John 1:29–34 (CSB)
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. 33 I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”,
Dear fellow redeemed:
Remember when you were a youngster you would twirl around, or get on one of those playground merry-go-rounds and spin, or even sit on a revolving chair and spin until you got dizzy? Then you would stop, and it looked like the whole world was spinning. It seems like that these days. The world is spinning. Schools purposely destroy the innocence of children. “This generation” (that’s Jesus’ way of talking about people who share a worldview hostile to God) “this generation” kills its children, despises the commitment of marriage, shreds families, and then wonders why society is in shambles. As Christians, we don’t point this out to elevate ourselves, but because we see the sins of the world, the
seeds of death, in our own lives also. How shall we deal with them? That is the question with which every generation wrestles. But because the seeds of death are in us all, the answers of the world often enshrine such seeds of death. Problems with marriage, destroy marriage; difficulty in raising children, kill the babies; perversion blighting relationships, destroy innocence; problems coping, drink
and drugs. It goes on and on. And in our generation, most of all there is blame. Blame the whites for any problem a non-white person has. Blame men for the problems of women. Adults for the problems of children. Well-off people for the problems of the less wealthy. Straights for the problems of the deviant. Blame! Accuse! Hate! And all the while act like the innocent victim. This is the way the world is preoccupied with sin. But into this world comes one who is light and life: Jesus, the Christ and our Savior. The apostle John was witness to it. “34 I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God,” he wrote.
John wasn’t the only witness. In fact his book is a compilation of witnesses, witnesses that we will reflect
on during this Lenten season. Speaking of these witnesses, John wrote, “But these are written so that you
may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name.” (John 20:31, CSB)
The first witness is John the Baptizer. His message can be summed up in this quote from him: “BEHOLD,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! “Behold.” Behold literally means “see.” The verb can be translated “Look! Gaze! Stare! Take note!” Behold means “Here is the whole point of what I’m saying!” “The One who takes away the world’s sins.” The world resorts to self-justification and blame, but Jesus takes away the world’s sins.
One preacher suggested we illustrate it this way. Think of our sins as tattoos. In spite of the warning,
“Think before you ink,” people end up with regrets indelibly printed on their bodies, and getting rid of even one is costly at time consuming. Suppose our sins were like tattoos: If our regrets showed up as tattoos, how marked up would we be?
What pictures would we see in the mirror? The face of someone we hurt? The amount of money we wasted? All the couldas and shouldas? “I coulda been a better dad.” “I shoulda paid closer attention.” “I coulda been a better student.” We all know what regret is like. It seems like a bad tattoo. It’s there, it isn’t going away, and there’s nothing we can do to erase it. We can’t drink it away, work it away, fake it away. Nothing takes away our guilt. Sin has marked us, and that’s that. End of story.
I know this may be hard to believe. Most of us have carried our ugly marks for so long that we can’t
imagine life without them. Maybe we can’t imagine it, but God can. God does. And God does more than just imagine it. He sends John the Baptist, who says, “Behold. Look. See. Gaze. Here is the whole point of what I’m saying! The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world!” The Passover Lamb of God does it all, for the whole world. The Passover Lamb of God does it all for you!
And so we pray this prayer: “Jesus, please take it all away.” Tell Jesus what you did. Tell Jesus what you
said, what you saw, what you took, how you feel. Tell Jesus what you thought. Pray this prayer as often as needed. One time, two times, ten times a day. Hold nothing back. No guilt is too ancient or too recent. No shame is too evil or too insignificant. No marks are so malicious that they can’t be completely removed. “Jesus, please take it all away.”
We’re tempted to say, “Jesus, take it all away. I’m such a louse.” But that doesn’t work. For one thing,
we’re not a louse. We’re God’s baptized children, and He loves us. For another, marks are removed only when they are exposed to grace.
What do you need grace for? For being a bad person? That’s too general. For losing your patience at a
meeting and calling your co-worker a creep? There, you can confess that. Confession isn’t punishment for sin. Confession names sin so it can be exposed to God’s amazing grace. Be firm in this prayer. Satan traffics in guilt and shame. He won’t give up without a fight. Say to Satan, “I left my sin with the Passover Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” It’s time for a clean start, a fresh slate, a new beginning. That’s what Lent is all about. We don’t need to be defensive or defeated. Today, we can be delivered. And we do that by looking at God’s marks. Yes, God has marks on His hands. Behold. Behold! Look, see, gaze! Here is the whole point of what I’m saying. “I have engraved you on the palms of My hands” (Isaiah 49:16). Jesus has your name written where He can see it. Your name is on His bloodstained hands. Yes, Jesus loves you that much!
If you’ve ever wondered how God reacts when guilt and shame have you cornered and are ready to
swallow you whole. If you’ve ever wondered how God feels when you’re lost, abandoned, and helpless. If you’ve ever wondered what God would do if He ever found out about it all—then frame these words and hang them on your wall. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Trust these words. Believe these words. Stand below these words, and trust Jesus to take it all away.
Jesus took the nails. On a cross. On a God-forsaken cross, Jesus took the nails. And taking the nails,
Jesus takes away all of our sin and shame. He hung there, for us. Jesus still says, “I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.” In the end, in the end, these are the only marks that matter! These marks on Christ’s hands will never be erased! Ever! Amen.