Look, the Lamb of God!

2nd Sunday after Epiphany, 1/19/20
John 1:29-41


Look, the Lamb of God!
I. Look and learn.
II. Look and tell.


Last week as I spent time in an airport, I was struck by how many young children had their attention locked on the screen in their hands.

Last weekend as I watched a few playoff football games on TV, I was struck at the number of camera angles offered to me in slow motion for a single play.

Drive through any metropolitan area in our country, including our own, and you’ll be struck by the number of multi-colored, flashing digital signs that compete for your attention.

We live in a visual world filled with visual effects that are intended to amaze and mesmerize you. Each one of them is designed to grab your attention and hold it as long as possible, causing you to marginalize everything else in your field of vision. And, as you can imagine, it comes with a cost. There are people who are addicted to the screens in front of them. Caring parents have to set stringent limits on screen time for their children.

And it’s true—we need to limit what we’re seeing so that we can focus on other things that are truly important in our lives such as relationships and our daily duties.

And that’s exactly what your Lord would encourage you to do this morning—to marginalize all the visual distractions in your life and take a look at something that truly matters, eternally matters.

Today we celebrate the Sunday in Epiphany which focuses our attention on seeing Jesus as the Lamb of God. God had called John the Baptist to prepare people for the coming of the Savior and we see and hear John doing exactly that as he called on his followers and, by extension, you and me, to do the same. He points us to Jesus and states, “Look, the Lamb of God.” Let’s heed his advice. Let’s look together at the Lamb of God.

Part I.

I’ll have to admit it. There are times that I’m looking at something, such as an advertisement on TV, and I’m not sure what I’m watching or what message I’m supposed to receive. And my uncertainty has the exact opposite result of what the advertiser intended. I conclude that whatever product is being advertised, it isn’t for me.

I’ve learned through the years that messages need to be clear and repeated.

That’s one of the things I like about John the Baptist. Although we know that his wardrobe and his diet were a little on the edge, his message was crystal clear. His audience before him heard the same message twice. “Look, the Lamb of God.” And that consistent message made perfect sense.

It was perfectly in line with the calling that John had received from God himself. He was sent to prepare the people for the coming Savior. So, on these two days in John’s ministry, as he laid eyes on the Savior, his natural and obvious reaction was to point people to that Savior. He wanted them to look at the One who was the focus of his ministry.

His consistent message also made sense because of his audience. On the first day when John pointed the people to Jesus, our text doesn’t give any indication as to whom John was speaking. We can only surmise it was to the crowds that were coming out to hear John preach. Those are the crowds mentioned in the previous ten verses of this chapter.

But on the next day, when he saw Jesus once again, John pointed some very special people to Jesus. We read, “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’” One of his disciples was Andrew. The other was unnamed, and so we surmise it was the writer of this Gospel, the disciple named John. As some of you know, John the Baptist had his own band of followers and, as time progressed and Jesus began his earthly ministry, John urged them to leave him and to follow Christ.

And he made it crystal clear why they should do so. He said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Those who heard John easily made the connection that this was the Savior God had promised and this is what that Savior had come to do. After waiting thousands of years for this day to arrive, the Jewish people who heard these words and saw this message in human flesh and blood must have been stunned. It’s hard for us to imagine what a life-changing moment this must have been for them. Here is the One to whom all the prophets pointed! Here’s the One Moses talked about. Here’s the One Isaiah told us to watch for. Here he is!

And, at least for two of them, they wanted to learn more. Listen again to this interesting opening exchange between Jesus and his two future disciples, Andrew and John. “When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ ‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.” As tender as this first exchange was, it sounds a little odd doesn’t it? They just met Jesus and the first thing they ask is for an invitation to see where he’s staying? A little bold, even unpolite, isn’t it?

Not at all. They call him “Rabbi” or Teacher for a reason. They want to learn from him. They want to know what he says about himself to see if it matches up with what John the Baptist just told them. They want to know what his purpose is and see if it’s consistent with being the One who would take away the sin of the world. They realized that, if there were ever someone who could enlighten them spiritually, this was it. They looked and now they wanted to learn.

That’s our opportunity as well. Look, the Lamb of God! Look and learn.

I’m guessing that almost every one of you on a daily basis receives things to look at on your mobile device. Often, they’re pictures of people who are close to you. Here’s what your loved one wants you to see. Here’s what your loved one wants you to know about them. And you’re only too happy and eager to look and learn.

But how does that desire compare with your desire to look at the Lamb of God and learn? If you had been Andrew or John on this day in Jesus’ life, would you have been eager to drop everything and spend the day with Jesus starting at the tenth hour? Or, would you have checked the calendar on your mobile device and tried to arrange another time with Jesus? Might you even have offered an excuse not to meet with him at all?

It’s easy for us to dismiss John’s encouragement to look. After all, we’ve seen this all before. Many of us have spent our entire lives looking at Jesus.

But don’t make that mistake! Don’t get distracted! Don’t think that there are more important messages or concerns to pay attention to! When everything is said and done, when you’ve enjoyed a lifetime of experiences, when you’ve endured a lifetime of heartaches and setbacks, when you don’t know what to do with the guilt that’s nagging you, then this is the only thing to see. This is the only thing to learn and know. Here’s the one who forgives your sins by his death and assures you of life with him in heaven by his resurrection. Look, the Lamb of God. Look and learn!

Part II.

When you see something amazing, what’s one of your first reactions? You tell someone about it, don’t you?

That’s exactly what Andrew did. Listen to what happened, “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ).”

Andrew simply told what he had seen. We don’t get the impression that Andrew launched into a long discourse about what the Bible said about the Messiah nor about what he thought about the Messiah. His message was simple and pointed.

The next verse says, “And he brought him to Jesus.” I don’t think Andrew had to drag Peter along dusty roads, forcing him to see Jesus. We get the impression that things proceeded very naturally. The natural thing would have been for Andrew to offer Peter an invitation. Perhaps it went something like this, “Come on, I’ll bring you to him and introduce you.”

And that’s all it took. We know that Jesus took it from there. Jesus himself reached out to Peter and convinced Peter that he was the promised Savior from sin. And in short order, Jesus asked Peter, Andrew, James and John to be his disciples for life, for eternal life. And it all started with a look—a look at the Savior.

That’s always the way it happens. Look, the Lamb of God! Look and tell.

Telling others to look at Jesus. In theory it sounds simple enough, but in reality we know how daunting it can be. We know from experience that it’s much easier to say nothing, at least nothing at all about Jesus. And I’m with you on that. I’ve had the opportunity but failed, miserably so. So, what should we do about it? Confess it. Confess it and hear our Savior’s astounding forgiveness. Our failures at pointing others to Jesus is one of the countless sins he died for. And by God’s grace we believe and have that forgiveness. And that’s what makes us the perfect ones to look at Jesus and tell others. I know what forgiveness thorough Jesus is all about. So do you. We need it daily and we have it. So, tell others just that. Tell them to look, look at the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That’s a sight everyone needs to see, and with it comes eternal blessings. Amen.