Jesus, the Lamb of God | Pastor Tre Townsley | 4.19.26

 Jesus, the Lamb of God

 John 1:29 29  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him,

and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of

the world!

 Recount the narrative of the sheep who rescued the lamb

from the wolf

 Leviticus 4 institutes the law of sacrificing of animals to atone

for sin. But the practice occurred long before the law was

written.

 The first mention of a lamb in scripture is in Genesis 22:6-8

6  So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on

Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and

the two of them went together.  7  But Isaac spoke to Abraham his

father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb

for a burnt offering?” 8  And Abraham said, “My son, God will

provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of

them went together.

 Exodus 12 is possibly the greatest example of this

throughout the Tanakh (the Old Testament)

 Each of the plagues exacted upon Egypt is thought to be an

affront to one or more false gods of Egypt

 Exodus 12:3-13 3  Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying:

‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a

lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a

household.  4  And if the household is too small for the lamb, let

him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the

number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall

make your count for the lamb.  5  Your lamb shall be without

blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep

or from the goats.  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.  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.  8  Then they shall eat the

flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened

bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.  9  Do not eat it raw,

nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its

legs and its entrails.  10  You shall let none of it remain until

morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with

fire.  11  And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your

sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall

eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12  ‘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.  13  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.

 God’s judgment was not just to be poured out on the

Egyptians. He was judging Israel for their participation in the

idolatry of Egypt

 Ezekiel 20:4-10 4  Will you judge them, son of man, will you

judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their

fathers. 5  “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day

when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the

descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to

them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them,

saying, ‘I am the Lord your God.’  6  On that day I raised My hand

in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a

land that I had searched out for them, ‘flowing with milk and

honey,’ the glory of all lands.  7  Then I said to them, ‘Each of

you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes,

and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt.

I am the Lord your God.’  8  But they rebelled against Me and

would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations

which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of

Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My

anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’  9  But I acted

for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the

Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made

Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

10  “Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought

them into the wilderness.

 God would not be just if He did not require blood

 The blood of an innocent lamb was used to satisfy the law

and extend mercy to the guilty

 BUT HERE’S THE PROBLEM

 The law can never make anyone perfect

 Hebrews 10:1-4 1 For the law, having a shadow of the good

things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never

with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by

year, make those who approach perfect.  2  For then would they

not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers,

once purified, would have had no more consciousness of

sins.  3  But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every

year.  4  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats

could take away sins.

 This takes us back to John’s proclamation

 John 1:29 29  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him,

and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of

the world!

 Sin, by definition, is an offense; a missing of the mark

(standard)

 Isaiah 59:2 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your

God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He

will not hear.

 Leviticus 17:11 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I

have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your

souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’

 Hebrews 9:22 22 And according to the law almost all things

are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is

no remission.

 The price that is paid for something shows its value to the

one who pays it

 How much was He willing to pay?

 Isaiah 53:10(a) 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise (crush) Him…

 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

 Gethsemane: oil press. This is where His “passion” begins

 Luke 22:41-44 41  And He was withdrawn from them about a

stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,  42  saying, “Father,

if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My

will, but Yours, be done.”  43 Then an angel appeared to Him from

heaven, strengthening Him.  44  And being in agony, He prayed

more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood

falling down to the ground.

 Why is He so stressed? Is it because of the crucifixion? No.

It’s because of 2 Corinthians 5:21

 2 Corinthians 5:21 21  For He made Him who knew no sin to

be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in

Him.

 Jesus before the Sanhedrin

 Jesus has been forsaken as all his friends have scattered

 All alone, Jesus is falsely accused repeatedly. When He

speaks the truth of who He is, He is condemned to death

 The crowds spit into Jesus’ face (Numbers 12:14)

 He was blindfolded and buffeted. He was repeatedly struck

in the face. His body was struck with fists, sticks, and rods.

 Jesus before Pilate

 Jesus has likely not slept at all in the last 24 hours due, in

part, to the pain coursing through his beaten, dehydrated,

and weakened body

 Pilate, the Roman governor, declared he thought Jesus was

innocent, but released a known murderer and sentenced

Jesus to death

 He was scourged with one or (likely) two flagrum

 The flagrum was the instrument the lictor used to whip the

victim. It had a short wooden and leather-wrapped handle to

which were fixed three or more leather straps. These straps

were knotted with small pieces of metal or bone attached at

various intervals. At times, a flagrum would also have a hook

at the end of one strap that was called the "scorpion." With

or without the "scorpion," the flagrum would quickly remove

skin from the victim and create deep lacerations with

exposed ribbons of muscle.

 The crown of thorns: Jesus’ crown was likely made from a

plant native to the area which has thick thorns capable of

growing up to three inches in length. They were pressed into

the scalp, one of the most vascular areas of the body,

causing more bleeding. At this point, Jesus was likely

experiencing hypovolemic shock

 Jesus at the Crucifixion

 Jesus was forced to carry the crossbeam of His cross

(weighing about 110 lbs.) approximately 600-700 yards to

the place of execution.

 6”-9” nails were used to pierce the wrists between the radial

and ulnar and fasten his arms in an extended fashion to the

wooden beam