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The Story of the Lamb of God

The Story of the Lamb of God. The Symphony Is Finished. Introduction. A clear focus is needed to become acquainted with the Lamb of God . The Old Testament ends as an unfinished symphony . Ceremonies of worship are unexplained. Purposes were expressed that are not achieved.

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The Story of the Lamb of God

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  1. The Story of the Lamb of God The Symphony Is Finished

  2. Introduction • A clear focus is needed to become acquainted with the Lamb of God. • The Old Testament ends as an unfinished symphony. • Ceremonies of worship are unexplained. • Purposes were expressed that are not achieved.

  3. For much of this material I am indebted to J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore The Book, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1964 printing), Volume Five.

  4. Purposes were expressed that are not achieved. • Longings among the Hebrews are unanswered. • Predictions are unfulfilled. • Promises are unclaimed.

  5. The four Gospels have a dominant theme of fulfillment. • These four books give the answers to the Old Testament that are needed. • Else, the Old Testament is like a river lost in the sand.

  6. Jesus is the answer to all these needs. • He came to be on the throne – Luke 1:31-33. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

  7. He is the Lamb who takes away sins – John 1:29. • “On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!”

  8. Is this a reference to Isa. 53:7? • “He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.”

  9. Why a lamb? • Lambs offered every day • Symbol of meekness, gentleness • Symbol of innocence • Reminder of Egypt • Jesus our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7)

  10. Why the “lamb of God”? • Provided by God • Atonement in reality • Sinless suffering One • World, not just the Jews

  11. He is the Savior – Matt. 1:21 • The name “Jesus” (Old Testament similarity to “Joshua”) /Ihsouj means the same as “Savior,” being derived from the verb “to save.”

  12. Jesus saves from sin: • Power of sin • Pollution of sin • Guilt of sin Note it is “from” sin, not “in” sin!

  13. He is the way, truth, and life – John 14:6 (Notice here that one learns the “way” by knowing the “truth,” which in turn leads to “life.”) • He claimed that all things about him were fulfilled – Luke 24:44. • Therefore, Jesus invites all to come and take his yoke – Matt. 11:28-30.

  14. There are seven crises in the life of Jesus. • Birth from a virgin • Baptism by John and the coming of the Spirit • Temptations • Transfiguration

  15. Crucifixion • Resurrection • Ascension and coronation

  16. The four gospels reveal all that is needed about the Lamb • Matthew, Mark, and Luke present the facts of his life. • Two of the writers were apostles and the other two were companions of the apostles.

  17. John, along with some of these facts, presents the doctrinal import. • His birth is not mentioned. • His baptism is not recorded. • His temptations are not included. • His transfiguration is not told.

  18. His ascension is not described. • Perhaps the key verse is 1:12. • He came to his own people, the Hebrews, as it was promised. • The Hebrews generally did not receive him. • Some Hebrews did receive him.

  19. Those who received him were given a right (e)cousi/an). • That right had to be exercised. • When exercised, that right made them spiritual sons of God. • This right was given to “even to them that believe on his name.”

  20. Therefore to “receive” him is the same as to believe in him. • A necessary conclusion is that a believer is not yet a son of God, but must exercise the right given to him to become a son of God.

  21. William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, Sixteenth Impression, 1974), p. 277 defines this use as “to indicate the thing that one is able to do.” This shows that the right given must be exercised.

  22. There is something in addition to believing that makes one a son of God! • The believer must still respond.

  23. John 1 has many key words and concepts: • Word, • life, • light, • Son,

  24. Lamb, • Messiah, • Son of Man, • King.

  25. Four Faces of the Lamb • Why are the gospels in the order that is found in the New Testament? • Why not place in this order: Luke, Mark, John and Matthew? • Is there any cogent reason for the order one sees in our New Testaments?

  26. Matthew is placed first because of the links with the Old Testament. • The phrase, “that it might be fulfilled,” is used 12 times. • He is obviously writing to the Jews who were expecting a Messiah.

  27. This book bridges 400 years of silence. • This book serves to show the credentials of the promised Messiah.

  28. Mark writes to the Roman world. • He gives no genealogy since his readers would neither need nor understand it. • He uses “fulfilled” only twice. • He emphasizes that Jesus was a worker of wonders.

  29. LUKE • Luke, as a Gentile himself, sends his letter out to the Gentile world. • He emphasizes the humanity of the Lamb. • He uses “Son of Man” more than the others.

  30. JOHN • John writes at the end of the century to the churches. • He shows the deity of the Lamb. • He portrays the Lamb as Jehovah, Messiah, and true God.

  31. LAST WITNESS • Long after the other 3 gospels have circulated John writes as the last living witness of the Lamb and his work. • John puts the finale to the symphony of the life of our Lord.

  32. Endings to the books in this order seem to be significant. • Matthew ends with the resurrection. • Mark ends with the ascension. • Luke ends with the promise of the Spirit. • John ends with the promise of the 2nd coming, “tarry till I come….”

  33. Each book has distinctive characteristics. • Matthew was a tax collector writing to the Jews. • He proved that the Lamb is the promised Messiah – he gave the most links to the Old Testament, there are over 50 quotations from the Old Testament, 35 times he alone used “Kingdom of heaven,”

  34. MATTHEW • 9 times he used “son of David,” and he detailed 20 miracles. • Only the Jews would have understood all these. • He provided answers to the promise to Abraham and his seed –

  35. -he gave encouragement to the Jews to receive the Lamb, so that the new spiritual Israel could arise out of the ashes of the old physical Israel.

  36. His genealogy recorded fulfillment of promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-4), • to King David (2 Sam. 7:12-13; 1 Chron. 17:11-12), • and to King Ahaz of a birth from a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18ff).

  37. MARK • Mark was the son of Mary (Acts 12:12), • kinsman to Barnabas (Col. 4:10), • and was a co-worker with Peter (1 Pet. 5:13).

  38. His 683 verses were written to a Roman audience – • he explained Jewish traditions (7:2-4), • conditions in Palestine (11:13), • and the coinage of the Jews (12:42).

  39. He has the shortest book but records the most number of miracles percentage wise (18). • He related only one sermon (13:3-37), but detailed the deeds of the Lamb, portraying him as a wonder-worker.

  40. LUKE • Luke was a Gentile physician (Col. 4:14) and his 1152 verses emphasize the Lamb’s humanity. • His genealogy followed the blood line of Mary and goes back through Abraham to Seth and Adam (Matthew’s account starts with Abraham).

  41. He gave special emphasis to the birth from a virgin, using 132 verses (2 chapters) to record it. As a trained scientist with a medical education, the proofs of the virgin birth must have been overwhelming for Luke to accept them.

  42. He is the one who recorded the Lamb weeping (19:41) and sweating (22:44). • He recorded 11 of the 14 recorded prayers that the Lamb prayed while on earth.

  43. -- • He mentioned 20 of the miracles that most list as a total of 34. • He also introduced the Lamb as having cross-racial and international purposes – (2:10, 32), and his is the only account of the helpful Samaritan (10:25-37).

  44. JOHN • John was in the “inner circle” of the apostles who saw the transfiguration and was the brother of another apostle, James. • Writing at the end of the century, he looks back across the century to encourage the church to stand steadfast.

  45. He re-emphasizes the deity of the Lamb (1:1-3; 10:30; 20:30-31) lest the early church falter amid all the terrible Roman persecutions.

  46. John recorded the 7 times Jesus proclaimed “I am,” such claims as could refer only to his deity: bread (6:35), • light (8:12), • door (10:7),

  47. good shepherd (10:14), • resurrection and the life (11:25), • way, truth, and life (14:6), • and the vine (15:1).

  48. He gave proofs of such deity by recording only 7 representative signs. • Power over time – turning water to wine (2:1-11) • Power over space – healing the nobleman’s son in absentia (4:46-54).

  49. Power over infirmity – the man at the pool (5:1-18. • Power over matter – feeding the loaves and fish (6:1-14). • Power over gravity – walking on the water (6:16-21).

  50. Power over nature, congenital defects – man born blind (9:1-41). • Power over death – raising of Lazarus (11:1-44).

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