John 1:29-42 (Epiphany 2A)
St. John, Galveston 1/18/26
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +
 
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.
 
    It is good for the Church to ask from time to time, ‘is in our proclamation of God’s word answering the question people are asking?’ If we aren’t answering the question people are asking, we need to ask ourselves, ‘is it their question that’s wrong, or are we preaching the wrong message?’ This isn’t a novel concept for the Church. It has to do with relevance, a connection between our proclamation of God’s word and the world in which live.

    In the Lutheran Church, we talk a lot about sin and grace, forgiveness and salvation. Generally speaking though, people today don’t seem to be as concerned about those issues as they were in the period of the Reformation. In Luther’s day, people were genuinely concerned about God’s judgment. The question that plagued them was, ‘how can I ever expect to stand before God and not be harshly judged by Him?’ They paid attention to the Church and it’s message because they were fearful of death and judgment. Martin Luther wrestled with these issues mightily. In fact, at one point, his intense awareness of his own unworthiness drove him into the Augustinian monastery, one of the most rigorous of all the monasteries, where he sought, by his own effort, to work his way into God’s good grace and favor.
 
    Luther’s struggle to earn God’s favor was, of course, all for naught. The story of the Lutheran Reformation is the story of Luther’s quest for forgiveness and grace. Ultimately, it is the story of the restoration of the Gospel of salvation, by grace, through faith in Christ, to the Church and to the world. 
 
    By God’s grace, Luther found in the Scriptures an objective and reliable answer to his question. Righteousness before God doesn’t come through human effort. Rather, it comes through the gracious declaration of God Himself! In holy baptism, God imparts the blessings of Jesus’ cross to the sinner and, having done so, He declares the sinner righteous and holy! Thus, Luther, by God’s grace, found a way to live outside of himself, which is to say, he found a way to live in the objective declaration of God, that He loved him and that, by His grace, He would receive him into the kingdom of glory on the last day.
 
    It seems though that the primary question people are asking today, at least religiously speaking, doesn’t involve things like sin and grace. Years ago, a national television host asked a famous American preacher, “why don’t you ever preach or talk about sin?” The preacher said, “well, people really don’t want to hear about sin these days.” His answer to the question suggested that he preached about what people wanted to hear and not what the Bible said they need to hear.  

    So, what is the question on people’s minds today? Well, seems to be something along the lines of “where in the world is God?” In other words, people these days don’t seem as concerned about their sin and God’s judgement, as they do about God’s lack of action in a world that suffers under the curse of sin. Perhaps the question of “where in the world is God,” arises out of sense of frustration and even anger with God. Where is God?  We can put that question into more specific contexts. Why didn’t God intervene on that infamous day we call 9/11?  Or, why doesn’t God stop the prosperity and the growth of religions around the world that are clearly not in accord with His Word. Or, why do Christians suffer persecution in the world, even martyrdom? Why hasn’t Jesus returned to judge the world? After all, it’s been well over 2,000 years. In short, where in the world is God?
 
    In this morning’s reading from the Gospel of John, John the Baptist draws our attention to two timeless and crucial questions, even though neither question had been asked by the people to whom he was preaching. Seeing Jesus coming toward him at the Jordan River, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29) The first question John answers I think is somewhat obvious. It is the same question Jesus asked of Simon Peter later in His ministry. It had to do with Jesus’ identity, His person. Who do you say I am? That is the most crucial and relevant question to be asked of any individual. Who do you say Jesus is?  
 
    Later, in this same Gospel, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” Jesus is the only way to the Father. He is the only hope of salvation. So, the first question is vitally important. Who do you say Jesus is? What do you believe and confess about Jesus? John answered the question very succinctly, but in a powerfully graphic way. “Behold (he said), the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” 
 
    The whole Old Testament narrative, particularly as it related to the Temple and to the sacrifices offered in the Temple, was focusing the faith of God’s people on His Lamb who was to come into the world. Ultimately, Jesus is the Lamb that Abraham had spoken of when he told his son Isaac that God would provide the Lamb. He is the long-awaited spotless sacrifice, the One sacrifice that would finally take away the sin of the world. No other religion in the world speaks of such a Lamb, of such a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Rather, they speak of paths, of ways for people to seek out and to find God.   
 
    Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Agnus Dei. John also says that He “takes away the sin of the world.” Once again, there is no question asked here, but there is an implication that could be put in the form of a question. If Jesus came to take away the sin of the world, what does that imply? It implies that there is sin in the world that needs to be taken away and that sin is so significant, so damning, that God sent His only-begotten Son to die, to atone for it.
 
    So, whether you recognize your sin, whether you feel it or not, whether you suffer under the weight of it or not, whether you even acknowledge that it exists, doesn’t change the fact that it is real. It is so real, in fact, that God gave His only begotten Son to take it away. As it turns out, the question that Luther and others were asking in the Reformation is, in fact, the one question we should all be asking today. “How can I be saved from God’s burning wrath over my sin on the day of judgment?” 
 
    In September of 1511, Luther left the Augustinian monastery. He left the monastery because he found that monasticism’s answer to life’s most important question to be empty and wanting. In fact, the way of work’s righteousness brought him nothing but sadness and despair. At the heart of his despair was the simple realization that no matter how much he did to please God and to earn His favor, there was always something more he could have done. That’s always the case, isn’t it? Whatever you do in life, you could always do more. Thus, in terms of your relationship to God, you’ll always find yourself falling short.  
 
    John the Baptist cried out “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Christian preaching must always call the sinner back to Christ and to His forgiveness and grace. That forgiveness and grace, of course, are to be found in God’s Word and in His Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Where these are, water and the word, bread and wine, the body and blood of Jesus and the word, there is God’s Lamb, still taking away the sins of the world, including yours and mine.
 
    On a very practical level, many of the struggles Luther faced were resolved through the council of his father confessor, a priest by the name of Johann von Staupitz. As was the custom of the day, Luther always wore a cross, a crucifix, around his neck. One day Father Staupitz looked at the cross that hung around Luther’s neck and he noted a contradiction between what that cross expressed, what it represented, and Luther’s demeanor, which was so often troubled and downcast. He told Luther to grab hold of the cross that hung around his neck and to learn to say, “Lord, I am yours. Save me.” It is an objective declaration that gave Luther peace and comfort, much like the words of John before us this morning. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” In Jesus’ name.  Amen.  
 
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +