Tag: lamb of god

The Lamb of God (John 1:29-34)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Stained glass of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), Chamonix, France

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (New International Version)

The Gospel of John is all about finding and seeing Jesus – and then believing. Jesus is seen from various angles, namely because, as the embodiment of God, he requires a multi-perspectival look. In today’s lesson, we see John the Baptist exhorting everyone to take a look at Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Throughout the Apostle John’s Gospel, we see the gradual unfolding of belief amongst people, including the faith of John the Baptist. The Baptist’s initial understanding was that he was in the presence of someone of much greater worth than himself. Only by means of God’s Spirit is John able to gain increased insight concerning Jesus.

It’s important to point out that faith is never a static sort of thing. Rather, faith is always moving in a direction; it’s dynamic. Faith is more than a gift that’s put in a box and given and received. There is continual discovery to faith. It’s as if we’ve been given the gift of a Russian doll, and there are ever-increasing gifts within the gift. There are multiple levels of belief to explore and discover.

Spiritual insight is an initial gift of faith. There is, however, more. With insight there follows the ability to distinguish between material and immaterial realities. This is one reason why the Gospel of John can be difficult to understand – because within one verse, statement, or story, there are double, even triple, meanings to it.

John often invites us to see the spiritual reality that is there underneath the physical. It will take eyes of faith to see, because sheer physical sight will not see the entire reality. And at the end of faith is Jesus, to confess and believe that he is indeed the very Son of God.

The Holy Spirit in today’s lesson actually serves as the divine witness to John the Baptist’s burgeoning development of faith in Christ; John sees Jesus not only as coming from God, but as God.

The confirming voice of the Spirit at the baptism of Jesus lets everyone know that this Lamb of God, Jesus, the Son of God, will take away the sin of the world in his eventual Passover death.

Stained glass of the Agnus Dei, El Cajon, California

To take away sin means to remove it and purify the person from it. John’s increased understanding discerns that his words and his baptism with water don’t bring this removal and purification; but they do point to Jesus. Christ as the one who is able to immerse people in the cleansing bath of grace.

Jesus Christ is qualified and able to call, gather, and cleanse not only Israel, but also the world and all the scattered children of God. Thus, John the Baptist’s ministry is to reveal Jesus to Israel; it’s directed to the entire world and to the taking away of the world’s great sin, once and for all.

The reference to Jesus as the “Lamb of God” is a familiar one to Christians. Lambs are common throughout the Bible. A lamb, however, that takes away sin is somewhat novel (although a scapegoat symbolically takes aways Israel’s sin into the desert, Leviticus 16:8-10). Passover lambs, lambs offered twice daily and in several offerings and acts of worship, were a part of many guilt and purification rituals in the Old Testament. (Leviticus 9:1-13; 14:1-13)

It seems to me that the Apostle John understood Jesus as the Lamb which removes sin by being the representative and once for all sacrifice to end all sacrifices. There is no longer any need to keep offering these various lambs day after day, festival after festival, year after year; Jesus is the efficacious one who ends it all and finally purifies and atones with potent deliverance from sin.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:11-14, NIV)

And what is more, it’s this same Lamb of God who will again show up – even though slain, and yet lives – to gather together all the nations of the earth, lead them as the singular Good Shepherd, vanquish all the enemies who oppose goodness, and establish divine light in a sort of eternally lit menorah that blesses the world. (Revelation 5:6-12; 6:1; 7:17; 14:1: 1714; 21:22-23)

The baptism with water of Jesus by John the Baptist, therefore, confirmed and anticipated the baptizing (purifying) work of the Holy Spirit that only Jesus would accomplish. For John baptized with water, but Jesus baptizes with both water and Spirit – demonstrating his singular ability as Savior and Lord.

In this Christian season of Epiphany, Jesus – the Lamb of God who takes away sin and purifies with the Spirit – is Christianity’s eternal light and life.

The bright star still compels people to come and see, as well as leads the little Christs called “Christians” to take their light and let it shine wherever they go. It is a light of mercy and mystery, grace and goodness, wonder and wisdom. It is, I believe wholeheartedly, the light the world needs in order to bring an end to division and connect one another in peace and goodwill.

May it be so, to the glory of God. Amen.

A Vision of the End (Revelation 14:1-11)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Great Day of His Wrath, by John Martin, 1852

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as first-fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” (New International Version)

Throughout the book of Revelation (The Apocalypse of John) the Apostle John communicates visions of the end, of God’s wrath and human suffering. Yet John also pauses throughout his vision to offer encouragement for the faithful followers of Jesus in the present time who are undergoing suffering, even persecution.

The assurance believers have is that God sees their struggle, their devotion; the Lord will protect them – not from suffering and death – but from the effects of divine judgment and punishment on the earth. The Lord will not abandon the believers. Instead, they will share in God’s new realm.

The Lamb and the Redeemed

The ultimate destiny of Christ’s faithful followers is not in judgment but in triumph – even though many of them had to face extreme circumstances and died the martyr’s death. Christ, the Lamb of God, stands in the center of God’s kingdom with the 144,000, who sing a new song to God.

It could be that these 144,000 persons are representative and symbolic of all redeemed humanity. Or, they may likely be Christian martyrs, the ones who were the victims of evil (Revelation 13). Whoever they actually are, their description is figurative in order to convey that these faithful persons are morally and spiritually pure; they did not defile themselves with the wickedness of the world’s systemic and structural evil.

These redeemed persons are the first fruits, believers who have sacrificed their lives for God and maintained their witness to King Jesus, and not to Ceasar as Lord. In the Old Testament, every firstborn (both human and animal) belonged to the Lord. The first fruits (the initial yield of crops) were set aside specifically as a sacrificial offering to God.

In the New Testament, the concept and practice of first fruits is used as a metaphor for something given to God in advance. So, in the book of Revelation, this refers to the harvest at the end of the age; the first fruits are the 144,000, the ones who are the anticipation of Christian resurrection. In other words, there are many more converts to come – people redeemed by the Lamb and set aside for resurrection and new creation. A great harvest of souls comes; because of Christ’s resurrection, his followers shall also experience resurrection.

The Message of the Three Angels

The Apostle John spoke of three angels, each of whom proclaim a coming judgment of God. The first angel has a call to repentance and a warning of imminent judgment. The second angel announces the fall of Babylon (Rome). And the third angel pronounces judgment upon those who gave themselves to the powers of this fallen world, who participated in organizational wickedness through oppression, abuse, neglect, disrespect, and dishonor of others.

It is with the third angel that the “mark of the beast” upon a person’s forehead is the mark of judgment on them. Although the language and picture of this, and what happens to them, was (and still is for some) used to scare the hell out of people so that they would embrace heaven, we must very much distance ourselves from such disgraceful rhetoric.

Again, the vision is full of symbolism and is not to be taken literally; it is John’s attempt to convey an otherworldly experience he had, in terms which his readers could grasp. The big idea is that those who have become devoted members to the machinations of evil in its various forms on this earth will experience the judgment of God.

As they sought glory in this world by any means possible – including using people to keep and hold power – so, they will face an inglorious end when God holds them accountable for their wrongdoing and for letting their own hearts become shriveled and dry.

This is neither the time to participate in evil, nor to procrastinate in making things right – while you still have time to do so.

For those holding on to bitterness, it is time to forgive.

For the ones giving in to their anger through hating others, it is now time to humble yourself, repent, and turn to right and healthy ways of dealing with that anger.

For the persons allowing themselves to be used by others for perpetuating evil in their workplace, neighborhood, or church, it is high time to find your voice, renounce the damaging practices, and speak truth to power.

We all must suffer. What it is we suffer for, is up to us.

Almighty and everlasting God, the rightful Judge of all things and all people, help us, your people, to be rightly prepared for Christ’s coming, through a right confession and right practices in this life. Enable us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling so that we might cast the bright beams which radiate from the approaching day of glory into those dark days and nights of suffering.

Sovereign God, draw us, we pray, near to Christ and in union with him. May we taste and see the goodness of the Lord; be strengthened in faith for the trials and tribulations which lie before us; bask in the love of Jesus; and hold fast to divine promises, and our confession, especially since the end of all things is at hand. Amen.

Some Needed Encouragement (Revelation 15:1-4)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Seven Last Plagues and the Harps of God, by Nicolas Bataille, c.1380 C.E.

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (New International Version)

Let’s keep in mind that the book of Revelation (also known as The Apocalypse of John) is a vision of the Apostle John about how things shake out in the end. The purpose of the vision is not for us to get lost in esoteric speculations about the future and try to figure out specific dates and times of God’s judgment.

Rather, John’s Revelation was primarily meant to give believers a future hope that their hardships and suffering will not last forever; there is a time coming, soon, when Judge Jesus will make all things right and all things new. In other words, the vision of John was designed to provide needed encouragement to followers of Jesus.

The believers needed a connection to their spiritual heritage – a way to see that they weren’t an isolated faith island in the middle of the world’s crud. The heavenly beings were singing a song of Moses and of the Lamb (Jesus). The two are connected, thus bringing together the saints of ages past with the struggling Christians of the present.

The song of Moses is a song of triumph, sung after the Israelites passed through the Red Sea unharmed and the Egyptian army was eradicated:

“I will sing to the Lord,
    for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
    he has hurled into the sea.

“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
    he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
    the Lord is his name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
    he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
    are drowned in the Red Sea.
The deep waters have covered them;
    they sank to the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, Lord,
    was majestic in power.
Your right hand, Lord,
    shattered the enemy.

Flee From Egypt, by Rev. Albert Lee Wagner, 1975

“In the greatness of your majesty
    you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
    it consumed them like stubble.
By the blast of your nostrils
    the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
    the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy boasted,
    ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
    I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
    and my hand will destroy them.’
But you blew with your breath,
    and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
    in the mighty waters.
Who among the gods
    is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
    majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
    working wonders?

“You stretch out your right hand,
    and the earth swallows your enemies.
In your unfailing love you will lead
    the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
    to your holy dwelling.
The nations will hear and tremble;
    anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
    the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people of Canaan will melt away;
    terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
    they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, Lord,
    until the people you bought pass by.
You will bring them in and plant them
    on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,
    the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

“The Lord reigns
    for ever and ever.” (Exodus 15:1-18, NIV)

Throughout the millennia, this deliverance from harsh slavery to freedom is annually recalled and remembered in the Passover. The original Passover in Egypt involved a lamb being slain and it’s blood applied to the doorposts of each Jewish home. The avenging angel “passed over” those homes and instead dealt with the Egyptian houses which had no lamb’s blood over the door.

The song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Jesus) are really the same song. Both the deliverance out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, as well as the deliverance from guilt and shame through the cross and resurrection, was real salvation from all that oppressed and hindered the people from living into their true selves.

This connection to salvation history was a great boon to the early believers undergoing their own brand of injustice, oppression, and persecution – just for being followers of Jesus.

So, we all need to apply the death of the Lamb to our present situations, so that we can endure through hardship and not give up and experience a failure of faith. We continually need a strengthening of faith, to recall and remember who we are and to whom we belong, so that we will sing our own song of hope and deliverance.

“Awake and Sing the Song,” by English hymnist William Hammond (1719-1783)

Awake, and sing the song
Of Moses and the Lamb;
Tune every heart and every tongue
To praise the Savior’s name.

Sing of His dying love;
Sing of His rising power;
Sing how He intercedes above
For those whose sins He bore.

Tell, in seraphic strains,
What He has done for you;
How He has taken off your chains
And formed your hearts anew.

His faithfulness proclaim
While life to you is given:
Join hands and hearts to praise His name
Till we all meet in heaven.

Amen.

Jesus Is Lord (Revelation 21:5-27)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
“The Risen Lord” by Chinese artist He Qi, 2001

Then the one who sits on the throne said, “And now I make all things new!” He also said to me, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.” And he said, “It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. Those who win the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my children. But cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic, those who worship idols, and all liars—the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, “Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, coming down out of heaven from God and shining with the glory of God.

The city shone like a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels in charge of the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel. There were three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on the north, and three on the west. 

The city’s wall was built on twelve foundation stones, on which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city was perfectly square, as wide as it was long. The angel measured the city with his measuring stick: it was fifteen hundred miles long and was as wide and as high as it was long. The angel also measured the wall, and it was 216 feet high, according to the standard unit of measure which he was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself was made of pure gold, as clear as glass. 

The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chalcedony, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.

I did not see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp. The peoples of the world will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their wealth into it. 

The gates of the city will stand open all day; they will never be closed, because there will be no night there. The greatness and the wealth of the nations will be brought into the city. But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of the living will enter the city. (Good News Translation)

“The Risen Christ” by He Qi, 2004

So, I’m just going to put something out there and see if you resonate with it, or not:

Sometimes we long for Christ’s return, the end of time, and eternal bliss because we don’t want to deal with being our true selves right now in this present moment in time. We just want out of our current reality.

At times, we take ourselves so darned seriously that the true self never comes through to others. Yet, when I’m real, authentic, and genuine, I connect with others from the very core of my being, and not from some contrived self that I’ve put up for others to see.

I say all this because, if we want to see the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city, and experience the very presence of God and the Lamb, then it comes because you and me are being our real selves. Only the true, the brave, and the vulnerable shall have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

I think the reason why we have such a detailed description of the New Jerusalem is that this is a sure thing; it’s real, man. And only real authentic people can inhabit the city.

Please know that, even though we may want things to change from the way they are now, things will not always be this way. Life will not always consist of heartache, suffering, and tears. The world, as we now know it, will eventually pass away with its constant barrage of war, famine, hunger, sickness, misunderstanding, conflict, and pain. 

There is a coming a day when Jesus will return and make everything new. The vision of this next-to-last chapter of the Bible portrays a sovereign Lord who is in charge, and whose authority, in the end, shall be seen for what it truly is. 

Everything wrong will be made right; all that is crooked shall be made straight; and the endless struggle to do what is right and just will prevail once and for all.

Whenever we get caught in some seemingly endless cycle of addiction, or insecurity, or fear; whenever we find ourselves having to endure yet another day of undeserved backtalk; and whenever we see that perseverance has become our abiding companion; it is in those times – much like the original recipients of the Apostle John’s vision of the final apocalypse – that we are strengthened and encouraged with the truth that Jesus is Lord. 

Jesus Christ reigns as King over all creation; his rule will be revealed to all nations. In Christ’s benevolent kingdom, everyone who is thirsty for justice will receive from a life-giving fountain; and all who hunger for righteousness will be filled and satisfied.

Yet, until that time comes, we hold to our hope that Jesus shall return to judge the living and the dead. 

For righteous persons, this is truly good news. For the wicked, not so much. 

Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be in the celestial city. 

So, today is the day to be a real, authentic, vulnerable Christian who puts on words and deeds that are appropriate for God’s kingdom.

Lord Jesus, you are making everything new. You are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. All things hinge on your gracious rule in this world. Help me to so embrace your kingdom ethics that every word I say and each deed I do is consistent with your divine justice and mercy through the power of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God. Amen.