world, grant us thy peace’.

In the invitation to Holy Communion and in the anthem Agnus Dei Christian liturgy refers to lambs, or rather a particular lamb, the Lamb of God: the one to whom John the Baptist points.

As a church dedicated to John the Baptist let’s reflect on what he is revealing to us as he first sees, and then declares, Jesus Christ to be the Lamb of God.

Often in art and iconography John the Baptist is represented either holding a Lamb or pointing at one: just look around this church, inside and out to see that.

The revelation that Jesus was the Chosen One of God, the Son of God came to John at the Baptism. That experience enabled him to see and recognise and then tell his own followers:

Look, the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world. John 1.29

Francisco de Zurbarán Agnus Dei 

But what a thing to say. That Jesus is a lamb, the Lamb of God, ‘such a meek and gentle little animal.’

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To declare Jesus to be the Lamb answers a question posed, in deep time, by Isaac, the beloved son of Abraham.

God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a multitude of people, ‘more numerous than the stars of the sky’ (Genesis 22.17) and yet had asked Abraham to sacrifice the son who he had Sarah had so longed for.

Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain, with Isaac carrying the wood (evocative, as Origen notes, of Christ carrying the wood of the cross to his own death) and Abraham carries the knife and fire for the sacrifice.

When they get to the place of the sacrifice Isaac asks his father, ‘where is the Lamb for the burnt offering?’ And Abraham replies, ‘God himself will provide the lamb, my son’ (Genesis 22.7-8). That day a ram was caught in a thicket and they sacrificed it.

But John the Baptist gives the long awaited answer: ‘Behold, the Lamb of God’.

To understand the significance of the lamb for the Jewish people we must go deep into the scriptures.

In the story of the Exodus it was the blood of the lamb that saved the Israelites from death and enabled them to flee from slavery on the path to freedom. During the feast of the Passover, recalling that deliverance, Jewish people today remember, like their ancestors, by eating roasted lamb.

Again, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the servant who will suffer on behalf of the people, a servant who was pierced because of the fault of others and who brought peace. Isaiah says,

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter…

he did not open his mouth…

he bore the sins of many

and made intercession for our transgression. (Isaiah 53.7, 12)

In Holy Week we walk the Way of the Cross with the Suffering Servant Messiah. At Easter we speak of the Passover Lamb of God; that is Jesus Christ, the deliverer into freedom and life in all its fullness.

This Lamb stands in the face of the power and armies of Caesar, of an overbearing Empire: an Empire that endures today in systems of violence, consumption, oppression and environmental degradation.

In the face of all that what can this Lamb do?

In his writing Jean Vanier says:

The lamb will break down the walls of fear, of aggression, of violence, of sin which imprison people in themselves and incite them to seek their own glory. He will liberate in each person a new life of communion with God, with other people and with what is deepest in the self, sowing seeds for universal peace. (Jean Vanier Drawn Into the Mystery of Jesus p.34).

That’s what the Lamb can ‘do’.

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The scriptures and the prophets, after the example of John the Baptist, prepare our hearts to receive Jesus.

So often, people look for the spectacular. When Jesus comes, it’s not in the spectacular; not as the persuasive celebrity; not as the influencer with a million likes. He comes as a gentle Lamb.

In response our heartfelt cry is, ‘O Lamb of God, I come’. Lamb of God, I come to you messed up and in turmoil, with petty envies, and jealousies and niggles: with, as the hymn puts it, ‘fightings within and fears without’, and yet still, ‘O Lamb of God, I come’.

After declaring Jesus to be the Lamb of God, John continues to point him to others, continues to draw others to the love of God’s lamb. Inspired by John, as followers of the Lamb, let’s keep pointing him out to others.

Not to would be cruel.

For the Lamb, ‘comes in a very simple way, opening our hearts to people with the breath of peace and a quiet shaft of light, a gentle kiss. He comes into that part of our being that is our treasure, that sacred space within us, hidden under all the fears, walls, [frustration] and anger in us so that we may grow in the spirit of love’ (Jean Vanier Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus p. 34-5).

‘We are called to be gentle followers of the Lamb, not people of power.’ (Jean Vanier Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus p. 35)

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And the Lamb invites us to the Supper, what the Book of Revelation calls the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb.

Jan van Eyck Ghent Altarpiece

This is the captivating image of heaven. It’s portrayed by Jan van Eyck in his Ghent Altarpiece which shows the Lamb of God standing upon an altar, and around the Lamb are a multitude of peoples and nations, the saints and martyrs, people of every background and class:

for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 7.17)

Today we gather around the altar of the Lamb of God, as young and old, men and women, with heritage of many nations and languages as followers of the Lamb.

We hear afresh John the Baptist’s description and invitation:

‘Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sin of the world. Blessed are those who are called to the Supper of the Lamb’.