“Behold the Lamb”
John 1:29-36
OPENING JOKE:
INTRODUCTION: Today I would like to begin by retelling the story of the first Passover as the introduction to today’s lesson
Illustration: “The story of the Passover” The nation of Israel had been under the bondage of Egypt since they arrived during the time of Joseph over 400 years earlier. They were held under the taskmasters who made life for them horrible and almost unlivable. Moses, a man called by God stood before the Egyptian Pharaoh and declared, “Let my people go!” Pharaoh agreed and relented nine times while countless plagues befell his land. God sent plagues of blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts and even darkness…all to which Pharaoh begged relief, bargained the Israelite release and then became hardened against and refused to keep his end of the deal.
Because of Pharaoh’s constant refusal to release God’s people, the Lord brought about the worst plague imaginable. He promised to strike down the first born in every household to show His power.
Exodus 11:5 “Then Moses said, "Thus says the Lord: ’About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; ’and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.”
As a way to separate God’s chosen people from the Egyptians He instituted something called the Passover. The Passover was a feast wherein the people were to take a lamb and slaughter it and apply its blood to their door posts which would signify to the Lord that those inside were His people.
Exodus 12:12-13 “’For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. ’Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Only by the protection of the blood on their doorposts could the Israelites escape this judgment. Afterward they were released by Pharaoh as his heart was torn by the loss of his child.
Exodus 12:30 “So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”
QUESTION: ‘What does all of this have to do with Jesus who died over 1600 years later?’
The answer: EVERYTHING!
This event was a picture of that which was to come in the New Testament.
When John called Jesus “The Lamb of God”, this was not just a phrase of affection or a nickname, but a reference to the time of the Passover when the blood of the lamb caused the judgment of God to Pass over the houses of His people
***We are going to look today at three ways Jesus’ death on the cross followed the commands of God concerning the Passover
God was specific in His commands pertaining to the Passover, and every command was to be followed to the letter.
God gave the commands of:
I. Which animal to choose
a. They were told to choose a lamb , “without blemish” (12:5)
i. This means the animal was to have no outward signs of imperfection
ii. God was saying that the Israelites were to take a healthy, unimpaired, lamb as their sacrifice
b. The term ‘without blemish’ also refers to being ‘innocent’
i. Jesus Christ was ‘without blemish’ because He was ‘innocent’ of any sin
ii. Judas Iscariot declared after betraying Jesus, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
iii. If anyone would have known Jesus was a sinner, it would have been the men who spent the most time with him – who Judas was one – and here he declares Jesus as innocent
iv. This is why not just anyone could be the sacrifice for the sin of man
1. God requires a sacrifice ‘without blemish’
2. And no one else in history has ever lived a sinless life
3. Illustration: “Evangelist Messiah” A well known TV evangelist once boasted that he could have been the one who died for the sin of man. But he was wrong, because God requires an innocent and spotless sacrifice, not one that is tainted with sin
4. And everyone, save Jesus, is tainted according to Romans 3:23 that says, “…All have sinned…”
c. But Jesus is not just alluded to as the Passover Lamb, He is actually named it
i. I did a study this week and found that the term ‘Lamb’ is used 32 times in the New Testament to describe Jesus
1. 28 of those times are found in the book of Revelation alone
2. This is because Revelation is written in symbols – and the Lamb is used as a symbol for Christ because He is the picture of our Passover Lamb
ii. Paul even calls Jesus the Passover in his letter to the Corinthian church
iii. I Corinthians 5:7 “…For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us…”
d. God chose to give Jesus, His only begotten Son as our Passover Lamb – it is He who decides which Lamb to choose, and He chose Jesus
**Along with which animal to choose God also chooses…
II. When to slay it
a. Exodus 12:3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ’On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.”
i. It was on the tenth day of the month of Abib (or Nisan as it was called after the Babylonian captivity), the Passover lamb was chosen
ii. It was on this day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem – Palm Sunday
iii. This was God’s way of showing His perfect timing and communicating this was his Passover lamb
b. Exodus 12:6 “’Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.”
i. The phrase ‘twilight’ refers mainly to the time between the sun beginning to go down and the time that the sun sets
ii. Later Moses would prescribe the time for the sacrifice as “twilight, at the going down of the sun” (Deuteronomy 16:6)
1. The 12 hours of sunlight given at any point on earth begins with about three hours of sunrise or morning, six hours of midday and three hours of twilight
2. This is how the Jews reckoned time: the 3rd hour was about 9:00 a.m., the sixth hour was about 12:00 p.m. and so on
iii. ‘Twilight’ places the Passover Lamb being slain at about the ‘9th hour’ or 3:00 p.m.
iv. Josephus, the great Jewish historian wrote that it was customary in his day to slay the lamb at the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.)
c. Now, we may be asking, “What does this have to do with Jesus?”
i. Listen to the account of Jesus’ death from Luke 23
ii. Luke 23:44-46 “Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, ’into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ " Having said this, He breathed His last.”
d. Jesus died at the exact hour set forth by God for the death of the Passover Lamb
**Not only does God choose which animal to use and when it is to be slain, but He also tells us…
III. What to do with its blood
a. Exodus 12:7 “’And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.”
i. The blood of the slain Lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts
ii. This was the central part of the meal because it fixed a divine safety over the home
iii. NOTEABLE: The blood of the lamb, when placed down the doorposts and across the lintel would make the symbol of the cross
iv. This bloody cross provided protection from the ‘destroyer’ (12:23) who came to take the life of the first born in the home
b. Later, when God would send us His own Passover Lamb we also have a command for what we should do with His blood
i. Though we are not called to literally sprinkle Christ’s blood on the doorpost of our homes
ii. We are called to apply His blood to the doorframe of our hearts
iii. Christ’s blood is applied to the doorframe of our heart when we repent of our sins and place our trust in Him
c. But why? What is so special about Christ’s blood?
i. His blood is Divine
1. Acts 20:28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
2. This says that your salvation was purchased with ‘the blood of God’
3. This is a reference to the divine incarnation of the second person in the Trinity, “God the Son”
ii. His blood was Decreed
1. Revelation 13:8 “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
2. God chose Jesus as the Lamb from the foundation of the world to be the One who would die for our sins
3. In His awesome foreknowledge, He knew that we would need a savior
4. So He prepared the way of the cross as His way of redemption for man
5. And He planned the miracle of the incarnation whereby Jesus could become our Lamb that would take away our sins
iii. His blood will Defend
1. Romans 3:24b-25a “Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith…”
2. The word ‘propitiation’ here actually means an ‘appeasement’
3. Christ’s blood ‘appeases’ God’s wrath and allows Him to ‘pass over’ our sins and therefore defends us from the judgment of eternal Hell that sin brings
d. Some have said, “I can’t imagine the blood of only one man could wash away so many sins”
i. I tell you today my friends, it would have only taken one drop of Jesus’ precious blood to wash away the sin of the whole world
ii. Old Hymn: “There is power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the Lamb”
CONCLUSION: There are many ways in which the Passover Lamb was a picture or typification of Christ
- The lamb’s bones were never broken, likewise none of Christ’s bones were broken
- All of the people (‘the whole assembly’ v.6) took part in the slaying of the lamb, likewise all of us took part in putting Christ on the cross because He died for the “sins of all men”
- It is even believed that the Passover lamb was cooked on a wooden cross (one piece running end for end as a rotisserie and another piece run through the side for turning)
It is amazing to watch as God’s Word unfolds before your eyes and learn about His wonderful plan of salvation that was concealed in symbolism in the Old Testament and revealed through Jesus in the New Testament
Jesus is, indeed our Passover Lamb
He came into this world as God in the flesh – lived a totally guilt free life – stood before His accusers silent (as a lamb before His shearers) – went willingly to the cross where His blood was shed – and now offers us that blood to be applied to our hearts so that we may escape judgment
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”
