The Passage<\/p>\n
The next day he (John) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!\u00a0 This is he of whom I said, \u2018After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.\u2019\u00a0 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.\u201d\u00a0 And John bore witness: \u201cI saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.\u00a0 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, \u2018He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.\u2019\u00a0 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God!\u201d\u00a0 the two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, \u201cWhat are you seeking?\u201d \u00a0And they said to him, \u201cRabbi\u201d (which means Teacher), where are you staying?\u201d\u00a0 He said to them, \u201cCome and you will see.\u201d\u00a0 So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.<\/em><\/p>\n One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter\u2019s brother.\u00a0 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, \u201cWe have found the Messiah\u201d (which means Christ).\u00a0 He brought him to Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus looked at him and said, \u201cSo you are Simon the son of John?\u00a0 You shall be called Cephas\u201d (which means Peter).<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[English Standard Version]<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge\u2026so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift\u2026.\u201c<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[1 Corinthians 1.4-5, 7]<\/p>\n \u00a0 In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord<\/p>\n After being immersed in the Son\u2019s Incarnation on 25 December, the Lord\u2019s people made their way through the Twelve Days of Christ Mass, paying attention to the feasts of St. Stephen, St. John and the Holy Innocents, then turning into the Name and Circumcision of Jesus, and, nine days ago, exulting in his Epiphany on 06 January.\u00a0 This past Sunday we were brought into the Son\u2019s Baptism.\u00a0 This morning, as we step more fully into the Epiphany season, we concentrate on what the LORD God has done and is doing through the Birth of his Son.<\/p>\n What is so striking about these ways is that they are glossed over or ignored by most of the people around us!\u00a0 This reality surfaced in conversations with a couple of acquaintances last week. \u00a0One individual concluded that, after negative experiences in a Protestant church, it is much better to not be religious but to be spiritual!\u00a0 Another person, raised in the Roman Catholic Church, turned her back on it because, after a divorce and another marriage, it is only interested in her contributions!<\/p>\n While these perspectives make some sense, they create other realities because they can lead to holes and vacuums in their lives.\u00a0 This enables the world\u2019s gods to swarm in and offer their \u201chelp\u201d so individuals can manage such lives on their own!\u00a0 Such vacuums and holes are not always clearly seen, but they do surface, unleashing pathetic and tragic realities.<\/p>\n As much as we would like to, the Lord\u2019s baptized people cannot just storm into such lives and create rescuing actions.\u00a0 Rather, we can be drawn more fully into his Life, the Life alone which has the ability to be mysteriously reflected to the lives of others. Consequently, it is instructive for us to be impacted by today\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 These verses from John\u2019s first chapter, while complex, point us to the extraordinary depth and satisfaction of the Trinity\u2019s Life as the Son\u2019s Incarnation makes its way through this world.\u00a0 There are two sections in the passage.<\/p>\n In the first section John the Baptizer sees Jesus coming toward him and declares \u2013 Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the world\u2019s sin!\u00a0 These familiar words are sung in the Liturgy just before we take part in the Lord\u2019s Supper.\u00a0 Our Lord as a Lamb?\u00a0 If he is doing to do that, shouldn\u2019t he be more like a lion?\u00a0 No, a Lamb!\u00a0 Jesus will take away the instinctive desire to be like the LORD God (which is the biblical definition of sin).\u00a0 He will destroy the death generated by such desire. \u00a0For such work it is obvious we are not describing a soft, cuddly animal.\u00a0 Instead we\u2019re describing an animal that is huge, flexing with muscle and strength.<\/p>\n Such a description is reinforced by the biblical background to the Lamb. First, in Jewish thought there is the Lamb for the End-of-Time (that Lamb is described as the conqueror who destroys the evil in the world).\u00a0 Such a description is also seen in numerous references in John the Evangelist\u2019s book of Revelation.\u00a0 Recall, too, that John the Baptizer warned of the Lord\u2019s wrath bearing down on the world (clearly the biblical background is not dealing with soft or cuddly images!).<\/p>\n Second, there is the Lamb as a suffering Servant.\u00a0 The background for this description is seen in Isaiah, especially in his four Servant-Songs (last Sunday we heard the first Song, Isaiah 42, in the First Lesson; today we hear the second one, Isaiah 49, also the First Lesson).<\/p>\n Third, there is the Lamb as the Paschal Lamb.\u00a0 The background for this understanding is seen in the Passover Meal, the annual observance of Israel\u2019s rescue from its slavery in Egypt.\u00a0 This last understanding, with overtones of the suffering Servant, runs throughout John\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 The Lamb takes away the world\u2019s sin by his death.\u00a0 According to John\u2019s Gospel, Jesus was condemned to death at noon on the day before the Passover.\u00a0 This was the identical time when the priests were beginning to kill the Passover lambs in the temple.<\/p>\n Further, while Jesus was still on the cross, a sponge full of wine was raised up to him on a stick (hyssop).\u00a0 It was a hyssop that was smeared with the blood of the Passover lamb applied to the door frames of the Israelites in Egypt.\u00a0 Finally, none of Jesus\u2019 bones were<\/p>\n broken (recall that there were no broken bones in the lambs being killed for the Passover<\/p>\n Meal).\u00a0 All of this is in the background when John the Baptizer declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God!<\/p>\n In the Gospel\u2019s second section, Jesus notices two of John\u2019s disciples following him and he asks what they want.\u00a0 They are looking, they want to know where he lives.\u00a0 This matter of where Jesus lives is a word that is used a great deal in John\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 It is the same word that describes Jesus\u2019 relationship in and with his Father.\u00a0 Later on in the Gospel we see that Jesus\u2019 followers are pulled into that same relationship (this is incredible picture!).\u00a0 That\u2019s why when these two want to know where Jesus lives, he invites them to come and see.\u00a0 They go and see, and they stay!<\/p>\n The mention of the tenth hour (4 pm) suggests that it was the afternoon before the Passover was to begin.\u00a0 This means that those two disciples had to stay with Jesus until Saturday evening.\u00a0 They could not do any traveling from 6 pm on Friday to 6 pm on Saturday.<\/p>\n The result of such seeing and staying is that one of the disciples, Andrew, reports to his brother, Simon, that they have found the Messiah!\u00a0 Jesus, in turn, looks at Simon (a penetrating look, one boring into him) and changes his name.\u00a0 Peter no longer belongs to the world into which he was born, he now belongs to the LORD God!<\/p>\n John\u2019s Gospel reveals clearly that eternal Life is promised to those who come to Jesus, who look on him, who believe in him.\u00a0 This passage then, while complex, demonstrates clearly that the looking pursued by the world\u2019s people for a full life is best satisfied when the looking is to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than to the gods of their making and maintaining.<\/p>\n This returns us, then, to the vacuums and holes we create for ourselves when we stride out to make something of our lives by utilizing the world\u2019s gods.\u00a0 Walking away from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is not the best decision for the world\u2019s people.\u00a0 Yet that is how we are inclined.\u00a0 Whether we are aware of that inclination or not, there is a pressing need to be rescued from it.\u00a0 Recall that in Psalm 2 the LORD God laughs at the world\u2019s gods and derides them!\u00a0 Further, in Psalm 4 he asks how long will we dishonor his glory by worshiping dumb idols and running after false gods?<\/p>\n The overwhelming reality (whether recognized or not) is that it is the Lord\u2019s Life which brought this world and its people into being and keeps it going.\u00a0 As we move more deeply into this Epiphany season we will find out what the Lord is doing as the Son\u2019s Incarnation slowly, yet powerfully, pushes into the world\u2019s life.\u00a0 Thoroughly immersed in the Lord\u2019s Scriptures and his Sacraments of Baptism, Forgiveness and Eucharist, we are baptized and ordained to be faithful and mysterious reflectors of the Lord\u2019s saving and sustaining activity in all we are and do.<\/p>\n When it comes to comparing what we and everyone else look for in the world\u2019s gods and what we look for in the LORD God, there is no real comparison.\u00a0 While the majority of<\/p>\n people in this world are not aware of it yet, they are looking for the Lamb of God who<\/p>\n takes away the world\u2019s sin!\u00a0 Their lives are pressed down by the realities of such sin.\u00a0 Their lives are weighed down by it, it is tearing their lives apart, it is wreaking havoc in their relationships with others and in their relationship with the LORD God.\u00a0 Sin is what keeps us steadily committed to the gods of our making and it is sin exhausting us from all their maintenance.<\/p>\n The great, good news today, then, is that, after hundreds of years of promises, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are slipping their Life into this world, saving its people from their instincts to do everything their own way!<\/p>\n Now may the peace of the LORD God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0 hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus Our Lord<\/p>\n Pr. Carl A. Voges, STS, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Epiphany Two (Revised Common Lectionary) | 15.01.23 | John 1.29-42 | Carl A. Voges | The Passage The next day he (John) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!\u00a0 This is he of whom I said, \u2018After me comes a man who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,157,853,173,108,110,497,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-15851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-johannes","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-carl-a-voges","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-01-chapter-01-johannes","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15852,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15851\/revisions\/15852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15851"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=15851"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=15851"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=15851"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=15851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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