Monday 15 April 2013

The Lamb - Part 2

With thanks to http://christthetruth.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/eid-sacrifice22.jpg
The Lamb - Part 2

Last week, we started looking at the Lamb of God.  We found (in Revelation 6:15) that no-one - kings, generals, rich, powerful, slave or free - expects to be able to stand before the wrath of the Lamb … the Lamb, to whom (Revelation 5:13) every creature in heaven, on and under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them ascribe blessing and honour and glory and might forever.

And we saw that John the Baptist identified this “Lamb of God” as Jesus (“the Lord who saves”) Christ (“the anointed one”), who takes away the sin of the world.

This lamb is clearly something - or someone - to be feared and respected: its wrath strikes terror; it receives all the honour in the world; and it will take away all sin.  … Pretty unusual activities for a lamb, to be fair!

It’s probably safe to presume that the title ‘lamb’ is more symbolic than actual - but, even so, why would such an ironic symbol be used for such a great hero?

Isaiah 53:6-7 may provide a clue:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that, before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

Here, we have three references to sheep:

1.  Sheep go astray;

2.  The Lord lays on the sacrificial lamb the iniquity of the one slaying the lamb;

3.  Lambs led to the slaughter are silent.

Let’s have a look at each of these in turn.

1.  Sheep go astray.

Speaking of salvation, as we are, that sheep stray from the narrow path back to the Good Shepherd, as he is trying to lead us by still waters, is a great commentary on the human condition!

God has only ever had good in mind for us ever since the beginning of creation, but we have strayed so far from him that we can’t get back on our own.

I recently learned about the behaviour of sheep when they are lost.  Apparently, if a sheep gets lost from the rest of the flock, it seems to become paralysed in fear – even if a wolf approaches it, it will just remain rooted to the spot.  In fact, the wolf could quite happily saunter over at a very unhurried pace and there would be no risk whatsoever of the stupid sheep trying to run away.  Likewise, if the Shepherd, out looking for the sheep, calls it, it still does not respond - even if the Shepherd actually finds it and walks right up to it, it will not move.  There are two ways to break the paralysis: either the flock has to get around the lost sheep (bringing it ‘back into the fold’) or the Shepherd has to actually physically lift the sheep onto his shoulders and carry it back to the flock.

(Again, the similarities are uncanny!)

Jesus is The Good Shepherd, carrying us away from the jaws of death and back to green pastures, but he also took on flesh - taking human form - in order to redeem our flesh.  In this case, if we are represented as a flock of stupid sheep, it makes sense that, symbolically, he is also represented as ovine.

2.  The Lord lays on the sacrificial lamb the iniquity of the one slaying the lamb.

In Genesis 22, we read that, early one morning, Father Abraham - accompanied by two other men - led his 'only son', whom he loves, out to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah (later Jerusalem), the wood upon which the son was to be sacrificed upon his own back.  We then read that Abraham’s son returned alive, a ram having been provided to take Isaac’s place.

In Exodus 12, we read that - just like in Genesis 22 - it was ‘Firstborn Son vs. Lamb’ again.  In Exodus 12, the one, true, living God sets up a Judgement Day, in which all idol-worshippers will be judged and destroyed according to their sin … but then offers a lamb’s blood as an acceptable substitute.

We saw that salvation from the coming judgement had nothing to do with the moral character, standing in society, state of heart or mind, or anything else to do with the people inside the house, and everything to do with the presence of the blood on the door outside the house.

It was another example of God’s wonderful irony (or perhaps ours, from his perspective!) that it’s not about what’s on the inside that counts, but what’s on the outside!

The lamb didn’t deserve to be slain, and the slayer didn’t deserve to go free, but the Lord laid on the lamb the iniquity of the slayer.

3.   Lambs led to the slaughter, and sheep before shearers, are silent.

So, this week, we’ll look at little closer at why Isaiah mentioned this aspect of ovine behaviour.

Last week, we looked at our need to remind ourselves of our pronouncement as ‘innocent’, because of Jesus, through things like taking communion together.  This week, I want to make it more personal.

Last week, we looked at three hypothetical families preparing the roast lamb on the night of the Passover, and saw that it doesn’t matter what they might be like as people – what sins they might have committed or even still be guilty of – Christ’s blood is available for all.  This week, I want to explore what might mean for you and for me.

So let’s look at an individual who was very directly and personally impacted by Jesus’ crucifixion – in fact, he was arguably the person who was most literally ‘substituted’ in the whole Bible … let’s open up Matthew 27:15… [page … in the church bibles]

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.  And they had, then, a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus … who is called Christ?”  For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.

Besides, while he was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”

Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”
And they said, “Barabbas.”
Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus … who is called Christ?!”
They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?”
But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.”
And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

So who was this Barabbas?  Mark 15:7 and Luke 23:19 describe him as a man, among the rebels in prison, who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and who had committed murder in the insurrection.  John 18:40 suggests he might just have been a robber.  He could be any kind of criminal, but it’s entirely probable that he was a compatriot of the two men crucified either side of Jesus - and crucifixion was his fate.

Did he deserve to be there?  Possibly: if he committed murder, God’s Law does demand a life for a life; if he was an insurrectionist, however, he was merely ideological; a conscientious objector; a political prisoner – surely that doesn’t deserve crucifixion!

How did he get to be in the position he was in?  What was his background?  We are not told – all we have is his name … but what a name!  Barabbas means ‘son of the father’ or, perhaps more accurately, ‘son of daddy’!  This suggests that he was named by a doting father, which suggests a loving home, or possibly a home that knew salvation (naming their son trinitarianly!?) … either way, it doesn’t sound like the classic environment for raising a criminal!

My point is this: Barabbas represents all of us.  Brought up in a loving home / brought up to be a criminal; Christian / non-Christian; murderer / robber / freedom fighter / political ideologue.

… And someone - representing all of us - for whom Jesus was willing to keep his silence in the face of false accusations in order to take his place on the cross.  Just before our reading in Matthew 27, verses 11-14 read:

Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus said, “You have said so.”
But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.  Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?”
But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Why would he do that?  Why would Jesus hold his tongue when he had every right to label every single one of his accusers as liars, or at least misguided?

It might be easier to flip the question around: if you were accused (falsely or otherwise!) of something that you objected to, why would you speak out, instead of holding your silence?

Would it not be to clear your name?  To defend your honour?  To stop people from judging and condemning you?

So why didn’t Jesus speak out?

Well, he didn’t need to ‘clear his name’.  His name, “Jesus”, means “The Lord (who) saves” … and The Lord saves by taking upon himself the sin of the world.  So, far from wanting to disassociate all the accusations of sinfulness from his name, it was through those very accusations being associated with him that his name realised its truest meaning.

He also didn’t need to defend any honour, either.  He was about to go the cross, where there was no honour, and achieve something that would result in his being given the highest honour of all.

And he didn’t need to worry about stopping people from judging and condemning him – he was walking headlong into the ultimate judgement, before the one, true, living judge, in order to take the condemnation of all of us … the judgement and condemnation of anyone other than this judge would have meant nothing to him by comparison.

So Jesus had no need to speak out.  He, who knew no sin, was made to be sin, that we might become the righteousness of God.  In his not-speaking-out, Jesus was accepting our sin onto himself, that he might take it all to the cross and put it to death.  He was crushed, that we might go free.

Jesus became our substitute.

So let’s get back to Barabbas, the man who possibly felt this substitution more keenly than anyone else in the whole Bible.  Let’s re-read, together, the passage in Matthew 27 that describes how Christ becomes Barabbas’ substitute on the cross on page … of the church bibles.

I would like to read verses 15-17 and then verses 21-25 in order to preserve the flow of the narrative … but I wonder if we, together, could perform it?!  If I narrate and take Pilates’ part, would you do me the honour of playing the part of the crowd?!

Despite my being a school teacher, this is not a “I want to see if you’re all still awake” thing, and it’s not a “I’m up here embarrassing myself so I want to share the love” thing – I’m just hoping that we will get a clearer understanding of what might have happened that day, and to be able to identify with what Jesus did on the cross in a more personal way.

Will you help me?

So I’m going to read from verse 15 to 17 and then we’ll jump to verse 21 and just read to verse 25.  Do listen to the whole thing as well as speaking your lines, but your parts basically come when I read: “they said”; “they all said”; “they shouted all the more”; and “all the people answered”!  … Let’s give it a go!

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.  And they had, then, a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus … who is called Christ?”
The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”
And they said, “Barabbas.”

Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”
They all said, “Let him be crucified!”

And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?”
But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.”
And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

(Great - thank you!)

Now let me just push this dramatization a little further: this time you don’t have to say anything or perform or anything, I just want you to imagine – so if you want to close your eyes for this bit, please feel free.

So, imagine, now, you are Barabbas, in the prison beneath the Praetorium - what do you hear?

Well, first of all, you’d probably hear the crowd chanting … you can just make it out … they just shouted out your name: “Barabbas!” … that made your ears prick up!

But you’re concerned: the tone of the crowd is angry, like a riot is about to break out.  Last time you were in a riot, you were on the side of those with the power – to begin with, at least – and in your hot-headedness you had mercilessly ended the life of another human being … someone whose life you know it was only ever God’s right to end.

What are they saying?  You listen carefully…

“Crucify him!” … Oh God, no!  That can’t be!  You know you’ve killed someone but you were part of the insurrection – you were on the side of the people, against the occupying forces …  you must have mis-heard them.

“Crucify him!” … No.  You heard correctly … and it was louder this time; more urgent.  … But surely they can’t be so angry with you … they have misunderstood you – if only you could explain to them about the insurrection, they’d forgive the murder…

“His blood be on us and on our children!”

No, there was no question of forgiveness: there was no excuse for taking a man’s life.  Today your judgement has come.  You’ve heard it with your very own ears and there is a murderous crowd up above, who are baying for your blood.  It’s all over now.

You know how this goes – you’ve seen it happen to others on Death Row with you, who have been crucified before you: you are going to be dragged from your cell, beaten and scourged by the local garrison of those hated oppressors, forced to carry the instrument of your own torture through the streets of the city in which you once used to run freely whilst the baying crowd strike you, spit on you, scream at you, and then you’re going to be thrown down onto the hard wooden cross, iron spikes driven through your hands and feet, and then you’ll be lifted high for all to see.  For all to see you naked and bleeding to death.  For all to see your enemy’s victory over you, as you die slowly from the sheer pain, agony, suffocation, and bleeding.  Death cannot come too soon … and yet, as you sit there in your cell, this hell is all still ahead of you!

Your heart races as you hear the guards’ keys open the door at the end of the corridor.  Footsteps echo louder and louder before stopping at the next-cell-but-one from you.  The door opens.  Suddenly, there is the frantic, desperate screaming of a man faced with all his worst nightmares at once.  A shout, a sickening thud, silence, and the sound of an unconscious body being dragged out into the corridor.

Then the next-door cell to yours is opened.  You can hear the pathetic, uncontrollable whimpering of a man whose strength has left him.  No words are spoken but the dragging chains give away his departure to the same fate.

Then you hear the key in your own cell door.  You will not scream; you will not cry – you will not give them the pleasure of seeing you broken – but your heart is beating so fast that you might die from a cardiac arrest before they get to you.  The cell door creaks open.  Your entire body is shaking.  The silhouette of a massive brute of a man blocks the light from the corridor.  You close your eyes as he enters the cell, bends over, unlocks your shackles, stands up, and says:

“On your feet! … Your lucky day: imperial pardon – you’re going home, and Jesus of Nazareth is going to be crucified in your place.”



As I think through this story, I get a lump in my throat every time.  That Jesus loves me so much that he would do that for me, when all he deserved was nothing but good and blessing and all the love in the world, moves me.

But, too often, I then go on to think: “…but my sin doesn’t deserve crucifixion like that – I’m not that bad.  Surely just an angry talking-to would suffice for my sin – not death.”

But God’s word speaks to me and people like me:

“For although they knew God, they didn't love him - their thinking became futile, their foolish hearts darkened - they claimed wisdom, but became fools, exchanging the truth about God for a lie, and worshipping, and serving, created things rather than the Creator.

“As they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity: full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful, inventing ways of doing evil!  They have no understanding, no love, no mercy.  They know God’s righteous decree, that those who do such things deserve death, but continue to do them.

“You who pass judgment do the same things!  Seeing God’s judgment against those who do such things, finding it to be based on truth, and finding yourself to be free, you show contempt for the riches of God’s kindness and patience, not realising that it is intended to lead you to him.  But he will repay each person according to what they have done - for those who are self-seeking, reject God, and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”

I don’t know the half of how my selfish ways hurt others.

The FairTrade movement has made me more aware that my ‘buying cheap’, in order to preserve as much money for myself as possible, has a knock-on effect that keeps poor people thousands of miles away enslaved.

So I’ve come to be able to see myself as one of the ‘rich that oppress the poor’, who I condemn when I read about such people in the Bible.  … And yet do I change?  Or do I justify it to myself citing excuses like “I have more burdens on my disposable income”, or “everyone else is doing it”, or “nothing I can do will make a difference”, while the poor – also made in the image of God and loved by him - remain oppressed by me and my kind?  Who else do I tread down in my self-centred way of living?

I am guilty.  I do deserve to be thrust out of God’s loving presence.  I do need Jesus to take that hit for me, because I won’t survive the devastation of being removed from God’s love and blessing.



Thankfully, not everyone is like me, and there are some whose response to this wonderful gospel of Jesus is more along the lines of “What must I do?”- I wonder if that was Barabbas’ reaction?

Certainly Matthew 19:16, Mark 10:17, and Luke 18:18 all mention a situation where this was a typical response to Jesus – from Luke 18:

A ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good?  No one is good except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour your father and mother.’”
And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.  Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”
But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

So this young man has witnessed Jesus’ life and teaching, and found him to be good – he addresses him as ‘good teacher’ – so it would seem that Jesus would be a good person to ask how to guarantee eternal life.

Jesus’ response is cryptic!  He questions the man as to why he has made the judgement that Jesus is ‘good’, when he should know that only ‘God’ is good – will the young man make the logical connection, that Jesus is, therefore, God?

Jesus then lists the commandments – why has he called Jesus ‘good’?  Is it because he has witnessed him keeping the commandments Jesus is now listing?  It’s almost as though he is pointing to himself as the vessel through which the man can be saved.

Of course, the response – typical of every human being – is focussed on himself and his own performance: “All these I have kept!” … so Jesus follows his lead – if the man wants to put the focus onto himself, so will Jesus: “can you give up all that you have been given for the sake of those who do not have?”

This was Jesus’ mission in a nutshell: he was the one who had come to sell all that he had, to give it all to the poor.

If the ruler had had ‘ears to hear’, he might have taken his focus off himself and realised that he needed to be hidden in Christ with God.

Sadly, not only he, but also Jesus’ disciples, are foxed … so Jesus puts it in the simplest terms possible: “what is impossible with men, is possible with God” – in other words, trust not in yourself, but only in God.  In Christ, we are saved.

Acts 16:30, perhaps, puts it more simply: when Paul and Silas’ Philippian jailer sees God’s power and righteousness, he cries out “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”.

It's as simple as that - no contract; no give and take ... pretty much just take!

From Psalm 116:12-13...

What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

In a minute, we are going to have an opportunity to raise the cup of salvation symbolically as we take communion together.  If you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, please do join us ... but let me pray first:

Father, thank you for loving us so much that you have not left us depraved and hopeless but that you have shown your love for us at the cross, with you offering up your only son, whom you love – and your son willingly offering himself up – in order that we might live forever with you.  Transform our minds and hearts, we pray, to be able to grasp how high and how wide and how deep is your love for us, and to be able to love you with all our hearts and minds and souls and spirits and strength – in Jesus Christ’s name – Amen!